Helping Zac Brown Band make history in Y’town

Judy Garland’s classic lyrics from “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” eight decades ago that “dreams really do come true” retain an enduring application to what promises to be the blockbuster event of summer in the city of Youngstown.

That event, a gigantic outdoor concert this August featuring three-time Grammy Award winning country-rock act The Zac Brown Band, had a similar evolution.

“What started as a pipe dream a few years ago is actually exceeding our expectations. An artist of this magnitude will undoubtedly be a night Youngstown will never forget,” said Ed Muransky, of the Muransky Companies, which is co-promoting the concert with JAC Management.

It also promises to be a night that makes history. The buzz surrounding the Aug. 24 concert and tailgate at Stambaugh Stadium is reaching fevered levels as tickets for the event go on sale to the public today at the Covelli Centre box office and at Tickemaster.com.

To be sure, superlatives swirl around the Y Live event. The concert promises to be the largest in the city of Youngstown’s two-century history, filling Stambaugh Stadium with up to 21,000 fans, a level that eclipses that of the Penguins’ football games in the heyday of their national championships.

It will feature one of the most popular musical acts in the nation today. The Atlanta-based band enjoys a huge following and boasts 11 No. 1 hits on the country charts. Its current hit, “My Old Man,” has been riding high for 20 weeks.

The concert also will offer one of the best opportunities ever for the city and the university to put their ongoing physical renaissance on prime display for visitors from across Northeast Ohio, western Pennsylvania and elsewhere to see.

In a statement, Youngstown Mayor John McNally said, “This historic event will be uncharted territory in that the potential growth of the city’s commerce, entertainment district and tourism will be exponential.”

REDEVELOPED YSU AREA

Close to the stadium, many may marvel at the redevelopment of the university’s Fifth Avenue corridor, with the most recent attractive additions of a Barnes & Noble bookstore and cafe and the second 220-bed phase of the University Edge apartment complex.

Clearly then, much rides on the success of the colossal concert. It’s got many things working in its favor, including the expertise of Muransky and JAC, who singly or collectively have brought or are bringing such successful artists as Elton John, Barry Manilow, Lionel Ritchie, Pitbull, Ted Nugent and Loretta Lynn to the Covelli Centre or W.D. Packard Music Hall in Warren.

It also has competitive prices (tickets start at $45.50), a potential audience base of about 13,000 YSU students already back on campus for fall classes, strong support from corporate sponsors and the alluring star power of the band.

If all goes well, promoters hope to expand the concert into a multi-day music festival in the city. To some, that, too, may sound like a pipe dream. But, we’re confident that all involved will make the Aug. 24 event a success and a prelude for even bigger and better dreams to come true in the city.