A ‘Stone by any other name

There’s no reason to expect your Sprint PCS or VoiceStream cell phone will stop working properly when attending an outdoor concert in Kansas City this week. But while your phone’s reception should be fine, there is another cause for increased static.

On Tuesday the public learned that Sandstone Amphitheatre had a new name. Rechristened Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (catchy huh?), the KC market’s largest concert venue now shares a title with the largest U.S. cellular service company.

It’s tempting to ramble on about the frequency that the area’s music-based outlets have sold themselves to outside corporate interests Sandstone joins a growing list that includes KLZR, PitchWeekly and Avalanche Productions. Or to speculate about the consequences if Verizon falls into bankruptcy (anybody remember Enron Field in Houston?). But the real discussion is about practicality.

The renaming is a matter of convenience for some i.e. the cigar-chomping industrialists at Verizon Wireless and an inconvenience for everyone else. The new 11-syllable title doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. And the word “Sandstone” has been burned into the collective vernacular for 16 years.

Just what are we supposed to call the place, anyhow?

“The transition is going to take a while,” said Chamie McCurry, spokesperson for Clear Channel Entertainment, the company that’s leased Sandstone for the past decade. “It’s hard for me to not call it Sandstone. I definitely think this first summer when we’re transitioning everything it’s going to be difficult for some people. But we have all summer to brand ourselves. And we have all next year. By the time we start 2003, it will be a rarity to hear ‘Sandstone.'”

Not to put a kink in the corporate line, but people in 2003 are STILL going to be calling it Sandstone. Just look at Royals Stadium, er, I mean Kauffman Stadium. That place was renamed in 1993 to honor the team’s profoundly popular owner, and people continue to have trouble with the tag a decade later.

McCurry and staff found out about the impending changes four weeks ago. According to her, Clear Channel has already spent “tens of thousands of dollars” to hastily replace existing signage and products with the new logo. Those who go to Sunday night’s Usher gig will be able to witness the conversion firsthand.

Asked if local music fans resent this move as a corporate sellout, McCurry points to an interesting factor.

“Kansas City is very unique because this city does not have named venues,” she offered. “In St. Louis there’s Busch Stadium and Saavis Center. Everything is named. We’re really the first thing in Kansas City to be named, so there might be some hesitation from people. But the money is just going to go toward improvements around the venue and to help bring in better acts.”

That’s good to know, because I assumed the sale was somehow related to making more money for Clear Channel, itself a swelling monopoly. The deal is set up for only seven years the financial amount was undisclosed to the public so it’s entirely possible that the name will change again before the end of the decade.

“If another company would buy Verizon, we would switch to that other name,” McCurry added. “In the event that the business would go out of business, we would either approach other companies about new naming rights or we would come up with a new name.”

So save those Verizon Wireless Amphitheater key chains, they could be worth something on eBay in eight years (or less).

There are currently nine other venues in the country that feature the Verizon label tacked onto their titles. Three of these already share the exact name Verizon Wireless Amphitheater: ones in Selma, Tex.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Irvine, Calif.

It seemed appropriate to ask what people in those cities have decided to call their venues.

According to Wendi Thomas, arts and entertainment editor for the Charlotte Observer, “Everybody calls it ‘the Verizon.’ But (the building) keeps switching names and going up in syllables.”

And prior to being the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater?

“It was the Blockbuster Pavilion,” she said.

Likewise, Connections editor Peggy Blizzard of the Irvine World News said the concertgoers of her city also use the short-hand title “the Verizon.” That’s certainly a much more mechanical and less charming term for a structure formerly known as Irvine Meadows.

My advice? Since the others seem to be referring to their respective venues as “the Verizon,” it’s best to avoid duplicating that name. Let’s just call our Bonner Springs oasis of live music “the Amphitheater.” That way when the next (inevitable) corporate buyout occurs, the fat cats can spend millions to insert their own prefix while we locals won’t have to change a thing.