Contact the City on Fargodome upgrades / poor operations

[TAILG8R]

Great, did they say there are upgrades in the works?

He said they have a committee looking into things that sounded like he was reading off a list he lifted straight from Bisonville. I won't hold my breathe but I'm glad they are at least looking into things.

One thought that crossed my mind is I hope they don't think creating new opportunities for the elite(either $$ or TM points) is going to solve this problem.

[oldmantutters]

He said they have a committee looking into things that sounded like he was reading off a list he lifted straight from Bisonville. I won't hold my breathe but I'm glad they are at least looking into things.

One thought that crossed my mind is I hope they don't think creating new opportunities for the elite(either $$ or TM points) is going to solve this problem.

I have a hard time seeing how any band-aid fix will have a meaningful impact to the gameday experience. I don't like concerts so I haven't been to one in probably close to 15 years at the Fargodome, but I assume that experience isn't any better that a football game?

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[HerdBot]

I just thought of an awesome idea for the convention center attached to the dome. This is a long post, but keep reading because it makes sense.

There has been talk of a convention center attached to the dome, but what the city really lacks is an indoor facility for those medium sized concerts like 2,000 and up. I'm talking about the concerts that used to be in the Fargo Civic Center (until the city let it go to crap) and The Venue @ The Hub.

Anyone remember The Venue @ The Hub in Fargo? It used to be the Playmakers Pavilion. The concert hall was arguably the peak of the concert industry here. It didn't close because concerts didn't draw. The building was a mess and was a mix of like 5 bars with no restaurants. They eventually sold it to the Avalon, who is booming by using the building for weddings and corporate events. They don't use it for concerts because it doesn't fit into their business model.

Instead of building a plain boring convention center attached to the dome that can only be used for conventions, why not try to duplicate the success of the concerts at The Venue @ The Hub?

The Hub had a capacity of 2,700 when they added the Mezzanine level.

It would be cheaper to construct this than some fancy theater or arena that requires seats. It would even be cheaper to do this than remodel the Civic. This could still be used for major conventions.

It wouldn't compete with any existing local concert venue and it fills a huge void.

Here's what the the 2800 capacity Hub was like.





It hosted more concerts in a year than we will see every 5 years now. There were probably 30-40 shows a year, most of them around 2K. Some of the bands that played there included Motorhead, Black Label Society, Limp Bizkit, 311, Volbeat, Scott Weiland, Five Finger Death Punch, Korn, The Sword, Papa Roach, Lamb of God, Tech N9ne, Trivium, Bassnectar, etc. At the time, these were massive shows.

Sold out capacity was 2800. None of these shows could happen in 2022 because we don't have the right sized venue. It doesn't exist. So they skip Fargo and go to a city like Sioux Falls.

The dome is way too big. Scheels arena is way too big. Bluestem, The Lights and Fargo Brewing is outdoors so only usable for 3 months - plus noise ordinances would shut it down early.

Fargodome - Too big for shows like that
Fargo Civic - Building is shit
Scheels Arena - 6,000
Bluestem Amphitheater - 3,000 seasonal
The Lights West Fargo - 3000-4000? seasonal
Fargo Brewing Outdoors - seasonal not all ages
Fargo Theater - 1,000 capacity
The Sanctuary - 700 capacity

So there you have it. Add a mezzanine level to the convention center and make one end a stage. You now have a venue that can have 1 concert there every week. The same shows that used to go the The Hub and Civic that now go to Sioux Falls. It will keep people here who love concerts and it will draw anywhere from 500-1000 people to the area every week. That's between 26,000 to 52,000 more people coming to Fargo every year to spend money, stay at hotels, etc. 52,000 people is equal to 2 sold out max capacity shows at the Dome. AND you would have a convention center attached to the Fargodome. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Then you can tear the civic down and let them raise the money to build a performing arts center on the same property.

The dome would make a killing on concessions and share staffing. You could still have use it like a normal convention center. A hotel would kill to build in front of it and there bar and restaurant would be packed. College kids would have weekly concerts they could walk to.

There is no way the private sector will build something like this for concerts.

[Grizzled]

The 2022 City Budget meeting from Mayor Mahoney had the below tidbit in it... also it said the dome would be presenting upgrades in the next few months. Well that was back in August. 6 months later and still no plans. However it was mentioned in the 2022 State of The City video released last week that they would be adding more women's bathrooms and other upgrades
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uSSXf9ajgwo

FARGODOME
Thirty years ago, a group of community leaders got together and assembled a plan to rally the community around the construction of this game changer. They said it was the right time and the right plan. It has served us well: Bison football, Garth Brooks, Pink, Monster Jam, the largest Sandbag-filling site in the nation and more. But if you listen to our FARGODOME experts, consultants and consumers of the facility, it needs improvements to maintain and expand its competitive advantage. We are falling behind our competition in Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, Grand Forks and even Bismarck. When we see our facility full to capacity (18,500 for football games or 22,000 for concerts), the restrooms, corridors, entryways and facilities are no longer enough. During concerts such as Garth Brooks and Pink with a packed house, we hear countless complaints of congestion, wait times and lines.

In shows where we fill half the house, the per-person consumer spend in the arena is TWICE as much as the per-person purchases during “full house” shows.
People communicate their opinions with their dollars by simply refraining from buying things during their visits when we’re full. That is a missed opportunity for us. So, just as we heard 30 years ago, RIGHT NOW is the RIGHT TIME to do something! Rob Sobolik and his team will be bringing forward the plan to take us to that next level in the next few months and how we get there. We need it and the community of Fargo needs to retain its competitive advantage in this vital category.

I may ask them where they got the data for half capacity spend vs full capacity spend.

[NDSUBowler]

I went to many concerts at The Venue...that was a fun place for a packed show.

[shorthairsrus]

I will never forget the day that the vikings were going to play the dome vs the lions and we didnt have the lights lit properly in the dome for tv that and the dome staff didnt want to work overnight.


My .02 on the food vendors --- charge em less and open it up privately and serve BEER. i wish that would of been done precovid when employees still worked. All this stuff is great if you can find the people to put in the part time hours to serve.

Funny story TGtg--- First timer walks into our tent. Its a windy cold day - i dont remember what game; anyway she looks up at the top of the dome and says I hope that wind doesnt bother the kicking. Looking at that building first time in fargo - she thought it was open. I gave her a beer and said i hope not.

I look foward to any change. I like the shack; food options and 16oz buschhhhhhhhssss

[HerdBot]

I will never forget the day that the vikings were going to play the dome vs the lions and we didnt have the lights lit properly in the dome for tv that and the dome staff didnt want to work overnight.


My .02 on the food vendors --- charge em less and open it up privately and serve BEER. i wish that would of been done precovid when employees still worked. All this stuff is great if you can find the people to put in the part time hours to serve.

Funny story TGtg--- First timer walks into our tent. Its a windy cold day - i dont remember what game; anyway she looks up at the top of the dome and says I hope that wind doesnt bother the kicking. Looking at that building first time in fargo - she thought it was open. I gave her a beer and said i hope not.

I look foward to any change. I like the shack; food options and 16oz buschhhhhhhhssss

Was that when the Metrodome collapsed and the Gophers Stadium had like 5 feet of snow everywhere, including the seats?

[TAILG8R]

Was that when the Metrodome collapsed and the Gophers Stadium had like 5 feet of snow everywhere, including the seats?

They ended up playing a "home" game in Detroit on a Tuesday. If only we would have known how common Tuesday night games would become

[HerdBot]

I went to many concerts at The Venue...that was a fun place for a packed show.

It was a gold mine for the city and brought in an insane amount of people. Not the 25K Garth Brooks would bring in, but over the course a year...WAY MORE! I read an old article, and it was the 96th largest club in the entire country. When you combine that with Fargo being the home to Jade Presents, one of the largest promoters in the world and it was nuts. Unfortunately when that place closed, Jade didn't have a venue of that size to work with. It's gotten so bad, he's now starting booking concerts at the Butler Machinery Arena at the West Fargo Fairgrounds.

I did a google search and the Venue over a 4 year window was mindblowing. Kids now may look at it and not realize just how big it was in the early 2010's. Some of these bands are unknown today but were huge at the time. Others are now playing the Fargodome and Alerus Center.

https://www.setlist.fm/venue/the-ven...-4bd617f2.html

2014: Hairball, GWAR, WookieFoot, The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Frank lero, Limp Bizkit, Starset, Devour the Day, All That Remains, Eli Young Bnd, 311, Sevendust, Gemini Syndrome, Pop Evil, Black Label Society, Kyng, Wovenwar, The Flaming Lips, Machine Head, Anti Mortem, Gavin DeGraw, Chevelle, Highly Suspect, Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite, Carnifex, Whitechapel, Revocation, Rivers of Nihil, Fit for an Autopsy, Devil Driver, Lacuna Coil, Theory of a Deadman, Adelitas Way, Eve to Adam, Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts, Volbeat, Trivium, Digital Summer, Hairball, Atmosphere, Shannon Curfman, Machine Gun Kelly, Primus, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Kid Ink, A$AP Ferg, Charlie Mizza,

2013: Bullet for my Valentine, Black Veil Brides, Stars in Stereo, Throw the Fight, Five Finger Death Punch, Miss May I, Escape The Fate, Gemni Syndrome, Murder by Death, Asking Alexandria, Upon a Burning Body, Motionless in White, The Cult, The Avett Brothers, Killswitch Engage, Darkest Hour, Miss May I, Ice Nine Kills, We Came as Romabns, Like Moths to Flames, Lamb of God, Anchiients, Decapitated, Papa Roach, Lionize, The Sword, Clutch, Otherwise, Escape the Fate, FireHouse, Opeth, Katatonia, AWOLNATION, HELLYEAH, Nonpoint , All That Remains, Sum 41, Hollywood Undead, In Flames, Demon Hunter, All Shall Perish, Battlecross, Umphrey's McGee, Grace Potter, All Time Low, ONE (Metallica Tribute), Chance the Rapper, Pretty Lights, Waka Flocka Flame, Killswitch Engage, Pentatonix, Easton Corbin, Bassnectar,

2012:Korn, The Black Dahlia Murder, Dethklok, Bassnectar, All That Remains, Trampled by Turtles, Lucy Michelle, Dropkick Murphys, Teenage Bottlerocket, Ill Nino, Static X, Kirko Bangz, Cash Out, LoveRance, Tyga, Iggy Azalea, Atmosphere, Creed, Halestorm, Emphatic, Shinedown, In This Moment, Yonder Mountain String Band, Vince Neil, Black Dahlia Murder, Volbeat, Clutch, HELLYEAH, Gretchen Wislon, Yelawolf, Buddy Guy, Sebastian Bach, Buckcherry, Otherwise, T-Pain, Gym Class Heres,

2011: Slaughter, Enuff Z Nuff, Bang Tango, Hatebreed, All That Remains, Five Finger Death Punch, Pop Evil, Alter Bridge, Emphatic, Theory of a Deadman, Adelitas Way, Black Stone Cherry, Hollywood Undead, New Years Day, Jack's Mannequin, Screaming Females, Against Me!, Saving Abel, Dokken, Quiet Riot, Umphrey's McGee, As I lay Dying, Winds of Plague, After the Buriel, Motorhead, Clutch, Valient Thorr, Against Me!, Stone Sour, Art of Dying, Slightly Stoopid, Meat Puppets,

2010: Korn, The Devil Wears Prada, Silverstein, For Today, Jackyl, Trapt, Hairball, Warrant, Final Drive, Filter, Middle Class Rut, Danzig,Marduk, Toxic Holocaust, Withered, Possessed, Coheed and Cambria, Clutch, Bliss n Eso, Railroad Earth, The Gaslight Anthem, The Menzingers, Fake Problems, L.A. Guns, Hinder, Old 97's, Modest Mouse, Great White, Korn, Tech N9ne, Mastodon, Between the Buried, Baroness, Valient, Skid Row, FireHouse, NOFX, Teenage Bottlerocket, Tony Sly, Hairball, Angels & Airwaves, Say Anything, Bret Michaels, Aaron Lewis, Killswitch Engage, Dark Tranquillity, The Used, 3OH!3, Down with Webster, Hinder, Papa Roach, Tech N9ne / Kutt / Krizz Kaliko / Prozak / Cognito

2009: Queensryche, Taking Back Sunday, Anberlin, All That Remains, Lacuna Coil, Maylene, Taking Dawn, Ben Folds, Kate Miller - Heidke, Lamb of God, GWAR, Trivium, Mushroomhead, (hed) pe, Straight Line Stitch, Supe, David Cook, Poisoned, Arch Aliies, Sevendust, Jackyl, Down, Mayday Parade, Mest, Hollywood Undead, Les Claypool, Kings X Teenage Bottlerocket, Tesla, Dropkick Murphys, In This Moment, Mudvayne, Job for a Cowboy

2008: August Burns Red, Puddle of Mudd, 36 Crazyfists, Atmosphere, 3 Inches of Blood, Type O Negative, Hatebreed, Five Finerg Death Punch, Tech N9ne, The Hives, Paul Wall, Hairball, The Black Crows, Red, Puddle Of Mudd, Safetysuit, Kingdom of Sorrow, Gwar, Toxic Holocaust, Trivium, All That Remains, Trivium, All That Remans, Shinedown, Seether, The Hives

2007: Lamb of God, Trivium, Machine Head, Gojira, Jars of Clay, Modest Mouse, Social Distortion, Static X, Hairball, Saliva, Shadows Fall, GWAR, Chevelle, Finerg Eleven, Strata, Otep, Third Eye Blind, In This Moment, Lacuna Coil, Stolen Babies, The Gathering, Yellowcard, Blue October, Love Drug, Senses Fail, From Autumn to Ashes, Brighteyes

PRE 2007 IT WAS PLAYMAKERS

2006:The Thermals, Cursive, TV on the Radio, Gin Blossoms, Particle, Frank Black, Killswitch Engage, Bury Your Dead, Hatebreed, 2 Cents,

2005: Ministry, Todd Snider, Saliva, Theory of a Deadman, WASP, La Guns, Steven Pearcy, Modest Mouse, The Bled, Underoath, Veda, Static X, Ill Nino, Opiate for the Masses

2004: Thursday, Piebald, Head Automatica, The Bronx

2003: Less Than Jake, Yellowcard, Mae, Rufio, Queensryche, Reel Big Fish, Zebrahead, AFI, Hot Water Music, Bleeding Through

2002: Judas Priest, Kottonmouth Kings, Mix Mob

2001: Nickelback, American Hi Fi, Phantom Planet,

You attach a venue like this to the Fargodome next to NDSU Campus and will take the city to the next level. We will be the entertainment capital in this part of the country.

But I'm sure the will fuck it up somehow and not do it right. It'll probably look like the old Centennial Hall.

[oldmantutters]

It was a gold mine for the city and brought in an insane amount of people. Not the 25K Garth Brooks would bring in, but over the course a year...WAY MORE! I read an old article, and it was the 96th largest club in the entire country. When you combine that with Fargo being the home to Jade Presents, one of the largest promoters in the world and it was nuts. Unfortunately when that place closed, Jade didn't have a venue of that size to work with. It's gotten so bad, he's now starting booking concerts at the Butler Machinery Arena at the West Fargo Fairgrounds.

I did a google search and the Venue over a 4 year window was mindblowing. Kids now may look at it and not realize just how big it was in the early 2010's. Some of these bands are unknown today but were huge at the time. Others are now playing the Fargodome and Alerus Center.

https://www.setlist.fm/venue/the-ven...-4bd617f2.html

2014: Hairball, GWAR, WookieFoot, The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Frank lero, Limp Bizkit, Starset, Devour the Day, All That Remains, Eli Young Bnd, 311, Sevendust, Gemini Syndrome, Pop Evil, Black Label Society, Kyng, Wovenwar, The Flaming Lips, Machine Head, Anti Mortem, Gavin DeGraw, Chevelle, Highly Suspect, Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite, Carnifex, Whitechapel, Revocation, Rivers of Nihil, Fit for an Autopsy, Devil Driver, Lacuna Coil, Theory of a Deadman, Adelitas Way, Eve to Adam, Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts, Volbeat, Trivium, Digital Summer, Hairball, Atmosphere, Shannon Curfman

2013: Bullet for my Valentine, Black Veil Brides, Stars in Stereo, Throw the Fight, Five Finger Death Punch, Miss May I, Escape The Fate, Gemni Syndrome, Murder by Death, Asking Alexandria, Upon a Burning Body, Motionless in White, The Cult, The Avett Brothers, Killswitch Engage, Darkest Hour, Miss May I, Ice Nine Kills, We Came as Romabns, Like Moths to Flames, Lamb of God, Anchiients, Decapitated, Papa Roach, Lionize, The Sword, Clutch, Otherwise, Escape the Fate, FireHouse, Opeth, Katatonia, AWOLNATION, HELLYEAH, Nonpoint , All That Remains, Sum 41, Hollywood Undead, In Flames, Demon Hunter, All Shall Perish, Battlecross, Umphrey's McGee, Grace Potter, All Time Low, ONE (Metallica Tribute),

2012:Korn, The Black Dahlia Murder, Dethklok, Bassnectar, All That Remains, Trampled by Turtles, Lucy Michelle, Dropkick Murphys, Teenage Bottlerocket, Ill Nino, Static X, Kirko Bangz, Cash Out, LoveRance, Tyga, Iggy Azalea, Atmosphere, Creed, Halestorm, Emphatic, Shinedown, In This Moment, Yonder Mountain String Band, Vince Neil, Black Dahlia Murder, Volbeat, Clutch, HELLYEAH, Gretchen Wislon, Yelawolf, Buddy Guy, Sebastian Bach

2011: Slaughter, Enuff Z Nuff, Bang Tango, Hatebreed, All That Remains, Five Finger Death Punch, Pop Evil, Alter Bridge, Emphatic, Theory of a Deadman, Adelitas Way, Black Stone Cherry, Hollywood Undead, New Years Day, Jack's Mannequin, Screaming Females, Against Me!, Saving Abel, Dokken, Quiet Riot, Umphrey's McGee, As I lay Dying, Winds of Plague, After the Buriel, Motorhead, Clutch, Valient Thorr, Against Me!

2010: The Devil Wears Prada, Silverstein, For Today, Jackyl, Trapt, Hairball, Warrant, Final Drive, Filter, Middle Class Rut, Danzig,Marduk, Toxic Holocaust, Withered, Possessed, Coheed and Cambria, Clutch, Bliss n Eso, Railroad Earth, The Gaslight Anthem, The Menzingers, Fake Problems, L.A. Guns, Hinder, Old 97's, Modest Mouse, Great White, Korn, Tech N9ne, Mastodon, Between the Buried, Baroness, Valient, Skid Row, FireHouse, NOFX, Teenage Bottlerocket, Tony Sly, Hairball, Angels & Airwaves, Say Anything, Bret Michaels, Aaron Lewis, Killswitch Engage, The Devil Wears Prada, Dark Tranquillity, The Used

2009: Queensryche, Taking Back Sunday, Anberlin, All That Remains, Lacuna Coil, Maylene, Taking Dawn, Ben Folds, Kate Miller - Heidke, Lamb of God, GWAR, Trivium, Mushroomhead, (hed) pe, Straight Line Stitch, Supe, David Cook, Poisoned, Arch Aliies, Sevendust, Jackyl, Down, Mayday Parade, Mest, Hollywood Undead, Les Claypool, Kings X Teenage Bottlerocket, Tesla, Dropkick Murphys, In This Moment, Mudvayne,

So many more shows that that happened there. Judas Priest played there in the early 2000's. So did Nickelback.

This place was packed over a decade ago and the metro is probably 50K people bigger. You attach a venue like this to the Fargodome next to NDSU Campus and will take the city to the next level. We will be the entertainment capital in this part of the country.

But I'm sure the will fuck it up somehow and not do it right.

Like I said in an earlier post, I'm not a big fan of concerts but it's easy to see that the city is missing out on a lot revenue when you post that list.