Is Forum Facing the Music?

In the parking lot at the Great Western Forum, dozens of truck beds have been turned into makeshift picnic tables. Smoke rises from barbecues and music blares from rows of car speakers. A team of scalpers artfully works the area, asking as much as $125 for tickets that carry a face value of $23.

The excitement in the air on a Monday night is generated by rock’s hottest road show of the summer, Pearl Jam, which is beginning a sold-out two-night stand.

Later, inside the arena, 17,500 fans sit anxiously through opening sets by Tenacious D and X before jumping to their feet with a roar as Pearl Jam takes the stage shortly before 10 p.m. for its first L.A. appearance in six years.

“This is great,” says Emma Williams, an usher who has been working at the Forum for 20 years. “This is how it used to be when everybody played here.”

Forum President Jeannie Buss, whose father, Jerry, owns the building and the Lakers, hopes to revive the allure of the Forum, which in the ‘70s and ‘80s ranked with New York’s Madison Square Garden as one of the two most prestigious U.S. tour stops.

The Lakers and Kings may be leaving the Forum next year for the new $300-million Staples Center downtown, but Buss says the planned exodus doesn’t signal the beginning of the end for the Forum.

In an interview this week, she said the Forum will continue to be a part of the Southern California entertainment picture, with hopes of hosting about 150 events a year--everything from circuses and ice shows to women’s basketball--and, she’s confident, a continuing lineup of concerts.

Several big-name acts are scheduled to play there in the next few months: Janet Jackson, Celine Dion, the Spice Girls and the Beastie Boys.

But many believe that the cream of the concert business will move downtown with the sports teams.

As one industry insider put it: “When the owner of the building packs up his basketball team and moves it out of there, you’ve got a really hard road ahead.”

Though even Buss admits that the older building will be hard-pressed to regain its lofty status in the pop world after the state-of-the-art Staples Center opens in October 1999, she says the Forum will continue to be a player in its pursuit of pop shows.

“A lot of people think that once the Lakers and Kings move, the Forum will shrink up and blow away,” she says. “But to me, the opportunity here is terrific. I see a great future for this facility.”

No one can deny its past.

Other than the Beatles, who stopped touring before the Inglewood landmark opened for business in 1967, almost every major pop act of the last 30 years has played the Forum--from Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones to Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand and Elton John.

But the luster of the Forum as a concert mecca has diminished in recent years as the arena touring business in general has dwindled and the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim has siphoned off shows since opening its doors in 1993--most notably, Streisand’s six-night stand in 1994.

After hosting more than 50 pop shows and drawing some 825,000 concertgoers during its peak season of 1989-90, the Forum was home to only eight concerts (which drew about 105,000) during the one-year period that ended June 30 of this year. That followed years of 15, 12 and 13 concerts.

And with the Lakers and Kings headed out the door, the future of the Forum is as clouded as the thick haze of smoke that once hung over the seats during many concerts in the building’s ‘70s and ‘80s heyday.

The Staples Center, in addition to providing a home to the Lakers, Kings and Clippers, plans to bid aggressively for concerts that might otherwise have gone to the Forum by default. And some industry observers wonder if an aging arena in Inglewood will be able to compete against a brand-new facility in the heart of the city.

Buss says her arena will benefit from a greater availability of prime weekend dates from October through June, when Staples Center will be hosting more than 120 professional basketball and hockey games, not including playoffs, plus various other events.

She sees the Forum as a less expensive alternative for artists unwilling to put up with scheduling conflicts at the Staples Center, much as the Los Angeles Sports Arena used its lower costs and greater accessibility to lure acts such as Bruce Springsteen, U2 and Madonna away from the Forum during the last two decades before fading from the picture in recent years.

Buss isn’t alone in her optimism.

Marc Geiger--co-chief executive of ARTISTdirect, a talent agency that represents artists such as Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine and Beck--says the Forum can survive by using its wits.

“Everyone’s going to want to play the new building, just like everyone wants to try the new restaurant that’s opening down the street,” Geiger says. “It’s the same kind of a phenomenon.

“But I guarantee you: The newness will eventually be offset by availability and financial issues . . . and if the Forum gets aggressive in its deal-making, and it has more open nights, it will be able to attract a lot of those people who wanted to play the new building.”

Clearly, though, a new era is dawning for the Forum.

“It’s going to be sort of a stepchild to the new and cool and beautiful Staples Center,” says Larry Vallon, senior vice president of Universal Concerts. “But people will continue to play there. A lot of artists out there still feel that when you go to L.A., you play the Forum. It still has that panache.”

One insider, however, says the Forum’s allure won’t last much past the Staples Center’s opening.

“When artists first start thinking about touring, the first building they’re going to call to put a hold on dates--even as much as a year or two in advance--is Staples,” says the industry veteran, who requested anonymity because he expects to deal with both outlets.

“They’re going to anchor their date in the new room, and they’re going to build their tour around that date in what is at least the second-most important concert market in the United States. Everyone is going to want to play Staples.”

In fact, says a Staples spokesman, several acts have already called to inquire about dates.

“Staples Center is clearly going to be the most state-of-the-art facility, not only in Southern California, but in the country,” says Michael Roth, director of communications for the new arena. “If an act is going to play only one Southern California venue, we would expect Staples Center to be the most attractive choice.”

If the obvious appeal of the new building isn’t enough of a blow to the Forum’s chances for survival, also consider this: There are fewer acts capable of filling arenas than there were 10 years ago.

“We’re not creating new arena artists,” says Brian Murphy, president of Avalon Attractions. “The artists that have sold out arenas in the last three or four years are the same bands that were selling them out 10 years ago--and sometimes 20 years ago. A band like Pearl Jam is an exception to the rule.”

Buss, though, says there is enough business for both buildings to survive.

“If Barbra Streisand tours again, she’s going to play the Staples Center,” she says. “But when it comes to shows by bands such as Pearl Jam, which is very price-sensitive, they’re going to want to do what’s best for their fans to keep the ticket prices low.”

As the fans filed out into the cool evening air on Monday, drained from what had clearly been an emotional show for Pearl Jam, the future of the Forum was the furthest thing from their minds as they stopped to buy T-shirts and discuss the performance.

Earlier, though, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder’s comments from the stage indicated that as long as the building is standing, playing the Forum will still be special for some bands.

“To us, it’s not Great Western,” he told the crowd, referring to the building’s corporate sponsor. “It’s still the Fabulous Forum, and we’re happy to be here.”