Dakota Jam Postponed -- Make-Up Date?

The Madville Times heard no rocking from Prairie Village last night. No rain had fallen, and the wind and clouds had disperesed, but we figured that the organizers, not wanting to take any chances, had moved the event indoors, as their print ad had suggested would happen (although the print only said "auditorium," without indicating the specific venue). But the Madville Times, preoccupied with guests and home improvement, did not bother to check for an update...

...until this morning, when we found the Dakota Jam website announcing the postponement of the event due to the forecast wind and rain. Oh woe! What's an event organizer to do? The forecast says rain and wind: you do the sensible thing and postpone, and the weather clears. You look out the window, say "Ah, it's breaking up in the west," and take a gamble on carrying through with the event, and the storms roll back in and soak your audience. Sometimes, you just can't win.

This is the tough part about an outdoor concert, especially if you're trying to draw lots of out-of-town (if not out-of-state) visitors. The really big shows, like JazzFest or LifeLight, just can't cancel. Fifty thousand or a hundred thousand people are like a battleship; they can't turn on a dime. If they're coming, they're coming, and even a day's notice won't send them all back. The show must go on, for performers and audience alike. The outdoor-concert crowd knows the risks -- rain, wind, dirt, mud, bugs -- and while some will change their minds the day of to avoid less-than-ideal weather, a big chunk of those concertgoers are coming, heck or high water. Unless there's real physical danger (lightning, tornado, meteors), you run the show and have fun in the mud.

But we have a show to reschedule, so the big question: what date do we pick to recoup the biggest portion of concertgoers? If we were gunning for synergy with the Sturgis surge, we'd try for next weekend. That would require some real hustle on getting the word out, but we might have an advantage: our target audience of traveling bikers is now concentrated in one media market, the Black Hills. Put some ads on the Rapid City airwaves and in the Rapid City Journal, and we immediately reach a couple hundred thousand bikers who might be looking for something to do on the way home next Saturday.

Hey, and Prairie Village hosts the Madison Car Show on next Sunday, August 12; reschedule the concert for next Saturday night, and hardcore concertgoers can rock all Saturday night, camp out, and enjoy the car show before leaving the next day!

Of course, that's still fast turnaround. Too Drunk to Fish appears to be available, but not Eclipse (they're rocking the Britton Harvest Days street dance -- and knowing Britton, that affair should be riotously good time). Lining up replacement performers might not be feasible. So what then?

The next logical step might be to throw the concert in September, once DSU is back in session. Bring 2000+ young folks back to town, get even a fourth of them to come, and Dakota Jam gets a significant boost in attendance from exactly the demographic most likely to attend. Dakota Jam as a welcome-back event -- sounds perfect!

Keep an eye on the Dakota Jam website -- the make-up date will surely be posted soon. And whenever it is, don't forget, the Madville Times will have two tickets available for eager readers! Stay tuned!