by Josh Koehn on Aug 24, 2011
The crowds that flock to Music in the Park may have to find other places to party next year.
The future of Music in the Park, San Jose’s long-running summer music festival, hangs in the balance as its popularity has outgrown the confines of Plaza de Cesar Chavez, the park between the Fairmont Hotel and The Tech museum.
The Thursday-evening series began more than 20 years ago as a way to draw people to an empty downtown that had little in the way of entertainment or public events. The free summer concerts lured nuclear families, hip-hop heads, tech geeks, San Jose State professors and students, baby mamas and business people to an all-inclusive scene particular to San Jose: West Coast with a South Bay twist.
Barring major changes, however, Thursday’s concert—the 13th and final event of the season—could be the last Music in the Park.
Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association, admits that one of the nation’s biggest and oldest free concert series is at a crossroads. Complaints from downtown business owners and residents have increased this summer, and attendees at an Aug. 12 association meeting expressed the view that while everyone enjoys Music in the Park, the concerts now attract an “undesirable element.” That’s a euphemism for pot-smoking or gang-attired youth who cause trouble and don’t spend money at restaurants and entertainment venues.
Knies says the nonprofit organization will decide this fall if it should continue putting on Music in the Park, which has been a San Jose mainstay every June through August since 1988. Metro helped organize the first season and has been involved as its principal media sponsor ever since, contributing advertising and receiving sponsorship recognition.
“It’s been tweaked over the years,” Knies says, “but it may need some major surgery now. And the patient doesn’t always survive when it undergoes major surgery.”
When Music in the Park first started, the audience leaned more toward downtown office workers and suburban yuppies. As it grew into one of the biggest concert series in America, the crowd evolved, with tens of thousands of people flocking to the downtown core each summer from near and far.
Performers like Greg Kihn and Pete Escovedo have headlined shows from the start, while bands such as Smash Mouth, Tower of Power, Maroon 5, Better Than Ezra and Third Eye Blind have made stops over the years. With each passing summer, the crowds have grown younger, which was never so obvious as July 14, when the Neon Trees assembled an enthusiastic army of screaming tweens in front of the stage for this year’s biggest concert. But not all the attendees come for the music.
“It’s drawing a different element compared to crowds of year’s past,” says Steve Villarreal, head of SCV & Associates, which handles Music in the Park security. “Out of the blue, for some reason, this season there’s been this bad element that could be deemed as possible gang activity.”
Given the choice between Music in the Park or silence in the park, some downtown restaurateurs would take the latter. Matt Rocca, an owner of Original Joe’s, says that the decision to book more reggae bands this summer has attracted gangbangers and kids who just want to get drunk and high.
“I’m all for Music in the Park if it’s done the right way, but the way they’ve handled the last two years has been an absolute detriment on everyone’s business downtown,” Rocca says. “I hate to say that, because it used to bring people downtown for years. But if I have my two options, the existing Music in the Park or nothing, I’ll take nothing.”
Supporters of Music in the Park admit that changes are needed for the concert series to regain its reputation as a safe, family-friendly event. Less frequently seen these days are parents sitting on blankets and children running wild. The rear end of Cesar Chavez Plaza, far away from the stage, has become a haven for teenagers and young adults sporting disaffected looks beneath a haze of smoke.
Despite beefed-up security within the park, smoking and underage drinking violations appear to be rarely enforced.
“I’ve smelled less pot at a Grateful Dead concert than [at] Music in the Park,” says Eric Heckman, a Naglee Park resident and supporter of the series who’s a Downtown Association volunteer and former board member. “That’s one thing the police officers are ignoring. I don’t care what you’re smoking—if you’re smoking in a park, that’s against the law. If they just enforced that, I believe a lot of the wrong element would be forced to walk across the street or leave.”
The only people who don’t want to change Music in the Park seem to be those who attend for everything but the music. Kids from each sector of San Jose are now coming to the concerts to see and be seen.
Comments (4)
Post a comment
Non downtowner Thu, Aug 25, 2011 - 4:30 pm
I used to go to Music in the Park but wouldn’t go if you paid me now.
“Heckman believes the concerts have become a scapegoat for society’s ills. “Ironically, there’s nobody having problems in Music in the Park,” he says. “People causing trouble are on the outside.””
Actually Mr Heckman there ARE problems in the park your security just ignores it. The underage drinking and pot smoking is OUT OF CONTROL.
I avoid Downtown completely on Thursday’s May - Sept.
SJ Jazz festival is THE flagship music event for downtown. For $20 a day you get dozens of music acts from various genres and NO PROBLEMS like gang bangers, tweakers, potheads and drunk teens.
Mr Philthy Thu, Aug 25, 2011 - 5:20 pm
Im gonna keep this somewhat short and somewhat sweet…
1. Book Better acts. The lineups these past years have been somewhat on the boring side. Im talking oldies, ska, electro, rock en espanol etc… The reggae element is on point and should stay regardless of what Mother Mary and Father Time say about mysterious clouds of smoke….You would have to keep the music youthful and interesting. Get creative with it and dont be afraid to try new things.
2. Find different sponsors other than clear channel radio stations. You weed out the mainstream radio stations, you weed about the bullshit music. Find other sponsors that wont bring complete crap to the park.
3. KEEP IT LOCAL! The booths are a good idea for local artisans and clothing vendors to get the word out about their hustles and all. Including non-profits such as De-Bug is awesome. Include more non-profits that can actually reach out to the youth that are there. Implement a live art element. Bring back the art wall that was up in ‘09 or so. That adds such an awesome element to the whole vibe of music in the park. Its something cool to look at and get’s people engaged. Book SJ bands to open up for most of the season. KEEP IT LOCAL!
4. Enforce a dress code. Treat it like a nightclub. No colors etc etc….. I hate the fact that some business owners are blaming the problems that they have on kids and gang activity. I live downtown. I see more violence on the weekends than I have ever seen on a Music In the Park Thursday. You wanna know what I see on those days??? I see a vibrant and youthful downtown that would rather go spend $8 and get a burrito than go to an Original Joe’s or Billy Berk’s and have your bank account cleaned out. Dont worry guy’s….the suits and yuppies will come spend all their money on Friday and Saturday.
5. Engage the kids. Bring in video game vendors that hold contests every week or so. Bring in a skate ramp or two….Its not that hard to get kid’s attention. There are limitless ideas to engage the only event that kids could actually come out to and be with their friends. Its not like they can go anywhere else in DTSJ and do so.
In conclusion, I have not seen any bigger opportunity to create one of the most amazing music concert series than the one in downtown San Jose. It is very much a tradition that should not be forgotten. It only needs to be revitalized with other elements to make it feel like more of an experience rather than just a concert. The youth come out in massive numbers. That should be a big sign that there needs to be more venues in DTSJ that cater to this demographic on a regular basis. The alcohol is what fuels fights and creates problems. If you limit the alcohol consumption of each attendee, then that could very well curve that whole situation. At the end of the day the music will speak for itself. That is not happening with the lineup’s I have seen these past years. Peace.
Mr Philthy
joseph parra Sun, Aug 28, 2011 - 6:00 pm
Plain and simple its time you just started charging a flat fee of $8-10 dollars and even creating a season pass for those who frequent Music in the Park every week.charging would get rid of the youth and bad element that like to go out and just “kick it” and also by charging it would open it up to bring in better acts.
Downtown Native Sun, Aug 28, 2011 - 6:21 pm
Music in the park has problems without a doubt, but for whatever this is worth I have lived in downtown san jose for the majority of my life. The Gangs and Drugs yes it’s a problem, but this falls into the category of better security. Bags are not checked. They appear to be, but they are not.
I agree with the comment regarding having a dress code in place, because that would solve in my opinion 80% of the problem. The main issue with the concerts being a detriment is the GANG ACTIVITY.
Taking away music in the park, is simply taking away san jose culture. The youth need something to feel proud of from their city. The San Jose Sharks are incredible, but they can’t be this cities dying and ONLY grace.
We need to include local art, non-profit organizations like De Bug, local bands being the openers and I think we just might be able to turn this around.
Every thursday places like La Victoria, Iguanas, Hoagie Steak house etc simply thrive. It’s a place for people to meet after the music and continue to exist with one another peacefully and it doesn’t hurt the buisness as a whole. I’m sure many won’t be going to original joes or the restaurant inside the exquisite hotels on thursday, but truth be told those places are booked solid every other day of the week! it is in fact rare for me to see a line NOT backed out of the door of original joes any given weekend.
Fix the solution which is music in the park.
The problem is GANGS & DRUGS, getting rid of music in the park doesn’t get rid of gangs and drugs. Let’s be honest and patient here.