Core Entertainment Updates

[SteelTown]

Who's next for HECFI? Yes, the Who, Nine Inch Nails

By Kevin Werner
Arts & Entertainment
Sep 26, 2008

After hosting Bruce Springsteen in Hamilton earlier this year, Hamilton Entertainment Convention Facilities Inc. officials' encore presentations will be the super group The Who, Yes, Nine Inch Nails and Buddy Guy starting this fall.

"We were blown away by Bruce Springsteen," said Duncan Gillespie, chief executive officer for HECFI, which is still feeling the effects of the seminal concert event at Copps Coliseum.

"And we are not finished for 2008."

Mr. Gillespie said the Springsteen concert was the most popular one HECFI has hosted ever. He acknowledged it was a few years in the making after HECFI officials worked months to get the New Jersey native into Hamilton. Asked if Mr. Springsteen will make a surprise appearance next year, Mr. Gillespie demurred.

"We are doing everything we can," he said.

Still, the line-up HECFI revealed last week during a news conference last week has what Mr. Gillespie says is something for everyone.

Not only is The Who playing in Hamilton Oct. 22 as their only Canadian tour date, but HECFI has booked Yes, Nov. 4, Clint Black Nov. 13 at Hamilton Place, Nine Inch Nails Nov. 14 at Copps, Ani DeFranco Nov. 28, the popular Trans-Siberian Orchestra on Dec. 5, Chantal Kraviazuk on April 6 and Buddy Guy returns to Hamilton Place on April 22.

"This is a start for the new season," said Mr. Gillespie. "It will keep Hamilton on the entertainment map."

HECFI is still basking in the recognition of a recent poll that had HECFI's venues - Copps, Hamilton Place and the Hamilton Convention Centre - ranked 52 in a poll of top venues in the world by Pollstar.

"We are drawing further and further from Hamilton and other areas," he said.

"We really pride ourselves to bringing in acts that appeal to a wide variety of people."

Even though the line-up schedule was announced, Mr. Gillespie said HECFI officials are negotiating for something special.

"We are not finished for 2008," he said. "I just can't tell you."

He applauds the relationship HECFI has forged with Live Nation, one of North America's largest live events company, based in Beverly Hills, California, that helped to bring The Boss, and The Who to Hamilton audiences.

"This is a great partnership," he aid. "Live Nation has come to the table and is bringing in the acts that people want."

Mr. Gillespie said later HECFI officials are committee to a "vision" that provides an "exciting family experience" to area residents that is an alternative to driving to Toronto or Buffalo.

[SteelTown]

*fingers crossed* please please ppppllleeaasseee pretty please!

[matt602]

My girlfriend will go nuts if Nin comes to Copps. She faithfully attends their shows in Toronto.

[SteelTown]

^ Nine Inch Nails Nov. 14 @ Copps

[adam]

the outside of hamilton place looks like something out of a nine inch nails video anyway! LOL

[DC83]

Originally Posted by adam

the outside of hamilton place looks like something out of a nine inch nails video anyway! LOL

Especially after it rains, when the cement is all dark n stuff.

That'll be a good show!

[thistleclub]

Backstreet Boys Nov 9 @ Copps

[astroblaster]

got my tickets for NIN.. can't wait

[thistleclub]

Rise Against - Dec 9 @ Convention Centre

[thistleclub]

Chris Cornell - Nov 19 @ Convention Centre

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Rise Against - Dec 9 @ Convention Centre

Wow that's cool. I figured they would only ever play Toronto.

[thistleclub]

Bill Cosby - Mar 6 @ Hamilton Place

[waughste3]

Image Credit: Society of Canadian Cine Amateurs
http://www.sccaonline.ca/2007CONVENTION.htm
URL Image Link: http://www.sccaonline.ca/07Copps.jpg

Are those billboards high-definition?

Is the scoreboard high-definition?

Is it possible to add luxury skyboxes in between the spectators entrance to the upper/lower seating bowls?

[raisethehammer]

the billboard must be high def. At nightime you can see the light from it back at York/Queen area.
I think the arena was built with the ability to 'raise the roof' and add in boxes.

[go_leafs_go02]

That billboard and the scoreboard are NOT high definition.

The billboard outside is a very early edition of colour LED screens. However it definitely is not HD.

this is an example of HD:


Note how crisp and clear the picture and the text and words on the scoreboard is. It looks like it is printed on there more than a graphical display.

[waughste3]

Whoa! Now that is high-definition. It looks great even in that not-so-clear photo. In that case, improvements I suggest would be to add more luxury boxes, get some brand new high-definition billboards, sell off the current billboards, replace the scoreboard with a larger HD one, take down the advertisement panels from the edge of the seating bowl and install a power ring all around it, and then upgrade the media control room.

Speaking of improvements, has anyone seen the new seats and what it looks like?

[go_leafs_go02]

check the "how goes the hockey team" thread for pictures of the arena bowl.

at this rate, it will take 3-4 more years to have every seat replaced.
blue looks good though (compared to what was originally there)

[drpgq]

So is Leonard playing Copps or Hamilton Place?

From NP:
While tickets for Leonard Cohen’s upcoming North American tour didn’t officially go on sale from Ticketmaster until yesterday, that didn’t stop some devotees of the Canadian legend from landing seats to the show even earlier via the ticket-seller’s affiliate site, TicketsNow — albeit at substantially inflated prices.

It’s enough to draw more ire against Ticketmaster, which earlier this week settled a lawsuit regarding its online sales of Bruce Springsteen tickets through TicketsNow.

On Monday, seats for Cohen’s upcoming Canadian shows were made available for hundreds of dollars more than their intended asking price via TicketsNow.

The TicketsNow site was reportedly charging between $568 and $856 for tickets with a $99 to $250 face value (before an $85 to $128 service charge). The sale was taken down between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, but not without escaping the notice of Cohen’s camp.

“The reality is that somebody will pay $1,000 for a Cohen ticket, but [Cohen] wants to keep it at reasonable prices for people, so this undermines this totally,” Duncan Gillespie, the chief executive officer of Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum, told the CBC.

Cohen, who starts his official North American tour in Austin, Tex., on April 2, is scheduled to play Hamilton in May. Other Canadian stops include Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Quebec City, Ottawa, Kingston, Ont., and London, Ont.

Gillespie said that Ticketmaster promised to take care of the matter after receiving complaints about the TicketNow sales.

“Sometimes it’s a matter in large corporations like that of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing,” he told the CBC. “Is that understandable? Yes. Is that excusable? No. Do they need to correct it? Absolutely. We’re not happy and I think fans are justifiably very unhappy.”

Earlier this month, Ticketmaster was served with a $500-million class action suit that claims the company violated Ontario’s ticket-scalping laws. The lawsuit came about after a man from Toronto, who was trying to purchase tickets to a Smashing Pumpkins show, says he was redirected to more expensive seats available at TicketsNow after the Ticketmaster website informed him the show was sold out.

Leah Collins, Canwest News Service

[Leonard Cohen wants to make some money on his current tour — but he's not looking to soak people with scalpers' prices. Photo by Diego Tuson / AFP / Getty Images]

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by drpgq

So is Leonard playing Copps or Hamilton Place?

The email I received from HECFI yesterday stated Copps.

[astroblaster]

Originally Posted by FairHamilton

The email I received from HECFI yesterday stated Copps.

can I sign up for HECFI email updates? i couldn't find anything on their site about signing up for a newsletter