Finding a Common Ground

Russ Zarras, a physics senior, was raised on funk and couldn’t resist the siren song of George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic. Lansing resident Kari Hanson saw an opportunity to see her boyfriend, Brice, and children hear music and dance under the stars to Huey Lewis and the News. Barbara Sprague, a Lansing resident, relished the opportunity to return to help the people she had come to know during an event she had come to love. Stephen Curran, creative director of Harvest Music and Sound Design, saw hope for a healing community.

The 10th annual Common Ground Music Festival means a lot of different things to a lot of different local people. At a time when good news and extra funds are hard to come by in the city, it might seem like the first events to fall victim would be the ones that shut down city blocks and require extra security. Not to mention the added difficulty of paying for concert tickets — an unnecessary expense in these dire economic times. But all these people made it a priority to make it to the festival during an admittedly dark time. As the packed and dusty festival grounds attest to, the festival helps to support Lansing. And Lansing, in turn, supports the festival.

The numbers game

Common Ground brings a lot of new people into the downtown Lansing area, said Marcia Ditchie, grants administrator for the Arts Council of Greater Lansing. She said the festival brings, on average, approximately 80,000 to 90,000 people downtown during the course of the week. The grant was provided to attract visitors from all over the Mid-Michigan area into Ingham County and into the economy of the area, she said.

“It’s one of the largest draws in the Lansing area of the year,” she said.

With all the visitors to the downtown, the estimated economic impact on the community during the festival is $3.6 million based on last year’s figures, said Malinda Barr, the official festival spokesperson.

“The festival has an incredible impact on the area,” she said. “It creates an awareness of the downtown and a fun community atmosphere.”

This year’s festival is on course to meet last year’s attendance record, although both the Monday and Tuesday evening shows have sold better than in the previous year, she said. Monday’s show featuring Huey Lewis and the News as the headliner had approximately 9,800 people in attendance, she said. Tuesday night brought in almost 14,000 people to the festival grounds, she said. Although tickets are selling well, the festival is feeling the impact of the slow economy in sales of Common Cards, she said. Common Cards grant holders access to all six days of the festival for $95. With 7,500 Common Cards sold, the total is down from last year and has led to an increase in the purchase of single-day passes. The slow sales of the cards have made it harder to predict the numbers of attendees and total revenue because fewer seats are considered sold for every night and depend more on single-day pass purchases, she said.

The festival operates on an approximately $1.8 million budget, which is raised through the sponsorships of local and national businesses. The festival is a good opportunity for businesses to get their names out among the crowd, said Curran. Harvest Music and Sound Design continues to sponsor the festival despite tough economic times because they believe the festival is for the good of the community, Curran said. It’s a way to reinvest in the future of their business by exposing the Lansing community to different types of musical performance, creating a more enticing market for the music business, he said.

“They’re putting on this festival, which means they believe Lansing has the depth to support it,” he said.

Doug Socha, marketing manager for Pearle Vision, said the company continues to sponsor the event because it presents an opportunity to support the customers who have supported them. While it might seem strange that a vision store would support a music festival, Socha said the level of exposure offered by supporting the festival has paid off for Pearle Vision.

“We have customers who come in to thank us for supporting the festival,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to do something positive for the Lansing community.”

Making it affordable for attendees is a major priority for the festival organizers, Barr said. With a diverse range of acts performing on multiple stages, the festival strives to appeal to everyone while remaining a good value, Curran said. Single-day passes cost $32 and most evenings offer at least four bands.

“Common Ground is different because we can accommodate a lot of people for a good price,” Barr said.

Creative community

“The best place to be on the planet is at a live show,” Curran said. “Lansing needs an outlet for that just like anywhere else.”

The festival is showcasing a diverse selection of acts from Top 40 to funk and is an opportunity to interest many different types and tastes to attend the live shows, Zarras said. Any exposure to live performance gets people involved and can only be good for the creative culture of a community, he said.

“It’s important for people to hear great classic bands live,” he said. “It’s just not the same listening on your iPod in your living room as seeing it live on stage.”

Ultimately, it is the musical talent that draws people to Common Ground, he said. While the lineup could be considered scattershot by including so many different acts, Curran said the strategy works because it appeals to as many people as possible.

“A lot of the artists might not be my cup of tea,” he said. “But I’ll go see anything so long as it’s live.”

For example, Hanson said she’s not the world’s biggest Huey Lewis and the News fan, but might have inspired a new fan in her 5-year-old son, Douglas. The event’s safe family atmosphere makes it an ideal destination for families looking for a night out on the town, she said.

“You see kids dancing all over; you just feel safe,” she said. “And the balloon hats are pretty good, too.”

All together now

“In good times or bad times, one of the things that unite any community is music and culture.” Curran said.

The festival has become part of the Lansing cultural landscape and has fostered a sense of community among volunteers and attendees alike, Barr said.

Barbara Sprague has volunteered at the festival for the last six years and said she continues to come back because she has grown fond of the people she serves and is an expected part of the festival scene.

“Once you get involved with it, you don’t want to get out,” she said.

Curran said a sense of community is the best part of experiencing live music, adding that a sense of pride in Lansing was one of the top reasons he continues to sponsor the festival.

“We want this community to have the best they can because they deserve it,” he said. “Now more than ever.”

The festival also has caused people from the surrounding areas to feel connected to downtown Lansing, said Zarras. As an MSU student, he hadn’t really devoted much time to exploring the Lansing area, something he hopes to correct after having a positive experience at the Common Ground Music Festival.

“Unless I’m going to the hospital, I don’t usually go into Lansing,” he said. “That will change in the future.”