As of today, the proposed new downtown Raleigh amphitheater remains nothing more than that, a proposal. Negotiations are still ongoing between the city and concert-promotion giant Live Nation to build and operate the venue, which would stand right next to the convention center, and nothing is settled. But the Raleigh city council did address a technicality about the issue on Tuesday.

The council voted unanimously to obtain a release on the property lien on the parcel of land where the amphitheater is to be built. The move was necessary because the city sold tax-free bonds to acquire that property as part of the convention center complex. That limits private use of the land -- such as a private company like Live Nation running a concert facility there.

Whether or not it helps the amphitheater actually get built, we'll see. At this point, it would take a minor miracle to have a facility up and running anytime this calendar year. So maybe 2010.

"Live Nation to acquire Ticketmaster for $2.5 billion, plus $700 million in convenience charges."

-- Drew Curtis' fark.com (found via Lefsetz)

If you tried to buy Jimmy Buffett tickets online when they went on sale Saturday morning, chances are good that you found it to be a frustrating experience. This was the first big local test of livenation.com's new ticketing system, and... well, it didn't exactly pass with flying colors. There were widespread reports of delays and glitches, with numerous fans shut out -- you had better luck going old-school, lining up at the venue box office.

"We had a tough weekend," sighs Nathan Hubbard, CEO of Live Nation ticketing. "We had 63 great shows go on sale, and the combination of Jimmy Buffett and Phish traffic just overwhelmed us. Friday and Saturday, we had more than 10 million requests, and it just overwhelmed us. We sold out a lot of shows, but during that huge blast of traffic, a lot of fans had trouble getting access to tickets. In Raleigh, a lot simply could not get into the system. We never want our customers to have that experience. By way of apology, the best news for Jimmy Buffett fans is that tickets are still available."

Another complaint ticket-buyers had was the service charges. When Live Nation announced it was leaving Ticketmaster to handle its own its ticketing, there was much talk about "creating more transparency so the fan can make the decision whether the total amount is worth it." But for Buffett, online buyers reportedly couldn't see either the face price or the extra fees until after the tickets went on sale. And the parking, service and handling fees added $19 to the cost, bumping a $29 lawn ticket up to $48.

Here again, Hubbard pledges improvement and transparency.

"For us, it's a first step in a longer process of bringing more transparency to the process," he says. "The Eagles with their single all-in fee, data tells us that's what the fan wants. So we're moving in that direction, listening to fan feedback. This weekend, it came through loud and clear that we did not do as good a job as we should have."

ADDENDUM (2/3/09): Live Nation and Ticketmaster may merge!

Word to the wise: If you're planning on buying tickets for Jimmy Buffett's April 23 Raleigh date, which go on sale Saturday, don't try to do it online at LiveNation.com. A number of Phish reunion tour dates went on sale today and the debut of Live Nation's online ticket-vending system did not go well, with widespread reports of malfunctions and delays. Since Live Nation's outlets in Blockbuster stores won't start up until next month, your best bet will be to go directly to the Walnut Creek box office.

Monday's paper has a somewhat wonky story about Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park (site of last summer's triumphant Avett Brothers show, among others) leaving the Live Nation fold and changing to a new promoter for its roadshows. Nashville-based Outback Concerts is Booth's new "preferred promoter" and will present at least 10 shows there this year. Live Nation, which did 13 shows at Booth as last year's "pp," will concentrate its energies on Raleigh's Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek.

Since Booth is about one-third the size of Walnut Creek, the two venues should be able to keep out of each other's way this year. Come next year, however, things might get interesting in a competitive sort of way if the proposed downtown Raleigh Amphitheater is a reality by then. Check here for some further background on that.

When 2008 ended, so did Ticketmaster's contract with Live Nation as the concert giant's exclusive ticket-vendor. For its major venues -- which includes Raleigh's city-owned Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek -- Live Nation is taking its ticketing in-house.

So when Walnut Creek starts putting its 2009 shows on-sale, you'll still be able to get tickets at the venue box office just like before. But online orders will go through LiveNation.com rather than Ticketmaster.com. And for phone orders, call 877/598-8698 (a number that covers all Live Nation venues throughout the Southeast: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North/South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee).

Also, some Blockbuster stores will be Live Nation ticket outlets. No word yet on which Triangle-area Blockbuster stores this applies to; but it should be sorted out by next week.

ADDENDUM: Here are the Blockbuster stores that will have outlets, starting sometime in the second half of February:

Raleigh -- 4112 Pleasant Valley Road
Cary -- 2030 Kildaire Farm Road
Durham -- 3438 Hillsborough Road
Durham/Chapel Hill -- 202 NC Highway 54