Someone explain to me why no concerts get booked now. Look at these past events...wtf.


http://niuconvo.com/convo/events/archive.shtml

Could be they just do not have the financial resources to plan, book and manage events. Sad.

I might be wrong and probably am but I believe NIU took over the scheduling of the convo from a private entity a couple years ago.

Not that that is the reason but it seems odd that scheduling events has gone in the dumper in the last couple years.

Good luck with the naming rights if you don't book acts ... f'n morons.

Didn't they put management of the Convo under STF a few years ago?

Man, looking at that list makes me want to jump in a time machine. Some incredible bookings through the early-mid 2000’s I’d kill to see (Goo Goo Dools, Jars of Clay, Casting Crowns, OAR, etc).

Seems like a bad sales team vs good one years ago. I wonder if those events filled?

I know police department rather not have the rapper shows. That brings problems.

Not at the Convo, but I have seen so many bands in Dekalb.... REM, Elvis Costello, 10,000 Maniacs, the Alarm, Voilent Femmes, Black Flag, Wilco, Barenaked Ladies, Camper Van Beethoven ect... does seem like acts in general are not coming to DeKalb. The days of building a base threw college circuit seem to have dimmed

Didn't Bill Cosby play the convo as part of the opening of the building?

(03-06-2018 12:18 PM)RitzHuskie Wrote:  Didn't Bill Cosby play the convo as part of the opening of the building?

yep.

DeKalb had a lot of great acts come through. The loss of Ottos and the lack of programming by CAB and the Convo is a let down.

Add to the fact that there are less college bars (Starbusters, Stadium Club, The Barn/Fat Boys, The Jungle and Amnesia are all gone and not replaced) and its no wonder we have a suitcase school.

Wow all those bars are gone? What's even left? I was there 98-02 and it was a weak scene with most of those open. They cracked down on Greek row too so those parties were hit or miss.

It seems like DeKalb/Sycamore has lost SO much in recent years. Bars, small shops, larger retailers, etc. Carson's is in the process of closing now. The only department store left is Kohl's. Smaller clothing stores have disappeared. While a lot of this is a national tend, it's pretty sad to see in DeKalb/Sycamore. For sure, they REALLY went downhill when the Grotto closed.

(03-06-2018 12:41 PM)thehappyhuskie Wrote:  

(03-06-2018 12:18 PM)RitzHuskie Wrote:  Didn't Bill Cosby play the convo as part of the opening of the building?

yep.

DeKalb had a lot of great acts come through. The loss of Ottos and the lack of programming by CAB and the Convo is a let down.

Add to the fact that there are less college bars (Starbusters, Stadium Club, The Barn/Fat Boys, The Jungle and Amnesia are all gone and not replaced) and its no wonder we have a suitcase school.

Yep. Like it or not, bars are a big driving force of college atmosphere. Look at every single Big Ten school. I've always thought if they added one more bar where the crappy motel / car wash location is, it would add more of a "bar row" feel and steer students to one location to hang-out on Fridays/Saturdays. Would be better for families too on game days and visiting times.

(03-06-2018 01:52 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  It seems like DeKalb/Sycamore has lost SO much in recent years. Bars, small shops, larger retailers, etc. Carson's is in the process of closing now. The only department store left is Kohl's. Smaller clothing stores have disappeared. While a lot of this is a national tend, it's pretty sad to see in DeKalb/Sycamore. For sure, they REALLY went downhill when the Grotto closed.

DeKalb may have lost a lot but Sycamore seems to be doing just fine. Really nice downtown area with plenty of bars and restaurants. The Rt 23 area hasn't lost significantly more than any other retail brick and mortar area. Several of the locations that closed were taken over by other businesses. If someone did it right they could make a killing by opening a solid bar/restaurant in DeKalb...but owning a college town bar/restaurant is probably far from glamorous.

(03-06-2018 01:45 PM)NIUfrank Wrote:  Wow all those bars are gone? What's even left? I was there 98-02 and it was a weak scene with most of those open. They cracked down on Greek row too so those parties were hit or miss.

From what I remember from the last visit, Molly's and Fattys.

Otto's is gone downtown and Stanley's and Andy's are the only bars left.

If you want to have fun in DeKalb on a weekend, your 3 options are Molly's, Fatty's, and dodging bullets on your way to Casey's for pizza.

Just poking around the BMO Harris Center (Rockford) and Sears Center (Hoffman)- they aren't exactly hosting much outside their main tenants either. And if they aren't getting booked, I can see where our arena in the sticks wouldn't be able to get much.

Frankly, is smaller arena level entertainment kinda dead?

(03-06-2018 03:59 PM)thehappyhuskie Wrote:  

(03-06-2018 01:45 PM)NIUfrank Wrote:  Wow all those bars are gone? What's even left? I was there 98-02 and it was a weak scene with most of those open. They cracked down on Greek row too so those parties were hit or miss.

From what I remember from the last visit, Molly's and Fattys.

Otto's is gone downtown and Stanley's and Andy's are the only bars left.

The new "Cornerstone" building on Lincoln will have a bar&grill in the storefront closest to campus. Hopefully this starts drawing DT and campus together.

When I clicked on that link, my first reaction is that is a webpage that isn’t maintained anymore.

Just went to Ticketmaster.com and searched for the Convo, found five events in the next two weeks. Four IHSA Supersectional BB games to two separate days, two days of IHSA wrestling meets, and an NIU CAB sponsored comedy show on March 22.

A new bar and grill will be opening in the torn down Ottos building. Name will be Tavern on Lincoln. The cornerstone building will be a nice building block or downtown DeKalb.