When LiveNation, which owns Ford Amphitheatre, rolled out the venue’s packed schedule for the summer, we thought they’d lost their grip. Had they missed the last two gut-wrenching hurricane seasons? Had they forgotten that the Ford Amp is an outdoor venue? How many of the 20-some shows did they think would actually happen, what with a Category Whatever blowing through here about once a week? Turns out that the weather soothsayers got it blessedly wrong. (Here we must insert the all-important, jinx-busting disclaimer: HURRICANE SEASON IS NOT OVER.) We got to thinking: Maybe the merciful hurricane season has occurred because the Ford booked so many shows. Yeah, that’s it. And you know what that means? They’re gonna have to book heavy next summer, too.
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2006.