Concerts thread: Best/Worst/Next/Last one you attended?

Just scored tickets to see Sierra Ferrell in the fall. I'm really excited. I've seen her a few times, but those were before she'd released a full length album and her catalog is a good bit bigger now.

 

Question on ticket pricing. Are some places going to "dynamic pricing" to maximize revenue for the artist? I've been thinking about seeing Teddy Swims out this way at an amphitheater, but they are asking for 600 for seats and 300 for lawn. The show isn't until September. I saw another place selling James Taylor tickets for $75 for a similar venue in May. So I think they'll come down as the Swims show nears in September. Just wondering if people had experienced this.

 

What I see is a lot of resellers descending on shows they anticipate will be popular, buying up prime seats and jacking up prices beyond what I would consider reasonable. In that case, yes, if tickets go unsold the prices will probably come down.

 

Chuck Prophet is coming to down on Feb. 8. He's a poor-man's Tom Petty who is exploring the rhythms of cumbia lately. We're going.

 

It just stuns me that tickets are $600 and $300 for Teddy Swims at this point in his career. But I don't know if there is a new model at the career to make sure the artist gets every penny to avoid scalpers and secondary markets getting a taste. Everything else has an algorithm, why not ticket sales. Ask for the moon, those who pay it, fine. Maybe people wait and the price comes down to maximize revenue per seat like they do with airline tickets.
We've seen the Beyonces and Swifts of the world do "lotteries" where people send in their cash and they're able to budget the entire tour before the first gig. No surprises.

 

We went to see Canuckistani rock vets 54-40 at a theatre show in our part of the Toronto 'burbs on Saturday night. I'd never seen them, we had tickets to a show in Toronto in 2020 that got dusted due to Covid.

This show was a two-part thing, the first featured singer and songwriter Neil Osborne telling stories around the history of the band mixed in with a few songs while the second part was just non-stop 54-50 classics. Best story in the first part was about a karaoke bar Osborne went to with his wife and some friends in Hawaii. They asked him to do a song and he flipped through the books until he found one: "I Go Blind" credited to Hootie and the Blowfish. He'd written it for 54-40 years before and figured that was one he could do. He said none of the other patrons would believe he'd written it and he said he could understand that because he said he had trouble following the words on the screen even though as he said, "I should know the words! I've sung it a thousand times!"

 

Holy moly I haven’t heard of 54-40 in probably 20 years and I have at least 2 of their albums. Adding them to my Apple music playlist now!!!

 

Simple Minds is touring the US, and I've concluded that whoever booked the tour is absolutely delusional.

I like the band. I saw them on the Sparkle in the Rain tour -- 1983ish? -- and later, post-Don't You Forget About Me, probably 1986 or so. I should be the exact demo they are targeting with this tour.

Here in Phoenix they are playing the big shitty outdoor amphitheater. It's way too big for them, and every time I have gone there I have vowed never to return.

In Los Angeles they are playing the Forum. The biggest place they've ever played there is the Greek.

In Seattle they are playing the Climate Pledge Arena, the home of the Kraken. Capacity is 18,300. The largest place they have ever played in Seattle is the Paramount Theater, capacity 3,000.

The best seats at the different venues are around $350 and up.

Tickets have been on sale for a week. That Seattle arena is going to be absolutely empty. Sales look terrible.

What the hell are they thinking? Simple Minds had been a non-entity in the US for 40 years. I'm not even sure most of their recent albums were even released here. So now they are booking a tour and trying to place places that are literally five times bigger than where they played at their commercial peak?

Just bizarre.

 

Funny, I saw their east coast itinerary and thought the exact same thing. They're playing a handful of big sheds when they should be playing theaters. I give them a smidge of credit for going the nostalgia package tour route w/Soft Cell & Modern English opening, but those guys ain't moving tickets. You need everyone on the bill having multiple big hits to fill up most of their 45-60 minute set to go that route. The three of them together wouldn't have an hour's worth of music known to the casual fan.

 

If you are Simple Minds, you team up withFrankie Goes to Hollywood, INXS or maybe Spandau Ballet - for a tour - maybe all of them. Maybe then you fill an arena.

 

Thanks for the reminder. He's playing down the street from me Thursday. Been wanting to see him for ages.

 

Fun fact, the Pinnacle Theater in the Last of Us 2 video game is modeled after the real Paramount Theater in Seattle.