A few weeks back I went to the first show of the season at White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, WA and I was just amazed at how empty it was walking around the venue. The concert was Sting and I would have thought he would have brought in a big crowd. Now he was with the Royal Philharmonic so maybe that deterred a set of people and perhaps the concert was a bit expensive but not only was the grass section of the amphitheatre open, which can seat about 10000 concert attendees but the covered seats of another 10000 looked to be only about two-thirds full. That did not seem like a good sign for the season. Next up was KUBE 93.3 FM “Summer Jam”. Radio shows always do well in that they are generally subsidized in price and then the radio station will give away hundreds if not thousands of tickets. They really do not make lot of money for the venue. The additional problem is that as someone with VIP tickets they really hold no value. After that was Iron Maiden. This concert did well numbers-wise. Next up was Rihanna who was schedule for this Friday. Her concert as canceled today. LiveNation says it was for “production issues” and that they would start the tour a few days later in Vancouver, BC. My guess is that sales were not going well for the show. A later stop on the her tour is Cricket Amphitheatre in the Phoenix area which is the same size as White River and that show has been rescheduled for a venue of a much smaller size. Here is the list of shows this summer at White River. Tell me what you think about their shows this summer. Is there Endfest 19 coming? Could Ozzfest still make an appearance?
- Sunday June 6 – Sting with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
- Friday June 18 – KUBE 93.3 FM “Summer Jam” – Jason Derulo, Rick Ross, Fabolous, Drake, Trey Songz, and The Game.
- Tuesday June 22 – Dream Theater and Iron Maiden
Friday July 2 — Ke$ha and RihannaCanceled- Tuesday July 17 – Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival – Big Jay Oakerson, John 5, 3 Inches of Blood, In This Moment, Norma Jean, Atreyu, Winds Of Plague, Shadow Fall, Chimaira, Hatebreed, Five Finger Death Punch, Lamb Of God, Rob Zombie, and Korn
- Saturday July 24 – Trace Adkins and Toby Keith
- Saturday August 7 – Rush
Sunday August 15 – Ice Cube and Limp BizkitCanceled- Saturday August 28 – KISW 99.99 FM “Pain In The Grass” – Drowning Pool, Sevendust, Puddle Of Mudd, Black Label Society, Shinedown, and Godsmack
Tuesday September 14 – Demi Lovato and Jonas BrothersCanceled- Saturday September 25 – Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival – New Medicine, Hail The Villain, Airbourne, Hellyeah, Halestorm, Stone Sour, Avenged Sevenfold, and Disturbed.
Update: Canceled another show in the Jonas Brothers for 9/14.
A digital recording of my life 
Yes, I was surprised that Sting wasn\’t a little more crowded — although the rain must have kept many casual fans away. I agree that Iron Maiden did well, and it looks like Rush has also sold well.