Elk Grove hires promoter for 2014 summer concert series
Elk Grove Village is hiring a private concert promoter to manage and operate its 2014 summer concert series, which village officials say will feature their biggest lineup yet.
The village will pay Entertainment Management Group $310,000 to cover the cost of performer fees for the five concerts, as well as payment for staging and lighting costs. The company is run by Elk Grove Village resident Murray Weiner, who has managed the Mid-Summer Classics Concert Series for the village since it began six years ago.
The park district is providing the village with a $50,000 contribution for the concerts. The village decided to more than triple its contribution — up to $260,000 — since last year.
Village is committing more money to the concerts after deciding in August to discontinue operations of the Tour of Elk Grove because of a scheduling conflict with USA Cycling and the International Cycling Union.
The cycling event, held on village streets for the past eight years, was partially funded by a 1 percent village hotel-motel tax.
Now some of that money will be going to the summer concert series.
The concerts are scheduled on five consecutive Tuesday evenings in July, starting with America on July 1, Survivor on July 8, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo on July 15, John Michael Montgomery on July 22, and Kenny Loggins on July 29.
The Loggins concert originally was planned to be the middle concert, and the Benatar/Giraldo concert the last, but those performers, who have the same manager, asked if they could flip-flop dates because of scheduling issues, according to Mayor Craig Johnson.
The concerts will be held at the Village Green, which is located between the Charles J. Zettek Municipal Complex, at 901 Wellington Ave., and the Elk Grove Library, at 1001 Wellington Ave.
The concerts are free to attend.
Some 25,000 people attended last year's lineup of four concerts.