Mac Hall #3 concert venue in Canada

By Stephanie Mamayson

Mac Hall rocks! At least according to Pollstar‘s annual ticket sales report, which ranked the University of Calgary’s student centre as the third best concert venue in Canada, behind Massey Hall in Toronto and the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton. The concert magazine also put MacEwan Hall in 82nd place among the top 100 theatre venues in the world.

MacEwan Hall, operated as part of the larger Students’ Union conference and events service, is located in the MacEwan Student Centre and contains various meeting and event spaces. The concert industry magazine Pollstar tracks and publishes ticket sales for all concert and performance venues and reports that 51,846 tickets were sold for Mac Hall events and concerts in 2006. However, one side generates more revenue than the other.

“Concerts definitely make more, just by the number of people that attend them in comparison to the smaller events,” said SU vice-president events Eric Jablonski.

Since the conference and event centre is operated by the SU, much of the income goes back to the student community, added Jablonski.

“Net revenue from concerts all go back to the SU account and then get distributed to the various student initiatives and services,” said Jablonski, noting that there are many reasons for MacEwan Hall’s success.

“There is a really good security team here so you feel safe,” said Jablonski. “Ticket prices are reasonable and many people come for the variety of shows and concerts. It’s a consistently good experience.”