HistoricOmaha

Omaha World Herald
Published Thursday June 29, 2006

BY MAHALIA ASANAENYI

For concertgoers such as John Billotte, hearing acts like REO Speedwagon, LoCash Cowboys and the Fifth Dimension, which all will play Memorial Park Friday, is only half the fun.

The other half is staking out the park a day or so in advance of the concert.

“It’s like the noon land rushes at Joslyn Art Museum,” said Billotte, referring to the museum’s Jazz on the Green series. “It’s nice to have a good place to sit and see the concert and enjoy it.”

Each year, 58-year-old Billotte sets up a tarp for his party of sometimes 15 to 29 people.

“You want to be about a quarter back from the front of the stage. The idea is not to be too close or too far,” said Billotte, who is the unofficial blanket-keeper and tarp tacker.

But summer concertgoers should know that this year the city is enforcing new rules on concert stakeouts in Memorial Park.

Attendees may reserve seats on the lawn with blankets no earlier than 5 a.m. on the day of the concerts. No tarps or stakes are allowed.

“This is pretty standard (compared to other cities),” said Steve Scarpello, acting director of the Omaha Parks and Recreation Department. “We are not doing anything radical.”

Scarpello said his office received a lot of complaints last year, prompting new restrictions.

The rules got their first test with the Bright Eyes concert on June 17. About 15,000 attended the concert, and the city reported no problems with the park or the new rules.

The next test is Friday at the Bank of the West Celebrates America concert, featuring the trio of acts headlined by REO Speedwagon. The event was formerly named Commercial Federal Celebrates America.

In previous years, the Parks Department noted that the tarps damaged the grass.

Additionally, people complained about the increasingly tactical approaches to reserving a space on the park lawn.

“That just shows the trusting nature of our community,” said Celia Ferrel, Bank of the West vice president of corporate communications.

“They come back before the concert and find blankets in the same place.”

Omaha.com: City pounds a stake in concert tradition