Myriad reasons have been cited for the sudden sizzlin' success of your Tampa Bay Rays. Some say defense and pitching; others claim coaching. Me? I'm going with the Commodores.
The Brick House specialists played the first of seven free post-game concerts at Tropicana Field this season. (Other Saturday night specials have included country hulk Trace Adkins and funk faves Kool and the Gang.) And not only have the Rays won all four of their free-concert battles so far, but before fans started filling seats consistently, the free-concert games were the only reliably packed houses of 2008.
Kevin Stone, the 30-year-old entertainment manager at Ruth Eckerd Hall, isn't taking credit for helping the hottest team in baseball. But he is taking credit for the shows being incredibly popular and sounding so good.
As part of the "Ruth Eckerd Hall on the Road" series, Stone does everything from book the acts, set up the stage (it takes 10 to 12 minutes) and bring in his own PA system (a Nexo Line Array system, for all you techies out there).
"The Rays concentrate on baseball, and they're doing a phenomenal job of that," says Stone. "But audio is what we're known for."
With '80s rogues Loverboy hosting tonight's post-game show — and with M.C. Hammer (July 19) and LL Cool J (Aug. 2) still to come — Stone agreed to play 3 Questions with us . . . and even hint about possible acts for next year. ZZ Top, anyone?
1The cavernous confines of Tropicana Field have a bad rep for sound quality, especially when it comes to rock shows. But Kool and the Gang sounded remarkably clean, crisp and funky. How did you pull that off?
If you think about it, every theater is a cavernous building, so you need to get the right PA system and audio engineers in there. We use adjustable forklifts that allow us to get the PA 30, 40 feet in the air. I'm not trying to fill the entire stadium with sound. What I'm trying to do is direct the sound to the most amount of people. You need to take away the dome and keep the sound on a level plane. That way, it doesn't have the bounce-back.
2LL Cool J, Trace Adkins, Kool and the Gang, Gilberto Santa Rosa. Tonight's act is Loverboy. You guys are all over the place. Is there a method to the madness?
The Rays had seven theme nights ('80s Night, etc.), and we had to serve those. The idea was to have upbeat bands with a lot of hits to keep the crowd around. . . . LL Cool J is going to be amazing. MC Hammer doesn't perform much anymore, so when you see he's playing, people are going to stick around. After months and months of trying to get the perfect Latin act, it was a thrill to see 15,000 people salsa dancing to Gilberto Santa Rosa. When Carlos Pena and Dioner Navarro met Rosa, they were like little kids.
3Last year, Sha Na Na was the biggest name in the free concert series. This year it's LL Cool J. Will we see even bigger names next year?
Next year, we're going to book the artists first, and then the Rays will build the theme around it. We've already compiled a wish list of artists we want to get. [After much prodding, Stone gives up the goods.] Enrique Iglesias, ZZ Top and Kelly Clarkson. But it's just a wish list! Really!
Sean Daly can be reached at sdaly@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8467. His Pop Life blog is at blogs.tampabay.com/popmusic.
If you go
Tampa Bay Rays, Loverboy concert
Game against the Kansas City Royals, concert follows. Promotion: Rays Army hat to first 10,000 fans. 7:10 p.m. Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg. Tickets start at $11. Toll-free 1-888-326-7297. raysbaseball.com.
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