News: Summer Tours in Bad Shape

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

CNN/Money Report

 

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The summer concert season is looking a bit sickly these days, and not just because Britney Spears has a bum knee.

 

At least four top draws -- Spears, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony and Jessica Simpson -- have cancelled some or all of their tours, costing themselves, promoters and T-shirt vendors, not to mention people like stadium security guards, millions of dollars in lost ticket and merchandise sales, publicity, and income.

 

But these bowouts tell only half the story.

 

The other half: ticket sales have slowed across the $2.5 billion concert industry.

 

Guess what??? The Weasel is ready to make a not-so-bold prediction...

 

PEOPLE ARE SICK OF CRAPPY MUSIC. And soon enough, you'll see artists/bands being promoted that aren't part of the crap-pop factory that's been churning them out since the late '90s.

 

So, if I'm right, we're going to have a happy pendulum swing, dragging pop back toward musicality for awhile. I'm looking forward to that immensely.

 

- Jeff

[Robman2]

POP goes the Weasel...

 

I hope the same holds true for the syrupy acts generated by Nashville as well.

 

R

[Lee Flier]

I hope you're right Jeff. After all there's no way to blame illegal downloading for poor concert sales.

 

Incidentally, on a related note, I stumbled on another forum the other day where a kid who was actually a fan of Nickelback and Linkin Park, was complaining that she and her friends think their songs all have the same sound.

[Mark Zeger]

Tomorrow at Six Flags Darien Lakes (between Buffalo and Rochester), lawn seats for nearly all remaining concerts are getting sold for $15.

 

Sting/Annie Lennox lawn seats: $15. Nice. I would hate to be someone who paid $40 for those tickets a few weeks ago.

 

I saw Harry Connick Jr. last night (it sucked, but that's another topic) at another outdoor venue. The shell was very sparse and the lawn audience looked like less than 1,000.

[Red Winger]

Originally posted by Jeff Da Weasel:

So, if I'm right, we're going to have a happy pendulum swing, dragging pop back toward musicality for awhile. I'm looking forward to that immensely.

Man, I hope you're right. It would certainly be great to hear something in the "mainstream" that hasn't been auto-tuned to death for once.

 

On this same note, my office has club seats to the Sharkies. Yesterday, we got a notice that all club seat owners are being offered 2 free tickets to the June 29th Fleetwood Mac concert at the HP Pavilion. Another sign that they aren't moving tickets so well....although, I'm sure part of that is due to the fact that the Mac just isn't the draw they once were.

[Guitar Geezer]

Originally posted by Mark Zeger:

Tomorrow at Six Flags Darien Lakes (between Buffalo and Rochester), lawn seats for nearly all remaining concerts are getting sold for $15.

 

Sting/Annie Lennox lawn seats: $15. Nice. I would hate to be someone who paid $40 for those tickets a few weeks ago.

 

I saw Harry Connick Jr. last night (it sucked, but that's another topic) at another outdoor venue. The shell was very sparse and the lawn audience looked like less than 1,000.

The Verizon Clear Channel venue here in San Antonio has been running a $50 for three concerts (including RUSH and OZZFEST I believe). People aint spending the $$$ right now.

[Lee Flier]

Well it's certainly true that concert tickets are overpriced, and people are also getting pissed about being raked over the coals by TicketBastards and their exhorbitant service charges.

[djwayne]

I haven't gone to a concert for awhile, and I'll tell ya why. I feel like a big sucker. Like the walking hot dog you used to see in cartoons. A show comes to town, you decided to go, so then you pay top buck for tickets, then they say, "well this is a special event, so we have to charge extra for parking, so you get hit for another $10-15 bucks, you get inside, then it's

"You gotta but this, you gotta buy that"... anything to empty out your wallet. Pop, T-shirts, key rings, programs, food, cd's, then the time comes for the show to start, and they put on an un-advertised opening act, that'll play for an hour, while your stuck buying more pop, beer, food, then you have to wait for the roadies to set-up for the main act, so a show that was supposed to start at 9:00, now maybe will start, if your lucky, at 11:00, that is if the performer feels like it. In the meantime, you have to stand around a wait, buy a few more drinks, trinkets... so by the time your done, you've blown, a great deal of money, and time. Hooray, hooray, the band comes out, plugs there new cd, plays for an hour or two, then splits in a limo, and heads off to the next town, and tomorrow, the promoters want to do it all over again with another act.... it really gets old. God help you if you try to sell an extra unused ticket, security will cart you off to jail and hit you with a $200 fine.

 

So now I stay home and save my money, to pay MY bills.

[PBBPaul]

We're lucky here. Summerfest opened yesterday. Admission is $12.00. Here\'s today\'s lineup. There's a lot of filler today but also some great acts. Buddy Guy, Leann Rimes, moe, Ben Folds, Jon Paris, Steve Cohen, Dion, Guster etc...

[djwayne]

Yes, we get deals like that too around here once in awhile.. but once you get there, it turns into a big money grab. It's like as if you're walking into a mousetrap, the performers are the bait, and everybody else is there dreaming up ways to take your money. The concert experience can really suck sometimes.

[PBBPaul]

Yeah, the beers are $4.00 but the food is reasonably priced and there's a huge variety. The stages are well-positioned so that the sound overall is generally quite good. The crowds can get pretty severe sometimes but once you find your spot, it's not too bad. As a player, we get treated well. Roadies, professional sound crews, beer, water, soda, food etc... backstage and good crowds to energize the show. Opening day was rainy and in the 40's but they still drew around 60,000.

[ibescotty]

Originally posted by PBBPaul:

Yeah, the beers are $4.00 but the food is reasonably priced and there's a huge variety. The stages are well-positioned so that the sound overall is generally quite good. The crowds can get pretty severe sometimes but once you find your spot, it's not too bad. As a player, we get treated well. Roadies, professional sound crews, beer, water, soda, food etc... backstage and good crowds to energize the show. Opening day was rainy and in the 40's but they still drew around 60,000.

$4.00 bucks a beer is cheap!! Try $7.00 at the Rush concert!! Though I did enjoy it.

[Philip OKeefe]

Originally posted by Lee Flier:

Well it's certainly true that concert tickets are overpriced, and people are also getting pissed about being raked over the coals by TicketBastards and their exhorbitant service charges.

Last concert I went to: Aimee Mann at The House Of Blues, Anaheim CA. Price listed on the ticket? $22.50, IIRC. Actual price paid per ticket? $34 and change. Why not just tell me the tickets are $34? Yes, I agree - the "service charges" are a joke.

[Philip OKeefe]

And FWIW, Aimee and company were well worth that $34.

[Kaz]

Originally posted by Lee Flier:

Incidentally, on a related note, I stumbled on another forum the other day where a kid who was actually a fan of Nickelback and Linkin Park, was complaining that she and her friends think their songs all have the same sound.[/QB]

Gasp Say it ain't so! After all that blather to prove they had a varied and eclectic sound?!? Oh wait, nobody said that once.

[Kaz]

One of the last concerts I saw was about ten times $34. Was it worth it? Uh, yes it was!!!

 

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2002/Dec-29-Sun-2002/photos/mccartney.jpg

 

A few fun stories from this legends latest tour:

 

Sir Paul is off da richter !

 

McCartney likes the Black Eyed Peas (is Fergie hot or what?)

 

Who\'ll Stop The Rain? Sir Paul McCartney

 

Fergie and them other Peas:

 

http://www.ananova.com/images/web/68675.jpg

[Lee Flier]

Originally posted by Philip O'Keefe:

And FWIW, Aimee and company were well worth that $34.

I'm sure they were! It's just too bad Aimee didn't get most of that money instead of TicketBastards.

[gmstudio99]

Hey PBBPaul

 

We're going to be in town for Summerfest next week...I've never been, but I'm looking forward to it. Any tips for a first timer?

[Cowbell]

Originally posted by Mark Zeger:

 

Sting/Annie Lennox lawn seats: $15. Nice. I would hate to be someone who paid $40 for those tickets a few weeks ago.

Lucky, they're going for $35 lawn over here. There are almost no good concerts coming to town this summer. The only ones I've even considered going to were:

 

Sting

John Mayer

Thin Lizzy/ Joe Satriani/ Deep Purple

Josh Groban (I have a girlfriend)

[Philip OKeefe]

Originally posted by Lee Flier:

Originally posted by Philip O'Keefe:

And FWIW, Aimee and company were well worth that $34.

I'm sure they were! It's just too bad Aimee didn't get most of that money instead of TicketBastards.

Word.

[Jeebus]

It's good to hear that music fans are starting to smarten up. And I don't care WHO you are, $60 for the cheapest seats is ridiculous.

 

Zzzzzzzzzzzz: yes, Fergie is smoking hot.

[ernest828]

Well it's certainly true that concert tickets are overpriced, and people are also getting pissed about being raked over the coals by TicketBastards and their exhorbitant service charges.

Yup. And as the Weasel said, people are tired of paying for bad music, I`d like to add that people are tired of paying out of their noses for lip syncers.

Ernest

[Kaz]

Originally posted by Jeebus:

It's good to hear that music fans are starting to smarten up.

The hypnosis must be wearing off.

 

And I don't care WHO you are, $60 for the cheapest seats is ridiculous.

Do you mean who the performer is? I don't know, some are worth it. There aren't too many Paul McCartneys in the world. On the other hand, I wouldn't pay $3 or even no bucks to see a band I wasn't interested in. Don't people easily spend a couple hundred bucks going out for dinner and lots of other rather mundane shit?

 

Zzzzzzzzzzzz: yes, Fergie is smoking hot.

Finally, somebody agrees with me on something!!

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by zzzzzzzzz:

Zzzzzzzzzzzz: yes, Fergie is smoking hot.

Finally, somebody agrees with me on something!!

Make that two people. That's one nice lookin' female there. I can see bands locally for whatever the cover charge is and get about as much enjoyment out of them as I do the major acts. I went to a frat party a while back, and there were two great bands there. Cost = $5

[D. Gauss]

<>

 

not that i have access to file sharing or anything, but if you do, do a search for "nickelbacksucks.mp3".

 

left channel is their first single, right channel is their second. same key, same tempo. hilarious.

 

-d. gauss

[Kaz]

quote:

---

Originally posted by bluestrat:

Make that two people. That's one nice lookin' female there.

[Kaz]

Originally posted by d gauss:

<>

 

not that i have access to file sharing or anything, but if you do, do a search for "nickelbacksucks.mp3".

 

left channel is their first single, right channel is their second. same key, same tempo. hilarious.

 

-d. gauss

D'oh! Your post is hilarious already!

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by zzzzzzzzz:

quote:

---

I went to a frat party a while back, and there were two great bands there. Cost = $5

Actually, I was one of the more sober folks there. I only had three or four beers over a four hour period. (free, cause I helped my drunken friends carry it! )

[Jotown]

Prince was just in Detroit for one of his four sold out shows at the Palace. I saw him on Monday and he was just awesome, the band, the show, all of it.

 

He is doing a sort of greatest hit's tour this time out, so I guess it depends on who you are, and what you are doing.

 

Now Madonna is having some problems selling out several of her dates, (I guess that why she is changing her name to Ester! ) And I bet you those soft ticket sales had a lot to do with Brittany's alleged tour canceling injury.

 

I hope that you are right and the pendulum is swinging, and it's not just more evidence of how crappy the economy really is.

[Kaz]

Originally posted by Jotown:

And I bet you those soft ticket sales had a lot to do with Brittanys alleged tour canceling injury.

Man, it's a full time job defending my sweet sweet Britney.

 

What makes you think it is alleged?

 

Here's some quotes from an article from the New York Times:

 

"Spears, whose latest album, "In the Zone," made its debut at No. 1 on the Billboard chart last fall, began the tour earlier this year and played dozens of shows in the United States, Europe and South America."

 

"The tour had been one of the most successful of the year. According to Pollstar, a concert trade magazine, Spears was averaging $727,000 per city in ticket sales that week, with an average ticket price of $61, making it the seventh-most-lucrative tour monitored by the magazine. "

 

"But Spears also was pulling in millions more in baby-doll T-shirts, posters and jackets at the concerts. Signatures Network, a merchandising and licensing company that handles the sales, reported in April that it expected the tour to sell more than $10 million worth of such souvenirs by the time it ended."

 

"Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar, said Spears herself stood to lose the most money from the cancellations."

 

Hmmm, let's see, a number one album and millions of dollars in tickets and merchandise. Hmmmm, let me think, hmmmm, yeah, she's prolly just lying because she is such a failure.