We posted on our Facebook page Saturday about the rumor of Motley Crue bringing Alice Cooper out on what sounds like will be the Crue's farewell tour and asked our listeners if they'd like to see that show replace one of the many country shows. The answers didn't surprise us.

Just a small sampling:

Philip Eggers Hell Ya I'd go! Went the last time they were here. But, then again, this is Sioux Falls, Sd. They don't bring in the big acts!
Tammy Dunham Hell yes I'd go!!!
Kari Loban- Swartos That would be AwEsOmE!!!
Darren Larson hell yeah, we need more rock shows to come here !!
Dan Skyberg I'd be the first in line for tickets! Love 'em both!
Randy Haack DAH YES!!!
Tonette And Tony Voeltz yes would be great
Tim Friederich Bring it
Terri Saarie Yes let's go!!
Ryan Bornitz Alice = Best Ever. I will for sure go, just will suck that Alice won't get his full time set.
Barry Kelly I definitely would go!
Hannah's Custom Tile Works Have seen The Crue live 3 times and would absolutely love to catch them again...Always a good time !

Then a post on the topic led to a whole other discussion:

Corey Gaddis: The district is filling the rock shows void but if they have a hard time selling the number of tickets to fill that venue its going to be a hard push to fill the arena or event center unless its a big name like Crüe or jovi or halen. How long ago was Sammy here? Other wise Kid Rock was here last year then one other time years ago. Elton John. Other than that I remember Crue and Kiss and ozzy years ago. Who else is still big enough to fill the arena or event center? Who should be the last group to bring the roof down on the arena?

It brought up a good point. What bands ARE big enough to fill a 12,000 seat venue that are classic rock? Besides the Motley Crue/Alice Cooper doubleheader, if they go out to tour and could be convinced to come to Sioux Falls, I could see the following classic bands selling out the Arena: Aerosmith, AC/DC, Allman Brothers, Bob Seger, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Eagles, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac and maybe some of the 'package' tours that go out should be able to accomplish that to name just a few.

But then we started wondering what the last classic rock concert at the Arena was. Kid Rock used classic rock to advertise the show, but he's a performer that doesn't really fit into one genre or category.

A listener said Bob Dylan was there 'recently'. So I looked it up. Dylan was at the Arena August 18, 2012. Seventeen months ago. And Dylan isn't just a classic rock artist, but it's literally the last show in the genre at the Arena. We had people mention Poison and Cinderella. That was 2006! Elton John and Motley Crue were around that time as well. Journey & Night Ranger played the Arena JazzFest weekend in 2009. Tom Petty was here in 2003. Crosby, Stills and Nash around that time, and even longer ago we get to KISS (1996?) and the Ozzy's, Bon Jovi's, Sammy Hagar's, etc. In other words, few and far between for classic rock artists in the big building.

Being 'in the business', I understand better than most that it's not as easy as saying "We want ____________ band to play in Sioux Falls." Bands have to be on tour; they have to WANT to play in our city; the money has to be right for the promoter, venue and band; we have to be able to sell tickets to make it profitable for everyone. One HUGE uphill battle the Sioux Falls Arena has had to fight is the fact that Sioux City's Tyson Events Center has a larger seating capacity. That of course will change back to Sioux Falls' advantage with the new T. Denny Sanford Events Center.

We've had Styx, Ted Nugent, Bret Michaels, Poison, Night Ranger, Blue Oyster Cult, Vince Neil, Lita Ford and many more play RibFest, RockFest, and the Sioux Empire Fair. We had Joe Walsh at JazzFest a few summers ago, but for the most part, we've spent much of the past decade traveling to Sioux City, Omaha, Minneapolis, Des Moines and Kansas City to see the 'big' classic rock shows.

I get it, country music is king in Sioux Falls. Always has been and likely always will be. But it seems like there's pretty large number of classic rock fans with disposable income that would love to see the Eagles, or Fleetwood Mac or Bon Jovi or Motley Crue with Alice Cooper right here in our own city without having to travel hundreds of miles. Let's hope with a 12,000 seat venue as opposed to 6500, SMG remembers there are other types of music that people in this are listen to besides country, and are able to land a show or two for 'us'.

Rant over.

For now.

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