Brent Batten: Mysterious concert proposals nothing new in Collier County

There’s nothing new under the bright Florida sun.

The idea of taxpayer funding for a pro-tourism concert, approved last week by Collier County commissioners, has been around before.

And like this time, when the decision to spend $125,000 of tourist tax revenue has drawn criticism, the earlier episode was fraught with controversy as well.

The year was 1995, and Myra Janco Daniels, founder of the Naples Philharmonic Center, had a bold idea.

She would bring a major act to Naples. The concert would be so big it would draw people from all over the state. But it was too big, even for the Phil, which is now called Artis—Naples. It would have required construction of an amphitheater, which in turn could host other top acts in the future.

More:Mystery act revealed: Sugar Ray will headline Naples' hurricane relief concert

More:Brent Batten: Mystery concert expected to bring fun to Naples, but tourists?

More:Which band would you like to see perform in Naples for Hurricane Irma relief

She asked for $2 million from the county commission to help with the costs. The sticking point was, she couldn’t reveal the name of the act before the awarding of the grant. Contracts had to be signed before the performers would agree to come. And you couldn’t announce the lineup before the contracts were signed.

In the end, county commissioners balked and what was billed as the Mega-Concert didn’t happen.

Now, Daniels said, she’d be happy to tell us who the Mega-Concert lineup was intended to be, but she doesn’t remember.

“So many things have happened since then,” she said. “We did so many shows in those days.”

Racking her memory and that of her assistant, she said the taxpayer funding requests roughly coincided with her effort to bring the famous Three Tenors to Naples.

In the 1990s, three of the most popular operatic singers of their time — Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti — sang at venues all over the world, drawing as many as 50,000 people per performance.

“We were in negotiations with the Three Tenors that year. I knew all three of them, and I knew what it would cost. It was too much for us to do it alone. We needed a partner,” she said.

Unlike the Mega-Concert, we now know for sure who the mystery band connected to the 2017 TDC grant is.

Sugar Ray, a band with hits “Fly” and “Every Morning,” will be the headline act Dec. 9 and, according to county documents, be paid $62,500.

Opening acts are local singer and "The Voice" finalist Casey Weston and 20ride, a Zac Brown Band tribute group.

Social media’s reaction to the lineup has been mixed, at best, with critics questioning the cost and quality of the show.

Collier County Commission Chairwoman Penny Taylor, one of the few who knew the names of the groups before they were announced Friday, said she’s confident the concert will be a success.

“I don’t pay attention to the social media,” she said.

The “Naples is Rockin'” show, to be held at Goodlette-Frank Road and U.S. 41 downtown, is being touted as a way to demonstrate to the world that Collier County has recovered from Hurricane Irma and is open for business. Any money raised beyond the production costs will go to hurricane relief in places like Immokalee and Everglades City.

“It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be the community coming together to help the community,” Taylor said.

The genesis of the concert was a call Taylor received from Gov. Rick Scott shortly after the storm hit. Scott asked for ideas on how to revive tourism and spread the message that Florida is back, she said.

Taylor enlisted the help of Tiffany McQuaid, of McQuaid and Company, who organized the Rockin’ on the Bay concert series at Bayfront a few years back.

They put together a list of acts in the county’s projected budget and then investigated which ones might be available on such short notice.

Taylor said she trusts McQuaid and her team to make good decisions on the acts.

“They know their music,” she said.

Expectations that the act would be someone like Aerosmith were unrealistic, Taylor said. The price would be too high, and the crowds too big for any venue in Naples.

“I think the city manager would faint and close it right down,” Taylor said of the notion of a supergroup in Naples.

For her part, Daniels is still a fan of the idea of using a concert to promote tourism.

“I think it’s a good move on their part,” she said.

Added Taylor, “It’s going to be a party.”

Connect with Brent Batten at brent.batten@naplesnews.com, on Twitter @NDN_BrentBatten and at facebook.com/ndnbrentbatten.