THIS IS MICHAEL He was born and raised in the birthplace of
He has personally attended more than 25 concerts of The Boss. As the incoming IAVM
chairman of the board and general manager of the Ver- izon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas, he quali- Say hello to Michael Marion, CVE, and while you are greeting one of the public assembly ven- ue’s most fascinating peo- ple, be prepared to pull up a chair and sit awhile, for there are some incredible stories to be told, and no one tells them better and has more of them stemming from a prodi- gious career than Michael Marion. How about we get one out of the way
really fast? “Starting my senior year at Mississippi State Uni-
versity, I was the chairman of the student association and social com- mittee,” Marion shares while sitting behind the desk of his,” Marion a fully stocked toy store if that toy store catered to those of us who love seeing vintage posters of well known artists and musical acts accom- was Billy Joel. This was 1976. We paid him $4,500. Tickets were free to students and $3 for non-students. He had only had out Piano Man. He had just put out Turnstiles and was touring on that, which did not have the big hits. “We booked him and put him in McCarthy Gym, which was about 4,000 seats. The coliseum was too big so we put him in the smaller venue. There were some permanent basketball goals on the sides of some guy was out there shooting baskets. I said, ‘Who is this idiot?’ I go out there, and it is Billy Joel. I let him keep shooting the basketball!” The story concludes with a hearty Marion laugh equaled only by the laughter coming from the delighted interviewer. It is a scene that plays out many times over the course of the interview at Marion’s beautiful 18,000-seat arena that opened in 1999 (originally as Alltel Arena) and situated directly across the Arkansas River from downtown Little Rock. Marion has called the venue home since not only its open- ing, but actually two years before that as he participated in the design
50 Facility Manager Magazine
and construction of the facility. Before that? Well, let’s enlighten you some about someone who has always loved the music business, saw his career move from Starkville, Mississippi, to Los Angeles (no state needed here), some dabbling in the family busi- ness before opening an arena in North Little Rock. Next up, of course, is Mar-
ion’s one-year term as IAVM chairman when he accepts the gavel from Doug Booher, CVE, at VenueConnect in Toronto, but
The King “Born and raised in Tupelo, Mis- sissippi, birthplace of Elvis Presley,” Marion proudly says with some extra oomph in his voice. Later, when Marion would oversee the Tupelo Coliseum (now the BancorpSouth Arena), he told about how the ap- pearing artists were not only presented with, but expected
to don, Elvis sunglasses for photo ops. Pointing to a poster, Marion said, “There are the guys in Van Halen with Elvis sunglasses curling their lip.” Marion chuckled at the sight, then recalled another story when Ben
Farrell, who served as George Strait’s promoter, told Marion that the country star would not put on the sunglasses during his Tupelo stop. “First thing George did was put on the sunglasses,” Marion said. “One of the requirements in the rider was that the promoter had to put on Marion was hooked on music and the concert scene early in life. He
year, when he saw the Ides of March. “They had the big song ‘Vehi- it would be neat to be involved, not as a musician, but in production. Fast forward to my senior year of high school, and we had a Christmas dance that me and a friend helped put together. I booked the band, I did.” The beat continued once Marion got to Mississippi State and be-
came involved with the campus radio station WMSB (Mississippi State Broadcasters). “It was 1973, and progressive rock was on its way on FM radio,” Marion said. “That was our format. I started out in phys-
The man becoming IAVM’s new chairman of the
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