'Bold' move: Waterfront Productions opens first season in East Providence

Limited schedule of six events at the shoreline starts next week

By Mike Rego
Posted 8/1/17

EAST PROVIDENCE — It quite literally was a “bold” move for Waterfront Productions, LLC, the live events promoters, to rest the fortunes of its business at an untested and untried location and …

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'Bold' move: Waterfront Productions opens first season in East Providence

Limited schedule of six events at the shoreline starts next week

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — It quite literally was a “bold” move for Waterfront Productions, LLC, the live events promoters, to rest the fortunes of its business at an untested and untried location and it was equally so for the city to engage the entertainment company on a scale unknown to East Providence in well over a generation.

But starting next week, Wednesday, Aug. 9, to be specific, both entities will begin what they hope is a long and fruitful relationship. The inaugural season of Rhode Island Waterfront Events at Bold Point Park opens with a performance by legends “The Beach Boys.” Then on Saturday, Aug. 12, Waterfront Productions puts on one of its staple events, Reggae Festival.

Those shows will likely be a trial by fire for each side, but it’s a challenge Waterfront Productions, LLC owner and president Michele Maker Palmieri welcomes. Mrs. Maker Palmieri spent eight years as the general manager for the live entertainment operation once situated at the Newport Yachting Center. When that venue was no longer available at the close of the 2013 season, she purchased the intellectual property and assets from the previous owner and set up her new venture. Since, it’s been a bit of a vagabond existence, traveling to different sites to put on the productions, including at nearby India Point Park in Providence.

“We were the little start-up. It was a little clunky at times, but we held our own for the last few years,” Mrs. Maker Palmieri said. “Keeping the bigger events — the reggae festival, the chowder festival and Oktoberfest — going was really our goal and sprinkling in a few concerts to keep our relationship with LiveNation going, which is what we’ve done.”

While scouting suitable shoreline locations around the state, one of Mrs. Maker Palmieri’s colleagues caught a glimpse of Bold Point Park. The site stuck in the mind, and she decided to pursue its use, ultimately entering into a three-season agreement with the Council late last year to lease the city-owned property.

“It’s in great shape,” Mrs. Maker Palmieri said as she walked the Bold Point grounds earlier this week. “The city has been doing a lot to keep it up. We’re pretty excited. It’s kind of got a cool flow when you walk it.”

Of her dealings with city officials, including the chiefs of both the police and fire departments, she continued, “We were so pleasantly surprised, I can’t tell you. Working with this city has really been a pleasure, and I’m really not just saying that. It’s not easy, especially to get something permitted on the waterfront, especially something ongoing. We’ve been used to doing pop-up and pop-down events the last couple of years when we were at India Point Park. We’re just really happy to be somewhere solid. And then next year, we are ready. We can start booking for next year at the end of this year, so we can continue to grow.”

Before looking too far ahead, Mrs. Maker Palmieri and her staff know there’s plenty of work to do to see the inaugural 2017 season get going.

Early next week, a state-of-the-art hydraulic mobile stage will be situated on the grounds. Reserved seating will be placed on the gravel pavement. General admission and concession areas will be housed on the lawn closer to the shoreline.

“When you’re standing at the stage it doesn’t look so big. But when you walk out, you’re like, oh, it is. It’s actually bigger than what we used to use at the Newport Yachting Center,” Mrs. Maker Palmieri said. “We’re telling people with general admission tickets to bring blankets, treat it like a park, a picnic kind of vibe. We’re also bringing in some lounge furniture, some picnic tables, so it definitely will create a kind of cool, relaxed beach vibe. And we expect some boats to come out, which will be great.”

Patrons will self-park on streets surrounding the venue. A traffic and parking plan has been worked out with the police department, Mrs. Maker Palmieri said, adding an additional designated parking area should also shortly be announced.

The capacity for single events like The Beach Boys is 3,500. For day-long events, Mrs. Maker Palmieri said the site could see as many as 5,000 customers come through the gates throughout the duration of the show.

“A good showing show for us during this shortened season is probably going to be around 2,500. So, we’re not expecting to have this major impact on the area,” she added.

A reduced slate of events is how Waterfront Productions wanted to begin its stay in city, the owner said. It’s an approach she feels will benefit all parties involved.

“Even though we were permitted for the full season, we didn’t want to take advantage of that.,” Mrs. Maker Palmieri explained. “We wanted to come in and be really methodical about the way we were rolling this out. We didn’t want this to be like we’re going to do 20 shows and we’re going to shock the community. We really wanted to have the traffic plan worked out, the parking plan worked out, so we chose to do it later in the summer so we had everything nailed down. We have the six shows. We might be announcing a few others. But they’re spread out enough so we can work out some kinks if there are some kinks. But working with the city has been amazing.”

The four other events on the 2017 schedule include Railroad Earth on August 24, the Blues & BBQ Festival featuring the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band on August 26, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo on September 22 and Oktoberfest on October 7.

“We’re pretty psyched,” Mrs. Maker Palmieri said on the eve of the season. “It’s really not financially sustainable with the circus-type deal we were doing the last couple of years.

“We just need to be somewhere, get our roots, get those community relationships developed. We hired a lot of locals, which is great. A lot of folks from East Providence, surrounding areas will be working here. We just really want to be part of the community and the only way you can do that is when you’re set up, when you can start booking shows.

“So, yeah, we’re hoping next year late May to October we are rolling. That’s where we want to be, kind of like the way we used to be back when we were the hub of Newport for a while.”

Tickets for all Rhode Island Waterfront Events at Bold Point Park events can be purchased through Ticketmaster.com, riwaterfrontevents.com, at Jordan’s Liquors on Taunton Avenue and on-site the day prior and the day of the show.

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MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.