Hard times hit charity concerts

Ticket sales are slumping for charity events and concerts all over Las Vegas. Chalk that up to the Department of Things Are Bad All Over: high gasoline prices, recession, the mortgage crunch.

So the good news is you still can buy tickets to see Van Halen at Mandalay Bay on Saturday. The bad news is decent seats will cost you a few hundred bucks. And the really bad news is "Tiger Jam" needs those tickets to sell better to raise more money for its charitable cause.

It doesn't help sales that Van Halen just played Vegas in December. And fans were confused for a while as to whether Eddie Van Halen's health problems would derail Vegas, as VH had dropped other concerts around the country, says Ken Solky, president of the ticket-broker company Nevada Ticket Services.

"We got a flurry of calls" from people saying, "I heard they canceled or postponed a bunch of shows. Does that mean they canceled Mandalay Bay?" Solky says.

Meanwhile, the Lili Claire Foundation is betting on its April 26 concert at Mandalay Bay to be its big fundraiser.

And there's a lot on the line. In the past three years, Lili has provided 1,500 services to Las Vegas children coping with autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, cerebral palsy and anything else affecting intelligence and behavioral development.

That's a lot of needy kids counting on you to spend $35 to see the Goo Goo Dolls, Josh Kelley and Sugar Ray, whose frontman Mark McGrath will bring along TV co-host Tanika Ray from "Extra."

"There aren't many tickets at that price level in town," says Jennifer Bradley, executive director of Nevada for Lili Claire. "We kept (the economy) in mind, so our tickets are very reasonable."

Fortunately, Bradley says, the foundation's corporate sponsorships are doing well.

Next on the horizon: Andre Agassi's October concert, "Grand Slam for Children," is doing fine so far, already selling out its "silver level" concert tables at $10,000 a pop, spokesman Rob Powers claims.

It might seem odd that charities put so much weight on concert fundraisers. But this is Vegas. That's how you raise cash for a cause. Still, as an insider told me, the big wish at this point is concertgoers will consider their fun-time options and "vote with their hearts" on Lili Claire.

One can only hope.

For tickets to "Tiger Jam" or Lili Claire, call 632-7580.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 702-383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@review journal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.