On His Own

Although a March 25 San Diego Union-Tribune article announced that “Street Scene is poised to reclaim the streets that inspired its name,” founder Rob Hagey has taken out a special-events permit to hold it in the Petco Park parking lot on September 19 and 20.

“He said it was going to be a toned-down, more low-key event,” says Betty Hale, staffer with the City of San Diego’s Special Events office. “He said there were not going to be as many major artists.”

In 2004, Petco’s parking lot was used for the largest Street Scene ever; an estimated 105,000 turned out to see headliners AFI, Foo Fighters, and Social Distortion.

It is now up to the San Diego Padres and the Centre City Development Corporation as to whether the event will be held in the parking lot. The approval process takes six to eight weeks.

One longtime production contractor says the lack of a major backer may not bode well for Hagey as he sets out to hire sound, light, and staging contractors. The source says that in 2006, Hagey settled outstanding bills with many of his production contractors, paying them 60 cents on the dollar.

Another promoter says Hagey intended to align with a larger promoter who would help back the event.

“He couldn’t find any takers,” says the promoter. “He’s in it on his own.”

Regarding payment to production contractors for the 2006 event, Hagey says, “Everybody has been paid. It was agreed on when we did it. I have years of working with these people, some since 1979. As an independent promoter, I did the best I could do under the circumstances I was in.”

He says that just because the permit application spells out the Petco parking lot, it doesn't mean that the event “...would be exclusively pegged to that area.” He says getting the site is an “ebb and flow process. It is a work in progress. We are working dilligently to create an event that is very urban and very cool.”

– Ken Leighton