We were saddened to learn today that the business relationship that gave us the “1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre” is no more.  While deals come and go, seeing “1-800-Ask Gary” emblazoned on concert tickets as well as the venue’s advertising always assured us that no matter what dangers, disappointments and failures fate might send our way, we would always be able to associate a referral service with a major outdoor venue.

But now those good times have come to a close.  Bringing us the bad news is The Tampa Tribune, reporting that the venue’s Ask-Gary signage has already been removed and that the facility on the Florida State Fairgrounds is now being referred to as the not so query-friendly “Live Nation Amphitheatre.”

Of course, the Ask-Gary shed wasn’t the only amphitheatre sporting a corporate title.  Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Va., still jogs our memories about oil changes; The DTE Energy Music Theatre reminds Detroit-area Michiganders to pay their power bills and Sleep Train Amphitheatres in California locales Wheatland and Chula Vista have established the importance of owning a firm mattress when attending concerts.

And who among us could attend a show at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., and not think about all the goodness Colonel Harland Sanders brought to our lives?

But none of the above ever established the relationship between live music and referral services as did the “1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre.”  Yes, you could say it’s the “end of an era.” However, we would like to think of it as brilliance running its course.  For almost three years we’ve lived in an Ask-Gary Amphitheatre world.  And we are much more the wiser for it.