Sumthin’s Wrong Here

I want to start by clarifying that I am not a big fan of Sum 41, a rock band that hails from Ajax, Ontario. I recognize that they’ve achieved pretty solid success on both sides of the border, sharing the stage with the likes of Pennywise, K-Os, Tommy Lee, and Judas Priest, but I’m just not interested in their sound. Even so, when I heard that the trio was playing at Stages last night, I must admit that I was rather bewildered as to why these so-called superstars weren’t playing at the Krock? Was our new money pit full of Frontenacs, or Harlem Globetrotters riding around in Monster Trucks last night?

By now, you may have heard that country singers Tracy Lawrence and Craig Morgan called off their performance last Sunday, as have comedians Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood, who were scheduled to perform at the Krock on April 19th. The “if you build it, they will come” mentality was certainly enough to attract these acts to our new facility, but something very important was missing from the equation. An audience. Officials haven’t released details regarding either cancellation, so let’s open the floor to ridiculous speculation. Perhaps they were afraid their tour buses would get swallowed up by one of Kingston’s killer pot holes. Or maybe they’re stranded in a snowbank, waiting for one of our notoriously late buses to arrive. Although both of those possibilities seem viable, my money is on poor ticket sales.

Getting back to the matter at hand, which is the performance by Sum 41. I have no idea what the capacity of Stages is, but I’d estimate that it would have to sell out at least half a dozen times in order for the same show to break even at the K-Rock Centre. All things considered, perhaps the promoters did not believe that the band would sell enough tickets to profit off a show at the big K, little rock. And in that case, I suppose Kingstonians are lucky to see the boys from Ajax, albeit in a smaller more intimate setting, free of crippling (non-refundable) facility surcharges. Without knowing all the details behind this particular show, and the above mentioned canceled performances, the overall picture does not bode well for the Krock. It seems as though Kingston’s newest crown jewel is being squandered, and not drawing the big names and necessary crowds some of the talking heads promised not long ago.

At least Avril can draw a large enough crowd to justify the building…blow some dust off the Krock for an evening.