The photo credit for Time magazine’s spread on Persons of the Year Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono invited a double take: The photo shoot occurred not in New York or even Seattle but in Omaha, where Bono’s U2 had performed the night before to a sellout crowd at the Qwest Center. The top-selling tour of 2005 — at least until the Rolling Stones’ figures are in — U2′s booking was a reminder that this heartland venue ranked eighth in the world in concert sales for the first half of this year. It also was a depressing reminder of how few such blockbuster concerts Wichita draws these days. Others we missed this year included the aforementioned Stones, the Eagles, Kenny Chesney, Neil Diamond and Paul McCartney. Surely the concert scene — and Wichitans’ willingness to buy tickets — will improve dramatically once a bright, shiny downtown arena opens. We can’t get much worse in either category.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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