Concert organizers have 'not secured' Leach as a venue for Train, Better than Ezra, city officials say
OSHKOSH – Organizers for an Aug. 6 concert featuring pop-rock band Train have not booked a city-run venue for that date, city of Oshkosh officials said Thursday.
The Oshkosh Arena announced on March 6 that Train would play a concert Aug. 6 with Better than Ezra at the Leach Amphitheater, 303 Ceape Ave. Publicity campaigns widely announced this concert and tickets were still on sale starting at $45, as of 4 p.m. Thursday. Ticketmaster and websites for both bands list the event at the Leach, though the Leach's website does not.
However, the city of Oshkosh released the following statement Thursday: "The concert organizer, Oshkosh Arena, has not secured the use of the Leach Amphitheater facility for this event, nor has it submitted an application to rent the facility."
The Leach Amphitheater is owned by the City of Oshkosh and operated by the city's Parks Department. It's the site of the popular Waterfest concert series.
'We are not a party to this': City manager says organizers have filed no paperwork to rent the arena and owe the city money
City officials made the announcement for a number of reasons, according to city manager Mark Rohloff.
First, Rohloff said city government "had no idea" the Train concert was going to happen before Oshkosh Arena announced the dates, only finding out through Oshkosh Arena's news releases. Several people also contacted the Parks Department about difficulties buying tickets.
Organizers typically apply with the city to book the Leach, then discuss the event's needs and get a special events permit, Rohloff said. None of the paperwork for booking and hosting the Train concert at the Leach has taken place, though the arena did file an application for a special event permit at around noon Thursday.
"(The concert announcement) was completely out of the blue," Rohloff said. "We are not a party to this."
Second, he said Oshkosh Arena owes $46,000 in fees to city government, as well as unpaid personal property taxes The organization has been behind on these payments since October and has not responded to the city's attempts at contact.
If that hadn't been the case, Rohloff said the city would not have taken the step of making this kind of public announcement.
City open to concert deal, but date for Train stop faces uncertainty
As of Thursday, the city of Oshkosh didn't have an answer for what will happen to the concert. But, Rohloff said "the Leach exists exactly for events like this," and the city was open to a deal for the concert's announced venue and date if the arena addresses its outstanding debts.
It's not known how many people have already bought tickets. However, a Facebook event for the concert said 55 people were going and more than 500 were interested in the event as of Thursday.
"We're concerned (the organizers) have started selling tickets" without securing the venue first, Rohloff said.
Rohloff advised ticketholders and other potential concertgoers to contact Oshkosh Arena to get clarity on whether the event will go forward as planned.
The Northwestern has reached out multiple ways to Oshkosh Arena officials but has not gotten a response. However, the arena told Fox 11 News in a Thursday article that "all plans on having this event at the Leach Amphitheater are moving forward as planned."
The paper also reached out to Train's agency, Crush Music, but has not heard back.
Rebecca Loroff is a breaking and trending news reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. Contact her at rloroff@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: City says Leach 'not secured' for Oshkosh Arena's Train show
