Hi John. I'm an ex-Jackson native living in Thailand now. Don't mean to butt-in to your post, but i produced and promoted concerts in Jackson for years during the early 80's.I owned Pourboiz Productions.

We ran into terrible problems booking good bands in that city and finally did everything thru the Michigan Theater Preservation Association using their 1500 seat venue. We spent thousand of dollars in prep-work trying to arrange an AC*DC concert at the old prison. We even had the date penciled in with the booking agent and got snuffed by the city also. We had traffic studies done, police were working with us concerning security and traffic control and the whole nine yards. We did accomplish some good shows and did Alice Cooper at the Sports Arena at North and Wisner streets finally. Dozens of smaller acts we accomplished at the Theater.

Good luck with your endeavor. I never dealt with a larger pain in the ass than the city fathers there - they are anti rock n roll at best. You might want to contact Bob Abel at C.K.Barymores on Pearl street (next door to Michigan Theater). He's a great guy and has had his fingers in just about every rock n roll show in town for decades. He can help you with the city fathers. Tell him Caveman from Thailand says hello. Best Wishes my friend ~ Caveman