I’m going to be interested to see how the HullabaLOU mega-concert is supported at Churchill Downs. The cheapest ticket costs $75, which pretty much eliminates the high-school and college kids who were attracted by the night racing programs (or could it possibly have been the ease with which underage drinkers could get beer?)

In addition, parking will be limited because the big RV show at the Fairgrounds had reserved the parking at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium long before HullabaLOU became a reality. Try as it might to take over the parking lots at the football stadium, the Churchill people in charge of HullabaLOU were denied at every turn.

You couldn’t blame AIG, the company hired to book entertainment at Freedom Hall and the KFC Yum! Center, for being angry with Churchill, which plunged into the concert business without consulting anybody. This sets up a competitive situation that’s not good for the community. Some of the acts that will play at HullabaLOU might have drawn more fans at either the State Fair or the new arena, both of which are far better concert venues than the race track.

It’s just another example of Churchill being a lousy corporate citizen. Bob Evans, the man in charge of Churchill Downs, Inc., cares as little about the city as he does about horse racing. The Churchill management team kept the 2009 Breeders Cup from coming to Louisville because it wasn’t making enough off the deal. Now, in a bizarre twist, we’re getting the Cup both this year and in 2011, which only can mean that Churchill has found new ways to make money off it.

If HullabaLOU falls short of attendance expectations — I see that three-day estimates have been scaled back from 100,000 to 50,000 — it certainly won’t be due to lack of coverage from the Courier-Journal. Our once great newspaper has literally been a press agent for the event — the latest example of the subtle and slow shift in emphasis since Gannett took over in 1986. Once the paper kept its distance from the business community; now it’s in bed with it. If publisher Arthur Garson showed up at HullabaLOU in a cheerleader outfit, who would be shocked?

Personally, I’m going to pass HullabaLOU in favor of some of the State Fair acts. I’m also undecided about the Eagles concert on Oct. 16 that will open the new arena. Heck, I haven’t seen the Eagles since they played Freedom Hall in the summer of 1975, right between concerts by Elvis and Elton John.

That was long before I turned into Louisville’s version of Andy Rooney.