New Lenox concerts are expected to be back on financial track this year after 2016’s “over reach” netted six-figure losses, Mayor Tim Balderman said.
The village has presented a Triple Play series, which includes three separate concerts held at the New Lenox Commons since 2009. They have been historically successful, each year gaining popularity and profit. The demand for tickets was proven in 2015 when all 5,000 tickets for the series sold in a matter of hours — despite a price hike to $75 for the three concerts, up from $50 prior years.
Profits, which include sponsorships and alcohol sales, rose from $28,000 in 2013 to $42,000 in 2014, to $68,000 in 2015, Baldermann said in a previous interview.
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Last year, the village offered two different Triple Play series, but sales flopped to the tune of a $259,578 loss, Baldermann said. As a result, the total revenue for the 2016 series was $771,999.01, compared to total expenses of $1,031,577.04, he said.
One reason may have been that the shows are intended for New Lenox residents, requiring proof of residency to purchase the tickets. Many said they could not commit to six different shows in a single summer, Baldermann said.
“Hindsight being 20/20, it’s fair to say it was a bit of an overreach,” Baldermann told the Daily Southtown in 2016.
This year, the village returned to a the original formula of a single series, and ticket sales are expected to sell out by the first show, with over 4,000 sold already, he said.
Baldermann said it “definitely it was” a good idea returning to a single series — which is actually Triple Play plus one — a four-concert series this year for the same $75 price as the past two years for only three shows.
This year’s series includes Richard Marx with The Tubes on June 17; BoDeans with The Smithereens on July 22; Collective Soul with Gin Blossoms on Aug. 5; and Barenaked Ladies with Living Color Sept. 2.
The popularity of the concerts was due in large part to past headliners, such as Heart, Peter Frampton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon, Night Ranger, Styx, Pat Benatar and Bad Company.
The money raised from the concerts is used to fund other activities in the Commons that are offered for free, including Christmas in the Commons and summer movie nights.
Even factoring last year’s loss, the the concerts overall netted about $84,000 by the end of 2016.
The concerts also have provided $50,000 in fund-raising opportunities for New Lenox non-profit organizations, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Relay for Life, and Lincoln-Way music boosters, in exchange for their volunteering at the events. The New Lenox Fire Foundation raised $12,500 in 50/50 raffles last year alone, according to an earlier statement from the foundation.
Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.