A recent news article by Axios reported that big acts are skipping Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia in favor of performing at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena.
But CFG Bank Arena General Manager Frank Remesch wants to set the record straight.
“There’s plenty of sand in the sandbox for all of us,” he told Baltimore Fishbowl.
Axios surmised that one of the big reasons for the shift was scheduling, in that the Capital One Arena has Wizards and Washington Capitals home games to contend with in addition to demand for big artists. They also mentioned the huge renovations to CFG Bank Arena, making the Baltimore venue a shiny new toy.
There are indeed the facts that CFG Bank Arena ranked fourth in North America in Venues Now for tickets sales and 10th-highest-grossing venue in the world by Billboard Magazine. It earned a nomination for best new concert venue by Pollstar Magazine, won best venue by Baltimore Magazine, and was voted a winner in Best Concert Venue category by The Daily Record. The arena also received the 2023 Downtown Revitalization Award by the Downtown Partnership.
Though he acknowledges the success and praise the arena has received since its $250 million makeover, Remesch dismisses the notion that venues are taking acts away from one another.
“It’s a misnomer when they say that it’s one market or that you’re stealing shares. We really aren’t. It’s not about that,” Remesch said. “We’ve done Beyoncé. They’ve done Beyoncé. We do the circus date; I’m talking back-to-back nights. We just did monster trucks back-to-back.”
“They don’t cannibalize me, and I don’t cannibalize them,” he continued. “I don’t have anything bad to say. They’re a great building. It’s D.C. They’re a beautiful facility. And I’m happy to be getting what I get. So, it’s not that I’m going after them and trying to steal them. I’m flattered that somebody thinks that but it’s not that.”
What Remesch cares about is the health of Baltimore, the satisfaction of his staff, and the experience of artists, organizations, and audiences that come to CFG Bank Arena for their events.
Before the renovation, the arena attracted around 540,000 people per year. Post-renovation they’ve attracted over 800,000 people. The venue just celebrated the one-year anniversary of its re-opening.
CFG Bank Arena, owned and operated by Oak View Group, can seat as many as 14,000 people, and as few as 4,000, which speaks to the versatility of the design. The curtain system allows them to close and essentially black out the upper bowls of seating to create a more intimate setting and feeling for both the acts and the audience of a smaller show, which other more cavernous arenas can’t accomplish.
“Performers like it more. It’s weird. You wouldn’t think they would,” Remesch said of the smaller acts. “You wouldn’t think they would care but when they look out, they don’t want to see empty stands. They don’t want to see that. So, we can dress it to make them look better.”
The sound design has drawn high praise from the most discerning artists, as well. Tremendous effort went into the details of maintaining and updating the original acoustics, and it showed when the likes of Don Henley and Anita Baker went out of their way to mention how great the sound is in the renovated arena.
“Our second public show was the Eagles, and on stage Don Henley comments about how great the sound was,” Remesch recalled. “So fast forward about a week later, I have Anita Baker. Both sold out. And I happen to be backstage and talking to her and I said, ‘So, what do you think of the house?’ and she said, ‘Your sound’s incredible.’”
“These are two people that have, in the industry, very critical ears,” Remesch said. “They’re very discerning and they have no qualms about saying it. They’re not just going to stroke me. So that was a pretty proud moment.”
It is not only about making the big guns happy. Remesch notes that production crews who have been building and breaking down shows at the arena for decades now marvel at how much easier it is since the renovation. He insists that the building’s new functionality is a large part of what helps him book shows. The tone of the day is set in the first 15 minutes of the show moving in. If parking their trucks and unloading equipment goes well, the mood of the day is set.
“By the time I get in at either 9 or 9:30, they’re either happy or pissed,” Remesch said. Since the renovation, they’ve all been happy.
Another message the successful renovation sends is that cities don’t have to build a new arena every 20 years. Remesch estimates a new arena would have cost $500 million to $700 million. Oak View Group renovated CFG Bank Arena for $250 million. It was architectural recycling, cost less money than a new arena, and took less time and less marketing. Everyone already knew where the building was. Truck drivers already understood the parking lot.
“When you think about this building now, we’re the ultimate recycling project,” Remesch said. “Baltimore’s the ultimate green pride. We recycle entire buildings, right? One of the numbers that the build team told me 98% of the material from a demolition site is concrete and rebar. Ours was all saved.”
The then-Baltimore Civic Center was built as a fallout shelter. So, the structure itself, including the concrete, was in incredible shape at the time of the renovation. Crews were able to add new plumbing, electrical, walls, bathrooms, and more, while keeping the character of the old building.
What truly helps keep the character of the old building, however, is the staff, Remesch said. CFG Bank Arena has retained 100% of the staff from pre-renovated building.
He described how overworked the customer service team was before the renovation, given how old the building was. Customer service spent a disproportionate amount of time assuaging not only patrons, but talent and production crews.
“What you have is now a whole team that doesn’t take it for granted, because we’re used to what we had,” Remesch said. “So, we’re still this scrappy little dog fighting where, again, somebody has been hitting a new building in a great big city takes it all for granted. I think we do have a leg up on people just because of our attitudes.”
When asked what his dream booking would be, Remesch acknowledged he’s been in the business for so long he’s checked off many of the acts on his bucket list, including Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Buffet. He does still have a few left on his list, though, and at the top, he admitted, stands Sir Paul McCartney.
“He played this building [with The Beatles in 1964],” Remesch said. “We were in conversations before COVID, which just sucks, then he ended up going to the stadium because we were getting renovated.… But my bucket list, if I had to pick one, is McCartney just because of his history and his billing.”
