The Daily Swarm

“It certainly wasn’t Street Scene in Chula Vista, although I liked the show,” Masters said. “We had reasonably good attendance, but it just wasn’t Street Scene and we’re not looking to brand something inappropriately. . . . We tried. But the minute it left downtown, well, I don’t think it would have stayed Street Scene if it stayed at Qualcomm (either).”

Hagey launched Street Scene in 1984, with just two stages and five bands. Held on one block of the then-moribund Gaslamp Quarter, it drew a sellout crowd of 5,000. The festival has since grown dramatically. The 2003 edition featured 89 bands on nine stages over three days.

Having outgrown the downtown streets whose resurgence it helped spark, Street Scene relocated in 2004 next to Petco Park and drew a record 105,000 fans over two days. Downtown construction prompted Street Scene’s move to Mission Valley in 2005, when attendance dropped to 75,000. That figure declined to 70,000 in 2006, which partly prompted Hagey’s decision to team with Live Nation.

Live Nation had planned to hold the 2007 edition of Street Scene at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, but low ticket sales prompted the move to the 19,492-capacity Coors Amphitheatre, which Live Nation owns.