Readers sound off about Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival

Please, call me frugal. Not cheap.

Yes, I shop at Goodwill. I use food coupons. I don't like that Taco Bell charges almost $1 to put green sauce on a bean burrito. I know all the best happy hours in a two-county area.

That all being said, I understand the cost of live entertainment. When I saw that the first Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival was charging $75 apiece for its Dec. 7 lineup at Waterside Place island park, I thought it was reasonable. After all, the festival was offering seven artists who might not have been household names for you and I, but were all well known the blues community.

An entire day of entertainment — and my opinion was that it was fantastic entertainment — for $150 seemed like a deal to me. In an affluent area such as Lakewood Ranch, I figured that most people would feel likewise. Hey, I have had dinner here at places where a couple of cocktails cost a couple $34. And the bar was full.

But after the blues event, we ran a Dec. 12 column, "Should Ranch music fans be singing the blues?" In the column I asked for readers to give me their feedback about the festival. They did. Lots of them.

And in two-thirds of the responses, the writers said the price was too high for artists who were not household names. It was a common theme that the inaugural festival should have offered a low-cost ticket in order to introduce the event to local residents.

Interesting, because I never considered that price would be a big factor. It was.

But I didn't consider that people here don't mind spending money on a known commodity, but are cautious when they don't know what they are getting for their bucks. When you walk into Ruth's Chris Steak House, you know you are getting a high quality slab of meat. But if Del Taco opens in Lakewood Ranch, and you've never been to one, you might not be willing to spend $2 on a taco until you get a report from a buddy.

This might be the case for the Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival. It was wait and see.

The good news is that Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, which was a major sponsor of the festival, was pleased with the first event and wants to make it an annual event. If Bank of America continues its sponsorship, that's a solid foundation for success with the thought the community will buy into the event beyond the 750 people who attended the first one.

OK, so here are some of the comments of those who responded.

One reader noted, "I didn't go because ticket prices were high and I am not a big blues fan. I would love to see reggae bands, Jimmy Buffett tributes, jazz bands, or Jack Johnson-type bands. Also live holiday bands."

Another wrote, "There are few acts/bands I will pay $75 to hear, even now, given prices and inflation. I am especially not interested in festivals with greater than three bands that I don't know of or haven't heard of. My days of sitting on a lawn chair smoking whatever or drinking whatever are over. I'll pay twice that to hear one band that is the next Stevie Ray Vaughn or Albert King or Robert Cray."

One person responded that he preferred male blues singers over females (four of the headliners were women). He also noted that while many local residents are affluent, many are on Social Security with pensions. "I can see several excellent blues performers at Buckingham Blues Bar (Fort Myers) for $20 on a Saturday afternoon."

Another point was that he said our area has plenty of competition for entertainment dollars, so he took in another show that day.

One reader said he was going to go to the show, but he couldn't convince any of his friends to buy tickets at $150 a couple. He suggested his wife also objected paying $150 for the two of them. He suggested keeping the price at $100 or under for a couple.

Other readers said blues just isn't the right genre for the area. He also noted a 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. festival would make for a long day and could have been seen as a drawback as opposed to a plus.

Another reader agreed. 

"I was interested in the Blues Fest but being there all day was not attractive to me. Maybe when I was younger. I do go to Main Street Music and music at the plaza and stay about one to two hours."

Name recognition was noted in several of the emails, with the thought people don't mind paying for a known commodity. 

Of course, not everyone agrees with that thought. One woman said "I don't think I would have spent $75 on any band or collection of bands that I do like. I think the problem is that there are too many places that I can go to watch live music around Lakewood Ranch or in Sarasota."

She also said, "I’m old enough to remember the day when ($75) was a full-on concert ticket price for a major league singer or band.

Other readers said I shouldn't be questioning why more residents didn't go to the event.

"I was really disappointed in your coverage of what was a wonderful event for our community," was one reply. "Your headlines as well as your coverage was incredibly discouraging because of its indication that it was far less than a successful event. I guess it is an indication how far media has gone from what it should be, something to inform our community.

"Poor coverage like yours leads to a degradation of what can be offered to our community. It discourages future attendance and makes the sponsors in the future, to not be willing to support such things. Most businesses can not be expected to begin to really make money for about two years, If this event broke even on its first outing (it did), it was a huge success."

Wow.

Some readers said they simply didn't know about the event. I would note that the East County Observer ran a feature, a column and an Arts and Entertainment section story about the event in advance. A couple of readers suggested a few more advertisements before the event.

Parking at Waterside Place wasn't an issue during the event, but some responders said they were worried that it would be.

Another ready suggested moving the event a little farther away from the holiday season.

The morning start was brought up on several responses. "Noon is a good start time," wrote one person who responded. "And six hours is plenty!"

That same person said a couple of streets being closed in Waterside Place with food trucks (there were food trucks and vendors on the island) would have involved the entire community."

Thanks to all who responded! I love that you care about your community.