More concerts could be in store

Downtown concert

Strike up the next band.

The promoter for Wednesday evening’s Wilco concert said he was ecstatic with how the event fit into downtown Lawrence, and he hopes to do three to four a year at the site near Ninth and New Hampshire streets.

“We thought it went smashingly well,” said Brett Mosiman with Lawrence-based Pipeline Productions. “I thought the site performed great, the staff performed great and everywhere we went afterward seemed full.”

City leaders also said they were pleased with how the concert – which ran from about 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. – affected downtown. City Manager David Corliss said the city received one complaint about trash left in a yard, but Corliss said the city’s police, fire and public works departments reported no major incidents with the event.

Corliss said the city was open to hearing proposals for future concerts at the site, but wants to receive feedback from businesses and residents. The city doesn’t own the vacant lots at the corner, but had to give approval to the concert because it required closing a portion of New Hampshire Street and because alcohol was served.

Several businesses and residents in the area said the concert worked out well for them.

“Business basically was about double what it was for even a Friday or Saturday night,” said Sarah Clark, manager of the Bourgeois Pig, a coffee shop and bar just north of the concert site.

Several residents in the 900 block of Rhode Island, just east of the concert site, said the event was noticeable but manageable. Many residents listened from their patios or watched from their roofs.

“I thought it was cool,” Michael Horvath said. “I thought it brought a good vibe and energy to the neighborhood.”

The owners of the property said they were open to reviewing requests for other concerts on a case-by-case basis, but said they had no long-range plans to make the site into a more permanent concert venue.

“Our ultimate goal is still to develop the site,” said Martin Moore, who leads a Lawrence-based group that is trying to attract retail and commercial development to the property.

Film festival

Wednesday night’s Wilco concert was just the first of several events planned for the vacant lots at Ninth and New Hampshire streets.

Downtown Lawrence Inc. leaders will use the lots to host the annual Downtown Lawrence Film Festival. The group will show classic films featuring old-time stars, such as John Wayne, Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart, on the north wall of the city’s parking garage near Ninth and New Hampshire streets.

The festival will feature five free films throughout the summer. Each showing will feature live music at 8 p.m., prize drawings at 9 p.m. and the film at 9:15 p.m. The dates and shows are:

¢ June 5, “The Maltese Falcon”

¢ June 19, “Notorious”

¢ July 3, “The Postman Always Rings Twice”

¢ Aug. 7, “Key Largo”

¢ Aug. 21, “Dark Command”

The intersection also is expected to host several thousand people as part of a free welcome event for participants in the upcoming Ironman Triathlon competition that will be at Clinton Lake.

On June 13, the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau and other organizations will host Lawrence Live, an event that will feature three bands, including national recording artists Poi Dog Pondering.