IB tease: Forum

MIRACLE ON MANCHESTER: MSG Azoff Entertainment’s renovated Forum is already looking like a serious competitor to AEG’s long-dominant Staples Center, notes our own I.B. Bad in his latest look under the hood of the music biz, which will appear right here tomorrow morning. The spiffed-up venue’s new caretakers are pulling off this feat in part by offering cheaper rental fees, leading some to speculate as to whether AEG will follow suit and drop its rates for Staples. Most believe that Live Nation, which has already scheduled several early 2014 shows at the Forum, will be inclined to shun its chief rival’s multi-use downtown arena in favor of MSG’s all-music venue in Inglewood. (11/21a)