Todd Flack went to a Loverboy concert at Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa 10 years ago, and loved it so much he moved to Kelseyville.
He still lives there on Mount Konocti, just above the hotel on Clear Lake. He works out at the resort?s spa, goes dancing at the lounge with his wife every Saturday night and attends nearly every live show.
When the resort, long beset by legal and financial problems, shuts down on Nov. 11, it?ll leave a void in his life.
?We?re broken-hearted,? Flack said. ?We?re hoping some investors come in and keep it alive. We don?t know what we?ll do if it closes. The Konocti is unique, because of the setting on the lake. Even the bands get onstage and say, ?Look at that!?
The hot country band Rascal Flatts plays the last scheduled concerts in Konocti?s outdoor amphitheater this weekend, and the venue plans a couple of smaller indoor shows early next month. Then the music?s over.
The closure means that Flack and the venue?s other fans will face at least a two-hour drive to reach venues big enough to book their favorite Konocti Harbor acts, from classic rockers like KISS to country stars, such as Tim McGraw and Brooks and Dunn.
?Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Marysville is a two-hour drive. So is HP Pavilion in San Jose,? said Rick Bartalini, director of entertainment programs at Santa Rosa?s Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. ?Maybe some of those acts will play Sacramento (Arco Arena) or Concord (Sleep Train Pavilion) now.?
With almost 1,600 seats, Wells Fargo Center is the nearest, next-largest venue to Konocti, which seats 5,000 in its outdoor amphitheater and 1,000 in its indoor showroom.
?We might pick up some of Konocti?s smaller acts, like Cheech and Chong, or Heart, but we were already booking those,? Bartalini added.
The next-closest venue of a roughly similar size is Marin Center in San Rafael, with 2,000 seats, but fans shouldn?t look there for the major country-music acts they love. Even the annual Marin County Fair doesn?t book much country music.
?We have more Priuses than pickup trucks,? said James Farley, director of the department of cultural and visitor services for the County of Marin.
?Marin County and Lake County are such different marketplaces,? Farley added. ?Our strength really is more cultural and performing-arts events. Venues reflect their communities.?
Classic rock lovers might find some refuge in Marin County from time to time, but even then, most of the larger acts won?t make it to the Marin Center.
?Konocti had some very big acts that are too large for our venue,? Farley said.
Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa occupies its own niche in the Northern California live-music market. It?s bigger than the concert halls, yet smaller than the major arenas.
Its location is unusual, too. It?s not right off the interstate, like most big music venues. It?s on Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville, and several routes to it involve two-lane state highways.
But its location on Clear Lake is an attraction, especially for longtime Konocti fan Dennis Debilzan of Redding, who maintains a mobile home on the lake as his ?fishing shanty? and travels to the resort?s concerts by boat. His favorite shows over the years include Sammy Hagar, Foghat and Meatloaf.
?I?m a big fan of classic rock ?n? roll, and I went to some of the country-western stuff. I just love going to that place,? Debilzan said of Konocti. ?It?s unique to be in an open-air amphitheater out under the stars. I go to Arco Arena in Sacramento on occasion, but it?s not the same, man. It?s too big.?
Konocti Harbor Resort?s owner ? Local 38 of the United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Journeymen in San Francisco ? bought the site and opened the hotel in 1959. It operated as a seasonal resort until its current president and general manager, Greg Bennett, arrived in 1990.
That year, the resort started operating year-round and staged its first big-name concert, starring Leon Russell. Bennett had management experience booking entertainment at resorts in Ventura and Jackson Hole, Wyo., and used his contacts to start booking shows on a regular basis.
Over the next few years, Bennett expanded the resort?s showroom from 300 to 600 seats, and finally 1,000. In 1993, he put in a 3,000-seat outdoor amphitheater, and later expanded it to 5,000 seats.
?We have a history of getting big acts to play our venue,? Bennett said. ?The bands love the outdoor amphitheater. It?s just a cool spot, on the bluffs overlooking the lake.?
Konocti?s management formed a particular bond with country music acts, such as Toby Keith and Rascal Flatts, who played there while still working their way up and kept returning after they made it big.
The resort?s recent history has been rocky. A 2006 sale of the resort to a Sacramento developer fell through, but the property went right back on the market, as ordered following a 2007 federal lawsuit settlement. The Labor Department claimed the plumbers union mishandled members? benefit plans by diverting an estimated $36 million into renovating and operating Konocti Harbor.
The resort?s court-appointed management company, WhiteStar Advisors, announced in September that it would close the hotel and concert venue in early November.
For fans in Lake County, Konocti is more than a concert venue. For some, it?s a family affair.
Debbie Bastian of Lakeport and her husband, Brad, have gone to shows there since the early days of the Konocti showroom. Her husband, a signmaker, went on to install signs and build waterfalls at the resort. Their daughter, Shannon Hensler, got married there in 2006. And their son, Beau, plays in the Lost Boys band, which is managed by Bennett and appears regularly at the resort.
?It?s been really cool, with the support from all the staff. It?s like a family out there,? Bastian said. ?We?ve been to the shows at other places, like the Cow Palace, but Konocti is special. It?s the size of it, and it?s beautiful there. It?s magical.?
You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. See his ARTS blog at http://arts.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.
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