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Thursday Morning Roundup


by Stephen Becker 5 Feb 2009 7:56 AM

WHO SHOULD TAKE THE STAGE?: The Dallas Morning News reported earlier this week that George Strait is tentatively scheduled to play the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington this summer. There’s speculation that he might even be the first act to play there. If that’s the case, he would certainly be a fitting opener – he’s […]
CTA TBD

WHO SHOULD TAKE THE STAGE?: The Dallas Morning News reported earlier this week that George Strait is tentatively scheduled to play the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington this summer. There’s speculation that he might even be the first act to play there. If that’s the case, he would certainly be a fitting opener – he’s a Texan and even a Cowboy. But it got me wondering who the other options might be. Here’s a quick list that I came up with, but if you’ve got other suggestions or want to lobby for one of these choices, drop me a comment:

Willie Nelson – Pros: He’s in Strait’s league as far as his stature in Texas country music. Cons: Is seeing someone you can catch frequently a Billy Bob’s a big enough draw? Willie would serve as a great opener to George, though.

U2 – Pros: The biggest band in the world is solidifying plans for a massive world tour as we speak and have already said they will play stadiums (as opposed to the arenas they’ve played the last two tours). Cons: No real Texas connection

Eagles – Pros: They were the first act to play the American Airlines Center, so there would be some nice symmetry there. Don Henley is from Gilmer. Cons: They might not be interested if they aren’t out on tour.

Bruce Springsteen – Pros: His high-energy Super Bowl show from last week definitely plays well in a huge space. Cons: Do we really want to open the new Cowboys stadium with a guy from Giants and Eagles country?

YOU, TOO, CAN OWN A TONY: Every theater pro dreams of having a Tony Award on their shelf. And now, through the miracle of eBay, someone who wants one but would rather skip all the hard work and creative genius stuff can have one. The estate of costume designer Florence Klotz has put the Tony she won in 1985 up on the site. Minimum price: $10,000 (but you can take it home now if you are willing to fork over $20K). I looked for the bidding today on the site and couldn’t find it. But I read all of this here, so my guess is that it just hasn’t made it up yet.

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About Stephen Becker

Stephen Becker produces the shows Think and Anything You Ever Wanted to Know for KERA. As part of the Art&Seek team, Stephen produces radio and digital stories, along with the podcast "The Big Screen," with Chris Vognar, movie critic of The Dallas Morning News. View more about Stephen Becker.

COMMENTS

  • Karey

    As long as George brings all his “friends” for another one of his 2 day concert events, I 100% agree that the opening act should have a Texas flavor. But for me, George doesn’t have the pull he used to. I want to here the “good” stuff, and his songs of recent years are definitely not my favorite in his collection. But if he can drag Rascal Flats, Alan Jackson, etc. with him, it would definitely be a ticket I could buy.

  • That’s one bland list for me. The music business needs something to shake it up.

  • Stephen Becker

    Tom — you do realize that to fill a 100,000 seat stadium, the acts have to be ones that people have heard of? I’m not trying to say that the ones I listed are the absolute best that music has to offer today. What I am saying is that they can fill a stadium.

  • Aw, c’mon, Steve. Personally, I’m looking forward to the day when Jerryworld hosts a really fine puppet theater out there on the 50-yard line. Fans can watch Punch and Judy up close on the Jumbotrons.

    As for big-time musical acts that can put on a stadium-size stage show, I suggest re-uniting Parliament/Funkadelic.

  • Michelle

    Willie would never merely open for George.

    Strait doesn’t even write his own music. Blech.

  • It’s going to be harder and harder to fill a 100,000 seat theater if the only acts considered from now on are the same dinosaur acts.

  • Trust Tom to treat the question with humorlessness and to miss the point. It’s not a 100,000-seat theater. It’s a stadium. It requires a high level of technological and financial acumen — not to mention widespread appeal — to perform in such a venue. I’ve never been a fan of stadium concerts, but not many acts can a) justify them or b) pull them off. It’s a particular skill set (plus a backstage team) that do not necessarily have much to do with artistic originality.

    And I notice you haven’t actually suggested a particular band or performer who could do it.

  • Probably the best route is not a single dinosaur but a group – the half time marching band comes to mind. What’s wrong with that? Why go Hollywood? What’s wrong with what Texas does well?