Gorge didn’t live up to its potential

Something isn’t right.

How is it that the Gorge Amphitheatre can finish a summer season without having even 10 concerts, and only a handful holding any inkling of relevance?

I had high hopes when the Gorge Amphitheatre opened its 2004 summer season with the stellar lineup of indie rock and electronic bands at the Sasquatch Music Festival on Memorial Day weekend.

I was fooling myself.

Postal Service, The Roots, Built To Spill, Sleater Kinney, The Shins, Thievery Corporation – a diverse and progressive combination of acts gathering at one of the most pristine venues in the country, and it was the first and last truly outstanding show to happen at The Gorge this year.

For years The Gorge has topped Pollstar ratings of best outdoor venues in the nation. So why then is it struggling to get booked this year?

Aside from a few of the remaining Gorge standbys – Dave Matthews Band, KUBE Summer Jam, Vans Warped Tour and Sasquatch – there wasn’t much worth the drive to the middle of nowhere.

The Dave Matthews Band makes its usual weekend stay with Jason Mraz at The Gorge starting tonight and lasting until Sunday. All three shows are nearly sold out. No surprises there.

But after the usual staple of Gorge regulars, that leaves niche-audience shows such as the lone country concert by Tim McGraw, jam band The Dead, an old fogy rock fest that included Styx, Peter Frampton and Kansas this year, and the annual Christian music and worship gathering, the Creation Festival.

At least The Gorge is closing its 2004 season on somewhat of a high note with its ninth and final show this year on Sept. 25 with Jack Johnson with G. Love & Special Sauce and Donavon Frankenreiter.

But overall this has been one of the weakest seasons for The Gorge.

In past years The Gorge has seen more than twice as many concerts, with the summer season lasting well into the fall.

It didn’t help when the Curiosa Tour, starring The Cure and originally scheduled for The Gorge, relocated to the Everett Event Center earlier this week.

But that’s just one of many shows that one would have expected to see at The Gorge.

There is no denying that the similar-sized White River Amphitheatre south of Seattle is taking a chunk of shows away from The Gorge.

Although Lollapalooza canceled nationally because of poor ticket sales, the festival of music festivals was booked for White River. Two years ago that show would have been counted in with Sasquatch and the Warped Tour at The Gorge.

Same with Ozzfest, another show White River swiped from The Gorge.

And without the Seattle-side competition, it’s reasonable to think The Gorge might not have missed out on Canadian co-headlining bill Barenaked Ladies and Alanis Morissette and No Doubt with Blink-182, more shows that ended up at White River this summer.

It’s not like White River is that much of a better venue than The Gorge. It’s roofed, for crying out loud. When you have to build an outdoor venue with a roof because of expected frequent rainfall, is that really the most ideal place to see a show outside?

After making the trip to White River last year to see Radiohead, I can’t imagine what the allure is over The Gorge.

Oh wait, yes I can. It’s closer to Seattle.

Too bad convenience seems to be trumping the value of having a natural, breathtakingly beautiful outdoor concert venue at your disposal.

At least at The Gorge you can see the stars, even if it’s not the ones you would normally want to pay to see.

Thank you for your support

Big shout out to everyone who supported the first 7 Senses benefit concert at The Met in June.

When it was all said and done, we had a great time, and combined with the proceeds of ticket sales, we were able to donate nearly $1,000 to the Children’s Museum of Spokane.

Based on the success of our first attempt at this sort of thing, stay tuned for more 7 functions in the future.