Klipsch Music Center’s VIP experience sounds like music to our ears
By Katherine Coplen
Where are your seats for the show? If you’re in Live Nation’s Premium Seats program at Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville, central Indiana’s largest outdoor music venue, they’re somewhere pretty choice. And for most members of that program, those choice seats will be yours all season long.
Klipsch Music Center, owned and operated by concert giant Live Nation, brings in approximately 500,000 people for concerts each year. But a select few of those guests experience these shows in a totally different — and extremely high end — way.
The VIP program, in some form or another, has been in existence since Klipsch Music Center (formerly Verizon Wireless Music Center and originally Deer Creek Music Center) was built in 1989. And John West, music lover and VIP customer since the beginning, has been there for all 26 seasons.
“There have been numerous memorable shows, some of which I have enjoyed so much that if the show were to be repeated the next evening, I would have attended again,” he says.
West makes specific mention of the care the venue’s staff takes to ensure a positive concert-going experience. “The VIP staff is focused on accommodating the customer and sincerely cares about the customer having a comfortable, entertaining experience,” he says. “I’ve always been confident that the VIP staff will go out of their way in order to ensure that my family, guests and clients will have a first-class experience.”
Those experiences are standard for each season’s Premium Seats program customers, says Robert Lower, director of sales for Premium Seats. Not much changes, he says, except “the number of shows that we have and what shows that we have. This year, what’s new is that our season program guarantees (guests can attend) 25 concerts.”
“The VIP experience isn’t designed around one particular aspect of the concert experience,” says Andrew Newport, Klipsch Music Center general manager. “It’s designed to be an enhancement to every aspect of the experience. The outdoor concert experience is a unique one, and few things compare to a night under the stars, singing your favorite songs with thousands of your closest friends.”
Parking: “You’ll be able to park in the VIP parking lot, a private section that gets guests in and out much more quickly than from the main lot,” says Robert Lower, director of sales for Premium Seats.
VIP Club: This tented area offers air conditioning in the club and restrooms, plus multiple bars, a sit-down restaurant and live music before each show.
The Restaurant: “Call in advance to reserve a table,” suggests Erin Mullen, another director of sales for Premium Seats. “Our restaurant opens an hour before the public gates do. You can sit down and order dinner from a menu, (and) you can sit inside the club or out in the patio.” The restaurant typically has featured specials on the menu, plus typical pub fare.
The Seats: There are nine six-seat boxes in ultra-premium spots, including four flanking the venue’s sound booth. There are also 91 four-seat boxes throughout the pavilion. Prices for boxes (which include food and beverage service) run into the low five figures, but individual VIP seats in the upper pavilion start around $4,000 per seat for the entire season. Food and beverage service to the suites includes VIP Club food and premium drinks. “If a client wants Ritter’s ice cream, their server will deliver,” Mullen says. “We have about 70 to 80 percent renewal rate year to year at Klipsch Music Center,” Mullen says of clients who return to claim VIP spots through the Premium Seats program.
Meet and Greets: The one aspect of the VIP experience Klipsch doesn’t provide is the meet and greet. That’s because, Lower says, meet and greets “have really become a marketable commodity for the tours.” Fans looking to meet their favorite music artists can visit individual band websites to find more information on backstage possibilities.
The music center, however, does occasionally host events for season ticket holders that offer opportunities to go on stage, Lower says. “(Last year), we did a banquet on the stage as kind of a season kickoff, and folks got to tour the backstage area,” he adds.