In just a few days, the puck will drop for the first official hockey game at Edmonton’s new downtown arena but as a music venue, Rogers Place got two sold-out shows under its belt over the weekend and the fans are giving the building favourable reviews.
Over the weekend, a pair of country superstars crooned their crowd-pleasers for thousands of fans at the recently-opened sports and entertainment venue. On Friday night Australian singer Keith Urban performed the first official concert at the facility while Dolly Parton graced the stage Saturday night.
READ MORE: ‘It was just so surreal’: Edmonton area teen performs at Keith Urban concert
Arena goers told Global News they had some minor complaints about steep stairs in some areas and long lines for beer, but most had favourable things to say about Rogers Place as a concert venue, particularly in terms of the sound.
“I talked to a lot of people over the weekend who are from Edmonton at the events and going, ‘I can’t wait until friends come in from out of town and they go wow you got this in Edmonton? How did that happen?'” Stew MacDonald with the Oilers Entertainment Group said.
Both City of Edmonton officials and Edmonton Oilers’ owner Daryl Katz are billing the arena as the cornerstone building in the Ice District devleopment plan, a downtown revitalization scheme centred around people going to hockey games and concerts.
One area business Global News spoke to said if the first weekend is any indication, the jump in energy and consumer-spending potential is palpable.
“It was really good,” Careit Urban Deli’s Nichole Jordan said of the weekend. “Saturday, we were kind of wondering, ‘Are we going to have to overstaff? Are we going to do really well?
“Around 5:30 p.m. we started to notice it picking up which it normally doesn’t on a Friday, it’s pretty quiet downtown,” she added. “But the influx of people coming in on the LRT and just walking and enjoying the weather – it was amazing.”
Jordan estimates her business saw an extra 30 customers walk in Friday and hopes to see the momentum continue.
READ MORE:Downtown Edmonton comes alive with first official concert at Rogers Place
Watch below: A big night for downtown Edmonton’s new arena on Friday. Rogers Place hosted its first official concert and while thousands of people were there to see a popular Australian country singer, many were there to be apart of history. Fletcher Kent reports.
The manager of the Mercer Tavern, located across the street from Rogers Place, said the drinking establishment filled up about six hours earlier than it normally does on Friday night while a neighbouring eatery, Rostizado, saw customers wait nearly 90 minutes for a table the same night.
“Just so many people walking around on the streets outside. We almost had to start a lineup at about 5 p.m.,” Jeff Lesik, the general manager at Mercer Tavern, said of Friday evening’s concert debut.
The puck will drop at the new arena’s first official hockey game Saturday when the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings take on the Red Deer Rebels.
READ MORE: Edmonton Oil Kings sell out first regular season home game at Rogers Place
The first NHL game at Rogers Place will take place Oct. 7 when the Edmonton Oilers face off against the Calgary Flames.
-With files from Fletcher Kent.
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