Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 18, 1993 TAG: 9305180104
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Vern Danielsen, chairman of the Civic Center Commission, said Monday the center wants to avoid a repeat of an incident last month when a woman complained that she was assaulted by crew members for Guns N' Roses.
"We need to caution promoters so something like this doesn't happen again," Danielsen said.
Danielsen said he has received several complaints about the Guns N' Roses concert, but he said the crowd was well-behaved as a whole. Commissioner James W. Stephens said he, too, has received a few complaints about the concert.
The Guns N' Roses performance confirmed that rock concerts are one of the biggest moneymakers for the center.
Ticket sales for the concert totaled $244,800, with 11,000 spectators.
By comparison, ticket sales for six performances of the Ringling Brothers Circus last month were $225,721. The circus attracted 24,872 spectators.
Bob Chapman, Civic Center manager, said the circus didn't do as well as last year when it attracted 36,547 spectators with ticket sales of $348,908.
Chapman said the circus expected smaller audiences this year because it stopped in Roanoke for two consecutive years.
For cities the size of Roanoke, the Ringling Brothers Circus usually stops only once every three years, Chapman said.
But the circus got caught in a scheduling bind and decided to come back to Roanoke this year, he said, adding it probably won't return until 1996.
Chapman said the circus attendance might have also been hurt by several other family shows at the center recently.
by CNB