Pacific Amphitheater

MUSIC Willie Nelson is on the road again, and this time he's taking the whole family. Willie Nelson & Family will bring the legendary country singer's greatest hits to life as well as introduce you to a slew of new tunes sure to become favorites. Pacific Amphitheater, 100 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. Fri. $30 to $70. (714) 708-1870; http://www.pacamp.com.

MUSIC Willie Nelson is on the road again, and this time he's taking the whole family. Willie Nelson & Family will bring the legendary country singer's greatest hits to life as well as introduce you to a slew of new tunes sure to become favorites. Pacific Amphitheater, 100 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. Fri. $30 to $70. (714) 708-1870; http://www.pacamp.com.

Madonna, Charlie Daniels, Michael Jackson and the Beach Boys will boycott the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa if noise controls are imposed, booking agents say. A judge issued a preliminary injunction last week ordering the amphitheater to tone down the music. Arena attorneys appealed for leniency Thursday, citing the sworn statements of the booking agents.

A long-running noise dispute over the Pacific Amphitheatre has been settled, relieving two Costa Mesa families of the $51,672 in legal fees they had been ordered to pay in exchange for their agreement to drop their appeal in the case. As part of the settlement, the city of Costa Mesa agreed to monitor the sound during events held at the amphitheater for the next 23 years in an attempt to enforce Orange County's noise ordinance. According to Newport Beach attorney Richard L.

The other day I realized how nice it is to do without! I mean without the noisy rock concerts from the Pacific Amphitheater, which used to shake our house, which is slightly more than a mile away--but right in the sound pattern. The silence, not only in the evenings but in the afternoons when they would practice, is a delight. How sweet it is! MRS. I.B. MERLES Costa Mesa

An Orange County Superior Court judge has ordered officials of the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa to reduce sound levels during rock concerts at the 18,700-seat facility. Although the restraining order is not definite about what penalties might be assessed, amphitheater officials, rock bands and their management are troubled by the action. "We're dealing with something that is a criminal matter--potentially. People could go to jail," Deborah Nesset, attorney for Ned West, Inc.

A Superior Court lawsuit over ownership of the shuttered Pacific Amphitheater will go to trial March 30, Orange County Fairgrounds officials announced Tuesday. The fair wants out of a 1993 agreement to buy the 18,500-seat complex from the Nederlander Organization for $12.5 million. Strict sound regulations in the sale agreement make it difficult to host concerts, making the venue at the fairgrounds worth very little, said Jill Lloyd, spokeswoman for the fairgrounds.

Frustrated that earlier court action has brought them no peace, neighbors who have had an earful of noise from Costa Mesa's Pacific Amphitheater announced Friday that they have filed a new flurry of lawsuits. At a news conference in Santa Ana, residents said they are fed up with the pace of settlement talks in a 6-year-old lawsuit against the 18,500-seat amphitheater by Concerned Citizens of Costa Mesa and resident Laurie Lusk, so they decided to venture into the courts themselves.

The Pacific Amphitheatre's operators were beaten on two key fronts Tuesday in their efforts to stave off noise restrictions and to eliminate profit-sapping competition with the rival Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. An Orange County Superior Court judge imposed new noise limitations on the 18,765-capacity rock and pop concert facility on the same day that Pacific officials learned that they had lost their bid to acquire a controlling interest in their longtime competitor. In the wake of a U.S.

A proposed alliance between Orange County's two giant concert amphitheaters has prompted an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division, concert industry officials said Friday. But the deal, if approved, could end years of bitter rivalry between the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa and the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.

The lawsuit that has kept the Pacific Amphitheatre closed for three years was settled late Monday just as jurors were about to reveal their verdict in the $12.5-million civil action. But the Costa Mesa facility on the Orange County Fairgrounds isn't ready to book any acts yet. An Orange County Superior Court judge still must decide acceptable noise levels at the 18,500-seat concert venue.

A Superior Court lawsuit over ownership of the shuttered Pacific Amphitheater will go to trial March 30, Orange County Fairgrounds officials announced Tuesday. The fair wants out of a 1993 agreement to buy the 18,500-seat complex from the Nederlander Organization for $12.5 million. Strict sound regulations in the sale agreement make it difficult to host concerts, making the venue at the fairgrounds worth very little, said Jill Lloyd, spokeswoman for the fairgrounds.

Jody Kennedy, who has organized concerts at such venues as Madison Square Garden, the Los Angeles Coliseum and Dodger Stadium, has been named general manager of Pacific Amphitheatre at the Orange County Fairgrounds. Kennedy said she'll bring a variety of family entertainment ranging from the opera, ballet, country music, comedy and children's shows to the amphitheater. "We're very sensitive to the needs and wants of the community and the fair," Kennedy said.

The other day I realized how nice it is to do without! I mean without the noisy rock concerts from the Pacific Amphitheater, which used to shake our house, which is slightly more than a mile away--but right in the sound pattern. The silence, not only in the evenings but in the afternoons when they would practice, is a delight. How sweet it is! MRS. I.B. MERLES Costa Mesa

Booker T. and the MGs, a band with an unusual ability to shift musical gears, has spent its summer tooling around Europe and the United States with Neil Young, who is famous for test-driving almost every rock-related model on the road. Young has toured or recorded with rockabilly backup and with bands made up of country pickers. He has played techno-rock and acoustic folk, and for a while he fronted a big-band blues outfit called the Bluenotes.

A late-blooming outdoor concert season at the Pacific Amphitheatre will feature the leading ladies of country, contemporary folk and the 1992 Grammy Awards, as well as some of the leading men of the blues playing on a single bill. Country singer Wynonna Judd, who recently launched her solo career with a hot-selling album, will headline at the Costa Mesa facility on June 27, the earliest of 14 dates announced by amphitheater officials.

The Pacific Amphitheatre's operators have been beaten on two fronts in their efforts to stave off noise restrictions and to eliminate profit-sapping competition with rival Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. An Orange County Superior Court judge imposed new noise limitations on the 18,765-capacity rock and pop concert facility on Tuesday, the same day that Pacific officials learned that they had lost their bid to acquire a controlling interest in their longtime competitor. In the wake of a U.S.

Despite new noise limits set by an Orange County Superior Court judge this week, rock bands that play the Pacific Amphitheatre will not have to tone down their acts, amphitheater officials predicted Wednesday. Pacific officials were upbeat about Judge Richard J. Beacom's ruling. Neil Papiano, the Pacific lawyer who also owns a 25% share in the amphitheater, hailed the judge's ruling as "a very fair and enlightened decision." Meanwhile, the lawyer for Laurie A.

The Pacific Amphitheatre, which came under fire for holding concerts during last summer's fair, has filed a lawsuit against the Orange County Fairgrounds seeking compensation for the loss of a concert during the fair's run. The lawsuit also seeks to keep the fair from extending its run beyond 14 days this summer. The Pacific Amphitheatre leases land from the fairgrounds. The lawsuit seeks $1 million from the 32nd District Agricultural Assn.

While the pop concert business has suffered nationally during a recession year, Orange County's two large amphitheaters were busier during the just-concluded outdoor concert season than they were in 1990, theater officials said this week. Irvine Meadows was host to 43 concerts, up from 42 in 1990. Robert Geddes, the amphitheater's managing partner, said attendance was about 440,000, contrasted with a reported total of slightly more than 400,000 a year ago.