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Cheap Concert Tickets!

I am off to see a double bill -- Elvis Costello/Police. Crappy Economy be damned, I paid up for awesome seats. Elvis is ostensibly the opener, but really, I would see him alone if I had the chance. And the Police is a long overdue catch up -- I was supposed to see them at My Father's Place in Roslyn in 1978 or so, but somehow screwed up the opportunity. This is my first time seeing them.

As we noted back in early July, $10 Concert Tickets! (Another Weird Economic Indicator) -- concerts are doing poorly.    

I spoke recently with several music industry "Insiders" about this -- they all said the same thing: Touring is terrible this year. They blamed high gas prices, a weak economy and poor job market. The combination does not lead to a LETS PARTY mentality amongst ticket buyers.

A few quotes:

"I saw Melissa Etheridge's business manager last night (he also handles a client of mine).  He told me that some dates on Melissa's tour aren't even hitting 60% of total capacity.  The promoters are getting killed.  She's doing venues size from 2000-5000 seats and her guarantees are $300k.  I think you can do the math!

I'm hearing these stories more and more."

and this:

"I work on a lot of tours mostly for arena or even stadium acts (U2, Springsteen, Bowie, Police). While I can’t say that those clients have had trouble moving tickets, I can say that we are in the process of doing some new deals with the major “one-stop” promoters, and they most certainly are aware of/nervous about the crappy economy and the import of the art/science of ticket pricing (and related price elasticity/inelasticity)."

and finally this:

"Nice to know that someone out there still goes to see live music."

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Tuesday, August 05, 2008 | 07:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (36) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments

Lollapalooza was this weekend: Bloc Party, Lupe Fiasco, Rage Against the Machine, and Nine Inch Nails were phenomenal.

I've seen Wilco a couple dozen times, they were at the same time as RATM. (see Greg Kot's review in the paper formerly known as Chicago's best newspaper.)

While musically not as interesting nor diverse as Chicago's Pitchfork festival - and a different 'level' of attendee - the weekend in Grant Park was sold out all three days. That's 75,000 people at $200 a ticket. It was a financial and musical success. So was Pitchfork a few weeks back.

Not sure what tours aren't working, but those promoters can learn a thing about concerts from these two Chicago greats.

Posted by: VennData | Aug 5, 2008 7:51:52 PM