Since You Asked: Is Sleep Train Amphitheatre slowing down?

Q: I've been curious as to what's happening with our Sleep Train Amphitheatre. It's odd that this year, and the past several years, there have only been in the neighborhood of seven concerts, and none this year in May and June. If I'm not mistaken, when the facility opened for business, there were over 20 concerts scheduled.

Also, in the beginning, the Appeal-Democrat wrote reviews about each concert, including a photo of each of the bands that performed. I haven't seen these reviews in years.

A: The number of shows has been declining for the past few years, although there've been more than the seven per year you estimated, according to spokesman John Vlautin of Live Nation, the Los Angeles concert promoter that operates the Sleep Train.

Vlautin said there were 15 shows in 2007 and 10 in 2008. There are nine scheduled this year, he said, although a May 7 press release from Live Nation listed only seven.

"The number of shows we put into the venue is really a factor of how many bands are on tour each summer," Vlautin said. "Although ticket sales have been very strong across the board this season, the show count was slightly down across the country, which is reflected in the number of shows at the Sleep Train."

As for those Appeal-Democrat concert reviews you seem to miss, Entertainment Editor Josh Kendrix said getting review tickets for the newspaper was getting to be kind of a hassle. Plus, the concerts usually end late at night, making it impossible to get reviews in the next day's paper. He also questioned how many people actually want to read after-the-fact reviews.

But people probably did like to look for themselves in the crowd photos.

How about a box score after every concert listing mosh pit injuries, cigarette lighter burns and drug overdoses? Who wouldn't read that?

Q: I was wondering about the houses at Sixth and G streets in Marysville across from the park. There are two duplex-style homes and one on the corner that was burned in a fire. So I was wondering if the houses are going to be torn down and what might be put in their place.

A: The fact that the houses are already demolished is evidence that your letter sat on the Since You Asked desk longer than it should have.

According to Lisa LaMont, a clerk in the city of Marysville's Building Inspection Department, an outfit called Marysville 629 LLC acquired the parcels after the fire, which badly damaged the house on the corner. The other two houses were dilapidated, she said.

The city did not condemn any of the houses, she said.

Marysville 629 LLC has not submitted any plans for the properties, LaMont said.

Since You Asked is published Tuesdays. Send questions to reporter Rob Young at the Appeal-Democrat, P.O. Box 431, Marysville CA 95901, e-mail him at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com or call 530-749-4710.