Lucas Oil’s A Little Muddy

Not for the first time, and certainly not the last, a stadium hosted its debut concert event – and folks complained about the sound. About 52,000 people piled into Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Sept. 15 to see a major country music show but those in the back went home unsatisfied.

Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, Gary Allan and two other acts debuted the stadium in an eight-hour show. Some in the more elevated seats, though, didn’t get the best sound, and management is asking concert attendees for further feedback, according to the Indianapolis Star.

“We have heard from people that their sound and location was great; we have heard from others that it was not,” stadium executive director Barney Levengood told the paper. “We take those suggestions seriously. We’re going to take a look at the building and try to determine the cause. Was it the production, was it the building or a combination thereof?”

The show kicked off with Brother Trouble, which recently won “The Next Big Star” band competition.

“We could not understand one word they were saying or singing,” a concertgoer, seated in the highest balcony, told the Star.

She said she went to a customer service desk and waited 45 minutes amid dozens of other ticketholders with similar concerns.

The sound problems eased when the stadium opened the retractable roof  for Urban’s and Chesney’s sets, the paper said.

The show was promoted by The Messina Group / AEG Live. Louis Messina, who could not be reached for further comment, e-mailed the paper, telling it that “From our end, the building was great and we addressed early sound problems.”

Levengood said his staff plans to review complaints and pass them to Messina.

“At this moment, there are no refunds, and we haven’t given any,” Levengood told the paper.