On The Road: Stones Will Christen New Charlotte Arena

here is nothing like a Rolling Stones concert to work all the bugs out of a new arena.

The New Charlotte (N.C.) Arena will host the Stones as the building's first ticketed event Oct. 21. Produced by Michael Cohl's Concert Productions International, with Clear Channel Entertainment's the Next Adventure and local Cellar Door promoter Wilson Howard, the Stones date quickly went clean.

To host the Stones, the $265 million, 18,000-capacity arena had to move up its opening date from Nov. 1 to Oct. 21. That Charlotte was able to nail down a Stones date is a testament to the aggressive outreach into the concert market by GM Marty Bechtold.

"Marty chased that [Stones date] from minute one," says Brandon Lucas, marketing director at the New Charlotte Arena. "And there's no better way to open a building than with the Rolling Stones."

With the massive production challenges and potential for glitches that a Stones date can bring to even an established arena, the New Charlotte Arena staff is hoping for some other events in the building prior to the concert, giving it at least some sort of soft opening. "We're hoping to announce some other things as we move forward, but a lot depends on the construction schedules," Lucas says.

The arena is owned by the city of Charlotte and managed by the NBA's Bobcats organization.



STILL ROCKING: ZZ Top has about 60 dates on the books for this summer, playing a mix of fairs, festivals, amphitheaters, casinos, vineyards, civic centers and arenas. This will be the Top's 36th year, and with original members Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, the little ol' band from Texas lays claim to being the longest-running road show in rock. ZZ Top is booked by Jeff Hill at Creative Artists Agency.



multi-mogul: Miami-based promoter Jack Utsick has numerous side businesses, including concerns in the artist management, modeling and record-label arenas. Utsick is also a movie producer, and was recently at the Cannes Film Festival to promote "Pledge This," an upcoming Utsick production that stars Paris Hilton. His daughter, Mickey, also appears in the film.



IN STOCKTON: James Rodems has been named GM of the Stockton Arena by IFG, the managing company of the Stockton (Calif.) Events Center.

Rodems comes to Stockton from the University of California, Davis, where he was director of the Activities and Recreation Center and the Pavilion. He will manage the 10,000-seat Stockton Arena and oversee the operations of the 5,000-seat Stockton Ballpark and Oak Park Ice Arena.

The Stockton Arena opens this fall on the city's downtown waterfront, and will host concerts, family shows, hockey, arena football and indoor soccer. The arena is part of a major redevelopment that includes the restoration of the 2,046-seat Bob Hope Theatre. ••••