TOUR TALK

[ACcountryFan]

that was kind of quick on that Fargo show don't you think? June 30th article about the cancellation of a July 20th show? haven't these venues ever heard of the term "walk up sales" before? not everything has to sell months in advance. there are people who still go to the venue and buy a ticket as they go through the door. i think it was a pre-mature cancellation. they didn't think 2 or 3 thousand more tickets would get snatched up between that time and July 20th as the hype got bigger? so much for Keeping the Faith says Billy Joel!

then the Vietnam Concert also cancelled. that's the most strangest cancellation! do you think they're letting terrorism run their mind?

i knew Loretta has lite pneumonia. We've all decided that Clay's opening concert wasn't in a positive market...terrible booking on behalf of the manager to not check out the venue and see if there's a demand for him caused the cancellation.

what strikes me is the Dayton venue having low sales according to the article...is this Dayton, Ohio or Dayton, Kentucky? if it's Ohio, that's strange! the two AC stations there in Dayton: WLQT-99.9 and WMMX- 107.7 are probably waiting until the concert gets closer to start promoting it??? at least i hope they would if his people are doing their job right!! besides, WLQT gave tickets away to Clay and Kelly's show when they came here...it looks as if they'd be involved with Clay's solo appearance!?!

[Claysupporter]

would someone know which concerts are outdoors and indoors?

[Pamela]

EVENTS CENTERS: No-shows: A part of business

'Crows' becomes latest cancellation
By David Dodds, Herald Staff Writer

Charlie Jeske, general manager of Grand Forks' Alerus Center, got an unexpected night off Tuesday and he wasn't exactly thrilled about it.

He'd been looking forward to hosting some 3,200 fans of Counting Crows for a night of rock music, but a bout with laryngitis by lead singer Adam Duritz changed all that.

Jeske got the dreaded news about 9 a.m. Tuesday from the tour manager, who had learned it from the band's manager in Chicago, where the Crows last played a July 4 festival. Crews were about three hours into setting up for the Grand Forks show that was only 11 hours away.

"We've never had a cancellation this late in the game," Jeske said. "Right now, we're trying to see if we can get them rescheduled for a later date. We're checking our calendars to see if there's anything that's a go with their calendars."

Jeske said it's up to individual ticket holders to decide if they should seek a refund, and if so, they should take it up at the point of purchase.

Official word from the band came on its Web site, but it didn't mention Duritz' health.

"The Counting Crows are very sorry to have to cancel (Tuesday's) show in Grand Forks, N.D.," the statement read. "The band would like to apologize for the inconvenience and will work on getting back to Grand Forks as soon as they can."

The Crows also canceled a concert last Friday in Lake Tahoe, Nev., but did play the Taste of Chicago fair Sunday.

Jeske said the Crows' show cracked the 3,000-ticket mark just prior to the cancellation announcement, and that's about what promoters were hoping for.

"(The promoter), of course, wants to play this market," Jeske said, "but when he can come back, we don't know, and that's what we're trying to find out right now.

"We don't want people to have to hold on to their tickets forever."

In its relatively short history, the Alerus Center has gone mostly unscathed when it comes to show cancellations. Counting Crows is the first major headliner to nix an announced concert after a significant number of tickets had been sold since the publicly owned event center opened in 2000.

But a spate of cancellations in the past two months at regional events centers has given the perception that bands are calling off area concerts more often.

In fact, four of five North Dakota venues that routinely host major concerts year-round have announced cancellations in the past two weeks. Laryngitis stopped the Crows' Alerus show; "technical difficulties" put the kibosh on a Clay Aiken concert also set for Tuesday night at the Bismarck Civic Center; poor ticket sales reportedly steered the American Idol tour away from a July 20 date at the Fargodome, and carpal tunnel syndrome in the hands of Willie Nelson halted his show slated for July 21 at Chester Fritz Auditorium in Grand Forks.

In May, legendary super group the Eagles canceled a show at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks only to land an appearance the very same night in Duluth. Scheduling conflicts were cited as the reason for the Eagles no-show, but it also was reported that only half of the arena's concert seating had been sold for the event.

"I would like to think it's all pure coincidence," said Rob Sobolik, general manager of the Fargodome, "but it's still something over which all five building general managers in the state get to bang their head against the wall."

Chris Semrau, director of the events at Engelstad Arena, said it's not uncommon for a concert to be canceled, because of unexpected band or promoter-driven alterations, before it's even announced to the public.

"We've had events that we'd planned to announce the next morning, and then all of a sudden, everything changed," Semrau said. "You just have to react and move on."

Since its opening in 2001, Engelstad Arena has had to cancel two announced shows the Eagles and Janet Jackson.

Weather, illness and poor ticket sales are the three most common reasons for canceled shows, according to area general managers.

All area venues generally have the same to-do checklist in the event of cancellations. Tops on the list is to notify the public and try to reschedule.

"You've just got to take them at their word and hope they realize how important the events are to fans," Sobolik said.

GRAND FORKS ND HERALD

[lorraine]

Thank you Pam for that article.  In the long scheme of things it helps make us aware again that it is not just a Clay thing.


Lorraine

[Pamela]

From the Clayboard:

Illinois newspapers this morning headline the news that out of all the top acts scheduled for Illinois State Fair this year, including LeAnn Rimes, Clint Black, Travis Tritt/Charles Daniels Band, Styx and Kansas Revisited, Michael McDonald and Average White Band, and Hall & Oates, there is only one who is far, far out in front in ticket sales: Clay Aiken.

********************
"According to the fair's Illinois Department of Agriculture spokesman H.W. Devlin, Clay Aiken is the top seller so far for all Grandstand concerts.
The 'American Idol' runner-up will kick off the fair Aug. 13th.
"He's got a pretty good margin right now," Devlin says. "

Howzabouthat?!?

[lorraine]

THAT IS SUCH GREAT NEWS ABOUT THE ILLINOIS STATE FAIR FOR OUR CLAY.  IT SURE TELLS US SOMETHING.


LORRAINE

[clayMaine-iac]

MUSIC: Jessica Simpson shines on TV but struggles to sell in concerts

Blonde babe's bland voice bombs

By Dan DeLuca

Knight Ridder Newspapers

The world, it would seem, is Jessica Simpson's oyster - or at least her own personal can of Chicken of the Sea.

Evidence of the expanding empire of the bubblehead blonde is apparent everywhere. I know it's true, because the copy of the Star I bought told me so, ranking the toothsome reality star on the top of the list of Hollywood's 25 Hottest, Richest Women.

First and foremost, there's "Newlyweds," the hit show that chronicles connubial conflicts between Simpson, 23, and husband Nick Lachey, 30, he of the patience of Job and the second-rate boy band 98 Degrees. Currently in its third season of ubiquity on MTV, the show now has viewers pondering how long it will take Casey, Simpson's live-in best friend, to drive Lachey insane.

Busy, busy, busy

But there's so much more: Simpson ad campaigns for Pizza Hut (with the Muppets) and Liquid Ice breath mints (with little sister Ashlee, who has her own MTV reality show); a deal with ABC for more episodes of the "Nick & Jessica Variety Show," which drew big ratings Easter Sunday; and a coming role as Daisy Duke in the "Dukes of Hazzard" movie, for which, she has promised, "to get my butt really perky - I'm doing squats every day."

Then, there's Dessert, Simpson's line of edible body lotions ("You wear it. Then share it"), and of course, a clothing line is in the works. And, oh yeah, I almost forgot: There's also a CD, "In This Skin," which bombed when released in August but, buoyed by "Newlyweds," has now sold more than a million copies.

With all that exposure, you'd think Simpson's concert tour would be an instant sellout, with her small-screen fans dying to get a look at her in the flesh. But apparently that's not the case.

What gives

What gives? Simpson would seem to be the clear, come-from-behind winner in the blond-teen sweepstakes that began in the late 1990s, when this Mickey Mouse Club reject emerged in the shadow of better-packaged Britney Spears and better-voiced Christina Aguilera and, the brains of the bunch, Mandy Moore. Back then, Simpson mainly distinguished herself as a professional virgin who had the vapid va-va-voom look of a porn star but seemed clueless about her career.

Now, though, with Spears' and Aguilera's summer tours canceled because of injuries and Moore's movie career struggling, Simpson has come off as the savviest of the bunch, parlaying her ditsy persona into TV viewers' hearts as she famously acted surprised that Chicken of the Sea wasn't chicken and just last week told Casey that male ballet dancers were called "ballerinos." She is the modern-day equivalent of Judy Holliday in "Born Yesterday" or Eva Gabor in "Green Acres" - the comically gifted bombshell next door who's so high-maintenance you thank your lucky stars you're not married to her.

Surprising

And yet, nobody seems the slightest bit interested in paying to hear her sing. That may seem surprising, given Simpson's status as an omnipresent celebrity, not to mention her first-place finish in Maxim magazine's Hot 100 this year. But really, it makes perfect sense. Simpson's image as a voluptuous good girl with a predilection for middle-of-the-road balladry never squared with the demands of teen divadom. Adam Green posed a pertinent question in his song "Jessica" when he asked: "Jessica Simpson, where did your love go? / It's not in your music."

These are the days of multitasking celebrities, so it's only natural that once Simpson established her clout on the small screen, she would get back to the business of making music. But as "In This Skin," which employs nine different producers on its 13 tracks, attests, she's never been very good at it.

She's got a great big colorless voice, and makes bland, impersonal music, and desecrates the two perfectly good songs she covers: Robbie Williams' "Angels," and Berlin's "Take My Breath Away." "I feel stronger, more alive and more refreshed after writing and recording my own thoughts," she writes in the album notes. But really, she has no reason to be proud.

In an effort to boost sagging ticket sales, Simpson has been telling interviewers that her show won't be a typical song-and-dance affair - she'll show clips from "Newlyweds" and outtakes for the variety hour and will take questions. She may play a dumb blonde on TV, but she's smart enough to figure out that her singing isn't going to be enough to satisfy her fans. Her problem is that her fans aren't so dumb, either, and know better than to pay for what they can see on TV free.

GRANDFORKS

[clayfannj]

JUst a thought... Maybe all these "illnesses" that are the cause of cancellations are just a ruse and the real reason is poor ticket sales.. Saying a star is ill or incapacitated is less embarrassing than saying they can't sell enough tickets..

[clayMaine-iac]

'I feel like I've been cheated'
Saturday, 10, 2004
By Teresa Taylor Williams
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

At 6:15 p.m. Friday, Shawn Meyers of Muskegon was a mom on a mission.

With her 3- and 5-year-old toddlers in tow, she was hustling to get into Heritage Landing. With lawn chairs and umbrellas, they were eager to see the "American Idol," Ruben Studdard.

They didn't see people turning around, leaving in disgust. They missed the sign at the entrance that shouted "Ruben Studdard CANCELED."
      
By 6:16 p.m., she was deflated. "You mean he's not coming?" she asked a Chronicle reporter. "I guess I was so excited to get in, I walked right past it."

An hour earlier, disgruntled concert-goers mumbled and talked loudly in the long line at the box office for refunds. Ticket holders could get a $10 refund, or exchange their tickets for tonight or Sunday's show at the first Lakeshore Soul Festival.

Small clusters of people gathered along Western Avenue and inside the gates, giving their theories as to why the "Velvet Teddy Bear" wasn't coming. Some said Studdard missed his flight, that he was too big for the flight, or that his pay was shafted by organizers.

From their vantage point backstage, festival organizers and other volunteers witnessed the exodus.

"We saw people leaving in droves," said volunteer Jon Covington.

Cousins Dena West, 26, Shaquitta Golder, 25, and Velette Melton, 34, didn't see a point in staying. They each had called in to "American Idol" many times to vote for their favorite crooner, and came specifically to see the man simply known as Ruben.

"I love him. I feel like I've been cheated," said West, of Muskegon Heights.

Golder said she came to let Studdard know she called the show for him for an hour.

"I wanted to let him know we are supporting him. I'm mad because I got really pretty for him today," said Golder, adding she and West had just gotten dolled up at the hair salon.

"It's sad because there's not a lot for black people to do here anyway," Melton said. "We were willing to come here and support this."

Eleven-year-old Nick Lovell of Grand Rapids was especially disappointed. The concert was to be a surprise from his parents, Christopher and Marcy Winfield. Despite the let-down, the family planned to make the most of the evening and attend the concert.

"I'm just disappointed because we paid our hard earned money on this, and we expected him to be here," Christopher Winfield said.

Teion Crews, owner of Platinum Protection Security in Grand Rapids, said the crowd reacted "wonderfully" to the news. "It's unfortunate, but as long as they got a partial refund, they're fine."

Sharon Harris of Muskegon was not pleased while waiting in line for a refund.

"A partial refund is not right. We shouldn't be tricked," she said. "If the main person is not here, we should get a full refund.

"We will not come back."

Teresa Peters of Fremont and Debbie Withers of Big Rapids didn't want to stay for the rest of the show because they weren't familiar with the other acts. They planned to take in a movie instead.

Withers said the parking attendants should have informed them the main act was a no-show prior to taking their $5.

"We got disappointed and smacked at the same time," Withers said.

Candy Hicks of Muskegon was chatting it up with her friends, mother and daughter, Lisa Hampton and Kamila, 10. The Hamptons got their hair done especially for Kamila's first concert.

"I am (ticked)," said Lisa Hampton, while waiting in line for her refund. "We're real big fans. We watched 'American Idol' every day it was on."

MLIVE

[clayMaine-iac]

Studdard plane seat grounds music gig
Saturday, July 10, 2004
MARY COLURSO
News staff writer

A plane seat that was too small caused Birmingham's Ruben Studdard to cancel a Friday appearance at the Lakeshore Soul Festival in Muskegon, Mich.

Rodney Brown, president of the nonprofit festival, said Studdard "disappointed an entire community" when he failed to board a commuter plane Friday morning in Atlanta.
      
"It's a terrible thing," Brown said. "A lot of things were riding on his performance. Maybe the plane wasn't big enough to accommodate him, but he could have gotten on another flight that would fit him."

Brown said organizers were willing to spend $20,000 to charter a private jet for Studdard, 25, that would have allowed him to arrive in time for his 8 p.m. concert.

But Studdard "made himself unavailable" and could not be reached to change the plans, Brown said. Efforts to reach Studdard and his management team for comment were unsuccessful Friday.

"I feel sorry if he's embarrassed," Brown said. "But there are thousands of Ruben Studdard fans here who were extremely excited to see him."

Studdard would have been the headliner Friday night for the four-day music festival that ends Sunday. Brown said acts would be shuffled to fill in the lineup in Studdard's absence.

Studdard won the "American Idol" competition last year, where he received the nickname "Velvet Teddy Bear" because of his smooth singing voice and his size. Studdard said at the time that he weighed 360 pounds.

In the past month, Studdard headlined Birmingham's City Stages music festival and performed with his band, Just a Few Cats, at WorkPlay. His band was not traveling with him to the Michigan date.

Brown said 3,000-7,000 people were expected to attend Friday night's show.

He also said the festival expected Studdard to return the deposit he had received for the performance.

"We have a lot of upset people here," Brown said. "If there's a way to resolve it, that he would make it up to this community, it would be great."

AL COM

[CT loves Clay]

That wasn't very nice of Ruben.  Clay would have never done that. He would have ridden a bicycle if he had to.  Ruben better have a good explanation for that one.


Linda

[grammaof6]

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

Actually I was concerned about an outdoor venue too for the above reasons. I can now tell you that it was SUPER! I went to the GRAND CHUTE concert held at a baseball field. The night was a gorgeous balmy summer evening with a slight breeze to keep the heat and humidity at bay. There were no bugs until the end. Then I only realised they were around because I could see them buzzing in the stage lights.

wasn't an official 'tour' because most of the venues had requested Clay, not the other way around. Arenas and promoters sought him out.

I know this was true at GRAND CHUTE! WISCONSIN & I did a preview day at the venue to set things up for our crew of 12 arriving for the concert. We asked the office manager there how tickets were selling and how they happened to get Clay for the little town of Appleton/Grand Chute. He said tickets were selling good. At that time they were 75% sold. He also told us the big boss there heard about Clay doing a summer tour and immediately called somebody in the know to book him. By concert night, 95% tickets were sold! There wasn't much promotion here either. I saw a couple newspaper ads but that was it. I think Clay's concerts sell by word of mouth and his vast internet fan base more than the standard media.

[houstonclayfan]

Poor Ticket Sales for the Olympics

By Daniel Howden

ATHENS (Reuters) - Athens Olympic organizers called on Greeks Tuesday to snap up unsold tickets to avoid greeting the world with empty stadiums when the world's biggest sporting event comes home in a month's time.

With foreigners staying away and millions of seats unsold, Athens chief Games organizers Gianna Angelopoulos appealed to locals to pick up the slack and put on a good show in front of the world's cameras.


"Tickets at fair prices are still available ... this is a once in a lifetime chance for people to experience the Games," Angelopoulos said in an interview with local radio stations.


She told listeners that tickets for heats featuring homegrown track heroes Costas Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou were still available for as little as 10 euros ($8).


Organizers have denied reports that two-thirds of seats allocated to national Olympic committees and sponsors have been returned but the flood of tickets still available signaled otherwise.


By the end of June officials said only 1.95 million of a total of 5.3 million seats had been sold.


Tourism analysts said that security concerns and high prices for flights and accommodation had scared off foreign visitors, prompting a 15 percent slump in year-on-year visitor figures.


Months of campaigning to reassure nations sending athletes to the Greek capital that unprecedented spending would safeguard the August 13-29 Games were hit this weekend by reports of a row with a key hi-tech supplier.


According to reports in daily To Vima the government has delayed payment for a multimillion dollar communications system to a U.S.-led consortium.


The group failed to deliver the system which will act as the eyes and ears of security forces by the end of May, citing construction delays at venues.


Public order ministry officials refused to comment on payments and said the system would be up and running by the time of the Games. Greece is spending one billion euros on an Olympic security master plan put together under advice from a seven-nation panel including the United States and Israel.


A blackout Monday across the entire city added to worries, with critics noting that a repeat of the outage would leave the costly security installations literally powerless.

Organizers are hoping some of the Midas touch of Greece's European champion soccer heroes will rub off on them after requesting they run a collective Olympic torch relay leg on August 8 across the new Rio-Antirio bridge.

www.yahoo.com

[Pamela]

Ticket sales slow at Meadowbrook

According to Pollstar, a concert trade publication, concert promotion companies reported a 15 to 50 percent drop in summer ticket sales in mid-April, setting the pace for a slow season. Amphitheaters in particular have logged a 35 percent drop compared to ticket sales last year. <snip> The only two sold-out shows so far this season have been Garrison Keillor and The Moody Blues, although Clay Aiken, scheduled for Aug. 5, has done well.

CONCORD NH MONITOR

[lorraine]

Thank you Pam for that.  Good for Clay.  Who would not want to go and see him in concert.  He gives it is all.

Lorraine

[mrs. c.]

Don't you just love it!! Clay has done well!! while other artists struggle OMC is still a winner!!

[clayMaine-iac]

Playing to the crowd
Jon Bream,  Star Tribune
July 22, 2004 CONCERT0722

Concert promoters around the country are singing the blues because of soft ticket sales. But not in the Twin Cities.

Locally, ticket sales have been above the national average for such stars as Eric Clapton, who played at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center on Sunday, and Van Halen, appearing there tonight.

"For Van Halen, we're near the top [in ticket sales] in the country," said the arena's general manager, Jack Larson. Those '80s veterans are expected to pull in at least 15,000 people while Clapton drew 15,613, about 2,000 more than he has averaged this summer.

Why are Minnesotans so above average, in Garrison Keillor's phrase -- including a 50 percent larger-than-average crowd for Shania Twain's June 4 show in St. Paul?

"It's always been a pretty healthy concert market," said Minneapolis promoter Randy Levy, who has been presenting bands for more than 30 years. "People have jobs in Minnesota and they're not unwilling to spend money on their own pleasures."

"People like to go out and do things in this market," said Larson, who has worked in the local arena business for 25 years.

"It's not just pro sports, it's amateur sports, too. And it's not just big-name concerts, it's all the festivals, too."

Cathy Hanson, 47, of Delano, attended the Clapton concert and took her two daughters to a Good Charlotte show earlier this year.

"Xcel and Target Center are both pretty good [for concerts] and they have easy access and they are easy to find," she said. "If you don't want to pay for parking, you can park a few blocks away on the street. And it's not hard to get tickets; Minneapolis is not that big."

Prince: Concert king

The guy who put Minneapolis on the music map -- Prince -- is having the biggest year of any concert performer, averaging 16,752 people per date.

"That's a very high number," said Gary Bongiovanni, the editor of Pollstar, a concert trade publication. "By far, it's the biggest tour."

Other big draws this year have been Twain (averaging 13,700), Metallica (13,800 and coming Aug. 16 to Xcel), Clapton (13,700) and country star Kenny Chesney (12,800; he drew 16,991 on April 3 at Xcel).

Upcoming tours by 'tween queen Hilary Duff -- coming to Target Center Aug. 1 for a nearly sold-out show -- and hot R&B star Usher (Sept. 9 at Target Center) also are expected to be big box-office winners, Bongiovanni said.

Overall, though, ticket sales are down 2 percent from last year nationally. And "that doesn't jibe with the overall vibe," which is worse, Bongiovanni said. Major national promoters have said business fell 15 to 50 percent "across the board all over the country" from last year, he said.

Big losers include the third year of the "American Idol" tour, which was at Xcel on Wednesday, and the Kiss/Poison double bill.

" 'American Idol' is not having as good a year as they've had in the past," Bongiovanni said. "Kiss shouldn't even be on the road this summer. Most of their real fans saw them with Aerosmith last year," and the band has canceled many concerts because of low ticket sales. It drew about 6,000 to Float-Rite Park in Somerset, Wis., last month, compared with 11,000 at Target Center in 2003.

Sting also may have saturated the market, playing Northrop Auditorium in February to a sell-out crowd of 5,000 but drawing only 8,000 in his return visit this week with Annie Lennox at half-full Target Center.

The Lollapalooza tour -- a traveling two-day multiband festival -- had such poor advance ticket sales that the tour was canceled. (It was not scheduled to play in the Twin Cities.)

Adding to the industry's malaise, pop sirens Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears called off their summer tours -- including shows at Target Center -- because of illness. Latin pop singer Marc Anthony also scratched a tour.

No jones for Norah

Jazz-pop star Norah Jones, who has sold more than 20 million albums in the past two years, is embarking on her first arena tour this summer. But ticket demand is so soft that many of her concerts have been moved to smaller auditoriums or theaters. Only about 6,000 tickets have been sold for her Sept. 11 concert at Xcel Center, according to Larson, who said it had been expected to draw "in the 10,000 range."

Bongiovanni noted: "Just because you've sold so many records, that doesn't mean people want to see you in an arena."

To boost attendance for some acts, amphitheater promoters have offered low-buck tickets -- from $7 to $20 -- for general-admission seats, even for big attractions such as the Dave Matthews Band. The idea is that by bringing people into the facility, they can at least make money on parking and concessions.

Larson said many marginal packages such as Kiss/Poison, or the Chicago/Earth, Wind & Fire show (coming to Target Center on Aug. 4) are put together for amphitheater tours.

"They put below-average bands together hoping to get an average-size crowd," he said.

Not having an amphitheater may help explain why the Twin Cities area is enjoying better-than-average concert attendance, Bongiovanni said. Nationally, attendance is up in arenas, clubs and theaters. But at amphitheaters, business has dropped 35 percent.

STARTRIBUNE

[Invisible Touch]

Playing to the crowd
Jon Bream,  Star Tribune
July 22, 2004 CONCERT0722

" 'American Idol' is not having as good a year as they've had in the past,"  

STARTRIBUNE

Here are some additional interesting details all for the same venue
(Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul):

AI2 Tour (7/03): 12,274
Clay/Kelly Independent Tour (4/04): 11,783
AI3 (7/04): about 5,000

And Clay comes back to St. Paul at the end of Aug to the MN State Fair and tickets seem to be selling well!

[houstonclayfan]

From Harcourt at the Clayboard

Promoters Slash Norah Jones Concert Ticket Prices


Fans of artists including Norah Jones, The Cure, Korn and Ozzy Osbourne are cashing in on a lackluster summer for touring acts following plans to slash ticket prices to as little as $10.

In a desperate bid to sell out venues on the biggest tours, promoters have started selling seats at bargain prices, according to rock magazine Rolling Stone.

And, in the case of veteran rockers Van Halen's shows, beer and food vouchers are being handed out with tickets in a bid to encourage fans to take seats.

The latest news comes after the cancellation of huge summer tours by Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and touring festival Lollapalooza, and the news that Norah Jones has been forced to downsize her arena shows to smaller venues due to slow-selling tickets.

Even Osbourne's OZZfest and Eric Clapton are suffering as fans stay away from live shows.

The only shows which are selling out this summer are Prince's greatest hits concerts, the low-priced Warped Tour and Dave Matthews Band gigs.

Copyright World Entertainment News Network 2004

[Pamela]

(snip)

On the concert beat: the seats for Clay Aiken's appearance at Musikfest, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, sold out within 24 hours. Not long afterward, scalpers were offering the tickets on eBay for up to $300 -- and selling them quickly. A teenager in Atlantic City reportedly paid $600 for a seat. Question: if the tickets are that hot, why isn't Clay playing in larger venues?

ABOUT.COM