September 12, 2005
Opening Week
I know, blogs are traditionally supposed to be about firmly held beliefs: I like this or I like that, I like this artist because, I can't stand that politician, that artist really stinks, etc etc etc...however, the life of a publicist is so filled with doubt even though they may seem to be people of firmly held beliefs and convictions and even more than somewhat evangelical in nature.
Going into our opening weekend here at the Kimmel Center, my first opening set of concerts for this institution since I’ve only been here since January 2005, I'm filled with so many questions. We have three great shows, Tony Bennett, The Roots & Friends, and Solomon Burke with the MFSB Band.
Looking around this great cavernous space at the Kimmel Center, for now empty as its sprucing up gets finished to ready it for opening, it seems ominously quiet. My blog assignment is to write something on day two of the blog's launch, just a few days prior to opening. However, I'm writing this actually about 2 weeks prior at about 4 am, obsessing about all that needs to be done in the coming weeks!
I woke up wondering:
Did we get enough coverage for all these great artists? Did we get enough TV coverage in the weeks leading up, enough radio interviews, enough print coverage with interviews and season overview pieces? Did we make our case in a strong enough way for these great performers? We've built it so to speak, will the audiences come? There is some comfort knowing that the Tony Bennett performance is just about sold out. There is also some comfort knowing that we will have had the Roots just about everywhere this week, including live on NBC 10 on Thursday morning, there is some comfort knowing that Solomon Burke and the MFSB Band are institutions here in Philadelphia. But the proof is always in the pudding and in this case the proof is bodies in seats. In PR, there are many old adages, many harking back to the great promoters of old, PT Barnum, Toscanini: "You're only as good as your last (or next) campaign", “I'll believe it when it's in print and then it becomes fish-wrap the day after,” etc etc etc...So much of what we do as publicists is the intangible, the creation or generation of that elusive thing called excitement, or to paraphrase Alan Greenspan, "the creation of irrational demand and enthusiasm." Did we do our job in the time leading up to all this?
Three big shows in one big weekend. Wow. I personally can't wait to hear all these artists--all of whom are “firsts” for me and I think that helps. One can't be an evangelist if you don't believe in the product, and I find here it's easy to do that. Sure there have been some performances and some artists in the past year here that have had their weak moments or inconsistencies on stage and I've walked away from the show saying, “eh...so-so”, or “not to my taste.” But that's rare as there is always something good to take away from almost any live performance. I happened to have made my love of music, and especially live performance, the center of my life and career, the thrill of the show being put on, watching audiences arrive at the hall, eager with anticipation, watching an artist take those first steps onto the stage, hearing those first notes and feeling/hearing the audience respond as they are drawn in to the performance is a thrill I pretty much live for in music.
All of this is now tinged with a bit of sadness as hurricane Katrina has hit and had so devastating an effect on the country. Katrina has touched virtually everyone’s life in some way, no matter where they are in the country or what they do, and the intersection with music is for us here at the Kimmel Center particularly acute. The very definition of American music has deep roots in Louisiana and the South in general, and Katrina has attempted to wash away so much of that. Mardi Gras costumes, sheet music and instruments, historical documents, and more, lives as well. Much of this may have been destroyed with the floods and the wind, but the way in which music exists does not necessarily depend solely on materials. Music exists in the air, in our ears, in our minds, and at the hands of the many great musicians who still live and breath this art form. All of our concerts at the Kimmel Center this weekend are devoted in some way to raising money for the hurricane’s victims, artists are generous by nature. And so are the employees of the Kimmel Center who have on their taken up a collection as well. To all of you…”a salut”.
So, fellow bloggers, stay tuned, blog with us, watch this board in the coming days and weeks to see how it all went. Watch for a new gift shop. Watch for the teeming masses coming to opening weekend concerts. Watch for Free Concerts on the Plaza. Watch for the new Dobson Organ and Festival in Spring 2006.
Better still, listen to music, read and watch some of the interviews and press about these artists, buy their recordings, and, make live music a part of your life!