AMP Ramps Up For Second Season, Summertime Fun

The Arkansas Music Pavilion Inc., also known as the AMP, starts its second season on May 17.

The 24-foot-tall white tent will be erected in the parking lot of the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville in time to provide some shade for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation’s Race for the Cure event on April 22.

Kelly Rourke-Weldon, vice president of sales, marketing and booking, and a partner in the venture, said the first performer of the season will be the All-American Rejects, singers of the top 10 hit song “Dirty Little Secret.” The group, from Stillwater, Okla., kicks off what she hopes will be another successful season.

The AMP is also actively pursuing performers Collective Soul, Lyle Lovett, Gin Blossoms, Train, Peter Frampton and country sensation SheDaisy.

Rourke-Weldon wouldn’t reveal the AMP’s revenue from the first season, but said, “We had a successful first year.”

She did say, however, that she and the other co-owners — Dan and Amy White, Robby Bader, and Joseph Boskus — have a three-year plan to make the business profitable.

Rourke-Weldon said there are several costs involved with the AMP, including rent for the parking lot, the pavilion itself (estimated to cost about $200,000), a transformer for electricity (a one-time $20,000 charge) performer fees ($20,000 to $50,000 per event) and employment of up to 55 people.

This season, the group plans to host eight to 10 bands and will hold 10 Thursday night events called “Chick Flicks at the AMP” from June 8 through Aug. 10.

The movies cost $5 for admission, and ticket prices range from $20 to $40 depending on the caliber of talent, Rourke-Weldon said.

The AMP seats 2,400 and has a maximum capacity of about 4,000.

For additional revenue, the group sells beer and wine and re-sells Eureka Pizza’s pies. They have other concession agreements in the works and expect H?agen-Dazs ice cream will be available all summer.

The AMP is also available for lease to private parties, she said.

Sponsorships for the AMP run from $5,000 to $100,000 and vary in the types of coverage. As of April 5, Rourke-Weldon said she had landed about 15 sponsors, several returning from the first season.

Sponsorship revenue generally goes into a pool and pays for the bands, she said.

The AMP initially fought a stigma about being in a parking lot, Rourke-Weldon said. But once people showed up, they said they sort of forgot where they were.

Also, temperatures at evening shows are a lot more tolerable than most people think, she said.

Rourke-Weldon said the idea for the AMP came about because the business partners wanted to make a difference in the Northwest Arkansas community and wanted to create a summertime “hangout.”

Also, she said, musical groups are gravitating to smaller venues, and the smaller market is a growing business model.