Residencies - Cool Trend or Money Grab?

[Anderton]

Adele is doing a residency in Vegas. Tickets start at $2,000+ and go up to $9,000+. Seriously?!?

 

Obviously this is great for the performers. No schlepping gear around on tour, which devours expenses. You get to be rested every night because you're not travelling. The crew doesn't have to deal with optimizing the sound for a zillion different venues every night.

 

A Vegas residency can be good for concert-goers...if they're well-heeled. They'll get good sound, consistent performances, and if you must have a residency somewhere, Vegas is a relatively inexpensive destination in terms of air travel and hotels. They want you there so you'll spend money in the casinos.

 

But $2,000+ for the cheap seats? No thanks. I'll buy the CD if I want to hear Adele over a good sound system.

[KuruPrionz]

If you have the money, it's nothing.

If they have seats left over they can lower the price.

I'm sure there are other possibilities, including that it will fail.

 

Aerosmith did a residency in Vegas a while back, not sure how that went.

 

Wayne Newton did a residency for decades but I doubt it was at the same price level, ever. Still, a house gig and as you say - no moving gear, no set up time, sleep at home, etc.

[Greg Mein]

I like the idea since Vegas is roughly an hour drive away, however, I'm never going to pay that much for a ticket unless they can resurrect and reunite the Beatles.

[Notes_Norton]

I had a residency on a cruise ship. No schlepping gear for 8 months. No high ticket prices.

 

We broke all-time revenue records for the lounge we played in. Did we get a raise? Well, we got a bigger cabin with a porthole and for the raise, the standard answer was "eat more".

 

The difference between us and Adele is that she has star-power.

 

(can you tell, I'm jealous of her star power) :D

 

Notes â«

[RABid]

Not many places that residencies will work. I guess Blue Man Group did it on Broadway. It's great for the superstar that is tired of touring. Makes me feel a bit sick that there are that many people who can afford and are willing to pay $2000 to $9000 each for tickets to see a pop star. Will be interesting to see average attendance numbers.

[Anderton]

Not many places that residencies will work.

 

DJs do quite a few of them. Carl Cox was doing one in Ibiza last time I was there, but he wasn't going to start until a couple weeks after I left...quite unfortunate, I'm a fan.

 

Celine Dion has been doing Vegas, and now that I think about it, Vegas has kind of always been about residencies...I don't recall Siegfried and Roy touring the midwest, or the equivalent.

 

But the $2,000 minimum price tag...I know pop stardom is ephemeral, but that seems like a huge amount. I wonder what the cost breakdown is per ticket...maybe something like...

 

Venue $800

Management $350

Bribes $250

Liability and other insurance $200

Various licenses $75

Sound mixer $62.50

Lighting engineer $62.50

Adele $200

 

Sound about right?

[Notes_Norton]

I wouldn't pay 2K to see anybody. But then, I don't look at the stars as my idols, but as my peers.

 

But obviously other people would pay that.

 

Notes â«

[Anderton]

So you're probably all aware that Adele canceled her residency gigs. Now Caesar's Palace is up Schmidt's Creek without a paddle, because they won't be able to find anyone else with that kind of star power who isn't already booked somewhere else (although Keith Urban is doing a couple of dates there), they hired extra staff, and they'll have room cancellations up the wazoo. Some people didn't find out Adele had bailed until they were sitting on flights to Las Vegas.

 

And, click-bait internet gossip headlines hint at conflicts, ego, insecurities, and a whole bunch of other issues.

 

So my title was really off the mark - in Adele's case it didn't turn out to be a cool trend, and no one grabbed any money, either.

 

[Notes_Norton]

I don't know why she cancelled, I haven't followed it, but for most of us troopers, we live by "The show must go on."

 

I think residency works for some, but the person doing it should have very broad appeal for the age group that frequents Vegas. Note: I don't know if Adele has that or not, so this isn't a judgement call on her.

 

Residency is perfect for an aging mega-star who paid his/her dues and is tired of life on the road. If he/she has the pull power to consistently fill the house, it's good for the house, the performer, and the audience.

 

And I know COVID really screwed up the world. But "The show MUST go on". There is a responsibility to the house and the audience.

 

I've played with a fever of 109, and I was in a road band where the bass player checked out of the hospital to make the gig, and went back in when the show was done.

 

But like I said, COVID really screws things up.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[Anderton]

I too believe the show must go on. I've only failed to show up at a show, seminar, or workshop once - I needed to travel from the south to the midwest for the next stop, and the winter weather had shut down ALL forms of transportation. At least the venue said not to worry about it, no one could get to it anyway so there wouldn't be any people there.

 

One time in Boston there was a blizzard. The roads hadn't been cleared, so there was no public transportation or even cars and taxis. We were playing at the Unicorn, a medium-size club owned by promoter George Papadopolis, and had loaded our gear in the night before. We walked in multi-foot deep snow for over a mile to get to the club. When we got there, there were 16 people (!) instead of the usual hundreds. All of them had walked to come to the show. I have to say, it was one of the very best gigs we ever played - talk about an intimate setting!   And despite Papadopolis's reputation, he paid us the full amount we had been promised, even though he lost his shirt on that night.

[Notes_Norton]

In this biz, we entertainers have a responsibility.

 

Can you imagine if you were booked for a wedding reception, and the band called in sick? You would have bridezilla to face. Have mercy when you ruined what she thought was going to be the most important day of her entire life.

 

Or you cancelled a club because you were under the weather and the club lost money, the bartenders lost money, and the wait staff lost money. Do you think that would be good for future bookings?

 

When my father died, my mother checked with my gigging calendar before scheduling the funeral. She knew how important it was that I make the gig, and wanted me to be at the funeral instead of the gig.

 

I think COVID might be an exception, because singing and/or playing a wind instrument with COVID might endanger the audience. We live in difficult times for entertainers now. Hopefully that will pass.

 

Notes ♫

[Anderton]

22 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

When my father died, my mother checked with my gigging calendar before scheduling the funeral. She knew how important it was that I make the gig, and wanted me to be at the funeral instead of the gig.

 

Some might think that's callous, I think it's probably doing what your father would have wanted. "Hey Bob, I'll be dead for a while, but gigs don't wait. Better take care of them first."

[Notes_Norton]

16 hours ago, Anderton said:

 

Some might think that's callous, I think it's probably doing what your father would have wanted. "Hey Bob, I'll be dead for a while, but gigs don't wait. Better take care of them first."

My dad definitely would have understood.

 

Mom and dad used to come out to hear us when we were gigging. They knew how the audience depended on us and were proud when the audience expressed their love for us.

 

So mom had the funeral on Sunday instead of Saturday. I'm glad she did.

 

Notes ♫

[hard truth]

I love the type of "residencies" that happen at the Stone in NYC and some other venues. These give an artist the opportunity to do a series of shows with different personnel and/or choice of material.  For example:

 

Billy Martin's scheduled residency for 2/9/22- 2/12/22. (which ended up getting cancelled due to COVID)

2/9 Wednesday
Billy Martin (percussion) Ju-eh (male soprano)

2/10 Thursday
Billy Martin (percussion) Joanna Mattrey (viola)

2/11 Friday
Omnispheric Orchestra
Ned Rothenberg (shakuhachi, clarinet, alto sax, flutes) Shelley Hirsch (vocals) Billy Martin (percussion)

2/12 Saturday
Billy Martin (percussion) Leonor Falcon (viola) Juanma Trujillo (guitar)

http://thestonenyc.com/calendar.php

[Anderton]

1 hour ago, hard truth said:

I love the type of "residencies" that happen at the Stone in NYC and some other venues. These give an artist the opportunity to do a series of shows with different personnel and/or choice of material. 

 

Indeed, that does sound really cool. And from a business standpoint, it means people have a reason to see more than one gig.

 

I played several times with Rei$$dorf Force over in Europe, and every gig was different. Often there were different people, and the band never rehearsed. The band had a following that came to lots of gigs because they were never the same way twice. Sounds like that's sort of like what you're talking about.

[Notes_Norton]

We played a local club, one afternoon per week, for the duration of the tourist season, for 12 1/4 years until COVID hit. Is that a residency?

 

COVID hit, the club got sold, the new owners had a different business plan, so we found another club, about a mile south, who welcomed us. So it's the 14th year of an ongoing party with the same gig. Is that a residency?

 

IMO, it's just good planning, hard work, and a dose of good luck.

 

Early in our career as a duo, we signed up for a 3 week with options gig on a cruise ship. It lasted 3 years with 2 months paid vacations each year. Was that a residency?

 

BTW, I guess I'm old-fashioned, I just call both of the above what I have always called them, "house-gigs".

 

Perhaps when you are famous, you get to call it a residency.

 

Notes ♫

[ToddP]

The best part of seeing residencies in Vegas is that no expense is spared on the productions. Yes, you can still see Wayne Newton, but the new acts can do anything they want since they don't have to set it up in two days. 

I hear Carrie Underwood lowers a Jeep from the ceiling and the cast trashes it (you can guess the song). The set designs often use the same people as Cirque du Soleil and get quite elaborate. Even Shania Twain kept me quite entertained. They really are like nothing you're going to see on the road. 

 

[Notes_Norton]

^^^ good points !

[Anderton]

I got my start because a club in Philadelphia needed a house band. We were actually assembled, it wasn't an organic coming together...none of us even knew each other, except the drummer and bass player had worked in New York together. Playing five nights a week, and having the club available during the day to rehearse, gave us a chance to hone our sound to the point where we could branch out and tour, record, etc. Of course, it's different if you're a superstar and have an act that's the same every night. Still, I would think even superstars could take advantage of a residency to try out new material from time to time.

 

I don't know if bands get a chance to have the same kind of experience we did. Back then, the club owner felt we were going him a favor by being popular and playing every night to attract a crowd, and paid us well. Seems a lot of today's club owners think they're doing you a favor by letting you play free for "exposure."

 

[Notes_Norton]

We play to bring customers into the venue and/or keep them there longer. We do this by playing music the audience likes, and pacing what we play to maximize the fun factor of the audience. Whey they have fun, they stay longer, come back more often, spend more money and make cash-flow for the venue paying us. If we can make more profit for the venue than what we charge, we have done what we do well, and have job security.

 

I've had house band gigs and Craig described, I worked on cruise ships (3 years on a three weeks with options contract). Our longest house gig was in its 13th year when COVID hit. Now we have moved that audience to another club, and the management gladly pays us for making them more money than we cost them.

 

Our gig requires us to NOT play the same songs in the same order every single night. Our job is to play enough variety so that they come back again (we have around 600 songs in our 'book' and constantly learn new ones http://www.nortonmusic.com/cats/songlist.html ). Furthermore, our job is to play what the audience needs, when they need it, even if they don't know exactly what they need. We tease them then please them, build them up and bring them down, and repeat as needed. It's like lovemaking, they are the partner, and we play things, and how they react determines what we play next. We both get satisfied by the end of the night.

 

I don't think I'd like to have the kind of residency where we had to play the same songs in the same order with the same special effects going on night after night after night. To me, that would get boring. It would seem like a monologue given over and over and over and over again.

 

I like the dialog I have with the audience. I'm not performing TO them, I'm performing WITH them. If I had a "residency" in Vegas or anywhere else, I'd rather do it the way Louis Prima did, play with the audience.

 

I play music for a living because it's the most fun I can have with my clothes on. If I wanted a job where I did the same thing day after day after day, I'd get one that pays better and gives me benefits like sick leave, paid vacations, medical insurance, stock options, paid holidays, and so forth. I'm not rich in currency, but I'm having a very happy life with very little stress and very little routine.

 

Of course, there is more than one right way to play music, and more than one right way to entertain an audience.

 

Notes ♫