By the time U2 and crew rolled out of Tulsa after rehearsing and launching their 2018 tour at BOK Center, there was no doubt the Irish band had experienced Tulsa.
“We’ve built a reputation on our hospitality and going above and beyond,” said Casey Sparks, assistant general manager at BOK Center for SMG. “We don’t stop after the show is booked or even after it’s over.”
The group kicked off the tour May 2 at the arena.
As soon as they knew U2 would be in town for a week, BOK Center’s Brand Manager, Christina Foley, whose fulltime job is backstage hospitality, went to work. “I call her my Good Vibe Manager, because that’s what she does,” Sparks said. “It has become so much part of what we do, we needed someone to focus on it all the time.”
For U2, there were 100-plus people on the road crew and another 20 international press. BOK Center staff began by checking with the tour manager on available downtimes when the crew would not be working.
“We rented the retro bowling alley in town and had a private party for them there. We took care of everything. They were able to experience a little of Tulsa, and get out of the hotel room. Every day, we had a different type of sweet treat for them,” Sparks said.
Sparks admitted it was “a very stressful week, but rewarding. By the time these people left, they were like family to us.”
Tutorial on some of the hospitality BOK Center rolled out for U2. (Courtesy BOK Center)
Jim McCue, SMG’s senior vice president of entertainment, is impressed with the BOK Center’s hospitality, to a point he uses it as a best practice at the firm’s marketing, operations and GM meetings.
“If you were backstage with the tour, you knew you were in Tulsa,” McCue said. “It’s plastered all over walls and floors They went out of their way to make international fans feel welcome and there’s no denying it also created a social media buzz about the show and the town.”
That is part of the strategy, said Jeff Nickler, GM of BOK Center. They have a very strong presence on social media, and as much of it comes from backstage as from front of house.
Sparks calls it their 360 marketing approach. “When a tour comes through here, because of the things we do backstage and the things we do if they’re staying multiple days, they have become an extension of our marketing team. We’ve created so many Instagram moments backstage, the crew and artists can’t help themselves. They have to post about it. In time, no matter where you are in the world, you get exposed to Tulsa in some way. Who better to endorse your city than rock stars?”
Niall Horan was just in town and research showed he is a golf fanatic, Sparks said. “We rented a huge mini golf set that spanned the entire back hallway for him. He loved it so much, he ‘Instagrammed’ it and said, ‘you know the way to our hearts.’”
Pink loved the marquee backstage that can display different messages, particularly Tulsa + Queen BadAss = Funhouse. That one made Redbook magazine.
The return on investment is that shows keep coming back and the arena gets more rehearsals than most, Sparks said. “When we went all out for Madonna, I’m betting that’s how we got U2 and Justin Timberlake.” She is fortunate in that the way the account is set up, she has some leeway in the budget.
Now the question BOK Center officials have is how they’re going to top those key moments for concerts.
To that end, three years ago, BOK Center started a “Gift Bible.” It contains a log of all they’ve done for past shows, particularly artists coming back for the fifth and sixth time, as well as ideas they hope to implement some day.
Her personal favorite is now U2. It was hard to see them go after a week of getting to know them so well.
She will never forget the day U2 Tour Manager Ciaran Flaherty came to her and said, “I want to know if anybody on my team mistreats anybody on your team. We do not tolerate that. U2, the band, does not tolerate that. Let me know immediately.”
“To hear that kind of support and respect from them made you want to work even harder for them and that’s what we did,” Sparks said.
And that’s the definition of Tulsa culture. “We want our team to take risks,” she said. “We understand and appreciate and teach that when shows come in here, this is not our building, this is their building for the day. We’re here to serve them, we have a serving mentality.”
SMG has also invested in backstage hospitality areas, like the “secret” Speakeasy Room, the promoter game room and hospitality rooms, and a backstage gym for the artists. It’s all about creating the right vibe.
“We worked hard to create a memorable and dynamic backstage experience from art on the walls to the experience in dressing rooms,” Nickler said. “We have three major Green Rooms, named after local legends — Garth Brooks, Woody Guthrie and Leon Russell. We do everything we can to talk and promote our history here.”