SMG in the News: Fine-Tuning

Originally Published in the Lincoln Journal Star

The Pinnacle Bank Arena has an impressive lineup of concerts for its first five shows, including performances by in-demand artists The Eagles and Pink, with more to come.

But SMG management, which operates the arena, didn’t randomly pick artists or send out a “we want this artist” list.

Booking concerts doesn’t work that way.

“It’s really all about relationships with the major promoters -- AEG, Live Nation, Beaver and Brad Garrett and Jeff Fortier and all the other promoters,” said SMG general manager Tom Lorenz. “It’s those long-term relationships with promoters more than anything else that lead to bookings.”