Tim McGraw and Faith Hill became Tim McGraw and Faith Hill here in Wheeling, W.Va.
No, really. True story.
The couple’s romance began in the Friendly City during the 1990s, when the pair prepared for and started a duo show that would visit more than 60 cities.
“I remember that very well,” Wesbanco Arena General Manager Denny Magruder said. “Wheeling, West Virginia, is where the romantic relationship between Faith Hill and Tim McGraw began. They met in a very serious way here.
“That was a very interesting tour because of how it all came together,” he said. “It was when Tim McGraw was really starting to hit the charts, and Larry Anderson, the general manager of the Capitol Music Hall, wanted Tim in Wheeling in the worst way. He made several offers that were rejected, but then he offered $90,000, and they took the offer only because they were able to do three days of rehearsals in the arena before the first show.”
Rock and Country
Def Leppard, George Jones, Barbara Mandrell, Night Ranger, Waylon Jennings, Foreigner, Merle Haggard, Poison, Charley Pride, Kiss, Mel Tillis, and many more.
Not only was the Capitol Theatre the home of Jamboree USA for decades, but the Wheeling Civic Center was once considered a sizable venue that could fit in as many as 10,000 fans.
“The city of Wheeling was a major stop for a lot of rock and country bands for several years,” explained Magruder. “For a long time, the Capitol Theatre was the second oldest venue for country music, and all of the big names came to the Jamboree.
“That was when the Capitol Music Hall rivaled only the Grand Ole Opry, and a lot of people will tell you that the Capitol shows were better than the ones down in Nashville,” he said. “That’s because at the Capitol, the performers gave you a concert, but at the Grand Ole Opry, it was a number of different performers that would take the stage.”
The bands toured all year long, and Magruder recalled a blizzard that hit the city after thousands of fans were already inside for a Night Ranger concert.
“Those kinds of things did happen on show nights, but what I wouldn’t give to have just one of those years during the 1980s again,” Magruder admitted. “Every day was a fun day at work because we were either preparing for bands to arrive, or they were here, and we were working directly with them and their crews. I met so many wonderful people during that time that otherwise I would have never met.
“When they were on stage, sure, they were doing their thing so they could sell more albums at places like National Record Mart, but when they were not on stage, they were just normal people who were using their talents to make a living just like everyone else,” he said. “Most of the artists were really great people. Sure, some of the guys were hellraisers, but you’re going to have that in every industry.”
Industry Alterations
It’s always been about the money and how to make more of it, and since a steady stream of performers rolled into Wheeling, promoters and artists have opted for fewer shows at larger venues because releasing vinyl albums has become very rare thanks to digital technology.
“Wheeling was definitely on the map for the rock bands and the country music performers, and we sure had some really great bands that played the Wheeling Civic Center,” Magruder recalled. “During the 1980s and into the early 1990s, if there was a rock band out there touring, they came to Wheeling, and we had a lot of great shows during those years.
“Back in those days, the tours helped them sell more albums, and that’s how those bands made most of their money, but that’s completely changed since,” he explained. “Some of those tours would last for months; they would take a two-week vacation, and then head right back on the road for another few months. That’s not the case today.”
In the early 1990s, the Coca Cola Star Lake Amphitheatre opened in Burgettstown, Pa., a community about 30 miles west of Pittsburgh, and Billy Joel was the very first show. Ever since then, Magruder’s phone ceased ringing so often.
“The creation of the amphitheatre and the growth of them across the country changed everything in the music industry.,” Magruder said. “When the rock and country bands were coming to Wheeling, there were very few of them in the United States, but now they are everywhere, and they have more than 30,000 seats in them.
“The performers saw that they could make much more money playing the amphitheatres instead of venues like Wesbanco Arena, and that is why we no longer have all of those country and rock concerts in Wheeling,” he said. “Those theatres have cut down on the amount of shows that a performers does, and they also changed the touring partners that now focus on the bigger cities in the country.”
The Gambler
Kenny Rogers passed away this year on March 20 from natural causes at the age of 81. Rogers had retired in 2015, and he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015 after selling more than 100 million records, producing 120 hit singles, and evolving into a cross-over artist before his death.
He was one of eight children and was raised in Houston, Texas, and Kenneth Ray Rogers was always his real name.
“Kenny Rogers used to start his Christmas tour here every November for 12 or 13 straight years, and in year No. 10, there was a knock on my door on the Friday afternoon a day before the show,” Magruder remembered. “The man said, ‘Denny!’ and at first I didn’t realize who it was, but then I noticed that it was Kenny Rogers, but he wasn’t in his state apparel. Instead, he had on this old, ripped jogging suit, and he said, ‘Hey listen, I just wanted to stop here and say to you that you have a great staff.’ That was great to hear from an artist like him because he was really big in the country music scene back then.
“But here’s the thing; he was a human being so yes, there were times when Kenny wasn’t the nice guy in the world, but that’s the case with everyone, right? That’s why those memories aren’t the first to come to my mind,” he said. “But on the day I really remembered, he just wanted to say thank you, and he also said he really liked coming to Wheeling.”
