San Francisco - All Shook Down - Live Nation Asks For Your Help in Renovating Masonic Center

Live: Friendly Fires and The xx

Live: Metalocalypse Tour w/ Dethklok, Mastodon

Eight Great Foodies from the Local Music Scene

Live Nation Asks For Your Help in Renovating Masonic Center

By Eric Arnold in Clubs, Music

Monday, Mar. 2 2009 @ 10:20AM

Feist

Taking a page from onetime bitter rivals (and now just rivals) Another Planet Entertainment's handbook, Live Nation (the live concert spin-off from radio/billboard barony Clear Channel, now its own entity) have announced plans to remodel, makeover, and otherwise update SF's venerable Masonic Center - just as Another Planet had a hand in upgrading Oakland's Fox Theater.

According to a press release, "Live Nation has been promoting single-night events at the Center since 1972, booking some of the Country's most memorable entertainers including Frank Sinatra, The Chieftains, Thelonious Monk, Jay Leno, Feist, and Van Morrison." (Curiously, Live Nation didn't form until 2005, according to Wikipedia, so they must be referring to the company's former incarnation as Bill Graham Presents. We could also take umbrage at listing Feist --who's from Nova Scotia, which is in Canada -- as one of America's "most memorable entertainers," but that would be petty, as would mentioning that Van Morrison is originally from Ireland, so we won't.)

Regardless, SF has a dearth of large capacity venues--the Masonic seats 3,000--and the lack of an open floor for dancing (which Live Nation would install) has made going to shows there a somewhat staid, if not downright boring, experience. Live Nation also plans to put in a new stage and upgrade the main auditorium's acoustics. Here's the catch: the proposal for renovation still needs to be approved by the San Francisco Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors, and Live Nation is asking SF music fans to email Planning Commission President Ron Miguel and Board of Supervisors President David Chiu and let them know you want to see this happen. Questions? Direct them here.

Tags: Feist, Live Nation, Masonic Center, Van Morrison

Related Content

More About...

2 comment(s) / Post a Comment

jack says:

This is a horrible idea ... Sitting in traffic for hours looking for parking?

It may be good for Live Nation ... but it would be horrible for attendees and for the character of the neighborhood.

The reason SF has a dearth of large-capacity venues is because we don't have the infrastructure to deal with it ... The masonic parking garage can't accommodate that many cars ... and the neighborhood is already one of the worst to park in ... so ... people would take public transit? .. yeah .. right.

This idea is just not well thought-out.

Posted On: Thursday, Mar. 5 2009 @ 7:18PM

David Alexandre says:

It is absolutely absurd and full of gall that Live Nation, a large corporate enterprise, is asking citizens of San Francisco to write our city government to grant the company permission to make more money by altering an intimate venue and changing it into a a larger non personal setting.

There is nothing to gain by our doing so - they are not going to sell us tickets any cheaper! Even if they were truly concerned about giving anyone who wants to see an artist a chance to see them, they could just add more shows (they haven't mentioned this which clearly shows how much they actually care about their customers).

On the contrary, I suggest we write Planning Commission President Ron Miguel and Board of Supervisors President David Chiu to oppose this.

Let's save our neighborhoods and save our landmarks.

Posted On: Sunday, Mar. 8 2009 @ 8:58PM