SMITH-WILLS STADIUM DRAMA, CONCERT TIX PRICE & BIG ROCK SHOWS W/ KINGFISH

Clay welcomes Jackson Jambalaya’s Kingfish for a no-BS breakdown of the Smith Wills Stadium drama that’s been simmering for years. Trey Lamar finally yanked the lease and the entire property back from the city after the current operator turned the place into a cigar bar/blunt bar (complete with weed smoke drifting over kids’ baseball tournaments), sub-leased the parking lot to the VA for hundreds of thousands a year, stiffed the city on rent multiple times, and even had a camper hooked up to stadium power. The court case has been dead since April, Lynn Fitch’s office is MIA, and the worn-out landfill facility’s minor-league dreams are officially over—Kingfish says its glory days are gone for good.   Then the conversation shifts to the absurd state of live music: Clay rants about dropping nearly $760 for two Jason Aldean pit tickets while Ticketmaster fees alone equal the price of a third ticket. Artists no longer make real money on streams or albums, so fans are footing the bill for massive productions rolling in on 18-wheelers of gear. Kingfish and Clay swap Trans-Siberian Orchestra war stories—how the band spawned from the ‘80s prog-metal group Savatage, now runs two full touring versions like a rock-and-roll circus, blew the power at the old Jackson Coliseum years ago, and hasn’t dropped new material since their main songwriter died. The shows are still epic (lasers, pyro, club-level seats at $150), but the set lists are getting stale and crowds are shrinking. Pure, unfiltered Mississippi talk radio gold.