HAMPTON BEACH — The Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom announced its reopening plans this week and its leaders say it's high time for the "roaring s" to begin.

Following the news from Gov. Chris Sununu last week that COVID restrictions will ease May 7, the Casino Ballroom has announced eight new shows going on sale Friday, April 23 at 10 a.m. These new headlining shows join a number of shows already on the Casino's calendar for this summer. 

"We have moved all of our previously scheduled April, May and June shows to later in the year and plan to open at full capacity on July 2nd, a time that we believe those who want to be vaccinated will have had enough time to be fully vaccinated," Casino Ballroom Marketing Director Andy Herrick said.

Herrick calls the re-opening a bit of a “rebirth,” saying “Whenever we were down and out with regard to being shut down last year, we would try and keep our hopes up by reminding ourselves that the last global pandemic () ushered in the indulgence of the Roaring Twenties, filling concert venues and dance halls across the land and gave birth to the Casino Ballroom in "

"We expect this level of excitement for the live experience again," Herrick said. "Let the roaring s begin!”

Who is playing at Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in ?

The concerts going on sale Friday are major acts and they include some big names who performed and were winners just this past Sunday at the American Country Music Awards. Tickets go on sale April 23 for Justin Moore, Aug. 6; Chris Lane, Aug. 19; Lee Brice, Aug. 27; Scotty McCreery, Sept. 9; Kip Moore, Sept. 24; Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, Oct. 8; Foreigner, Oct. 28; Brothers Osborne, Oct.

How do I get tickets?

Tickets to these shows go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday and are available at ingalex.de Several other shows are already on sale on the Casino's website. For more information, check the website's FAQs or call

Shows already on sale for this summer include Chris Janson, Collective Soul and Better Than Ezra, Little River Band, Old Crow Medicine Show, Buddy Guy, Tower of Power, Blues Traveler, REO Speedwagon, George Thorogood and The Destroyers, Styx, Joss Stone and Ted Nugent.

Music fans are being advised to keep their eyes open for more on-sale dates soon.

“We plan to start announcing new shows each week," Herrick said. "Our schedule will run through the middle of November and we can’t wait to (literally) see everyone again soon." 

What COVID has been like for Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom

Herrick described what the Ballroom staff experienced as the pandemic shutdowns began last year.

"In , just a few weeks before the pandemic hit, we were in Los Angeles at meetings celebrating what an epic year it was going to be at the Casino Ballroom. Then suddenly our entire business was shut off like a faucet. It is still unreal," Herrick said. "Since then we have been just following the latest health and safety guidance of the governor’s safer-at-home task force, grateful that super smart people came up with a vaccine so quickly and grateful that our state has been doing such an unbelievable job of getting those shots in arms."

More:A look into the pandemic shutdown and reopening of the Casino Ballroom

He said, after shutting down, Casino owners and staff were on a roller coast for the rest of

"You can imagine that losing an entire year to a virus wasn’t exactly on our SWOT analysis, that is for sure," Herrick said. (SWOT is a business technique analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.) "I would point to our leadership. Fred Schaake and Kristin MacKinnon, the owners of the Ballroom, stayed incredibly positive during the entire experience. They didn’t focus on the negatives or the what-ifs, that wouldn’t have served us, they kept us together and the ship afloat."

Seacoast NH beach parking What's back to normal, what's changing

"I would also be remiss not to point to Governor Sununu’s decision to earmark NH Cares Act money for entertainment venues," Herrick said. "There is no way NH entertainment venues would have survived this without that critical decision and we are all incredibly grateful for it. So the next time you are enjoying a concert in NH, tip one back for our leadership."

About the measures and precautions the Casino Ballroom is taking to make concerts safe, Herrick said venue staff are anxious to see what the "best practice" guidance  Sununu described in his weekly press conference last week will recommend.

"We believe it will remove the mandatory 6-foot distancing that has made it so economically challenging for us to open," he said, noting the venue will make final decisions about protocol after getting the state's guidance.

What will be different is the upgrades the Casino Ballroom has made to make the venue safer.

"We have taken the downtime to upgrade everything from our HVAC filtration and air exchange to all new bathrooms, the addition of big fans high above the main room and improvements to the dressing room and artist experience," Herrick said. "We will continue to follow the latest health and safety protocols from applicable government authorities, the public health community and industry standards which we will further address as we get closer to our events."

Beach access for all?:Hampton's new resident-only parking irks out-of-towners

What won't change, according to Herrick, is the authenticity of the venue and the level of entertainment Casino Ballroom audiences are accustomed to. "The one thing you can bet on at this Casino: one hell of a good time," he said.

Herrick reflected on what he's learned from the pandemic experience.

Ready for fun in Hampton Beach big events, including Seafood Fest, set to return

"I think I realized how much things like concerts, going out to dinner, sporting events or festivals manage the cultural temperature," Herrick said. "We have a renewed sense of purpose for bringing what typically starts as an idea or a phone call in our little office, to 2, people a night. I realize, more than ever, it’s a much-needed release and a reset for so many.

Check out ingalex.de for tickets and more information.

Coordinates: 42°54′34″N70°48′40″W / °N °W / ;

The Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom is a seasonal live music and comedy venue located on the boardwalk of Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, United States. The venue is open from April to November, and within those eight months schedules upwards of 70 shows.

In , Pollstar ranked the Casino Ballroom #23 in the Top Worldwide Club Venues.^[1]

History[edit]

Aerial view of the casino during the late s

The facility was opened on July 4, , by Wallace D. Lovell, who owned the Exeter, Hampton and Amesbury Street Railway Company, with the hope of bringing more business and tourism into the Hampton Beach area. In , with performers beginning to achieve national stardom through various media, the ballroom was added to adapt to the changing nature of entertainment. The new owners wanted a facility that could hold 5, people, and thus the Casino Ballroom was born. After the expansion, the Casino Ballroom boasted the largest dance floor in New England, and 20, people made use of the massive space on a weekly basis that hosted acts such as Bing Crosby and Duke Ellington.^[2]

The rise of rock and roll brought many more changes to the Casino Ballroom. The owners at the time sold the facility to a consortium of local businessmen interested in restoring it to its former glory. After renovating the facility and restoring many of its original features, the Ballroom reopened in the s as Club Casino. Renovations, however, were not enough to draw promoters back to the venue. Seeing an opportunity, one of the new owners sought to book then-little-known names such as U2 and aging stars such as Ray Charles as a way of restoring the venue's reputation. His bet paid off, and following another renovation in the late '70s and early '80s, Club Casino began booking the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa Etheridge and Phish. So popular was the location, in fact, that it was able to fit 50 events into a three-month period, unheard of at the time for most music halls.

In the s, the club started to develop a reputation for tough bouncers and strict rules against dancing. Again, changes were made to the Club Casino. In an attempt to regain some of its past glory, the name was changed back to the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, the facade of the building was redone, and the adjacent hotel demolished. The venue's season now extends from April to November, and it continues to bring in some of the top names in entertainment.^[3]

Notable events[edit]

On July 8, , an additional 4, fans showed up to an already sold-out Jethro Tull concert with Yes on their first American tour as a supporting band. Ticketless fans started rioting and scaling the walls to climb in through the windows. Police and the National Guard were called in, and the incident resulted in the town of Hampton banning rock concerts for a number of years.^[3]

On August 9, , the day Jerry Garcia died, his former Grateful Dead bandmate Bob Weir and his band RatDog took the stage to play a show at the Casino. Fans and media outlets descended on the Ballroom, filling the venue's parking lot to hold a candlelight vigil while listening to the band play inside.^[3]

Micky Ward, professional boxer of The Fighter fame, fought Emanuel Augustus here on July 13, It was later named the Fight of the Year.^[4]

The Casino Ballroom is the only venue in the world that has hosted three generations of the Nelson family: Ozzie & Harriet Nelson in the s, Ricky Nelson in the s and '70s, and Matthew & Gunnar Nelson in the s.^[5]

Notable performers[edit]

The following are some of the artists who have performed at the Casino Ballroom:^[3]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Completed in and patterned on old English ballrooms, the Club Casino was the first building on Hampton Beach (originally built in ). It housed a cavernous, foot-long ballroom with foot ceilings and "festival seating" (no tables or chairs). At one time, its patrons conformed to a Draconian dress code.

Then came the late '60s and early '70s when collective madness seemed to creep into teenage psyches. One summer night in , Jethro Tull played for only one of two sold-out concerts. There was a riot, and the National Guard was called to Hampton Beach.

"It was the height of the anti-war years," says Club Casino general manager Bill Tebbetts. "Inside, it was a madhouse. It was total chaos on the beach."

He remembers being among the crowd of frenzied fans who tried to climb through the club's windows to glimpse the stars. Twelve arrests later, after a policeman was hospitalized for exhaustion and streets had been closed off, the riot was quelled -- but rock 'n roll was banned from the town of Hampton.

This created something of a problem for Jim Goodwin when he bought the club in the mids and found that Hampton residents did not make a distinction between hard rock, soft rock and 'MOR.' or, middle-of-the-road. "The people on the beach were 'staid' in their view of entertainment, they didn't want to hear any musical notes wafting on the breeze -- they didn't want the Beach Boys, either."

Besides, Goodwin says as he sits on a brown velveteen swivel chair in an office plastered with glossy photos of acts he had since hosted, his problems were compounded by another difficulty: how to attract big-name talent to his club.

The music business, he explains, operates on three levels. Every act has a personal manager as well as an agency. All the clubs, promoters and places where singers perform contact agencies for bookings. Agencies plan tours with the approval of managers.

When Goodwin took over, he had the club redesigned to enhance its nostalgic, old world flavor. An interior decorator with offices in Quincy, Mass. and Los Angeles selected the Casino's colors -- red, blue and olive green. A Scottish company custom-made a paisley wool rug. "We introduced a Vegas-style showroom with cocktails, 1, chairs, tables, and a foot bar. With special lights dripping over it, this," he says, "is the longest bar in New England." In the eyes of the agencies he called, however, none of this was enough.

"When I'd call agencies, they'd say 'who did you have last year?' and when I said I was a brand-new business, they said 'we'll get back to you.'" Leaning forward in his blue jeans and cowboy hat, Goodwin says, "If I'd sat waiting for the phone to ring, I'd have a beard down to the floor!"

As in all success stories, luck played its part. Overhearing him wonder how he could get Crystal Gayle to sing at the club, a waitress remarked: "Oh, I live with Crystal Gayle's husband's brother!" a week later, Goodwin's phone rang. It was Crystal Gayle's agency asking if he wanted show dates for July.

That happened during the summer of ' "It was the first summer I didn't take a bath. The next year, when I called agencies and they asked me who I'd had last year, I said 'Crystal.' They said 'Who?' That started the ball rolling. Now agencies call me here and we have a more mutual arrangement."

Since then, the Club Casino has hosted some of the biggest names in show business, including Pat Benatar, the Motels, Roy Orbison, the Pointer Sisters, Jonathan Edwards, Tammy Wynette, Judy Collins, B.B. King, and Arlo Guthrie.

Although he wasn't owner at the time, Goodwin says he learned a lesson from the Jethro Tull debacle. "Two years ago, when the Rolling Stones played in that dive in Worcester, I was called by their agency -- they said they were giving the tickets away, but I said 'No, no, no! For the sake of having the Stones here, would I destroy the reputation I've built up?' You've got to use your head," he says, tapping his temple, "you can't get greedy. As Johnny Carson says -- 'What do you want, this place turned into a parking lot?' They would've torn the place down -- free tickets to the Stones?" he says, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. "Please! So I said no. They thought I was crazy."

This summer, Dave Mason, the Romantics, Ray Charles and Laura Branigan, among others, will perform in his ballroom. "I try to remember, if you only put on acts you like, you restrict your market. So you've got to add blues, jazz, R&B and MOR as well." This way, he says, he doesn't exhaust the financial resources of one market, like those of young people who can afford one concert a week, perhaps, but not one every night.

Pulling out the latest issue of Billboard, one of the trade magazines he reads to keep track of musicians and their movements, he explains another factor that determines who he can hire for a show. Billboard, he says, has a chart of the top songs of the week. "This week, Cindy Lauper's new song "Time After Time" went from 27 to 14 on the Hot At number 14, she's worth $7, to $10, a show. At number 27, she's worth only $5, to $7, -- that's the difference a week makes.

"In , I had Pat Benatar on the first date of her first major tour after "Heartbreak" was released. I paid her $3, The next year, after two hits, the minimum she'd take would be $15,, and depending on the records and the charts, she could command $30, to $35, a night." Now, I can't buy Pat Benatar because she's too much, I'd say around $50, a night."

In order to capitalize on rising ratings in the charts, managers of current popular groups won't book more than five weeks in advance, he says, which makes it hard for him to advertise a show and make plans. "On the other hand, a 'staid' act like the Righteous Brothers can book in advance because they have a current product."

Enter one more ingredient into the formula for booking acts: the more seats in a club, the higher the club's "GP" or gross potential and the more money an act can make. "Normally, an act makes a guaranteed, flat fee, plus 60 to 70 percent of the difference between my expenses for operating a show and the GP (seating ticket price). I have 1, seats. At $10 a ticket, that a GP of $16, But take the Cumberland Civic Center in Portland -- with 10, seats at $10 a ticket, it has a GP of $," The amount of money an act can make there over its guaranteed flat fee is proportionally higher. "They can afford to pay more because their GP is higher. This puts me in a niche. It means there are only certain acts I can buy.

"I can pay an act up to $15, and still make money. I can get popular acts on their way up and on their way down." he says, leaning back in his chair with a twinkle in his eye, "but not at their zenith."

Zenith or not, Goodwin has gotten used to meeting these "stars" in their various ascending and descending positions. "In the beginning, I was awestruck by meeting all these famous people, but then again, the newness wears off." He makes a comparison of 'growing tired of a shiny new bicycle.' "They're just people like you and me, and they like to be treated that way."

Some, he says, are so uncomfortably aloof or surrounded with bodyguards that "you can't touch them." Others, like Harry Chapin, who died one night before two sellout concerts at the Club Casino, "you'd swear you'd known for years." When Chapin died, Goodwin says he closed down for the night. "He was a hell of a guy."

He judges stars the way he would judge anyone. It's sort of the way he reacted, he says, when he came out of a package store in Amherst, Mass., where he went to college, and bumped into Robert Frost. "He was a very, very interesting guy -- down to earth. But if he'd been aloof, I would've put him in another category."

Although Goodwin worked in bars on Cape Cod and at the Ashworth before owning the Club Casino, he had to learn the ropes. Problems always crop up, like parking, which is the reason he doesn't do two shows a night. Acts used to doing two shows a night consider a night's job at the Casino a "vacation," he says.

Profits have recently turned the Club Casino into "well over a million-dollar business."

"I turned the corner three years ago, and it took me four years to do it." An in-house, computerized ticketing system allows him to bypass Ticketron and distribute his own tickets. A staff of waitpeople, bar, office, food and maintenance people works from Mid-May to Labor Day.

Goodwin's plans include getting into the promotion business himself during the slow season of the year, and renting other facilities to promote acts he doesn't have space for in Hampton.

"It's a new arm of the same business," he says. Like all his business ideas, he's asking luck to step in. In fact, it may already have. "John Denver's new manager happens to be a really good friend of mine I grew up with "This, he says, may open the door to "a myriad of things."

The Hampton Beach Casino has been the heart of Hampton Beach since What is not on the ocean side of the street is here on the Casino Boardwalk.

Whether you're looking for fun, food or shopping, the Hampton Beach Casino is a great place to find it all between Hampton Beach and home! 

Winter may be here, but #Summer awaits! All the fabulous food, fun and shopping will return with warmer weather, but Hampton Beach is always here 24/7 for your enjoyment! Be sure to follow us on Facebook for highlights leading into #Summer!

During the summer, you’re sure to enjoy:

- Amazing boardwalk shopping!  

- Hands-On Arcade Games

- Beach Supplies

- Best of Food

- Boutiques

- Specialty Shops  

- Prime Parking - the largest parking area on 

  the beach with over spaces

And Much More!

We're Dreaming of #Summer!