Hard Rock dives into the pop pool with Kelly Clarkson

By John Katsilometes

Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009 | 3:29 p.m.

As Vice President of Entertainment of the Hard Rock Hotel, Paul Davis knows his music. During a phone conversation this week, he offered the following:

“Is Kelly Clarkson a Linkin Park or The Killers?” he asked rhetorically. “No.”

Got it.

Davis continued: “But do we consider her a legitimate artist? Yes.”

The first champion of “American Idol” might not be a rocker in the same genre of, say, Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, which just finished a rip-roaring show at The Joint last weekend. No matter. The Hard Rock Hotel and AEG Live have announced that Clarkson will play The Joint on Nov. 6. Tickets start at $49.95 (minus fees) and go on sale Friday at noon at the Hard Rock ticket office and at Ticketmaster.com. The Joint has booked several non-rock acts since it opened in May -- country star Kenny Chesney being one fast-selling example. Other non-rock acts to headline at the Hard Rock have included Jamie Foxx, Chelsea Handler and Earth Wind & Fire/Chicago.

Even so, The Joint hasn’t yet dipped into the mainstream pop pool until bringing Clarkson into the 4,000-capacity music hall.

“I think she’s great, and I think she’ll do great for us,” Davis said. “I had the chance to meet her about four years ago after she played the Aladdin (Theatre for the Performing Arts), and she was very personable, an Average Joe type. She was very approachable.” Davis is speaking of Clarkson’s appearance at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in December 2005, when she sold out the 7,000-seat venue in less than two weeks for a stop on her “Breakaway” world tour. Davis was VP of Entertainment at the Aladdin at the time.

Also announced this week were the November dates for “Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through Time,” the residency show starring Carlos Santana. The performances will be Nov. 11-15 and Nov. 18-22. Tucked in that news release was that the lowest-price tickets for those shows start at $51, a precipitous drop from the $89 offered when Santana opened. The ticket prices for Santana now range from $51 to $151. Davis says the lower ticket price is a result of “pushback” on the relatively high $89 tickets for Santana.

“He usually has lower-priced tickets, and what happens is you really have to test the market with how you price some of these shows,” Davis said. “We wanted to add that price point, but the core ticket prices are the same. The other piece of the puzzle is, we are seeing a dramatic rise over the past eight-nine months for day-of sales. People are buying tickets after they get to town, checking out the deals first and waiting to spend money. … But we’re happy with the sales. The September run is moving substantially better than the original run.”