Plano Centre shutting down teen concerts, final one on July 12

by Teresa Gubbins

PLANO — For five years, young concert promoter Mike Ziemer has given under-age suburban kids the opportunity to see live music by organizing all-ages shows at the Plano Centre.

But that era appears to be ending today: Plano Summerfest 2009, an all-day concert with 34 bands, is his last event at the facility.

Ziemer, 23, is a wunderkind who began booking shows when he was 18, after moving here from California while in high school. It's become a full-time job. He's booked thousands of shows, starring bands that have gone on to major indie-rock success such as Coheed and Cambria. If you're a teen between the ages of 12 and 18 and you live north of Dallas, you've probably attended one of his near-monthly shows.

But according to Ziemer, the Plano Centre has changed its policies and will no longer allow him to do concerts there after July.

"In January, they implemented a new policy that attendees have to be 18 and up," he said. "Or, if it's going to be all-ages, then 75% of the kids have to be accompanied by a parent. That's not really viable. I feel like they've made discriminatory rules against us doing shows that will only affect me, no other trade shows."

The Centre, a city facility in northeast Plano that can be rented, ostensibly, by anyone, was the site of the "Dimebag" Darryl Abbott funeral in December '04; but its events tend to run along the lines of prayer breakfasts, craft shows, and marriage boot camps.

Curious about what would provoke the Plano Centre to change its policy regarding Ziemer after five years of seeming success, I called sales manager Jo Rivers on Thursday afternoon to ask what had changed. When I alluded to Ziemer, she became instantly combative.

"No, I don't want to be part of your article," she said. "We've asked him to sign a different style of contract, and he does not want to sign it. It's the same we would with any concert or special event. It's not unusual. It's standard. He has signed a general wedding, general party contract, and that's not what he's putting on."

When I asked for more specifics about the contract, she claimed she had another call and would call me back. She did not.

Ziemer suspects the facility turned sour on his events after a show in December in which trash was left on the property, and a fixture at the facility was damaged; he paid for its repair. They presented him with a new contract that he refused to sign; the previous contract he had with the facility was good until July. He had a meeting with Rivers and then-manager Jim Stroup, who has since retired.

"I talked to them and said, 'What can we do?" They said, 'We'll give you your last six shows, but we can't do anything other than that.'

"In the past, anything they've requested, I've always complied," he said. "They made me have insurance, officers, anything that's ever been damaged, I’ve paid for. It's not like I've been somebody with an attitude."

On Friday, Interim Manager Mark Thompson called from a conference he was attending in New Orleans and tried to offer more details about the contract, except that he didn't have the details.

"Eight or nine months ago, there was a contract change at the Plano Centre," he said. "It had some additional stipulations, but I don't have it in front of me. Probably some additional stipulations about public events. The wording, I could not tell you what that is. I'm assuming it has some kind of stipulation that if it is a public event, a concert, then X-Y-Z needs to be met."

Thompson then repeated a common Plano Convention and Visitors Bureau theme: that the city is trying to attract meetings that will generate "room nights" -- hotel reservations from out-of-town guests.

"We did a survey of the hotels and [Ziemer's events] didn't do that, it's a kids' event," he said. "We're going more aggressively after things that will generate room hotel room nights. When we look at revenue, we look at people coming in from outside the county. I'm sure some of his are coming from outside the county. But he does very little food and beverage. The kids do help all the local surrounding restaurants. But they may have been doing that anyway on a weekend."

Ziemer comes back with numbers that sound fairly impressive: "The [Centre's] concession stand can do $8,000 on the nights of our shows -- they kill it," he said. "It's been seven months since I sat down with them in December, and there's been no incident, but they still aren't willing to budge."

"My idea from the start was to put on safe shows," he said. "For the most part, it's kids going to a show, loving the music, loving the band, then leaving. Now they don't have anywhere to go until we find a new place. We have other places welcoming us -- but it's not the place we've built."

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