Another great institution closing.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey is closing down in May. One of the factors .. animal rights groups.

Others declining sales. I group up being wowed by the menagerie before the show. To me, that was the big part of the show. Getting to feed the elephants, seeing bearded woman, the snake people, The smallest man on earth.. The tigers...

When the elephant killed the kid years ago and that all stopped, I felt that was going to be the end... In then end it might have been, just took a long time.

Reply to
woodchucker
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While I hate to see a 160 year old business close, I never saw the attraction. Went to the circus once about 60 years ago and never had a desire to go back. Remember, it used to be two different circuses that combined to survive. May have even been a third one swallowed up too, Cole Bros.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I think the entertainment dynamic has changed. Kids are the target, for the most part. Has any one seen a kid out doors lately? :~)

Reply to
Leon

...

The NPR radio blurb heard this AM quoted RB-B&B spokesman as saying ticket sales plummeted drastically when they quit touring with the elephants as a major factor, indeed.

Reply to
dpb

Not without their smartphone shoved up to their face.

Reply to
Meanie

Yesterday morning I asked the kids next door to be careful not to drop anything on SWMBO's car, which was parked next to the tree they were climbing. They politely said OK.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Their face? I don't think so. It's the adults that talk on their phones. Kids text, snap chat, Facebook, etc.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Not buying it.... Are you sure what you saw were kids? ;~)

There really are some well mannered and thoughtful kids out there. Good to hear you live near some of them.

Reply to
Leon

They're still young. Give them time. :-(

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Like most, I loved the circus as a kid. I've gone twice as an adult, once to B&B and once to Shriners. Even though those are at different ends of the circus spectrum, my response to both was neutral - not bad, but I wouldn't put out any great effort to go to either one.

So I guess you're right - you've gotta' be a kid to get blown away bu a circus.

BTW, the fairgrounds near my childhood home had harness racing in the summer. Could watch from outside without paying from a convenient haystack. Had to dodge the occasional fairgrounds employee who was paid to chase off the freeloaders, but I still enjoyed it more than the circus. Maybe dodging the rent-a-cop was part of the fun:-).

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

My wife will be happy to hear that she's a kid. ;-) I rarely talk on my phone, even.

Reply to
krw

I'm debating whether I want to go this year. On the one hand I'd like to see the Greatest Show On Earth one more time before it closes. On the other, I'm afraid that it will ruin my good memories of earlier years.

Reply to
J. Clarke

For certain values of "combined to survive". The purchase happened in 1906 after the deaths of Barnum and Bailey, and the two circuses merged a few years later when due to declining numbers in the Ringling family they decided that running two separate circuses was more work than they could handle. It was Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey for not quite a century.

Cole Brothers was still operating under the Big Top in 2014 but appears to be dead now, again due to the animal rights loons. It certainly has never been part of Barnum & Bailey.

Reply to
J. Clarke

While it's probably been 25 years ago, my wife and I took our six year old boy to the Summit to see Ringling Bros. I remember thinking then [as I do to this day], "Stupid pet tricks." Might be fun to photograph it.

Dave in SoTex

Reply to
Dave in SoTex

Hard to believe, I can remember when the Summit was being built. About

1975 ish IIRC. It was a great concert venue.
Reply to
Leon

It can't have been a "great concert venue", given that it was also a sports arena (and apparently now a mega church who spent NINETY FIVE MILLION dollars to rennovate that (so much for charity) - then bought the entire kaboodle from the city for 7.5 million. I'd say the taxpayers got screwed).

The Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, the Sydney opera house, the Met, the Warfield, and the Fillmore are "great concert venues" :-)

Reply to
Scott Lurndal

I can't remember seeing a concert at the Summit [what does THAT say?], saw many in the old Sam Houston Coliseum back in the 70s, Springsteen at the adjoining Music Hall in the mid-70s and Clapton and Cream my senior year in HS [67-68]. And a couple at Hofheinz Pavilion on the UH campus. Seems like there was one in the Dome [Who? Rolling Stones?]. The Eagles at Jeppesen Stadium [UH campus, 1975]. Last night my SYB and I attended the opening musical concert at the brand spanking new Smart Financial Center in Sugarland, Don Henley. My references are fuzzy anymore but I would say it's a superior venue [

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]. And Henley was, well, Henley was Henley. At 69, he's grown a little portly and it appeared as though he was straining his voice at times. All in all, a good mix of old and new with a country tune or two thrown in. Good band, too. Three or four guitars, five piece horn section, three female backup singers who also shared some duets with Henley, multiple keyboards [one also played fiddle]. "Not very profitable, but a lot more fun," said Don. A little over two hours after two two-song encores.

Dave in SoTex

Reply to
Dave in SoTex

Mostly a comparison to the alternatives in the Houston area, not the pinnacles around the world.

There were better places but the sound for a rock concert was just fine. The hard spaces/mostly the floor was covered with a material to protect the floors. A few that I saw, The Eagles, Super Tramp, twice, Cat Stevens, Steve Miller Band, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, etc.

For James Taylor and Cat Stephens you could hear a quite well unamplified guitars at the opposite end of the arena. They later went added electricity but I recall them starting the concerts with no back up and no electric amplification.

(and apparently now a mega church who spent NINETY FIVE MILLION

what else is new? ;~)

Reply to
Leon

Actually the Beatles played at the Astrodome too. Along with hundreds of Rodeo performances

I am relatively close to the Smart center and anxious to try it out. I think the last big concert that I went to was about 8~10 years ago when Simon and Garfunkel played at the Arena? Where the Rockets now play.

Reply to
Leon

Showing my age, but the SYB reference threw me. My first thought was Senior YearBook, then Second Youngest Brother. Maybe Silly Young Bride? ;>)

Reply to
G. Ross

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