Chaifetz Arena at St. Louis University had two concerts pulled off its schedule before its first concert could even take place this weekend, but that’s not going to stop the overdue arena from becoming one of St. Louis’ most formidable new venues.

“That certainly not ideal,” Chaifetz Arena general manager Darius Dunn says of his venue’s diminished opening lineup. “But if you’re in this business long enough you see a number of things.”

Larry the Cable Guy was originally scheduled to open the venue April 5, but was canceled. Raven-Symone had a June 10 show scheduled, then canceled her tour.

Legendary singer Barry Manilow will open Chaifetz Arena Friday night, which actually sounds like a bigger event than opening comedian with Larry the Cable Guy.

“Barry Manilow is an ideal scenario for us, to have that name as our inaugural concert. That first big name helps set the tone,” says Dunn. “Who opens a venue is a big deal, and getting a name like Manilow means a lot.”

Chaifetz Arena is something much needed in the St. Louis market. It’s billed as a venue that fills a void.

“We’re definitely filling a void in terms of capacity for St. Louis, and in terms of being inside city limits. You have Scottrade Center for large scale arena tours, the Pageant for club tours, and the Fox for theater. So that 10,000 capacity for us is going to afford St. Louis and surrounding counties a venue,” says Dunn.

“And some acts are actually looking for this size venue to tour. Now they won’t have to be forced outside the city limits to St. Charles,” he says.

St. Charles, of course, is home to Family Arena, which has a similar capacity. It looks like they may book similar shows as well. But Dunn’s not worried about the two bumping up against each other.

“It’s not just St. Charles, and it’s not necessarily a competition per se. We’re offering a mid-sized venue in the city limits and we’re obviously newer. The choice for touring artists will be do they want to play the St. Louis market or do they want to play St. Charles,” he says. “If they want to be in the city, and until now they haven’t had that opportunity, it’s us.”

Another of the new arena’s selling points, besides its being the shiny new thing, is the idea the just-over 10,000 capacity is actually intimate. And it is. That sounds like a lot of seats, but once you’re inside Chaifetz Arena, it feels smaller.

“The one thing I want people to take home when they walk out the door is ‘boy, we were closer than ever,’ ” says Dunn. “Folks will notice that right off the bat.”

Dunn says the new arena plans to book all types of shows, and this weekend’s opening blast is indicative of that. Saturday night is Rock, Rap, and Rawhide, a genre-bending concert featuring rapper Chingy, country singer Jo Dee Messina, rockers Augustana, and more. Classic rock singer Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac fame follows June 13.

“We want to serve the whole community. As long as it’s a market for it, we’ll do it,” he says.

Photo: Laurie Skrivan