Can benefit events raise even more money?

It's hard to imagine, but it's been five years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Crescent City and other parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Five years.

And, New Orleans simply hasn't been the same since in many respects.

In the weeks and months following Hurricane Katrina, we saw what generally happens in times of great tragedy. We saw the entertainment industry mobilize in a series of telethons and benefit concerts.

The biggest of the bigs -- U2, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Kanye West and on and on and on -- all line up in front of a camera and tell us of the tragic loss felt by the victims of the disaster.

A couple of months ago, country music's biggest stars and ZZ Top (odd addition to the bill) performed a giant, festival-style concert series to benefit flood victims in Nashville.

Recently, Mississippi native Faith Hill announced a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina-ravaged areas of Louisiana and Mississippi. And, rest assured, there are certainly areas of the New Orleans area that are still ravaged -- five years later.

Don't get me wrong. The benefit concert is a good thing. I'm quite certain millions and millions of dollars have been raised and much has been done in the way of rebuilding.

But while it's all well and good that lots of money is raised and the American public digs deep to go see their favorite artist and give to charity, I pose this question:

How much are the stars in for?

Let's take the Nashville Rising benefit concert that raised money for flood-torn Nashville in June.

That thing featured some really heavy hitters ... some of them Texas artists such as Brad Paisley, Leann Rimes, Miranda Lambert and the aforementioned little ol' band from Tejas.

Others on the bill included Blake Shelton, Martina McBride, Jason Aldean, Bill Ray and Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Brooks and Dunn and well, you get the idea.

All of these folks for the most part are multi-millionaires. I wonder if they donated to the cause, or did they get paid to perform a "benefit" concert. Maybe they didn't get their full guarantee appearance money.

But even though these benefit concerts raised millions, I can't help but think the could have raised much more. Carrie Underwood, Paisley, Swift, Brooks and Dunn, Rimes, McBride, perhaps the Cyrus family, Tim McGraw, Hill and perhaps ZZ Top could have each kicked in a million bucks a piece.

We could have been up to $10 million before we even started this thing.

I'm always interested in how the stars get out there and encourage us to give out of the goodness of our hearts. They use their celebrity to plead the case -- to be an advocate -- of the victims of disaster.

And it is tragic. Please don't misunderstand. We aren't minimalizing the impact Katrina or the floods in Tennessee had on residents of the region. It's true ... in many cases, people did lose everything they owned.

But while you hear about all the money generated by these concerts, you never hear about any stake the artists have in the event.

It's tough out here. The economy has taken it's toll on everyone. In fact, the artists will tell you they aren't doing as well as they once did because it's hard to make money in the music industry selling records.

Still, some of those artists will get $1 million or more per performance. They won't get all of that money as there are agents, public relations staff, managers and so forth to pay. Still, it seems a little hypocritical for these artists to ask the guy trying to scrape up $100 to attend a benefit concert to dig deeper and give more when the artists themselves are sitting on gold mines.

I know ... it's a little cynical. But we live in a cynical world. A cynical world. And it's a business of tough competitors.

Whoa ... I just went Jerry McGuire there. Sorry about that.

I guess I'd just like to see if the artists are backing their own causes when it comes to these types of benefit concerts. And, I know some of them do. Miranda Lambert is not only and advocate for, but a practitioner of, animal adoption.

She has a personal stake in her animal adoption cause. I believe Brad Paisley lost some of his instruments and music equipment in the Nashville flood.

Still, it's difficult not to be overly cynical when it comes to these things.

How much 'Law' is enough?

Interesting story out of Fresno, Calif. today -- where police appear to be issuing a crack down of sorts on nightlife in that city.

In fact, it is such a crack down -- according to recent stories in the Fresno Bee newspaper -- that some entertainment venues are canceling all-ages shows because of the threat, real or otherwise, of underage drinking. In some instances, the venues are canceling live shows altogether.

If the story is factual, the crack down isn't coming from police at all. The story indicates letters have been sent to the venues to be sure to abide the provisions set forth in their conditional use permits for the property. Live music may not have been covered in the permit.

Well, that's not a police issue at all. It is a planning and zoning department issue. Conditional use permits were issued by Fresno planning and zoning, and if the process is similar to that in Texas communities, the conditional use permits go through two approval processes -- on by the planning and zoning commission and the other from a vote of the city council, city commission, town council, city alderman or whathaveyou.

At any rate, the question for events in entertainment venues and festival events such as the Real. Texas. Festival. becomes "How much police presence and/or security is enough?"

There is one event that occurred in another community -- we won't mention any names here but let's just say this community is where I-30, Loop 820, I-35W and U.S. 287 kind of all converge.

I remember walking around the venue thinking, "My gosh there are lot of police officers here." It seemed like every fifth or sixth person you ran into at this event was a uniformed police officer -- and there were probably a number of "undercover" police officers working the crowd blending into their surroundings.

It just seemed too much ... it was palatable. It was kind of off-putting to be quite honest.

We believe we have the right number of police and private security present at RTF.

We've been fortunate and blessed that there hasn't been any kind of threatening criminal activity requiring intrusive action by police and/or security.

Now, this isn't to say the festival takes place in a cathedral and everyone is wearing their Sunday best and on their best behavior. We've had some instances where folks have gotten, oh, shall we say, a little excited.

But rather than act a complete fool, these folks have been gracious enough to remove themselves from the masses when asked to be removed. There was an instance where a gentleman tried to drive out of the parking areas at the festival -- much faster than he should have -- and hit a parked vehicle.

Sure, there have been "instances" of people behaving not so well at the festival.

But for the most part, people who attend the Real. Texas. Festival. are respectful. They have a great time and they are there for the party. But they don't draw attention to themselves and they understand there are people there to have a great time listening to great music or attending an Texas icon like the Mesquite Championship Rodeo.

Of course, by speaking of all this, there are those who will probably tell me I've just jinxed the event. But I really don't believe in that stuff. Jinxing or karma can be directed. As long as we continue to put a quality event that people want to see on the ground, building on the momentum that has been attained in years one through four of this thing ... well, we'll be fine.

There are number of other events that haven't been as fortunate.

Reality TV star Tila Tequila was pelted with rocks and debris at the recent Gathering of the Juggalos festival -- organized by the metal rap group Insane Clown Posse.

Gee, I didn't even know those guys were still relevant, let along headlining their own festival.

Of course, the Juggalos and the RTF is an apples and oranges comparison. Still, we have been very fortunate over the years to have great attendees to the festival, and we've hit on a pretty decent system for security and police.

We believe our festival is a nice, fun, safe entertainment option for the end of April and our security plan and the city police department play a tremendous hand in that.

Check us out.

Days the music died connected to Texas

Did everyone check out the news this week? There was a story that didn't get very much play, but we believe it to be quite significant.

Mark David Chapman is eligible for parole as he sits in prison serving a 20-years-to-life sentence for murder.

Mark David Chapman is the assassin who gunned down former Beatle John Lennon outside his New York City apartment in 1980. Chapman was a real man about it ... walked up and shot him in the back.

American singer/songwriter Don McClean had a huge hit in the 70s with the anthem, "American Pie." The song discusses the day the music died ... describing the plane crash in 1959 that killed Charles Hardin Holly -- also known as Buddy Holly -- as well as J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens.

I have maintained there have actually been four days that music died ... and I will be adding a fifth this year as I've come to understand the significance of another day the music died. In fact, the new day on the list might be the most significant of them all.

Interestingly, all of the days the music died have a Texas connection.

The subjects of the Don McClean song are truly representative of the day the music died. Lubbock's own Buddy Holly was a break through artist and might be one of the first "crossover" artists in history. His music was welcome on both mainstream country and renegade rock and roll stations.

The Big Bopper had a huge, monster hit with "That's What I Like." Ritchie Valens was only 17 at the time of the crash and his whole life and career in front of him.

Another day the music died occurred Sept. 20, 1973. A small plane carrying singer/songwriter Jim Croce crashed in a field killing him and the pilot. The Texas connection? Croce was flying to Sherman to perform a concert at Austin College.

Croce was a monster star and ushered in the great singer/songwriters of the 70s ... McClean, James Taylor (although Taylor had been an established star since the 60s) and others. I believe Croce would have put together a string of number one hits as impressive as anyone's out there.

Day the music died number three, the aforementioned death of John Lennon. The impact Lennon and his fellow Beatle bandmates (well, perhaps with the notable exception of Ringo) left on the music industry goes without saying. Even the death of John Lennon has a Texas connection ... Mark David Chapman was born May 10, 1955 in Fort Worth.

Aug. 27, 1990 -- another day the music died. Dallas' own and Texas guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan is killed in a helicopter crash leaving a Chicago concert. There are four or five guitar players credited with revolutionizing the way the instrument is played. Les Paul. Eddie Van Halen. Jimi Hendrix. Eric Clapton. One has to list Stevie Ray Vaughan as one such artist.

Who knows how significant SRV would be right now if he hadn't tragically been taken from us. He was able to take a niche music genre and take it mainstream. No blues artist had done it before and for my money, nobody has done it since. I supposed you can make a case for Clapton, but I think blues player Robert Cray put it best. "There are a lot of frustrated guitar players out there tryin to play Stevie's stuff."

Finally -- and I believe this is the most significant day the music died -- there is March 31, 1995. Selena Quintanilla-Perez is shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar in Corpus Christi. Selena was born in Lake Jackson and died in Texas as well ... completing the Texas connection for all of the days the music died.

Selena was only 23 when she was murdered by someone she thought she could trust. In fact, if the movie "Selena" starring Jennifer Lopez is accurate, Saldivar was allowed into the inner circle of the Quintanilla circle.

Why is this the most significant day the music died? Well, because a genre of music actually died when Selena was shot and killed.

Like the other artists in this list, Selena was a crossover artist. Her music was adored on both Spanish language and general market radio. The Tejano music scene exploded with the rise of Selena. Since her passing, Tejano music has really never been the same. Nobody else as emerged as the torch bearer for the genre.

The Real. Texas. Festival. has a special place for Tejano and for the legacy that former Texan Selena created. It is hoped that the next "Selena" will emerge and Tejano will once again rise to prominence as a relevant, top-of-mind style.