NEWPORT, Ky. — The new PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation in Newport is nearly ready to welcome crowds of concert and event-goers later this summer. One room in particular in the $40-million music complex is dedicated to some members of local music royalty.
WCPO first got a look inside the new indoor-outdoor music venue back in March. At that time, they were still putting the finishing touches on the complex that can host 180 events a year with 350,000 to 400,000 guests annually. The media will get to tour the facility again Thursday afternoon.
PromoWest says they will have some "hot, up-and-coming" acts performing at the Newport venue, and when they do, some of those artists will be treated to art in a different form.
The King Records green room will feature a mural painted on one of its walls called the “Three Kings Mural.” It depicts drummer Philip Paul, singer Otis Williams and bassist Bootsy Collins, three living music legends from Cincinnati's King Records.
"It really is three elders of the music community that contributed to King Records in a huge way,” said artist Keith Neltner of Neltner Small Batch. “They're a very big influence on modern music and historical music."
"It was awesome when I saw just the drawings of it, you know,” said Kent Butts, chairman of the King Records Legacy Committee. “But, this rendering is, it's amazing to actually see it on the wall the way it is. It really pops off the wall."
From 1943 until the 1970s, King Records was one of the hottest music labels in the country. It operated out of a building that's still standing in Cincinnati's Evanston neighborhood.
"You know you've got a few green rooms here, but even someone that would be in the other green room, they're going to be like, ‘What's that on that wall?’" said Butts.
PromoWest will donate $20,000 from ticket sales toward a King Records restoration project.
The PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation is set to open its doors for its first event in August.
