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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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Promoter paves path for rockers and others
THE common factor between the Eagles and Mötley Crüe is not just rock and roll. It is, however, the same tie that binds those acts to Michael Bublè, Santana, Depeche Mode, WWE Wrestlemania and Lord of the Dance.
Marek Lieberberg Presents is the tie and it is run from Maui whenever the concert promotion namesake or Vice President Jacky Jedlicki is on the Valley Isle.
Now, for instance.
However, in order to secure acts, company principles travel regularly, scouting acts and meeting with agents.
"There are a couple in the pipeline right now that I shouldn't speak about," he teased. "If they happen, they won't be happening with us, but I know ... there are discussions about making shows."
TheBuzz's bamboo-under-the-fingernails torture technique of extracting information doesn't work over the phone, but a check of the corporate Web site at www.mlk.com could set a concert-dreamer to longing. The ability to read German would be helpful, but is not necessary for concert-wishing purposes.
With two acts performing on two islands in a two-week span, New York-born Jedlicki has been making sure things went smoothly for the Eagles concerts --- and rock on for the "Red, White and Crüe" show Wednesday night at Blaisdell.
Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur is the No. 1 concert promoter in Germany, producing 600 shows a year in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Jedlicki said. Many of the acts would be unfamiliar to a Hawaii audience, but Lieberberg has or is currently promoting big-name U.S. and U.K. acts.
Hawaii gigs are costly gravy for big-concert-deprived islanders, because of the enormous overhead it costs promoters to bring them here.
Hence the record $250 price of Eagles tickets.
"It's hard for acts to stop over in Hawaii, because just to take the trip over here, it's not really worth it for most," he said. Of those that do, most stop on the way from the mainland to Australia or the Far East, or on their way back home.
The Eagles were able to do four shows in Honolulu and one on Maui, "which was in itself a little tour," he said.
Much of the sound and lighting equipment is available locally, but there is a lot of specialized gear that costs a great deal to ship here, he said.
"You don't even want to know" what it cost to transport and house the Eagles and their entourage, Jedlicki said.
Yes we do, your columnist assured him, but he wouldn't divulge a figure. "It amounts to quite some sum, and it doesn't always -- you have to sell (the show) out in order to even make the money back to pay for the whole trip."
Now about those record-high Eagles ticket prices.
"Whatever (audience members) paid, they didn't feel sorry for paying it because they got their money's worth. This is one of the greatest acts in the business," Jedlicki said.
He hopes a lot of people are stoked about Mötley Crüe.
"They've been around for quite some time. They started something too, they created something special which a lot of bands have imitated."
Plus, who knows when they will tour again, Jedlicki wondered aloud.
"I hope that in the next year or so, we will be able to get the six to eight concerts that we're looking to get," he said, "But it might end up being only one" concert, because it's the concert business and stuff happens, or doesn't happen.
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Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com