Country, not rock, rules here

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

April 18, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

Almost a year ago, members of the Bemidji State University Hobson Union Programming Board met with reporters from BSU's student newspaper to announce the cancellation of the annual spring concert due to a lack of ticket sales.

Only 117 tickets had been sold four days before the Bodeans -- a pop rock band -- was scheduled to appear. By canceling the concert, BSU managed to salvage about $11,000 of the cost of the event, but overall BSU lost $14,000 in the venture.

What a difference a year makes.

This year, in what will be the eighth annual -- including last year's fiasco -- BSU spring concert, the country music band Blackhawk sold out all available 3,400 tickets in advance by Monday -- five days ahead of the scheduled concert.

According to Linda Blanchard HUPB's adviser, this is the fastest any of the eight concerts have ever sold out. In fact, the only other concert to sell out was Joan Jett and the Blackhearts -- a pop rock band -- in 1989.

Blackhawk is scheduled to play at BSU's John Glas Fieldhouse 8 p.m. Saturday. The band will arrive early in the day and depart after the concert Saturday night, Blanchard said.

The three-member band burst onto the country music scene in 1994 with a self-titled album that included a chart-topping hit and four other Top 10 songs. The record has since sailed past the double platinum level of sales. The band's second album, "Strong Enough," also includes a No. 1 hit and two other Top 10 songs. Blackhawk has toured with country stars Tim McGraw, Little Texas, Brooks & Dunn and Wynonna.

A Hibbing band, Ray Pierce and the I-95 band, will open the show.

Although the success of the concert has eased the fears of HUPB's concert committee, members say they learned not to take anything for granted after last year's concert.

A year ago, the concert committee decided to try offering BSU students something new with the Bodeans, according to concert committee chair Sara Lauseng. The committee even surveyed the students to determine what type of act they would like to see for the spring concert. Then the disaster happened.

Blanchard said she definitely feels the contrast of this year to last year has taught the Programming Board a lesson -- one to which it ought to listen.

"The committee is always going to have to look out for what the students want, and trends do change," she said. "But I think they sent us a message this year. They are sending a message that they want country by supporting this concert."

Other country bands in the past have sold well, according to HUPB's assistant coordinator Nikki Deming. Two years ago, country singer Aaron Tippin's concert turned a profit of about $5,000, and three years ago a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert made $1,500 and $2,000.

Deming and Lauseng agree that for BSU's spring concert to survive in the future. HUPB will probably have to invite country bands.

"Students get mad because they all like different kinds of music," Deming said. "But the majority of the people here enjoy country, and we need the community's support."

Blanchard added the committee learned it needs the Bemidji community and even the extended geographic region to sell out a concert. She said the concert last year did not appeal as much to the community as Blackhawk has, and the cancellation demonstrated it. Of this year's 3,400 tickets that sold, about half of them were sold to people other than students.

"It was easy for us to decide what kind of band we wanted because of the past track record," Lauseng said. "If we wouldn't have done well this year -- which would have been the second year in a row -- we might not have had a concert next year."