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Comic relief--This guy says he is already selling Kid Rock's Beer!


Pitch Concerts at Rita’s Stable

Montauk man has a grand plan to raise money for himself and many others

By Janis Hewitt

(07/09/2009) Artie Schneider, the owner of the Memory Motel, has a grand plan to help restore the finances of East Hampton Town. He has Janis Hewitt
Artie Schneider told the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee that he can bring such performers as Elton John, Kid Rock, and Cold Play to a 2010 summer concert series he is proposing in Montauk.
proposed a series of concerts next summer in Montauk featuring such big-name acts as Cold Play, Elton John, the Doobie Brothers, Jack Johnson, James Taylor, Kid Rock, Billy Joel, Steely Dan, Paul McCartney, and Alicia Keys.

“I see it selling out,” Mr. Schneider said. The concerts would be held at Rita’s Stables off West Lake Drive on July 12 and Aug. 16 in 2010. If they were successful, he would add a third concert in June of the following year.

Specifically, he said, the potential lineup for the first concert would start with Vinyl Stash, followed by Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynrd, and Willie Nelson as headliners, he said. The one in August would open with Suddyn, a local band that has experienced some popularity in Ireland, and then feature Billy Joel, Don Henley, and Nine Days.

Mr. Schneider expects the concerts to draw about 6,000 people to the 18-acre field next to the stable. Over $1 million would be distributed to the town in revenue, he said.

He said he was sure he could get the big names to perform in Montauk. “A band is a product,” he said. “You just find out who their manager is and see how much they want. I know I can guarantee Kid Rock because I already sell his beer at my place.”

Rita Foster confirmed that she has agreed to the concept as long as the town permits it. Several years ago, she deeded the 18 acres to the town as a dedicated agricultural reserve. The town used $1 million from the community preservation fund to buy the development rights to the property.

“I only wanted farming there instead of housing,” Ms. Foster said, adding that she was “leaving it all up to Artie to find out” if the reserve status would preclude using the property for the concerts. If they were to go through, she said, she would remove all the animals for the day.

In May, Mr. Schneider had suggested staging the concerts at the Edward V. Ecker County Park at the end of Navy Road. Members of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee told him that the road would not be able to handle the traffic, and that parking would also be problematic. He suggested using buses to shuttle concert-goers from parking lots elsewhere in Montauk.

Returning to the advisory committee with the latest version of his proposal, he suggested parking cars at the eastern and western overlooks, the lower parking lot at the Montauk Lighthouse, the Theodore Roosevelt County Park at Third House, the soccer field on Edgemere Road, the Town Highway Department yard on Industrial Road, and elsewhere. He has not yet secured permission to use any of these places.

There would be V.I.P. parking for as many as 60 vehicles at Rita’s Stables, he said.

Security would be provided by the East Hampton Town Police Department and by Charlie McCardle Associates, a security firm that hires retired police officers. Drug-sniffing dogs would patrol the site, he said, “because you know, it’s a concert, someone’s going to light something up.”

When the Back at the Ranch concerts were held at the Deep Hollow Ranch several years ago, traffic and the property’s status as an agricultural reserve proved problematic. Whether a similar series could be held on Ms. Foster’s property would ultimately be up to the town board, whose members could not be reached by press time.

Lisa Grenci, the chairwoman of the advisory committee, said at the meeting that the town is not in the concert business and that it would be illegal to hold a concert on an agricultural reserve whose development rights were purchased with community preservation fund money.

Mr. Schneider argued that the concerts could raise much-needed revenues for the town and specifically for Montauk. He said he would get a 10-percent fee off the top for his Memory Motel Productions, estimated in the proposal at $188,285, and that Ms. Foster would receive a 5-percent fee of $94,143 for the use of her land.

But most of the profit, he said, would be split 50-50 between the town and various organizations in Montauk that are in need of money.

He offered a list of 20 potential beneficiaries, including the Montauk Playhouse Community Center for its aquatic center and theater, the Montauk Lighthouse, the Montauk, Amagansett, Springs, and East Hampton Fire Departments, the Montauk Chamber of Commerce for its fireworks display (which is in danger of ending when its contract expires with the Grucci family after next summer), the Montauk Downtown Association, which has been defunct for several years, the Montauk Village Association, the East Hampton Town Code Enforcement Office, the Peconic Land Trust, and the East Hampton Town Parks, Police, Highway, and Sanitation Departments.

According to a seven-page proposal that Mr. Schneider passed around at Monday’s committee meeting, 4,500 general admission tickets would be sold for $225 apiece, 60 onstage admission tickets for $3,500 apiece, and 500 V.I.P. tickets at $750 apiece.

One sponsorship that comes with naming rights would be sold for $25,000, while five “supplemental” sponsors would each pay $12,500, and 10 “contingency” sponsorships would be offered for $5,000 each. Additional revenue will come from T-shirt sales, advertising, concession sales, and parking fees of $10 per car.

Mr. Schneider concluded that the town would net about $1.1 million.

It would take him at least five months to organize and plan for the concerts, he said. “That’s why I’m starting now, so you guys have seven months to throw rocks at me, and I’ll come back each time with all the answers.”

http://www.easthamptonstar.com/dnn/Home/News/ConcertsatStable/tabid/9389/Default.aspx