Bangor - Waterfront concerts is music to the ears and dollar signs for several local businesses.

"Waterfront Concerts has been a perfect compliment to our business in Bangor," said Hollywood Casino General Manager, John Osborne.

Folks at hotels and restaurants we checked with say their numbers increase on a concert night.

"On a typical mid-week night, we'll have approximately 500 people within the facility. For the entire day, we'll probably have about 1,300 people. You can almost double those numbers when there's a concert in town," said Osborne.

"It's super busy earlier, like 4 o'clock, where our normal really busy time is about 6 or 7. So it's definitely a lot busier earlier," Sea Dog Brewing Company General Manager, Larry Killam.

Many business owners say it brings people to the area that normally wouldn't visit.

"We're seeing a lot of that. The repeat business, a lot of the people that are coming down to the concerts that are staying at our hotel are Canadian visitors. The Canadian visitor will come to Bangor and come down and catch a really popular show and then they'll put us on the map when it comes to coming back," said Ramada Inn General Manager, Free Martin.

"Most of the hotels in the area will sell out on a concert date and it's bringing people not only from Maine, but from all over New England and Canada. So it's bringing people that normally wouldn't come here to Bangor. Their first experience, we try to make sure they have a great, great time and they keep coming back," said Osborne.

They hope the concerts continue.

"It's good for us, but it's just good for the entire area. Anything that can be done to bring in, especially on the off days," said Killam.

"The concerts have become a very consistent venue with 15 or so concerts down there, we can anticipate we're going to have pretty much 15 sell-outs," said Martin.

Specific offerings at these businesses have also spiked.

"We've definitely seen a big boost in our shuttle van that transports people down to the casino, down to the Waterfront Concerts, down to downtown Bangor. It's definitely become more of a destination location," said Martin.

"Our food outlets and our hotel typically will sell out on those evenings. On the weekends it's the same story," said Osborne.

They all say the concerts have brought a demand to Bangor and any kind of demand is good for business.

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