Photo by Jennifer Ring
Clearwater, Florida's new concert venue, The Sound, pictured on June 13, 2023.
The Sound has lived in her head ever since, thanks to the endless talks about reviving Clearwater's downtown—and she's been onsite nearly every day for the duration of the two-year renovation of Coachman Park which surrounds Florida's most exciting new concert venue.
She joked that after Wednesday, she's going to have to find something else to do. That's when Coachman and its new music venue open to the public with a sold-out concert from Cheap Trick, fronted by Safety Harbor resident Robin Zander.
Lucky for Corcoran and the rest of the Bay area, there's plenty to get into within Coachman Park's 19 acres. There's the pirate island playground, splash pad, botanical garden, public art spaces, boardwalk, and plenty of greenery for community events.
The venue—which officials view as a destination for tourists and music fans from around the country—is the next evolution of a performance space that's hosted Clearwater Jazz Holiday, crazy spring break Wild Splash concerts, and more.
The Sound—technically not an amphitheater, by the way—is part of the $84 million Imagine Clearwater redevelopment of the downtown waterfront. Vertical construction started in July 2021, but planning workshops for the project kicked off five years before that. Last fall, the city sold two bluff parcels to a developer that is supposed to break ground on a $400 million apartment, hotel and retail project next year.
Removable seating underneath the new venue's cover (and sound-mitigating membrane) can accommodate up to 4,000 people, with room for 5,000 additional folks on the lawn. A ticketed VIP area called "The View" is elevated on the stage right side and offers air conditioning, private bathrooms, plus a bar and primo sight lines. A backdrop that can completely open not only allows for easier load-in, but also views of Old Clearwater Bay.
With Tampa's Gasparilla Music Festival being forced to move out of Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and away from the University of Tampa minarets, the vista at The Sound could make for Tampa Bay's most picturesque concert scenery. A couple hundred parking spaces are at the park, with about 3,000 within walking distance and other 2,000 private spots nearby.
Bobby Rossi can talk your ear off about The Sound.
In April, Ruth Eckerd Hall, the nonprofit where he is executive vice president for entertainment, was one of three groups named as finalists to run the venue. Last summer, city council selected Ruth Eckerd to run The Sound. During the 3-2 vote—where council went against a selection committee's suggestion that the bid should go to a group that involved Tampa's Vinik Sports Group and Los Angeles' OVG360—community members scoffed at the idea of going with anyone other than Ruth Eckerd, which has committed itself to the city of Clearwater for decades via its staple venue on McMullen-Booth Road and the 766-capacity Capitol Theatre just two blocks away.
Last December, the city and Ruth Eckerd finalized a contract that, in part, calls for Rossi's group to operate at least 35 events a year (at least 18 shows are already on the books) while also managing food and beverage service, and carrying most of the insurance. Clearwater will also get $5 per ticket sold (less for tickets priced under $10, and a buck for every free ticket); when operations generate a profit margin of at least 8% for Ruth Eckerd Hall, the city will get 25% of annual profits.
Naming rights also belong to the city and could generate $350,000, although a consulting group hired by the city last March to shop naming rights has yet to deliver.
Rossi is well aware of what every other concert junkie in Tampa Bay knows: The scene's been clamoring for an outdoor venue the size of The Sound.
There's one room that comes close—Tampa's Yuengling Center, which can accommodate just over 10,000 fans depending on event stage configuration—but it's indoors. Jannus Live in St. Petersburg can hold 2,000 concertgoers, but there's simply no turnkey venue that can do what The Sound will.
Its closest twin—the 4,092-capacity St. Augustine Amphitheatre, just over 200 miles away—has been earning a reputation for its environs (surrounded by the gorgeous Anastasia State Park) and its ability to host outdoor shows for artists that've outgrown nightclubs but not yet graduated to arenas (or those who simply don't like playing to rooms that big).
"We said they are our sister in the woods, and we are the brother on the water," Rossi told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
Widespread Panic, Bon Iver, Kacey Musgraves, and The National are just a few bands that have recently played St. Augustine and not Tampa Bay. Last spring, Ybor City was lucky to nab a set from Phoebe Bridgers who played to a hot parking lot packed with about 4,000 fans; her supergroup, Boygenius, is currently on a tour where it plays outside in Toronto (5,500 reserved seats), Chicago (9,000 fans expected) and Columbus (5,200 seats) this week alone.
Because of the climate in Clearwater—it's not a northern outdoor venue, after all—Rossi sees The Sound as a 12-month facility and knows it'll do more than the 35 shows it's obligated to put on. He just wants to make sure it's the right gig and that his group is booking it for the right reason.
"There were several shows where we just wished we could have opened earlier because [artists] specifically said this size, outdoors. Some end up skipping the market entirely," Rossi told CL. "The good part is that hopefully they'll come back next year. We're holding a bunch of dates next spring in March and April and already have several confirmed in January and March that we haven't announced yet." Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
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