Tuesday, June 21, 2005 | 9:45 a.m.
The Silver Bowl Sports Complex is located at 6800 E. Russell Road, just east of Boulder Highway. Directions and a map to the complex, as well as a list of approved items concertgoers can bring into the site, will be availableat www.vegasrocks100.com on Thursday.
Organizers have realized that the free Red Hot Chili Peppers concert on July 2 would be simply too hot if it took place in a parking lot next to the Strip as originally planned.
The show is being moved to soccer fields next to Sam Boyd Stadium, event organizers and officials announced Monday.
The change in venue for the show will make it easier for people driving to the concert to park, and enter and exit the concert area, plus the grass should make for a more comfortable concert experience and create less heat than pavement, officials said.
Also, a $100,000 fireworks show has been added to the concert, which is now planned to take place at the Silver Bowl Sports Complex soccer fields next to Sam Boyd Stadium. Originally the concert was going to be held in a parking lot at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
"This is good news," Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said about the change in venue for the concert, which is expected to draw 50,000 fans.
"We want their fans to have a much more comfortable experience," said Goodman, who is also chairman of the Centennial Celebration Committee
The concert is one of the main centennial events for this year, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the land auction of what would become Las Vegas. Other events have included the recent Helldorado Parade and Once Upon 100 Weddings, in which 100 couples simultaneously exchanged vows on the Fremont Street Experience.
Goodman said the event organizers with the city and Clark County officials looked for an alternative location after some officials questioned whether the parking lot area could easily accommodate 50,000 concertgoers leaving at once.
In addition to the change in venue, the event has also been marked by some problems with its free tickets.
In April, event organizers released 35,000 tickets through the Website www.vegasrocks100.com. But scores of tickets were picked up by scalpers who in turn put some of the tickets for sale on the Web site eBay.
Goodman said he looked into whether the city or centennial committee could go after the scalpers, but was talked out of taking any action by others affiliated with the centennial celebration.
"I feel taken advantage of," Goodman said about the scalpers. "But we didn't want anything negative associated with the good things happening with the centennial."
In May, another 5,000 free tickets were released locally through Ticketmaster outlets, and people who stood in line were angered when some locations used a raffle system to designate the order for ticket distribution rather than handing them out first-come, first-served.
Another 10,000 tickets are going to event sponsors and area hotels.
News of the change in concert location is being publicized through the media and the Internet, said Lisa Jacob, a spokeswoman with R&R Partners, which is handling the press for the concert.
The change in venue will appear on the Web sites belonging to the centennial committee, Ticketmaster, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the rock band Weezer, which will open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Las Vegas show.
Goodman said the centennial committee will pay for the fireworks, and Clear Channel Entertainment will pay for any other costs related to the concert, as the company is required to under its contract with the Centennial Committee.
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