Promoter Waves a a Red Flag

Can the Gaslamp Quarter successfully accommodate two mammoth, completely different street events on consecutive weekends in September?

Rob Hagey, producer of the San Diego Street Scene, is convinced it cannot, especially if the proposed relocation of the Del Mar Grand Prix plops the auto race down on Labor Day--the weekend before Hagey’s annual music and food festival.

Hagey’s misgivings have been growing since July, when, at a meeting of the Public Facility and Recreation Committee, chaired by San Diego City Councilwoman Judy McCarty, several people came forward to champion the relocation of the Grand Prix from the Del Mar Fairgrounds to downtown San Diego, on streets along the waterfront.

Only Hagey and a competitor of Grand Prix director Chris Pook voiced opposition to the plan. The meeting took place only a few days before a news conference announcing the 1992 Street Scene, which was held Sept. 11-12.

Last week, Hagey mounted a campaign to persuade city officials that it would be folly to produce the events on the same streets on back-to-back weekends. Hagey outlined his objections in a letter to Councilman Ron Roberts, whose 2nd District includes the downtown area. The letter, dated Oct. 14, was also sent to the mayor’s office, the City Council, the San Diego Unified Port Commission, the Convention and Visitors Bureau and several others.

Among the concerns Hagey voiced was the likelihood that a number of people would choose between the two events, thus hurting attendance at Street Scene, which has taken a decade to build its solid audience base. This year’s festival drew a record 50,000 people. Hagey projects that the 1993 Street Scene budget will exceed $1 million--and that fan attrition at this juncture could prove disastrous.

Also at issue is the delicate coalition Hagey has established with the downtown merchants and residents who are inconvenienced or in other ways affected by the music festival, which commandeers 18 city blocks from midweek preparations through post-event cleanup. Hagey contends that fragile negotiations over noise levels and automobile and pedestrian traffic would be hurt by the prospect of something as loud and raucous as an auto race.

And with the Grand Prix concluding its breakdown work Tuesday--only a day before the Street Scene’s start-up--a large core of downtown would be immobilized for more than a week. Hagey believes that many of the same people contracted to perform security, labor, electrical, lighting and sound duties for Street Scene would be putting in long hours handling similar chores for the auto race, thus raising the specters of availability, fatigue, poor performance and liability.

Not the least of Hagey’s problems would be the increased competition for sponsorship money and publicity, both of which he deems necessary for Street Scene’s survival.

Hagey said Monday that he hasn’t received a response to his letter, and he addressed his options in the event the Grand Prix proposal goes through.

“I have a grand task ahead of me,” Hagey said. “I understand that after 1993, the race would move from Labor Day to a weekend in August. But even that one year of disruption could have dire consequences for Street Scene. I’ve fought very hard to keep the festival where and when it is, and I don’t know if I could move it to another time.

“But there are many reasons why we wouldn’t want to move it,” he said. “First, people have come to rely on Street Scene being at a certain time of year. Then, there are a lot of artists playing the Monterey Jazz Festival and the San Francisco and Sacramento blues festivals at that time, and it’s easier to bring them down here. Also, I rely on students for a lot of my Street Scene staffing, and they’re not around earlier in the summer. But most of all, when you start moving the date of an annual event around, people start wondering, ‘Is it happening or isn’t it happening?’ You don’t want to have that.”

Hagey said the proposed Grand Prix move has another couple of hurdles to clear before it becomes official. It must be approved by the port commission and voted on by the City Council.

Meanwhile, Hagey is doing all the lobbying he can, and anxiously monitoring his mail and phone messages.

Weeks ago, about 1,400 Jethro Tull fans made the band’s “A Little Light Music” concert at the Spreckels Theatre a quick sellout. Early arrivals at the venue last Saturday night found the show to be much littler and lighter than expected. Founder and lead vocalist Ian Anderson participated in an afternoon sound check, during which he played flute but did not sing. But a worsening illness forced the 45-year-old front man to cancel the performance at the last minute, leaving fans milling about the entrance to the Broadway landmark, nibbling on rumors that the show would be rescheduled.

According to a formal apology tendered by Anderson himself, via promoters Avalon Attractions, the concert will not be made up, due to scheduling conflicts. Anderson’s statement read as follows:

“My most sincere apologies are due to the good people who bought tickets to our sold-out concert at the Spreckels Theatre, San Diego, on October 17. Having to cancel the first concert in eight years, and one of less than 10 cancellations on 24 years of touring, was not an easy decision. It had to be taken, sadly, only at the last minute, after exhaustive attempts to revive my flagging vocal cords, which were suffering from a bronchial infection contracted a few days ago.

“Unfortunately, our touring commitments over the next two months do not allow a realistic rescheduling of this concert. I must now write to offer my humble excuses for ruining your evening, as well as my own. The annoying thing is, it really was going to be quite a good show. Well, that’s it for now. Just thought I’d let you know why I couldn’t make the party. If I had enough flowers to send you all, I just hope you would find yourselves able to accept them. Thanks and sorry, Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull.

“P.S. Too old to rock and roll? Well, some might think so, but never too old to apologize.”

Those holding tickets to the canceled concert can get refunds through TicketMaster (278-TIXS) at the point of purchase.

There was one person in the disappointed throng outside the theater who probably would have preferred a personal apology and a lengthier explanation: Larry (Wild Man) Fischer, a former mental patient and well-known L.A. eccentric who enjoyed brief celebrity in 1969 when Frank Zappa discovered him and produced his album, “An Evening with Wild Man Fischer.”

Looking more like “Street Man” Fischer these days, the nervous, 47-year-old fringe artist spoke of having come specifically to see and hear “Eon” Anderson. But the show’s cancellation magnified his own fears--to the edge of paranoia--of being sued or even thrown in jail by an L.A. promoter if he doesn’t show up for a scheduled Halloween performance in Hollywood. Assured that he had nothing to worry about if, as he claimed, he hadn’t signed a contract to appear, the distracted Fischer seemed momentarily relieved.

Then, discovering that a member of the party he was addressing was one of Zappa’s guitarists, Fischer began quizzing former San Diegan Mike Keneally about the terrible things Zappa must be saying about him these days. Fischer became persona non grata at the Zappa household years ago when he lost his temper and began throwing things around. Fischer seemed surprised and more than a little skeptical to hear that Zappa does not speak ill of him. Asked if he now lives in San Diego, Fischer replied only that he lives “all over.”

Multi-instrumentalist Paco Shipp, who has played harmonica, sax, keyboard and guitar on numerous albums by national and area artists, has been a ubiquitous local figure ever since moving to San Diego from Nashville in 1989. Now we’ll be seeing his visage in national advertisements for the Hohner instrument company, famous mostly for their harmonicas.

Recently, Shipp sent Hohner a resume and a tape of several of his studio performances and subsequently landed an endorsement deal that allows Hohner to use his face and name in exchange for various considerations, including some free equipment. The acknowledgment seems long overdue for Shipp, who has played on albums by Johnny Cash, Marty Stuart, Jo-el Sonnier and Sawyer Brown, and has worked with such locals as A. J. Croce, Deborah Liv Johnson, Earl Thomas and Calman Hart.

Shipp plays Monday nights with bluesman Robin Henkel and two others at Croce’s downtown.

GRACE NOTES: The B-52’s remain a favorite concert attraction a decade after they rode the new wave to popular acclaim with an entertaining mix of rummage-sale couture, kitschy lyrics and goofy pop music. Still, despite random attempts at performing “serious” material and an acquired venerability that gives the band’s campiness an artsy aftertaste, the B’s don’t qualify as a “progressive” group. Not until you consider the band’s social activism, that is.

When the B’s perform on a bill with Violent Femmes on Sunday night at the San Diego Sports Arena, they’ll be plugging more than their latest record. At all shows on its current tour, the group is distributing fold-out brochure-kits containing information about the services and advocacy of three organizations: the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), the Sierra Club and the AIDS Resource Center.

At some point in each concert, the band briefly explains its support for the causes espoused by the organizations, mentions an issue of significance to that particular city and encourages fans to become politically active. The 4-by-5-inch brochures include mail-back cards for each organization. According to a source at the PPFA, response cards have been “rolling in” after shows in New York, Ohio and Michigan.

BOOKINGS: (Tickets for the following concerts will be sold at all TicketMaster outlets (278-TIXS) unless otherwise specified.)

Otis Rush and the L.A. Blues All-Stars visit the Belly Up Tavern on Thursday night ($8). . . .

The North County-based contemporary folk-country duo Pam and Maggie will perform an album-release concert Nov. 7 at Park Terrace Auditorium in Vista. Tickets to attend the concert and a VIP reception are $18 in advance, $20 at the door; tickets to the concert itself are $10 in advance, $12 at the door (598-6121). . . .

The date of Glenn Frey’s concert at the Spreckels Theatre has been changed from Nov. 19 to Nov. 22. . . .

Tickets go on sale at 3 p.m. Friday for the Beastie Boys and the Rollins Band, Nov. 23 at the Starlight Bowl.

CRITIC’S CHOICE

FOR FANS OF CELTIC MUSIC

Fans of country singer Kathy Mattea, the Celtic bands Silly Wizard and the Tannahill Weavers, as well as the current film “The Last of the Mohicans,” have all been exposed to the music of Scotland’s Dougie MacLean. Mattea covered his “Ready for the Storm,” MacLean was a member of both groups mentioned above, and his song “The Gael” is featured in the movie’s score.

In the British Isle, MacLean has been a star for some time, and now he’s making a low-key move on America. On Sunday, the engaging singer-songwriter brings his band to the Spreckels Masonic Hall (3858 Front St.). Opening the concert are locals James Paxton and Bobo Czarnowski.

Reserved seats for the 8 p.m. concert and a pre-show vegetarian dinner are $28; open-seating tickets to the concert only are $17 (294-6660).