Big names coming to Bannock County stage for eight-show Summer Concert Series
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POCATELLO — The Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre is offering the people of Bannock County and southeast Idaho a reprieve from the monotony of the COVID lockdown.
In years past, the amphitheater, part of the Portneuf Wellness Complex, has been used primarily to showcase local acts.
With this year’s Summer Concert Series, Bannock County will play host to some of country music’s biggest names, including Gabby Barrett, Parmalee and Jordan Davis.
The roster was put together by The Go Agency, a digital marketing and events coordination agency based out of Boise. Jonathan Segali, the agency’s CEO, said that his company is excited to bring this high level of entertainment to the southeast Idaho community, thanking not only the county but ICCU as well for the push to make the series possible.
“It was a big play between Bannock County and Idaho Central Credit Union,” Segali told EastIdahoNews.com. “Idaho Central Credit Union saw the amphitheater there, and we know it’s a beautiful amphitheater — it’s amazing — and they wanted to put some cool concerts in there.”
The idea behind this concert series, said Portneuf Wellness Complex Business Manager and Event Director Guy Patterson, was to draw people from neighboring communities and even states to the massive complex.
“It’s more than just local,” Patterson told EastIdahoNews.com. “Local is wonderful, and that’s who we serve, but we’re also trying to attract people (to Pocatello).”
By hiring The Go Agency, Bannock County has created that draw in the form of Barrett, Academy of Country Music Awards best new female artist, and Parmalee, whose hit “Just the Way” peaked at the No. 3 spot on Billboards’ “Hot 100” country list on March 19.
The series will be launched on June 19 by Jordan Davis, Billboard’s No. 24 country artist in 2020.
The Go Agency was hired by Bannock County, with ICCU’s support, to handle the entire series, from booking through show night and everything in between. That means the company will be responsible for tickets, concert security, food and vendors.
“People have been cooped up,” Segali said with a chuckle. Getting out, “it’s like we’re turning 21 again.”
For that reason, security will be heightened, and additional EMTs will be on site. In addition, gates will open early — even earlier for concert-goers who use an ICCU member number at ticket purchase. Ticket booths will also be pulled out from the beach to the parking loop to create more open space.
There will also be extra food trucks to offer more food options, and shorten service lines and reduce crowds.
“We don’t want a super-spreader event because we want to have more of these concerts,” Segali said.
And for at least one more year, The Go Agency will have the opportunity to bring big concerts to Bannock County. When the agency was hired to handle this series, it signed a two-year contract. Next year, Segali expects to bring not just another country series, but perhaps some “alternative” musical acts as well.
As for this summer’s series, the roster will include Tracy Lawrence (on July 3), Easton Corbin, Randy Houser, Mitchell Tenpennny and Kip Moore — something for all country music fans.
Piecing this roster together took some creativity, Segali said.
“We work with booking agents out of Nashville,” he said. “We had a team of people kind of put together their wishlist, their Spotify playlist if you will, and we went after probably 30 or 40 different artists.”
Ticket sales are capped at 3,000 per show, due to COVID safety concerns. Segali is hopeful though, that after the first show — Jordan Davis — that hard cap can be revisited and adjusted. His fingers are crossed that by the time the series closes with Kip Moore on Sept. 11, the Portneuf Amphitheatre will be filled to capacity — around 10,000.
For now, Segali encourages anyone with interest in any single show, or the entire series, to get tickets, as availability is uncertain, and some shows are already nearing sellout.
He also offered a tease for something that has yet to be announced.
“We’ll be making another announcement on the 31st for another big-big concert that’s going to come in,” he said. “It’s going to be a larger name, for sure.”
He is bound by contractual agreement to not give any clues or hints before the announcement date, but said, “I think that the community is going to be excited, and it will definitely sell out at full capacity.”