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Contrary to rumors, Street Scene is not dead.

San Diego's biggest music festival announced Monday that it has partnered with Live Nation and that the event will be held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Sept. 22 and 23.

Street Scene has been independently owned by Rob Hagey Productions since its inception in 1984. It evolved from a two-stage event into a behemoth festival that peaked in 2004-when 105,000 people packed downtown to see the likes of Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, P.O.D. and the Foo Fighters. In the last two years, however, it ran into problems.

Forced to move to the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot in 2005-because rampant development ate up the available space in the Gaslamp-attendance fell to 75,000 that year. Last year, attendance dipped to 70,000. In December, Hagey approached a committe that oversees the use of Balboa Park with the idea of holding it on park grounds. He was rejected.

There was speculation that Hagey would sell off the event. Or that he would scale it back and return to the Gaslamp. Either way, change was imminent.

Enter L.A.-based Live Nation, the world's largest live-music company. Live Nation was formed in 2005 as a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications to operate all of the company's live events-concerts, sporting events, monster-truck extravaganzas, etc. Live Nation is fully independent from Clear Channel, although it does share a few top executives.

Live Nation owns, operates or has booking rights at more than 160 venues worldwide and purchased House of Blues last June. In 2006, the company produced roughly 26,000 events in 18 countries with attendance of nearly 60 million. Details of the financial or ownership agreement between Live Nation and Street Scene were not made available, but Live Nation will be in charge of producing this year's event-adding significant marketing and sponsorship clout.

“Over the past eight to 10 years, I've talked with Rob Hagey about working with him on it, but we couldn't make it work," said Nick Masters, president of Live Nation's Southern California operations. “After this last one we saw over at Qualcomm, I think he was finally ready. He realized it wasn't working as well at Qualcomm as it wanted to. We all saw a great event that needed a new place to be."

Masters said that he and Hagey began scouting new locations last summer. They first looked at San Diego golf courses. But logistical concerns-lack of access roads for semi trucks, the uneven topography of the courses-made them decide against what might have been called “Putting Green Scene."
“If I had my wish, it would be more at the Polo Fields in Del Mar," Masters said. “But it's in a neighborhood that doesn't want any noise."

Masters had long proposed the Fairgrounds, but Hagey was reluctant. Eventually, Hagey saw the Fairgrounds' advantages: almost limitless parking, a capacity that Masters estimates at “a bazillion" and a nearby train station that services downtown San Diego. Masters said they've discussed, internally, partnering with the Coaster train to shuttle attendees to and from the event, but “the proper authorities haven't been contacted yet."

Masters' Live Nation crew and Hagey's own people will collaborate this week on laying out the site. But Masters expects the two main stages to be located in the Fairground's large back parking lot, the area where carnival rides are placed during the Del Mar Fair. Another main stage, he predicts, will be located on the service road next to the main concourse.

“If we were going to do a dance thing, there are two or three exhibit halls there, instead of an outdoor tent," Masters said.

Both Hagey's people and Live Nation will collaborate on booking bands for the event. Live Nation, with its extensive connections, will surely add buying power to corral bigger acts, but Masters said he also wants to retain Street Scene's multicultural identity.

"I think you gotta do both," he said. "The first thing I did was call to see where The Police were going to be. But they're going to be in Europe. There's also Austin City Limits and Bumbershoot around the same time, and a lot of the agents I talked to who are booking their artists there said it wouldn't be a problem" to also book them at Street Scene.

"I have someone in our group who's an incredibly strong Latin booker, and I've asked her to look into some incredibly good rock en español at the event, which Street Scene hasn't done too much of in the past."

As for tickets, Masters said last year's $75 price tag seemed "a bit high. Without having bought the talent, I can't tell you it's going to be a lot cheaper, but we're determined to come in a lot lower than that."

Finally, as for the fate of Rob Hagey's two principal assistants in Street Scene-Joe Callahan and Frank Hewitt-Hagey said "we're still in transition, so none of that information is available yet." www.street-scene.com.

Notes from the smoking patio...

Legendary Chula Vista punk band The Zeros will reunite for a short tour of Spain beginning April 19, followed by a headline slot at the annual Road to Ruins music festival in Rome on April 27. They plan to release a live DVD, minus original bassist Hector Penalosa (Squiddo), who will sit out the concerts due to the fact that he doesn't like his bandmates so much. Former Dragons bassist Steve Rodriguez will hold down the bottom end, with rehearsals in the South Bay starting this week. Also hitting Europe throughout May are The Morlocks, though only singer Leighton Koizumi remains from the band's '80s heyday. www.roadtoruins.it.

On April 13, Lestat's will hold a birthday celebration for the club's soundman and talent booker, Louis Brazier. It's become an annual who's-who event for the local acoustic scene, which appreciates Brazier's work. So far, confirmed performers include Anya Marina, Lisa Sanders, Robin Henkel, Rob Deez, Jamie Robb, Julie Mack, Josh Damigo and Daniel Crawford . Rumored to also be performing are Greg Laswell and Gregory Page. www.myspace.com/lestatswest.

The quarterly San Diego Record Show takes place on April 14. www.sandiegorecordshow.com.

DB3 is the first new group to emerge from the ashes of funk-jam band, Tubby. The band includes Tubby keyboardist Neil MacPherson, B-Side Players drummer Mike Cannon and bassist Charlie Reid. They perform at the 710 Beach Club on April 14. www.myspace.com/db3funk.

On April 14, Pete's Place in La Mesa will host the Second Annual Buddy Blue Benefit. Celebrating the life of the late guitarist and raising funds for his family, the show starts at 3 p.m. with performances by The Farmers, Manganista, Butterface and The Wild Truth. www.buddy blue.com.

Two San Diego singer-songwriters drop new albums on April 15. Micheal Tiernan releases Spaces, while Sven-Erik Seaholm releases Sotto Voice. The artists will team up for a CD-release show at the Belly Up on April 15 at 3 p.m. www.myspace.com/svenseaholm, www.myspace.com/ michaeltiernan.