STADIUM SHOWS MAKE A COMEBACK

Stadium rock is back.

After several years of just one or two major outdoor concerts each summer in Southern California, at least five stadium shows are expected in the coming months.

“This is the biggest year for stadium shows I’ve seen in 15 years,” said Joel Ralph, the new general manager of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Madonna is scheduled to appear July 18 at Anaheim Stadium, and Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead will team up there on July 26. The facility reportedly will also be the site of David Bowie and Pink Floyd concerts. Bowie is expected to play in early August and Pink Floyd’s tour is slated to reach Southern California in November, promoters said.

Genesis began the stadium rush on May 22 with a 56,000-seat sellout at Dodger Stadium. Next up is a multiple-act R&B; show featuring Luther Vandross, Patti LaBelle and several others, which will be held June 20 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Heading south of the border, on June 30 in Tijuana, Oingo Boingo and the Bangles will top a new wave lineup at the 50,000-seat Caliente Race Track.

One Los Angeles promoter also hinted at the possibility of a reunion later this year of the Police, whose last local concert was at Hollywood Park in 1983. But a spokesman for the trio said he is “99% certain that will not happen this year.”

The spate of stadium concerts this year, according to most promoters, booking agents and record company officials, is due more to coincidence than design.

“This summer it just so happens that several acts of that caliber decided to go out and play stadiums,” said Steve Rennie, vice president of Avalon Attractions, which is promoting most of the stadium concerts.

In most cases, Rennie said, performers who are opting for stadium shows instead of multiple nights at one of the 20,000-seat or less arenas “can only play a limited number of dates. They can’t spend a year on the road, so they have to maximize their income and profile in the shortest amount of time.”

Nonetheless, industry sources said the increase in stadium concerts, at least indirectly, symbolizes a revitalization of the record business, particularly among older record buyers.

“Before, when people hit 25 or 26 and the first kid or first mortgage came along, people dropped out of going to concerts,” said Larry Ahearn of Pacificoncerts, whose firm currently has no stadium shows scheduled. “Now, I think they are feeling included in the process again.”

The large over-25 turnout at Bruce Springsteen’s 1986 performances at the Coliseum and at last month’s Genesis show was evidence, promoters say, that stadium shows no longer have to be geared to teen-age hard rock or heavy metal fans, as was the general rule in the past.

In particular, the Springsteen shows that drew nearly 350,000 people over four nights to the Coliseum were cited by several promoters and record company officials as a turning point in the mini-resurgence of stadium rock.

“Springsteen broke the ice,” said Bob Merlis, vice president and director of publicity for Warner Bros. Records. “He proved you could do (a stadium show) and retain your artistic and musical integrity. The quality of those shows proved it didn’t have to be just a giant moneymaking deal.”

If Springsteen established new standards for quality in stadium rock, he also held out a new quantitative goal for other performers to shoot for.

“When you talk about superstardom in L.A. now, the yardstick is clearly Springsteen,” Avalon’s Rennie said.

The only act with drawing power approaching the Springsteen standard this year is Pink Floyd, which is considering multiple nights at an indoor facility in addition to one outdoor stadium show in Southern California, one promoter said. “If anybody is capable of pulling that off, Pink Floyd could,” the promoter said.

Despite the recent addition of Genesis and Madonna to the ranks of stadium rock attractions--a status many say U2 is rapidly approaching--”I don’t think there’s any greater number of people who can fill a stadium now than there was six or seven years ago,” said Steve Redfearn of Parc Presentations, the Nederlander organization’s independent concert promotion division. “You may lose a Who, but you get a Bowie; you lose the Stones, you get a Madonna.”

Most of the concerts that are confirmed or nearing finalization are at 70,000-seat Anaheim Stadium, although officials at Dodger Stadium, Hollywood Park and the Coliseum said they still are considering additional concerts at those facilities.

One reason for the concentration of activity in Orange County, Rennie said, is geography.

“It’s the ideal location to draw from all four major metropolitan areas: Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and the Inland Empire of Riverside and San Bernardino,” Rennie said.

Hollywood Park’s schedule of horse racing through October precluded peak-season concerts this year, assistant general manager Tim Read said. The Coliseum also was left out of the running for several major shows because of construction that won’t be completed until late summer, general manager Ralph said.

At Dodger Stadium, there are no more concerts on the books for this season. “We don’t approach it from a competition viewpoint--we don’t try to underbid anybody,” explained Sam Fernandez, general counsel for the Dodgers. “To the Dodgers, family-oriented shows (are) important, whether it’s a baseball game or a rock show. . . . The way we view it, Dodger Stadium’s No. 1 function is to put on baseball games. If anything else can be worked in, fine. Otherwise we are dedicated to baseball.”

Stadium shows of the ‘80s differ significantly from those of the ‘70s in two ways, promoters said.

First, the current crop of shows, for the most part, will succeed or fail solely on the popularity of the headliner.

“It’s not like the old ‘70s shows where you get one headliner and build the show up with five other acts,” Rennie said. “It was nice to have Paul Young open for Genesis, but he didn’t really add much to the ticket sales.”

Second is the virtual elimination of general admission seating that followed the disastrous Who concert in Cincinnati in 1979, when 11 people were killed as hundreds of fans rushed the gates for the best seats. With reserved seating even on playing fields, promoters said older fans are more willing to brave the stadium environs and parents are more willing to let younger children attend.

“The bottom line,” said Hal Lazarus, a Nederlander booking agent, “is that if a patron wants to see an act, they’ll go wherever the act plays.”

GETTING ON BOARD: UC Irvine’s non-commercial radio station KUCI (88.9 FM) is sponsoring a skateboard contest Saturday as a fund-raiser for the tiny, student-run station. There will be freestyle and street-style divisions and proceeds from the entry fees will go to the financially strapped alternative music station. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and the contest begins at 9 a.m. For more information, call (714) 730-5182.

LIVE ACTION: Tickets go on sale Saturday for Madonna’s July 18 concert at Anaheim Stadium. . . . Ratt and Poison will play Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on July 18. Tickets will be available Sunday. . . . Tickets for Liza Minnelli’s Aug. 22 concert at the Pacific Amphitheatre will go on sale Monday. . . . Jerry Lee Lewis will perform at the Crazy Horse Steak House in Santa Ana on June 30. . . . Children’s Day will be at Big John’s in Anaheim on June 12. . . . Social Distortion returns to Goodies in Fullerton on June 21. . . . Dave Alvin & the All-Nighters and Harry Dean Stanton will play the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on June 26.