ROAD WARY: The two-month Bobby Brown tour,...

ROAD WARY: The two-month Bobby Brown tour, which starts Dec. 29, is going to be watched closely. Many in the music business are looking at the two-month arena-level trek as a test of how a major black artist can fare in this poor economy.

“Any kind of economic problems generally hit black communities harder--cutting into money for luxuries like concerts,” explained Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert trade magazine Pollstar.

Hammer’s tour, touted as the big black-oriented tour of the past season, did only spotty business. Now the general mood is one of caution--the only prominent black artist on an extended tour now is crooner Freddie Jackson, playing smaller halls.