Sacramento Seeing Success As Golden 1 Center Attracts Big Music Acts

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Music's big night may be over, but the city of Sacramento is still buzzing after receiving a pair of high-profile mentions at Sunday night's award show.

Capital city rapper "Mozzy" got a nod from Kendrick Lamar during his acceptance speech for best rap album. And Sacramento natives Jonathan Yip and Jeremy Reeves joined Bruno Mars on stage for song of the year. The men helped Mars with the winning single "That's What I Like."

But mentions are just the beginning. In fact, Sacramento's music scene has changed since the Golden One Center opened. Bruno Mars, Jay Z, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar are just some of the A-listers nominated at this year's Grammys who just months ago performed in Sacramento, drawing sold-out crowds. Many say that success has meant Sacramento is no longer being passed up, and smaller music venues are seeing a spillover effect.

"Artists have definitely taken notice at how well attended concerts have been at Golden 1, and now even the smaller, up-and-coming artists realize they need to play in Sacramento," said Bret Bair, senior talent buyer and co-founder with Ace of Spades

The impact on smaller live music venues from Ace of Spades and Shady Lady on R Street to Harlow's in the heart of Midtown have been noticeable.

"Instead of having one good show a week, maybe now it's three to four good shows a week. It's definitely become easier to book artists, they come to us now, instead of us going to them," said Bair.

Shady Lady Saloon even tries to coordinate its bookings with the arena, to capitalize on the foot traffic.

"We try to find out who they have coming, the genre of music, we try to book that genre here, so after the show, they can come here and have more fun," said band director Daniel Smith.

Music fans purchasing concert tickets at Harlow's say before they'd have to travel far for good acts, but now that accessibility has changed up the Sacramento music scene.

"I'm buying a lot more tickets at Harlow's, at Ace of Spades, and a lot more places around town because more acts are coming," said Julie Ramirez.

"A lot of the bigger name artists you'd never be able to see them here. You'd have to go out of town, Bay area, but now you're starting to see more of them, and it's nice to stay local and not make the drive," said Joel Hemmings of Elk Grove.

Ultimately, the Golden 1 Center's success has put Sacramento on the map as a must-stop music spot.

"Five, seven years ago, were just being bypassed, you'd just go from LA, SF to Portland, now it goes LA, Sacramento SF, Portland, Seattle," said Bair.

And with the arena in its infancy, the future of the local music scene looks bright.

"More people are taking a chance because they see Sacramento is happening for live music," said Ramirez.