Multiple Grammy-winning artist Sting is the first act booked to play a lavish, yet temporary, new waterfront concert venue at the America's Cup Pavilion on Pier 27/29. The 9,000 seat venue will be one of the largest in San Francisco and the biggest outdoor venue after AT&T and Golden Gate Park, and who better to open a yacht race-adjacent venue than a bescarfed old English guy?
Those Sting tickets go on sale via Ticketmaster.com on Friday, February 22nd, so prepare to get a nice "convenience charge" tacked on as part of your ticket price. So far no other acts are booked for the waterfront spot and details are scarce about the amphitheater's seating, and sound/video setup. America's Cup organizers do plan to use it for more than just concerts between when it opens in May and when it disappears again in October. According to the folks at Live Nation, the space will host a variety of "family shows, community and business events, comedy, as well as America's Cup race activities and viewing sessions." Live Nation will also be responsible for handling logistics like traffic, noise and cleanup after each event.
Original plans for the concert space called for a 4,000-seat venue, but according to the A-Cup Event Authority the larger plans didn't need a second approval by the city. Now that the ad hoc amphitheater has more than doubled in size, former Board of Supervisors President and protector of the Northeast Waterfront Aaron Peskin is holding it up as proof that the America's Cup can't deliver on its promise of economic stimulation. “Explain to me what Sting has to do with Larry Ellison’s yacht race,” Peskin told the Examiner. “This was supposed to be a boat race. Now it feels like a bait and switch.”
Meanwhile, the Sting concert is part of the artist's "Back to Bass" tour, which we assume means he'll get back to playing bass guitar and hopefully not some kind of dubstep-y thing. Anyhow, brace yourselves for some bass slappin', Embarcadero neighbors:
