TOUR TALK

[Pamela]

As we all know now, the Bismarck ND concert has been cancelled.  I came across this article on another board about summer concerts in outdoor facilities, not that the Bismarck show was outdoors, but the article is interesting nevertheless. (FYI - Lollapalooza is a huge multi band cross country rock concert tour that has occured for several years, with the exception of the past couple of years I believe. I attended it here back in *cough91cough*  : )

LOLLAPALOOZA TOUR CANCELLED

Outdoors not so great
June 23, 2004

BY JIM DEROGATIS

Tuesday's cancellation of Lollapalooza was another disappointment for an outdoor concert industry already reeling from a wave of bad news this summer.

"We're getting hammered," said Scott Gelman of Clear Channel Entertainment, owner/operators of the area's two biggest outdoor venues, the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park and Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisc.

Lollapalooza organizers had booked a promising lineup for the alternative music festival. Morrissey, Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse, Le Tigre, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Von Bondies were set to perform on the main stage at the Tweeter on July 29, while the String Cheese Incident, Flaming Lips, Spearhead, Gomez and Polyphonic Spree were scheduled to perform July 30.

Blaming poor tickets sales, promoters announced the cancellation only three weeks prior to the start of the 16-city tour. In Chicago, Gelman said sales of tickets -- $44 plus service fees -- were "horrible." People who did buy seats can get point-of-purchase refunds.

"Had ticket sales not dramatically picked up -- which they showed no indication of doing -- the people involved faced losses in the mid-to-high six figures on a per-show basis," said Marc Geiger, who co-founded the tour with Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction. Added Farrell: "I'm heartbroken."

Many of the acts are expected to play smaller indoor venues. "They've blocked out time on their calendars to tour; fans can still expect them to turn up in this market," an industry insider said.

Promoters said Lollapalooza is not the only big outdoor tour hurting this summer. "Everyone from the Dead to Dave Matthews to Norah Jones is suffering," Geiger said.

Gelman agreed with the dire prognosis. "Whether it's the $3 gallons of gas or the tired artists or the bands coming around for the second or third time, it all hit the fan at the same time," he said.

The Tweeter Center, celebrating its 15th anniversary, is being hit particularly hard, with five major dates cancelled. In addition to Lollapalooza, Britney Spears cancelled her tour because of a knee injury, Christina Aguilera cancelled because of throat problems and Fleetwood Mac cancelled its Tweeter show because it needed a makeup date in another city.

Clear Channel also moved the Norah Jones show scheduled for Sept. 12 to the smaller Chicago Theatre because of slow ticket sales. Insiders say the Curiosa Festival -- which brings the Cure, Interpol, the Rapture and Mogwai to the Tweeter Center on Aug. 12 -- may be in serious trouble as well.

Eric Boehlert, who covers the concert industry for Salon.com, said part of the problem with Lollapalooza was that, "while there were a lot of cool bands, none of them are platinum-sellers." But he said the bigger story is that amphitheaters or "sheds" such as the Tweeter have been hurting for years as a result of climbing ticket prices, Ticketmaster service fees and fans' and artists' growing dislike of outdoor venues.

Many of this summer's biggest tours -- including Madonna, Prince, Van Halen and Metallica -- are playing indoors. "There was a feeling for a while that people wanted to be outdoors enjoying the summer evening," Boehlert said. "But it's just not the same show. Prince is not going to do what is a relatively sophisticated presentation -- a lot of choreography, a lot of lighting -- outdoors because it just doesn't translate as well."

"It's the death rattle of the sheds," said a former Chicago concert industry professional. "In two years, the whole model is going to be different -- it has to be. The negatives have piled up too high and consumers are finally staying away in droves."

Critics have long derided the Tweeter Center -- which opened in 1989 as the World Music Theatre -- for its inhospitable design, inconvenient location, poor sound quality and mediocre sight lines.

But Clear Channel is trying to make the best of the venue's 15th anniversary by offering lawn tickets for select shows for the special price of $15, including parking, venue fee and Ticketmaster service charge when tickets are purchased in person at a Ticketmaster outlet by July 31.

The specially priced anniversary shows include 311 and the Roots on July 1; Loopfest featuring ZZ Top, July 4; Jessica Simpson, July 6; KISS and Poison, July 9; Laser Spectacular with the music of Pink Floyd, July 16; Sting and Annie Lennox, July 18; Barenaked Ladies and Alanis Morissette, July 21; John Mayer and Maroon 5, Aug. 1; Projekt Revolution with Linkin Park, Korn and Snoop Dogg, Aug. 7; Josh Groban, Aug. 8; Curiosa Festival, Aug. 12; Rod Stewart, Aug. 20, and Ozzfest with Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Slayer, Aug. 21.

RED STREAK

[Pamela]

“I think Bob Roux (Clear Channel Entertainment) is one of the best promoters in the country but I do hate his company,” Phillips (AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips) said. [Note: AEG promoted the Indy Tour]
“I think they’re an abomination on this industry. You can’t kid yourselves. Their business model is based on artists playing amphitheatres.”

In other words, AEG Live will bring more traffic into arenas than CCE. To Phillips, “more shows” meant 50 arena dates versus 30 in sheds.

He addressed the arena managers. “Look, guys, every one of you, if you get an extra date a year ... it’s $150,000 to $350,000 to your bottom line. I know at the end of the year that it makes a big difference.” He wanted the arena managers to band together and support AEG.

He said AEG negotiated an arena tour for Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken. CCE “came in on the last minute” and offered two-and-a-half times the amount to take the artists into sheds – something the two American Idols allegedly didn’t want to do. But, because his company came close to matching the offer, “there’s 45 arena dates that you would not have had.”

Roux responded that Phillips was leaving out the human factor in all of this.

 “I think you need to as certain whether one or two of the parties isn’t just getting agented,” he said. “If they didn’t want to do amphitheatres, they could have just said that and stuck to their guns. If the fax came in, they could have not looked at it and thrown it away.”

POLLSTAR ONLINE (read more at the link.)

[tessie]

I am a college graduate and I have read these articles three times and I have no idea what they are saying.  Could someone please simplify.  Thanks

[outthereforclay]

Tessie, I love you! Thank you for your candor....I'm with you.

[Pamela]

The first article is about how tickets sales for outdoor venue concerts aren't doing all that well for this summer's shows.  Several big name tours have been cancelled for many reasons, some for slow ticket sales.  And here's more.

Singin' the summer concert blues
 
Music industry feels the pain as Christina, Britney and Marc bow out of tours. Are fans in revolt?
June 25, 2004: 3:00 PM EDT
By Krysten Crawford, CNN/Money staff writer

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.

In response, Clear Channel Entertainment, the world's largest producer of live entertainment, has slashed ticket prices twice in recent weeks.

In two markets, San Antonio and San Francisco, the company has recently offered up lawn tickets to all of its shows for just $10 and $20 apiece.

"It's almost like the business went off a cliff and it has not come back yet," said Gary Bongiovanni, the editor-in-chief of Pollstar, a weekly magazine that tracks the concert industry.

According to Michael Issac, a Las Vegas broker and president of PreferredTicket.com, brokers who bet heavily on huge demand are now unloading tickets at below face value. Madonna tickets for her "Reinvention" tour are a case in point, he noted.

The music industry overall is having a tough time amid falling CD sales and rising iPod sales. The live concert business was the one form of music delivery that seemed immune to competition from the Internet and downloaders.

But now a stool and a microphone are no longer enough.

Too many concerts, too few $$

Ticket brokers and industry observers say two related forces are at play. One is the sheer number of crooners young and old now criss-crossing the country. Factor two: rising ticket prices.

Issac, the Las Vegas ticket broker, said he hasn't seen such a full concert lineup in about a decade, with the likes of David Bowie, Alicia Keys, Sting, Dave Matthews Band, Norah Jones and Prince still on deck for summer performances.

Solid ticket sales for Prince won't salvage a weak summer concert season.  Even with Aguilera and Spears out, hordes of young groupies aren't necessarily flocking to other artists. In fact, the only top-draw performer whose tickets are selling briskly is Prince, according to Issac.

Having so many acts is "too much of a good thing," said Issac. "People have only so much money. They can't do everything."

It doesn't help that ticket prices are soaring. Since 1996 the average cost of a concert ticket has nearly doubled, to $50.35 last year, according to Pollstar.com, the magazine's online edition.

Leading the way is the Material Girl herself. The average face value for a Madonna ticket is $175, according to Pollstar, and in Vegas, where concert ticket prices usually top out, promoters were asking $375 for the best seats.

"We keep pushing the envelope on ticket prices and I think it's finally gone beyond the pale a little bit," said Pollstar's Bongiovanni. "Consumers are voting with their wallets and they're keeping them in their pockets."

Rolling out '$10 Tuesday'

To be sure, the concert industry isn't on life support. Overall concert ticket sales reached $2.5 billion in the U.S. last year, up from $1.7 billion in 2000, according to Pollstar.

But those seemingly rosy figures mask who's making -- and who's losing -- money.

Unlike with album sales, the performers themselves pocket the bulk of the price of a ticket, portions of which pay for five-star hotels, bodyguards and so on. So when a rock star cancels her tour, her bank account feels the pain too.

For promoters, who get a much smaller slice of ticket sales, what matters most is concert attendance. That's because they make most of their money off T-shirt sales and other services like parking.

And fewer ticket sales can mean fewer sales of $85 Material Girl rhinestone camisoles.

In recent years growth in ticket sales has been fairly anemic.

After falling below 2000 levels for two years in a row, the total number of Top 100 concert ticket sales reached a record 38.7 million last year, according to Pollstar.com.

Concert promoters say they've gotten the message -- hence, this month's "$10 ticket Tuesday" Clear Channel offer in San Antonio and a similar fire sale in San Francisco. More promotions are likely.

"I think we do need to move very swiftly in creating value for consumers and reacting to the economics," Brian Becker, CEO of Clear Channel Entertainment, told CNN/Money. "What consumers are saying is that they love the music and they will come out but they need a better value proposition." CCE is owned by San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications. (CCU: Research, Estimates)

It's rare that concert promoters openly admit that a tour was aborted due to bleak sales.

But that's what the producers of "Lollapalooza," the two-day traveling alternative rockfest that got its start in 1991, said when they pulled the plug this week on a 16-day tour set to begin in July. In its heyday, the festival featured the Beastie Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and other hot bands.

"Our plight," Lollapalooza co-founder Perry Farrell wrote on a tour Web site, "is a true indication of the general health of the touring industry and it is across musical genres."

CNN MONEY

[Pamela]

The second article is an excerpt from an online article at Pollstar.com.

If you hit the link you'll see the story is about an Arena Managers Meeting
called 'What It Takes To Get Shows (Other Than $$$).'

Participating in the roundtable discussion were people from such companies as William Morris, AEG Live (Independent Tour promoter), Creative Artists Agency (a booking agency that represents Clay), House of Blues Concerts, and Clear Channel Entertainment.

I quoted the excerpt because it concerned some apparent wrangling that occurred between Clear Channel and AEG when competing for the right to promote the Independent Tour.

Does that explain it?  Sorry if I wasn't clear.  It's the pain meds.   :

[Pamela]

And then there's this from James Maguire...

The American Idol runner-up whose career has eclipsed all other Idol alumni, Clay Aiken, is set to tour across America. From what I hear, tickets for this concert series are much harder to get than when Aiken toured with his follow Idol stars. It will be interesting to see how the reviews come out. His single "Solitaire/The Way" currently is the number five single in the Soundscan chart.

ABOUT TOP 40

[GWENN]

MAYBE IT IS ME, BUT I NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY THERE WERE SO MANY CONCERTS SCHEDULED IN AREAS WHERE THERE ARE SO FEW PEOPLE AND NO CONCERTS SCHEDULED WHERE THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE.  NOTHING IN THE CALIFORNIA AREA, NOTHING IN THE NY. AREA., ONLY THE SMALL VENUE IN ATLANTIC CITY.  NO WONDER BISMARK WAS CANCELED.  NOT TO BE RUDE, BUT NORTH DAKOTA IS NOT STREAMING WITH PEOPLE AND ANOTHER CONCERT 2 DAYS LATER IS SO CLOSE TO IT.  MYSELF, I WOULD PREFER AN INDOOR VENUE ANY DAY.  NO BUGS, NO RAIN ISSUE, AIR CONDITIONING.  I AM NOT SURPRISED THAT ALL OUTDOOR CONCERTS ARE HAVING ISSUES.  JUST AN OBSERVATION.

GWENN

[lorraine]

VERY INTERESTING ARTICLES PAM.  A LITTLE CONFUSING ALSO AT FIRST BUT THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING.  AS USUAL I WAS GETTING CONCERNED THAT MAYBE IT WAS JUST A CLAY AIKEN PROBLEM BUT AS WE CAN SEE IT ISN'T.  THANK YOU.


LORRAINE

[fhmmany2]

I am happy to see that some of Clay's concerts are already sold out (posted on this site's "Appearances" page.) I have been hoping that this summer tour would be a great success despite the fact that it has received almost no national promotion from media, especially magazines. I suppose that the tour has not been planned for some large cities because facilities were not available - that is the only reason I can think of. I am really hoping that ticket sales continue to do well, and that no other concert is cancelled. I was not able to attend the Independent Tour, have tickets for only one summer tour show, and I'll really be sad if it is cancelled.

[Pamela]

AS USUAL I WAS GETTING CONCERNED THAT MAYBE IT WAS JUST A CLAY AIKEN PROBLEM BUT AS WE CAN SEE IT ISN'T.  THANK YOU.

Bingo Lorraine!  It's not Clay, it's the economy, the market, the demand and many other factors; it's not just that Clay failed to sell enough tickets to one concert.  I agree with Gwenn that two ND concerts may have been difficult to support.  We only get one concert in NC this time!  (Not counting the State Fair, which may be next to impossible to get tickets for.)

There was an article a couple of months ago when the summer performances were first being announced in which Clay's management stated that this wasn't an official 'tour' because most of the venues had requested Clay, not the other way around.  Arenas and promoters sought him out.  That's why it may seem a little disjointed and haphazard as far as movement from one show to the next.  It sort of turned into a tour because there are so many dates.

fhmmany2 is right; I found this information by a poster named maudlin at the Clackhouse.  I can't confirm if this information is totally accurate, because I have neither the time nor the energy to confirm it all.  But I am grateful that someone does have the time to compile it all.  Thanks maudlin!

Sold out RIGHT NOW-- SIX dates: New London CT, Atlantic City Caesars (2 nights): these two venues under 2,000 each; Bethlehem PA (6,500); York PA (11,000 -- not a typo -- 11,000 SEATS SOLD OUT); Harrington DE (7,800 -- local promoter expects a sellout, so I'm cheating a bit and going with his projection)

90% or higher, but not officially sold out yet -- SIX dates: Syracuse NY (8,000); Kingston RI (7,700); Albany NY (8500); Portsmouth VA (7,000); Clio MI (2 dates, 3,100 seats, about 300 seats left each night in the bleachers)

Between 75% and 90% sold -- SEVEN dates: Portland ME (8,700); Columbus OH (10,200); Milwaukee WI (6,000-12,000 seats); Fort Wayne IN (4,000-12,500); Pueblo CO (6,000); Appleton WI (5,500); Rockford IL (10,000)

Between 50% and 75% sold -- THIRTEEN dates: Sioux Falls SD (8,000); Charleston WV (13,500); Greensboro NC (4,000-23,500); Cleveland OH (5,000); Dayton OH (6,000); Hutchinson KS (10,000); Grand Forks ND (6,500 -- this could gain even more from the Bismarck cancellation); Nashville TN (10,000); Charleston SC (8,800-12,700); Baltimore MD (13,300); Gilford NH (6,000); Buffalo NY (size unknown -- track area sold out, only grandstand left); Evansville IL (2,500-13,000).

That's THIRTY TWO very solid dates so far. But on the other hand ...

July dates under 50% -- THREE dates: Lexington KY (12 July, 10,000); Greensville SC (17 July, 11,000-14,000 -- sorry, Pixie!); Roanoke VA (21 July, 10,600). You guys tell me -- is there any local promotion yet? What's the buzz? These are all freaking barns, so while on the one hand it looks bad that they're under 50% and that there's only 3-5 weeks to make it up, on the other hand, there could be enough bums in seats -- say, 4,000 per venue -- to make this financially viable for the promoters because Clay's fees will be covered and there's still enough for a profit for them. If Lexington is being covered by the same promoters covering three other dates, then its odds of surviving even rough sales get better.

August and September dates under 50% -- SIX dates: Jackson MI (size unknown); Iowa State Fair (10,500); Indy IN (15,500); Knoxville TN (24,000); Topeka KS (10,000); Houston TX (8,000). Again, these are largely huge venues, but these are far enough along that I'm not concerned yet. Most reasonable people don't buy tickets 2-3 months ahead of time, so these dates could all still do quite well as local promotion builds.

No sale data yet/going on sale soon -- TEN September/October dates: Clearfield County Fair; Illinois State Fair; Minnesota State Fair; NM State Fair; Lubbock TX; Grand Prairie TX; Spencer IA; Allegan MI; West Springfield MA; NC State Fair.

[tessie]

Thanks Pamela for the simplification.  Pain meds or not, you were clearer than the articles.

Put Clay on the West Coast anywhere or in Las Vegas, and he will sell out.  As for the quote, "most reasonable people don't buy tickets 2-3 months in advance", the author has apparently not interviewed a multitude of Clay fans.

[GWENN]

YOU KNOW, I WAS VERY CONCERNED WHEN I HEARD THESE STATS.  I WAS AWAY AND CHRISTIE WAS TELLING ME THE INFO.  I AM A VISUAL PERSON AND HAD TO SEE THEM MYSELF.  I HAVE SOME OBSERVATIONS.

MOST PEOPLE WHO GO TO A STATE FAIR, I THINK, WOULD BE A LITTLE LEARY OF PURCHASING A TICKET SO FAR IN ADVANCE.  SECOND, MOST OF THE AREAS HAVING PROBLEMS SEEM TO ME TO BE MORE OF A "COUNTRY MUSIC" TYPE AREA.  IS CLAY REALLY BEING PROMOTED?  HONESTLY, WHEN HE WAS COMING HERE TO PHILLY IN THE WINTER, THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, NO ADVERTISING AT ALL.  THE AC THING HAS BEEN WORD OF MOUTH AND A NIGHTMARE AT THAT.  (WE WERE JUST IN AC AND ON THE EXPRESSWAY BILLBOARD IS A BIG SOLD OUT SIGN.  I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT BEFORE. )

SINCE CLAY WAS BEING SOLICITED AND NOT THE ONE ASKING, THEN MAYBE THESE VENEUES THOUGHT THAT THE MASSES WOULD JUST ARRIVE.  I KNOW THE CLAYNATION HAS A HUGE REPUTATION BUT, A LITTLE PROMOTION MIGHT BE IN ORDER HERE.  

THOSE OF US WHO GO TO MULTIPLE CONCERTS, ONLY WANT THE BEST SEATS AND THOSE ARE GONE.

JUST SOME OBSERVATIONS.

GWENN

[Invisible Touch]

Gwenn - I totally agree about the promotion part!!

I have been amazed about the lack of promotion for the tour stop at the MN State Fair.  The tickets went on sale yesterday.  I have only heard it actually mentioned on the radio (very breifly) by a DJ once. No radio or TV commercials that I have heard.  Also I get the Minneapolis paper everyday and have checked each one for any kind of ads and I have only seen it mentioned a few times and these were basically in the middle of an article about the entire State Fair Grandstand line up.  Luckily the concert isn't until the end of August so there is quite a bit of time.  

Of course on the other hand, when I tried to get tickets right at 10am from Ticketmaster yesterday, the best that I could get was row 17, way off to the left!  Hope that is a good sign that tickets are selling well dispite the lack of promotion.

[HavinaClayAffair]

I was at the dentist with my son the other day..heard 3 times in 45 minutes the Kim Locke concert at the Nutter Center..highly suggested to get those tickets NOW as they will sell quickly..yadayada.. That concert was not until October, I believe. My point- Clay is there on August 28th. No mention. Must be the promoters??

In the defense of the promoters. in our area, after watching AI3- on a Tuesday and Wednesday AND during LENO (that Clay was on) there was a GREAT TV promo for CLAYS CONCERT at the Nutter Center..when was that? Over a month ago? I jumped off the couch screetching when I watched them!! Also. the advertising was area specific. I was watching a station promoting the Dayton concert, while I was talking to a friend watching the SAME AI3..and NO commercial on her TV. She lives in Columbus, a meager 1/2 hour from me the other way!

Just thought I'd mention. Anyone else see these ad spots for the Nutter Center, Dayton concert!! ??They were awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

Lora-Ohio

[ACcountryFan]

The American Idol runner-up whose career has eclipsed all other Idol alumni, Clay Aiken, is set to tour across America. From what I hear, tickets for this concert series are much harder to get than when Aiken toured with his follow Idol stars. It will be interesting to see how the reviews come out. His single "Solitaire/The Way" currently is the number five single in the Soundscan chart.

==================
i highlighted what i think is the most interesting point. It has a double meaning for me. One, fans are flocking to Ticketmaster and other places to buy his tickets or scalpers are buying them in bulk and charging insane prices on eBay! I think that's the reason why his tickets will be hard to get.

the average fan who simply wants to enjoy themselves at his shows can't even buy a ticket, in most cases, because of those eBay people.

what is the average price for good seats at a Clay show? compare this to what these people are doing on eBay...

i heard a commerical for Rick Springfield on WRRM radio but there was no mention of Clay when he comes to the Ohio area...that's in the hands of Clay's promoters. WRRM in Cincinnati has been good at playing "Solitaire" and so i listen to that AC station. I don't listen to WLQT in Dayton because i haven't heard Clay at all on there. Maybe they've advertised his concerts and i haven't heard it? i just know that as far as radio commercials for his concerts go on the AC stations i listen to, i haven't heard anything.

Since i live in the Cincinnati market area, i get no TV stations from Dayton or Columbus. If Clay appears in Cincinnati, they might air TV commercials for it...when i was a kid we could get all the local channels in Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus.

Now, it's geographically oriented at least in my area, and i can only see the local Cincinnati channels of WLWT, WKRC, WCET, and WCPO in addition to all the channels on my satellite dish.

I haven't seen the other channels: WDTN-TV 2; WHIO-TV 7; WCMH-TV 4; or WBNS-TV 10 in a long time!!  

His managers, i don't think, do the same thing as a promotional team. It's the promo people whose job it is to get Clay's name/image in magazines and it's his managers who book concert and TV appearances. It's also the job of the label's promo staff to see to it that radio stations {whether it's Pop or AC} are playing Clay's songs. It's also their job to make sure they're doing what's necessary[/u] to get Clay airplay in this day and age.

so, if you have anyone whose feet should be held to the fire it's the promotional people and, or, the record label's budget allowance. maybe RCA doesn't want to spend the kind of money on Clay like CURB does on Kim Locke? Kim's radio commercial you're talking about wasn't aired because the radio station has favorites.

CURB paid out a bundle for that kind of promotion...RCA, for their own reasons, isn't doing that with Clay and in this era, you gotta be aggressive with the talent or the public/radio stations won't respond in a strong way.

now, RCA has been lucky with Clay to a certain degree and they might be taking Clay's popularity for granted...i haven't even seen any magazine pictures promoting Clay's tour come to think of it and it's almost July!

in Country Weekly, artists are always having their tour schedules posted. Alan Jackson, usually, has a full-page ad for his tour with almost all the dates printed.

Clay could have this same type of thing in the Teen magazines or in Billboard magazine. Have a full-page ad, complete with a full-size picture, with his tour dates listed...with little pictures of his MOAM and The Way single shown below him.

At the bottom it would give the credits: RCA Records/The Firm/CAA etc. So many things could be done but his promo people are simply not doing it.

In reference to concert booking. Clay wanted a low-key "tour" in small venues. I brought up the scenario on another thread about Bismarck not being a music-friendly tour spot. The West and East coasts and a few "hot spots" as they're called in the Midwest like Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, and Cleveland are what i call the "nerve center" of tourism {i'm bias toward Ohio :}.

Concerts in these areas historically do great even with near sell-outs because of the population as it's been discussed already.

it's a clichè but in order to make money you have to spend money. you can't throw someone like Clay Aiken or even Rod Stewart out on a concert tour and expect big numbers if there isn't a good deal of money put into it with promotion and marketing...

Someone brought up the point that most of the low sales are coming from Country Music areas. That might have something to do with it because being a country fan, i know that most country fans are reluctant to listen to anyone else and they won't go to a Clay Aiken show simply because he's not marketed country...if in the future he would ever want to grab a wider country following simply to have another out-let to use, more stories or appearances in Country Weekly and CMT would do the trick.

[Pamela]

Summer concerts are failing to attract crowds

The Lollapalooza Festival, canceled last week less than a month before it was scheduled to start, is only the latest and most obvious victim of this summer's disastrous concert season. Tours from certified platinum acts as diverse as Van Halen, Norah Jones and Eric Clapton are all experiencing serious problems at the box office.

Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera already scotched scheduled summer tours -- Spears claimed a knee injury and Aguilera pleaded throat problems - - in a season that may go down as the worst summer concert season in years.

"Lollapalooza is the poster child for that," said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar, a Fresno-based trade magazine that covers the concert industry.

In some markets, tickets sales for the multi-act, two-day alternative rock festival were barely into four figures. Even two-for-one ticket sales promotions failed to stir business. The only market where Lollapalooza sales were holding their own was New York, where the added attraction was the Pixies, the influential '90s alt-rock band that was the popular headliner at this year's Coachella Valley Festival (and whose three Greek Theatre shows in September are selling well). To their credit, Lollapalooza promoters didn't try to candy-coat the reason behind the cancellation.

"On the average, had ticket sales not dramatically picked up -- which they showed no indication of doing -- the people involved faced losses in the mid-to-high six figures on a per-show basis," said Marc Geiger of the William Morris Agency, one of the co-founders of the 13-year-old festival.

Although the bill undoubtedly suffered from lack of gold standard headliners, many of the acts on the program -- Morrissey, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, the Flaming Lips, String Cheese Incident -- could have sold more tickets individually, which they may actually do now that this hole has opened in their schedules. In fact, tickets went on sale Sunday for a Sonic Youth gig at the Fillmore on July 17.

"Lollapalooza is not alone in this," said Geiger. "Everyone from the Dead to Dave Matthews to Norah Jones is suffering. There's not one explanation for this. It might be that ticket prices are too high, which doesn't account for Lollapalooza, because our tickets were priced between $15 and $25. Maybe it's the sundry add-ons (like service charges) that up the cost? Maybe gas prices are too high? Just like the record industry is suffering, the concert business is not exempt.

"After people get through this summer season," he added, "there's going to be a lot of fixing that needs to be done in the concert industry."

Bongiovanni saidticket sales went south about the middle of April, when shows already on sale dramatically slowed and new shows failed to ignite.

"Price has got to matter," he said. "Ticket prices are elevated to where they are not a frivolous expense." But industry insiders say it's not simply high ticket prices and a bad economy that caused ticket sales to drop, but a variety of larger issues, ranging from the lack of exciting attractions to a growing reluctance to patronize the suburban amphitheaters (called "sheds" in the business) where most of the summer tours play.

Most of the seats going unsold are the general admission lawn seats in the amphitheaters, leading observers to suggest that Baby Boomers, who constitute much of the concert audience, are becoming increasingly unwilling to pay high prices to sit on grass out in the weather with questionable sound quality a quarter-mile or more from the stage. The Dead, whose current "Wave That Flag" tour has not matched last year's sales, is having problems selling $43.75 general admission tickets this summer, even though the band did not raise prices from last year.

"When people evaluate their entertainment choices," said Dead manager Cameron Sears, "is it going to be (SBC) Park or Shoreline? I think people want a seat."

Audiences devaluing the amphitheater experience may be part of the problem for Jones, whose latest album sold millions. But she is finding herself downsized out of half-sold amphitheaters into much smaller theaters on her current tour, although her two August dates at UC Berkeley's Greek Theatre are selling steadily.

"Where she is playing an appropriate-size venue, she's selling," said Gregg Perloff, whose Another Planet Entertainment is producing the Jones shows in Berkeley. "Nobody wants to go see Norah Jones in a typical amphitheater environment."

Teen pop acts like Britney Spears, who toured in indoor arenas earlier this year, may not draw the repeat business done by more musical acts such as the Dave Mathews Band -- the only enduring new headliner to emerge in the business during the last 10 years.

"She had a tour that was a disaster," said Perloff. "Whether or not she hurt her knee, that tour had to come down."

Perloff, a former co-president of Bill Graham Presents who left the company last year to go independent, says much of the blame for the escalating ticket prices can be laid on the door of ClearChannel, the Texas-based media corporation that consolidated the national amphitheater business -- including Bill Graham Presents -- in the late '90s.

"You have a game plan by a large national corporation to try and capture market share by driving everyone out of the business," he said, "overpaying for talent so other promoters can't afford to compete and raising ticket prices on a broad basis so the consumer has to pay for it."

(Lee Smith, president of Bill Graham Presents, did not return phone calls for this story.)

Three-figure ticket prices, once the province of authentic superstars, now extend to such second-tier stars as Rod Stewart ($99.50), Sting ($115) and what remains of the Who, who came through town as recently as last summer ($194). Even lowly Rush is asking $83.50 for the band's forthcoming Shoreline show, before the add-ons (parking, facility fee, service charge), which can add $10 or more to the face value.

Bill Graham Presents took the unprecedented step of putting general admission seats on a special one-day sale for $20 last weekend, selling 50,000 tickets to almost 60 shows. "I wonder how the people who bought tickets the day before feel about that," said Perloff.

Bongiovanni also questioned the wisdom of a "fire sale" mentality. "On the plus side people are in the venues," he said. "On the other hand, it changes the audience's perception of the value of events if there are deals available."

But Sam Goldwyn, the famed Hollywood studio chief, understood these problems. "If people are not going to go see a movie," he famously said, "there's no way you can stop them."

SFGATE.COM

[clayMaine-iac]

Fargodome 'Idol' show canceled
By Mary Jo Almquist, The Forum
Published Wednesday, June 30, 2004
·
 American Idol may have been a huge television ratings success, but fans in Fargo apparently weren't to thank.

As of Tuesday, about 2,200 tickets had been sold for the July 20 show.

Officially, the show is off because of "scheduling conflicts," according to a press release from concert promoter, AEG Live.

Dome General Manager Rob Sobolik said he doesn't know the specific nature of the scheduling conflict. He learned about the cancellation Tuesday morning. The 2,200 tickets sold fell short of expectations, Sobolik said.

The dome initially "hoped attendance would be 9,000 to 10,000," but "expected it to be about 6,000 to 8,000" people, Sobolik said. Once tickets went on sale, the dome adjusted its attendance expectations to between 4,000 and 6,000.

Sobolik said it's his understanding that ticket sales for the tour are slow everywhere, not just in Fargo. The official American Idol tour Web site does not indicate if other cities' shows also are being canceled.

The American Idol Tour features contestants from the third season of the popular FOX television show, including this year's winner, Fantasia Barrino.

Last year's American Idol tour was widely considered a success, though it never landed on Pollstar's top 20 of 2003.

Coincidentally, season two American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken also had his show, scheduled for July 6 in Bismarck, canceled recently due to "technical difficulties," according to the Bismarck Civic Center Web site.

For both shows, ticket refunds are available at the point of purchase. Refunds for the Fargo American Idol show will be processed beginning at 10 a.m. today.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Mary Jo Almquist at (701) 241-5531

IN FORUM

[Pamela]

Vietnam peace concert cancelled
 
Vietnam's biggest musical event to date - a concert in the capital Hanoi to promote peace - has been cancelled with just 10 days to go.
Lionel Richie and Gloria Gaynor were among those set to entertain 45,000 at Vietnam's national stadium on 22 June.

But organisers admitted on Saturday that "insurmountable circumstances" had forced them to cancel.

Matt Taylor, of the World Peace Music Awards, declined to give a reason, but said the event may be rescheduled.
BBC

Lots of shows are being cancelled due to injury or illness.  David Bowie, Jessica Simpson, Loretta Lynn and Britney have all cancelled performances for reasons from pneumonia to kidney infections.

USA TODAY

[Pamela]

From kmh135 at the Clackhouse, a report on Clay's tour sales.  

Please note that this information does not represent any officially confirmed facts, but is just one fan's take on the information she was able to compile.

Now, on to business. Never mind the eeeee'ing, the really important thing about the clackapolooza of the last week is that it, along with reported ramped up local promotion for many venues, has actually had an observable impact on ticket sales (yes I am mildly obsessed, what of it *g*). This week we have seen more movement in many of the venues than we have since the opening week of sales. The effect was most noticible in those concerts being held in the July/early August timeframe where the national coverage was most likely being supplemented by local concert promotion.

The venues with the most movement this week (more than 5 rows, many moving into new sections) were Grand Forks, Sioux Falls, Lexington, West Virginia, Nashville, Greensboro NC, Charleston SC, Baltimore, Columbus, Iowa and Rockford. Grand Prairie is doing really well in its first week of sales, with the 200s section completely sold out and the 300s selling quite well.

There are several other venues that, while not doing quite as well, picked up to show 2-5 rows of sales after several weeks of totally stagnant sales. These incuded Appleton, Maine, Rhode Island, and Roanoke. Other venues showing continued sales in the 2-5 rows per week range were Greenville SC, Albany, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Erie County, Milwaukee, Topeka, and Colorado.

Venues that saw little to no additional sales this week included Syracuse, Jackson, Dayton, Hutchinson, Fort Wayne and Evansville.

I also wanted to highlight several apparent venue configuration changes. As of yesterday, the Rupp in Lexington, decreased the size of its configuration by closing off the upper bowl. This will have no impact on seats sold (none of the upper level seats were moving anyway), but should make his final % sold to capacity look better.

In the other direction, Greensboro NC opened up the upper section for the first time last week. This is a huge arena, and the end stage configuration with just the lower bowl seats roughly 7,000. With the upper sectioned open (and actually selling fairly well in its first week), the capacity is increased to over 10,000. At this point, he has likely already sold close to 7,000 seats at this venue and, if the venue continues to sell well over the next few weeks, he may sell in the neighborhood of 8,000+ tickets in Greensboro.

I also mentioned last week that the Columbus Ohio venue opened up additional floor seating to the far right and left of the stage. As far as we can tell from prior concerts at that venue, this increases the capacity from around 7,000 up to the maximum capacity of 10,000. Since he has already sold well over 6,000 tickets there, and he continues to sell fairly strongly, we may see him sell over 7,000 tickets at this venue. In my opinion, this would be even more impressive than the Greensboro sales, since he has no hometown connections (no pun intended) there.

All in all, a really excellent week on the concert sales front.