Tristate lawns had it rough this summer, but the drought of 2002 was particularly tough on the grass at Riverbend. Owners of the area's busiest concert venue couldn't be more pleased.

        Months of clear, blue skies saw unprecedented numbers of concertgoers stomping down Riverbend's withered lawn.

        “They swarmed on the day of the shows,” says Mike Smith, who manages Riverbend for its owner, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He said that the 3,600 lawn tickets sold in the two hours before Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' Aug. 13 show was the fastest walk-up sale he had seen in 16 years there.

        But the weak economy, together with single-night stands by perennial, multinight Riverbend sell-outs Jimmy Buffett and the Dave Matthews Band, helped keep overall attendance down to about 270,000.

        That's virtually unchanged from 2001, when Riverbend posted only 28 shows, a below-average year. This year's non-symphony concerts were back up to 33, but averaged smaller crowds at each show.

        “We were flat in terms of attendance, maybe a point or two above last year's totals,” said Mr. Smith. “There's no question that the (talent) buyers got a bit experimental,” he added, citing some of the summer's shows - by rookies and veterans alike - that failed to draw big crowds. “Usher, Hall & Oates, George Benson, the Scorpions, Willie Nelson - these were all good things for us to do. Trouble is, they just didn't do the numbers. But I would rather fill the dates and take the chance.”

        Some acts canceled, most notably this year's highly anticipated Ozzfest, the nu metal showcase anchored by metal vet and MTV star Ozzy Osbourne.

        The reason, says Steve Liberatore, of Clear Channel Entertainment's regional office in Indianapolis (which buys the talent for most of Clear Channel's Cincinnati shows), was low ticket sales.

        “Ozzfest was selling, it just wasn't selling to what the Columbus and Indianapolis shows were,” said Mr. Liberatore.

        CSO's Mr. Smith says there were other factors in the Osbournes writing off Cincinnati this summer.

        “Ozzfest, for whatever the reason, has played some markets year after year. It's become a tradition and gotten stronger in those markets. We've not had that luxury here.” Mr. Smith added that, when given the chance, Cincinnati is a strong metal market. “One year that Ozzfest didn't play here, Ozzy and Black Sabbath returned and played to 16,000 people.”

        Nonetheless, when tour routing comes down to a question of Cincinnati or Indianapolis/Columbus/Louisville, we usually lose out. Mr. Liberatore says it's because Cincinnati is known as a weak market for younger, newer music. The Lenny Kravitz/Pink package and Mary J. Blige's “No More Drama” tour canceled after disappointing advance sales.

        “The younger population of Cincinnati is shrinking,” said Mr. Liberatore. “The young ones are leaving, the older ones are staying.”

        That trend was reflected in Riverbend's success stories. The new middle-of-the-road - boomer rock and pop favorites -did big business in 2002.

        “It seems those people are the only ones buying tickets,” Mr. Liberatore stated. “When I look at the success of Riverbend, it was the Mellencamps, it was the Buffetts of today. The older people were supporting their music.”

        Acts with younger appeal didn't do so well, he added. “Usher, for example, didn't do the business we'd like to have seen.” Despite arriving with a hot record and his face on every teen mag cover, the soul star drew a mere 8,500.

        Still, in a summer that began with fears of the Black United Front's entertainment boycott, the Usher show was a major victory for the local concert business.

        In general, the older artists were the safest bets at Riverbend. That seemed to be true everywhere this summer.

        “I think Jimmy (Buffett) is one of the few recession-proof acts,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar, the concert industry journal.

        He says we're not alone in not being able to support every act.

        “It's been a tough summer for a lot of tours, and just about every act has had some market where they didn't meet expectations. We put too many acts on the road ... ” said Mr. Bongiovanni.

        He cites rising ticket costs and a weak economy as part of the problem. “The average ticket price had gone up $4.12 from the first six months of last year to the first six months of this year,” he explained.

        With the best seats heading into the middle three-figure range, lawn tickets and such low-dough shows as Incubus' Riverbend season closer (all tickets $25) become more attractive, increasing walk-up.

        “Lawn seating has remained relatively low priced, and since that's general admission and significantly discounted, people are waiting to see if the weather's nice, (saying) "We can go out and spend $25 and sit on the lawn,' ” Mr. Bongiovanni said.

        As performers routinely take 80 percent and more of ticket revenues, Mr. Bongiovanni says, “Promoters make more from the concessions and the parking and the popcorn and the beer than they do from the tickets.”

        Cheap lawn tickets are becoming concert-biz loss leaders - the fan who drives to the show in his Toyota and sits on the grass spends just as much to park and drink as the Lexus owner in the front row.

        The summer of 2003 is a long way off, but outside of new sod, another drought and multiple dates by Mr. Buffett and the DMB, Mr. Smith's shopping list remains unchanged: lots of strong veterans and a sprinkling of both riskier new acts and reunions.

        “The mix is still solid,” said Mr. Smith. “If it ain't broke, you don't need to fix it.”

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