Amphitheaters Show Dip in Attendance, Bookings : Concerts: While the season was the “lightest in years” for Orange County and the nation, experts expect outdoor entertainment to rebound.

After setting records for bookings and attendance in 1988, Orange County’s two large amphitheaters found leaner pickings during the recently concluded 1989 outdoor concert season.

The intense annual competition between the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa and the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Irvine finished in a dead heat in terms of number of shows. Each venue staged 36 concerts--a marked decline from 1988 totals of 55 shows at the Pacific and 45 at Irvine Meadows.

Total attendance at Irvine Meadows “approached 400,000 people,” according to Bob Geddes, the amphitheater’s managing partner--down from almost 500,000 in 1988. Attendance at the Pacific Amphitheatre was about 300,000, according to spokeswoman Laura Gold--down from 410,000 in 1988.

“There’s no question that the season not only in Orange County, but nationally, was the lightest we’ve seen in many, many years,” Geddes said.

“There weren’t as many tours out in general, and there weren’t as many bigger shows out,” said Alex Hodges, the vice president in charge of West Coast concert promotion for the Nederlander Organization, which runs the Pacific Amphitheatre. “There were some real elements of a good season (at the Pacific), but there were too many dark nights.”

One element completely missing from the Pacific’s season was heavy-metal rock. Instead, the Pacific offered a schedule dominated by acts with roots in the ‘60s and ‘70s. The parade of Boomer-oriented acts included Rod Stewart, Elton John, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Carole King, the Jefferson Airplane and the Doobie Brothers

Heavy metal, with its younger audiences, was a staple at Irvine Meadows, where 10 metal shows made up nearly a third of the theater’s 31 pop music offerings (the Irvine Meadows schedule also included five concerts by the Pacific Symphony). Two of metal’s hottest draws, Bon Jovi and Metallica, each played three shows at Irvine Meadows.

The Pacific Amphitheatre is involved in a continuing lawsuit in which neighboring homeowners claim that the amphitheater is a source of noise pollution. Could that have led amphitheater officials to shy away from booking earsplitting metal bands?

“I don’t want to suggest that I’m de-emphasizing or emphasizing anything” in concert bookings because of the noise controversy, Hodges said. The Pacific Amphitheatre did announce one early season show by the heavy metal band Poison, but it was canceled when the band’s singer developed voice problems. Hodges said he also made bids for some of the metal acts that wound up playing at Irvine Meadows instead of the Pacific.

“I think it’s incumbent upon us to have some shows that attract younger people, and get a broad base,” Hodges said. “We feel we offer diversity, but more diversity would be great.”

Geddes echoed the idea that diversity is a key to success. “I think Irvine is typically perceived as the more rock ‘n’ roll venue,” he said, but it isn’t an image that Irvine Meadows is trying to cultivate. The goal, he said, is to book the biggest possible draws, regardless of genre. “We want to make sure we appeal to a broad base of people. We did for a number of years go to a rather strict diet of rock ‘n’ roll. Now we try to balance it.”

After this year’s drop-off, both amphitheaters are looking toward a rebound in 1990, when some major acts that took time off from touring this year return to the road. “It’s a cyclical business,” Geddes said. “Next year appears to be the antithesis of this year.”