And Now, Back To The Show Bigger Really Does Mean Better, As Evidenced By Dates Ranging From Concerts To Professional Athletic Events

When voters approved the new Spokane Arena, they were promised bigger and better events.

So far, it looks like the promise is being kept.

The Arena has booked at least one pop act that was out of the league of the old Coliseum: Boyz II Men on Sept. 25.

This Philadelphia R&B quartet is one of the top concert draws in the country. The Coliseum was too small for an act of this magnitude; they have never played Spokane before.

This concert is one of the first fruits of a partnership between the Arena and the big nationwide concert promoting company, MCA Concerts. Many of the same acts that currently play The Gorge (run by MCA Northwest) will now be playing the Arena also; in fact, Boyz II Men played The Gorge just last month.

In addition, the Arena has booked All-4-One on Oct. 11, another pop vocal group that is almost as big as Boyz II Men. In fact, All-4-One has one of the hottest singles in the country right now, “I Can Love You Like That.”

The Arena is also attracting the kinds of national sports events that the Coliseum could never dream of getting. The Arena has already landed the Final Four of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament for 1997. Maybe that’s not quite as prestigious as a piece of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, but the Arena is pursuing that possibility.

The Arena’s drawing power is not confined to concerts and sports; it also includes family events, which are the bread-and-butter of arenas this size. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus hasn’t come to Spokane since 1990, because the Coliseum simply did not have the technical capabilities for staging a big modern circus.

It’s not necessarily a matter of seating capacity. It’s a matter of loading areas, stage access and the ease of hanging complicated and heavy equipment from the ceiling.

The Arena was designed with events like the circus in mind. The result was that the Ringling Bros. people actually pursued the Arena about a date, instead of the other way around. In fact, the circus wanted to be the opening event, although it had to settle for event No. 3 because of scheduling conflicts. The circus arrives on Sept. 20 and will do eight shows through Sept. 24.

The John Michael Montgomery country concert will be the opening concert on Sept. 16, somewhat by default (Elton John was the first choice). Montgomery is as hot as anyone in country music right now, and the concert has been sweetened considerably with the addition of two bands with big followings of their own: The Mavericks and the Tractors.

Rock ‘n’ roll fans, disappointed that a country show opens the Arena, should keep an open mind: The Tractors, in particular, play good heartland rock ‘n’ roll.

Several more big concerts are in the works for October and November. As a general rule, concerts are not booked much earlier than six weeks in advance.

Not every event, of course, will be bigger and better than the old Coliseum events. The bulk of the shows will be the kinds of family shows that tour midsize arenas all over the country, and were staples of the old Coliseum.

The Arena will get such perennial favorites as the Harlem Globetrotters, Royal Lipizzaner Stallions, pro rodeo events, motor thrill shows and ice shows.

Ice shows are nothing new to Spokane; a Christmastime ice show has been a tradition for decades. The Arena will continue that tradition with Walt Disney’s World On Ice, opening Christmas Day.

But that’s just the beginning. Just two weeks later, Olympic ice stars Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, Katarina Witt, Paul Wylie, and Gordeeva and Grinkov will headline the Discover Card Stars on Ice Show. Then, in the summer, Nancy Kerrigan, Brian Boitano, Elvis Stoyko, Oksana Baiul, Viktor Petrenko and others will arrive in the Campbell’s Soups Tour of World Figure Skating Champions.

Meanwhile, the Arena is booked heavily for its prime tenant, the Spokane Chiefs, and for numerous high school sports events.

Tickets are currently on sale for most of the September and October events through G&B Select-a-Seat.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CALENDAR OF EVENTS September 10 Open House 16 John Michael Montgomery with The Mavericks and The Tractors 17 NHL exhibition game, San Jose vs. Vancouver 20-24 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus 25 Boyz II Men with Montell Jordan 30 WHL hockey, Spokane Chiefs vs. Tri-City

October 1 Stars and Spikes USA volleyball 3 GSL high school volleyball 4 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Seattle 6 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Portland 11 All-4-One 14 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Kamloops 17 NBA exhibition, Seattle vs. Utah 18 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Portland 21 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Tri-City 22 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Saskatoon 25 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Kelowna

November 4 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Brandon 7 Mortal Kombat: The Live Tour 9-11 AAA and B volleyball championships 17 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Prince George 18 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Tri-City 22 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Moose Jaw 26 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Portland 28 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Calgary

December 2 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Regina 5 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Seattle 9 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Kelowna 12 GSL high school basketball 13 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Swift Current 16 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Medicine Hat 17 WHL hockey, Spokane v.s Kamloops 21 GSL high school basketball 25-31 Disney’s World On Ice: Beauty and the Beast

January 3 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Red Deer 5 GSL high school basketball 6 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Tri-City 7 Discover Card Stars On Ice 10 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Seattle 12 High school basketball 13 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Kamloops 14-18 Ag Expo 19-21 Wrangler Pro Rodeo Classic 23 High school basketball 24 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Seattle 26 GSL high school basketball 27 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Portland 31 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Prince Albert

February 1 GSL high school basketball 3 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Tri-City 6 GSL high school basketball 7 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Prince George 9-11 USA Motorsports Spectacular 13 GSL high school basketball 14 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Lethbridge 17 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Kamloops 19 Harlem Globetrotters 20-23 GSL high school basketball 24 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Kelowna 27-29 State B Basketball championships

March 1-2 State B basketball championships, continued 6 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Prince George 13 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Kelowna 16 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Prince George 17 WHL hockey, Spokane vs. Tri-City

April 19-20 Assembly of God Youth Convention

May No events have been announced

June 7-8 USA Olympic wrestling trials 9-11 Daughters of the Nile Convention TBA Tour of World Figure Skating Champions

July No events have been announced

August 23-24 Royal Lipizzaner Stallions