Promoters See Potential of Stadium : Entertainment: The turnout for singer Juan Garbriel was relatively small, but a Chicago-based company sees a potential Latino gold mine at Santa Ana facility.

On stage, Juan Gabriel--striking pop star poses in his white satin suit--provoked shrieks of delight from Saturday night’s crowd at Santa Ana Stadium. Backstage, promoter Carlos Quintanilla smiled and weighed the show’s success.

The turnout, he admitted, was a little lower than he had hoped for--about 3,000 shy of the venue’s capacity of 11,000. But it was enough to encourage his designs on making the football stadium a regular home for large-scale concerts aimed at the Latino market.

Santa Ana Stadium is primarily a sports facility, serving as the home football field for Cal State Fullerton, Rancho Santiago College and several high schools. Few concerts have been held there, and those that have were less than successful. Another Gabriel concert about 4 years ago (organized by a different promoter) suffered security problems, as fans jumped from the bleachers and overran reserved seats on the grass. A heavy-metal show featuring Poison provoked noise complaints from nearby residents.

But police at Saturday’s show reported no noise complaints and said there had been few enforcement problems. “We showed it can be done,” said Quintanilla, president of Arcos Management Services in Santa Ana.

The Chicago-based company has promoted shows by Gabriel throughout the United States. It opened an office in Mission Viejo 2 years ago and moved it to Santa Ana last month. Quintanilla believes that Santa Ana Stadium, located near a large Latino population, is an ideal venue for big Hispanic acts, such as Jose Jose, Emmanuel and Miami Sound Machine.

Gabriel, a Mexican singing star with a large U.S. following--enough to warrant three shows at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles in November--became the first test of his theory. “This is our first big show. . . . He is one of the most prolific record sellers in the Hispanic market,” Quintanilla said.

“It’s a nice stadium. We’re looking to bring in quality acts,” said Amado Quintanilla, vice president of Arcos and Carlos’ cousin. “As far as what the market will bear, we will see.”

Carlos Quintanilla said he was encouraged enough by Saturday’s results to proceed with plans for a 3-day music festival next June at Santa Ana Stadium, modeled after an annual event in Chicago that draws about 50,000 spectators.

The audience at Saturday’s show was obviously enraptured with Gabriel, sending out cheers that could be heard easily across the street, where small groups of fans without tickets listened to the show.

Inside, Alex Gonzales of Brea said he had seen Gabriel in his last visit to Santa Ana Stadium, where he encountered “a lot pushing and shoving. . . . I was not going to come because of last time.”

But he decided to attend with his wife, and they celebrated their wedding anniversary with Gabriel and opening acts Los Huracanes del Norte and Angeles Ochoa. This time, he said, he had no problems with the crowd.

Arcos Management is promoting concerts by Gabriel Saturday in Chicago and Oct. 6 in El Paso. It is also organizing a benefit Oct. 17 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to benefit a Latino AIDS awareness project.

The concert ties in with another project by the Santa Ana Arcos office, set to be launched Sept. 1--a series of public service announcements on AIDS awareness given in Spanish by such stars as Madonna, Los Lobos, singer Martika and actress Maria Conchita Alonso. The spots, produced in conjunction with Los Angeles County, will air on Spanish-language TV and radio stations.