Remember when we used to sit around complaining that Sioux Falls didn't have an adequate sized events center for concerts and other festivals. It wasn't long ago.

It also got me thinking. The Denny Sanford Premier Center opened at the absolute perfect time, whether that was by design on not.

Fifteen years ago country artists like Clint Black, Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks ruled. Fifteen years ago the technical revolution of music being available online was just starting. You could go into any box store like Walmart, Shopko or Target and there were isles and isles of music for you to buy.

Those 3 artists I just mentioned were making a great living selling music. They were still playing concerts, but they didn't have to play 300 dates a year to thrive.

Then digital music came along and it changed everything. Look at Garth Brooks. Yes, it was probably good timing for him to stay home and be Dad and retire from the business for a few years, but what I think he was really doing was sitting back and coming up with a way to make REAL money, like he had by selling MILLIONS of CD's.

Move forward 10 years to 2000. The major acts were touring, but many of them were starting to play festivals, teaming up to turn a weekend into an event instead of just a concert. The huge venues were selling out, but smaller sites like Sioux Falls sat empty during summer months.

Then the perfect storm started. Some complained about the evolution of Bro Country, you know the Country Music that featured ball caps instead of cowboy hats. Artists like Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan came on the scene and integrated sounds they heard  growing up, including rap and the game changed again. Digital sales were through the roof, the demo that embraced and loved country music was younger. But the artists realized they were going to have to tour and tour hard to cash in.

The digital world seems to be feeding the live shows and I believe radio still fuels both. The lineup we've seen come through Sioux Falls is nuts. NUTS.  Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, have all been to Sioux Falls or are coming. The Eagles, Rod Stewart, Elton John are cashing in too. It makes sense dollar wise for them to tour, sell out a show and thrive.

My point? If the Denny Sanford Premier Center would have been built 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago I don't think we would have seen the same success. 5 years ago the big names were still playing the huge venues with an occasional Thursday night stop in cities like Sioux City, Iowa and Brookings, SD.  Smaller, up and coming acts were playing the same venues booked on Friday and Saturday nights.

The timing may not have been on purpose, Mayor Mike had to pull teeth to get it built but if he looked back on it, I can't help but think he'd be glad it took as long as it did. It was a perfect storm. Artists are touring like CRAZY. They are going all John Wayne on us. You know, 'let's get going, daylights burning!'

So, when does it all end? When does it slow down? It could be when artists find another way to make more money, easier.

Or when people take a look at how much money they are parting with to see all the great shows. We'll talk more about that some other day.

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