Dwight Yoakam to hit stage Friday

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Guitars, Cadillacs and hillbilly music will be hitting the stage tonight when musician Dwight Yoakam steps into the light, clad in his cowboy hat, boots and — of course — his guitar at the Curry County Events Center.

Events Center Director Joelle Reed said Thursday that 1,640 tickets out of 3,340 had been sold.

“That’s about halfway, but it’s very close to our break-even point,” Reed said. “We still have advertising and promotion going up until the concert starts.”

Tickets are $30, $49 and $65. They can be purchased by calling 888-694-4849, visiting http://www.CurryEventsCenter.com or in the events center and fairgrounds business office. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Clovis, Reed said, has traditionally been a “last-minute market,” and she expects to sell a lot of tickets today before the show and possibly even at the door.

“Everybody waits until the day of the show, and they go, ‘OK do you want to go to that, honey?’ and they come out,” Reed said.

Steve Rooney of Rooney-Moon Broadcasting said the radio station has been giving away tickets and they’re a hot item.

“You don’t have to have the words ‘Dwight Yoak—‘ out of your mouth before they know what you’re going to do, and the phones ring like crazy,” he said.

Rooney said they’ve given away 20 to 25 tickets.

“A lot of people are saying we’re going to have a star come to Clovis,” Reed said, adding that the last big-name star to grace the stage (and sell-out the venue) was Josh Turner.

Rooney said Dwight Yoakam sold out his Saturday night concert in San Antonio and will be traveling to Bakersfield, California, and Reno, Nevada, after leaving Clovis.

“I think that’s a biggie,” Rooney said. “If people know what a hot ticket it is … it is a big deal and I hope people get that.”

Usually, Curry County takes a risk in concerts at the events center. But with this one, Reed said, there’s zero risk involved.

Spectra Presents is footing the entire bill for the concert, Reed said.

“Their purpose in life is to bring big-name (stars) like Dwight Yoakam to smaller facilities like ours,” Reed said. “This is the first time this gets to happen … It’s just an amazing opportunity … It’s good, and we hope to see more of it in the future.”

If it goes well tonight, Reed said there’s a “100 percent” chance that a similar event will happen again.

And if Yoakam doesn’t fill the events center, Reed is still saying the county’s chances are good for another big-name artist to perform here.

“If people want to tell me who to bring next, tell me on Facebook,” she said.

Reed’s goal is to have four Dwight Yoakam-sized concerts every year because Clovis “is a good market.”

“We’re at that emerging mark I think in Clovis that we need the entertainment to keep coming,” she said. “The event center has only been here for nine years, so people don’t have that tradition really built in (of going to concerts) … it’s just building and building (that tradition).”