This Way to the Egress

I first met Sid Bernstein almost 25 years ago when he was a guest lecturer for a class I was taking at NYU. He was the legendary promoter and manager who brought The Beatles to America - we were a bunch of 19 year old kids who were still naive enough to thing that getting into the music business was like getting a license to print money. He soon set us straight.

To be really successful in the music business, including producing and promoting concerts, you must take risks. Sid was all about being bold, taking chances. His autobiography is filled with stories of climbing out on limbs. He was the first white promoter to promote shows at the Apollo Theater - he introduced Ray Charles and James Brown to mainstream audiences - and he famously booked The Beatles, completely unknown in America, to play a concert at Carnegie Hall - having never heard a note of their music.

The last time I saw Sid was a couple of years ago at a book signing in Freehold. He had some great stories - and was still talking about taking risks. He made and lost a lot of money in the music business over the years, and lives very modestly with his wife in a small apartment in Manhattan. You could probably say that he just about broke even - and it took him over 60 years to do it!

Which brings me to the Somerset County Parks Commission and their Commerce Bank Ballpark concerts. A recent Courier News story detailed how the Parks Commission has lost $500,000 over the last 8 years on the twelve concerts that they have put on. The interesting thing is, the Parks Commission was never trying to be bold or take chances with their concerts - they were trying to play it safe - just break even. Certainly this is our money they are spending, and we have an expectation that it won't be spent recklessly.

We don't have 60 years to break even - the public is not that patient. For that reason, I am suggesting that we get out of the concert business - it's just too tough.

The Parks Commissioners should know there are no licenses to print money - there is a law against that. And there is a law against burning money too!

So, in the words of another famous promoter, "this way to the egress".