U2's Beautiful Days On The Road

The GAME should have a chat with U2. While The GAME is "in prison" on the road. U2 is having the time of their lives, even after 20 years of the grind. According to a recent tour diary post:

Touring is hell...

‘Touring is hell, or it used to be. These days it's an amazing
privilege, and it gets better each time we go out.

We fly around the world getting applause from our fans for just showing up, and we get to do the thing we most love: playing our music. On days off we get to see some of the most beautiful areas of the country we’re in.


Maybe The GAME should consider making watered down feelgood music instead???

Full blissful tour diary post here.

BRIEF: The Game Is Not Having Fun

According to a recent MTV report, rapper, The Game, is having a horrible time on the road. He was quoted as saying:

"Being on (the) bus is like being in a prison on wheels, man....you start getting claustrophobic and when I start getting mad I just start pulling people out of their bunk and kicking them in the face and s***."

Sounds like they need to add a request for post-show tranquilizers to the rider. In the meantime, someone please at least get the tour manager a whistle and some pepper spray.

Yikes!

Full article here.

Live Nation Makes New Friends

This just in! In a further move away from their murky Clear Channel roots, Live Nation has added two big names to their Board of Directors, Harvey Weinstein and Robert "Ted" Enloe. As many of you know, Weinstein was a founder of groundbreaking movie house Miramax Films. Enloe has made a big name for himself in securities and real estate, and sits on a number of corporate boards.
More info here.

Live Nation's Big Idea

Here are my notes from last week's Live Nation Credit Suisse presentation.

What They Said:

• The goal this year was to narrow down and focus on music and trim away the fat. To that end they've developed a vertical integration strategy.
• Though this industry has existed for a long time it was the last to get professionalized (and is still dragging behind if you ask me). Live Nation is working to develop a "clarity of mission."
• Part of this strategy included seeling off non-strategic assets like the sports division and acquiring Trunk Ltd. and House of Blues
• Artists are now (and for the last few years) making more money on the road than selling records.
• Live Nation spends over a billion dollars a year in talent costs and don't expect that to change.
• They would however like to stretch that dollar to includes such things are more performance s and more rights to broadcast said performances since they are "providing the strategic capital" (read: yo dude! we have speakers installed!)
• Next year there will also be an increased focus on getting out of non-optimum venus in wrong markets.
• They have too many ampitheatres that they can't sell out. One thousand to five thousand seaters
• The number of European properties surpassed United States this year.
• They have developed a new top market strategy in N. America as they currently do in Europe whereby they will have the best venues (at the large and mid-sized level) in the first tier markets (major cities) and pull out of less profitable second tier markets.
• Internation expansion is a high priority. They have their lasers set on Spain, Germany, Australia, and Japan among others.
• House of Blues has immeasurable brand value and name recognition for Live Nation, however I didn't get a sense that they were particularly clear on how the rest of their properties could capitalise from it.
• This year was about investing in the company more than anything else.
• They will be rolling out an online store powered by MusicToday very soon.
• They are aggressively looking to expand in the music festival market, as they already have the rights to the largest festivals in Europe and have found them to be immensely profitable (Boonnarroo, Coachella this means you. Name your price).
• They need to sort out a better food and beverage deal.
• They may sort a deal out with Ticketmaster to work together on a Live Nation ticketing system but they will no longer farm their ticketing out to Ticketmaster.

What They Didn't Say/ What sounded fishy:

• They didn't say anything about artist development. They seem to be content with the idea that the artists that fill the arenas and clubs might not be the same from year to year, rather than trying to work on developing staying power and using that to form the basis of their (sorely needed) customer relationship/ audience development strategy.
• They want to figure out how to sell fans more "artist stuff". But there was not much talk about the quality of said "stuff".
• They talked about having an email list of 25 million "avid concertgoers", but didn't explain what that meant. We all know most people rarely/never go to concerts, so what does it mean to have an email list of which a sizable chunk are people who just want to see Barbara Streisand?

Off The Road Again: No One Coming Out To Play

With the weather getting colder and the roads getting slicker it seems the end of year show cancellations are starting to pile up, I just got word that the Coup and Mr. Lif got into a car crash that put a screeching halt to their current tour and David Berman and The Silver Jews cancelled their last two shows of their year. According to the website, they are going through "winterization" according to popular opinion, Berman is going through a major case of stage fright. More on that (via Tinymixtapes) here.

Taking their cancellations and raising them, Robert Pollard has announced he will no longer be touring.

"This is not to say I'll never play another show again, but this touring thing is too much," the ex-Guided By Voices frontman tells Billboard.com. "It's too hard to psychologically re-energize yourself each night."

Rest of the article (via Billboard) here.

Listen Up: Phil Collins Is More Committed Than You

While you may neglect your girlfriend, your dishes, and your mounting bills to devote more time to the band, dude, Phil Collins has probably got you beat by quite a lot. In reuniting his band Genesis, Collins risks permanent deafness (dude!).

Six years ago, Collins suddenly loss hearing in his right ear and has been steering clear of that noisy scene ever since.

He says, "I find it very difficult to hear in loud environments. I was advised not to do any more shows. But it hasn't got any worse. You just run the risk of b**gering the other ear up."

The Genesis reunion tour is slated to run from June to July 2007.

Ch-ch-changes: New York Venues

A few weeks after the closing of CBGB's and a day before CMJ, I get wind of some sweeping changes with my local NYC music scene. As is the case in so many big city music scenes, big conglomerates are beginning to swallow up many of the smaller venues. According to an article in online news source, Gothamist.com, the ever popular Lower East Side Luna Lougne will be reopening next year after a two year closure, however this time Live Nation will be at the helm. Across the river in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, venue North Six has been purchased by junior promoter Bowery Presents (of Mercury Lounge, Bowery Ballroom, and Webster Hall fame and glory) and will soon go by the new (and decidely less catchy) name of The Music Hall of Williamsburg.

While this is exciting news for some, I know that this monopoloizing is bad news for up and coming bands. More big name promoters running small venues means a greater focus on the bottom dollar which will shut developing bands out of even more rooms. With moves like this in the very near future, baby bands might be much better served by moving to Philly like these gag ads (from an Adhouse Advertising School assignment) suggested a few months ago.

Shows To See At Sea: The Cruise Concert Industry Flourishes

(Via Pollstar) While the audience for mega concerts may be dwindling on land, promoters are creating new and more appealing showgoing experiences by floating the show out to sea. According to a recent Pollstar article, revenues for concert cruises. While the concert cruise has been the bastion of jam bands for a while, other genres are jumping on the boat. Country mega star Tim McGraw will headline Live Nation's "Country Cruise Getaway" in January; with fans paying in the range of $900 to $2,000 for the full package. This trend is showing promoters that in the case of the live experience quality may be out quantity. An intimate show as part of a total package experience may emerge as a winning strategy.

Full story here.

BRIEF: The Dixie Chicks' Newest Ticket Flop

It might be time for The Dixie Chicks to address the idea that maybe they're just not a very good band. After a particularly rough touring season this summer, Austin, TX band The Dixie Chicks are now facing dwindling sales on another project. Sales for a Lubbock, TX sneak preview screening of their documentary "Shut up and Sing" were reported to be sluggish. After an hour and half of sales, only 22 of the 300 tickets had been sold.

(Full article here)

Barenaked Ladies Go For Green

On their forthcoming tour, Barenaked Ladies jump on the environmentally responsible band wagon (no pun intended). For their "Barenaked Planet Tour" the group has teamed up with non-profit Reverb to create educational eco-villages at all their shows. The eco-villages will also be hubs for biodiesel collection and recycling projects.






















We're looking forward to reducing the amount of waste and CO2 emissions we create on tour," says bassist/vocalist Jim Creeggan. "Now that technologies like Biodiesel, Renewable Energy and Compostable Products are available, it has made it possible for us to take action against environmental threats like Global Warming and Deforestation. We hope the concert industry will take the opportunity to use these innovations as well. There isn't time to wait.

Reverb was started by musician Adam Gardner(who plays in some band I've never heard of called Guster) and his wife to educate fans and help mroe bands create enivronmentally responsible tours. The Reverb crew has recently toured with Dave Matthews Band, Alanis Morissette, Jack Johnson, Avril Lavigne.

While I've seen other bands make one time commitments to sustainable on their tours, it is exciting to see that bands now have the ability to travel green on every tour. Very nice.

Full article here.

Ticketmaster and Live Nation Get It On

(Via CMJ.com)So much to talk about, so precious little time!

So let's get to it. Anyone who knows me knows I love being right, so you can only imagine the glee I felt when I read that Live Nation had intentions of possibly bouncing out Ticketmaster to reduce ticket costs. During the first quarter earnings call, Live Nation Chairman, MichaelRapino, hinted at the "long discussion" they were going to have to have with Ticketmaster when their exclusive ticket retailing agreement expired in 2008. I noted Rapino's tone, and have been keeping a keen eye on the situation ever since. And now -ta da!--from the looks of things, that conversation may be happening sooner than expected.

Just a few days ago in the LA Times, Michael Rapino was quoted as saying, "Seventy percent of people didn't go to a concert last year, and even the average concert fan only attends about two shows a year. We can grow this industry by lowering prices."

According to a report from CMJ.com

Fees incurred by (Tickemaster) services frequently raise ticket prices by 25-35 percent. Last year, average ticket prices rocketed to $57 for the most popular gigs. Meanwhile, Ticketmaster collected almost $1 billion off of the fees and surcharges.

So it sounds like the Live Nation gang might be grabbing back the reins and bringing ticket prices back to a slighly saner range. There's no telling whether this can or will happen before 2008, but in light of Comcast's expansion of their ticket busines; developments in areas such as mobile ticketing; and Live Nation's forward march in developing brand identity through their website and many many acquisitions, Ticketmaster had better scramble or else the Ryder truck will be backing up in their garage.

Full article here.

ComCast expands their ticket racket

Cable provider ComCast has announced they are getting into the ticket selling game ousting Ticketmaster in an increasing number of markets. While this new competition for Ticketmaster won't lead to lower prices for consumers (Comcast-Spectacor president Peter Luukko said ComcastTIX fees would match those of competitors - often about $13 per ticket); the plan is to update the site to also sell t-shirts, drinks, parking, and other concert related goods and services. I imagine it will also probably all be available via their vast cable system, eh?

Comcast has been selling tickets ever since it invested in Paciolan Systems Inc., of Irvine, Calif., a major player in the in-house ticketing industry, two years ago. Comcast then created New Era Tickets, which sold 6 million tickets nationally last year, mostly outside the Philadelphia market.
More info here.

AEG In Hot Water Over Freeze Out

(Via Encore) A recent lawsuit filed by The Forum Center in Inglewood California contends that the company entered into a contract with Anschutz Corp.(parent company of AEG) to handle its booking, but instead of providing sufficient bookings AEG used their privileged position to drive traffic away from Forum and towards the (Anschutz-owned) Staples Center.

In 2000, the agreement was signed by the two parties and a few years later a yearly guarantee of $500,000 was tacked on. The yearly gurantee was apparently still not enough to nudge Anschutz to increase bookings at the 18,000 space venue.

"In other words, AEG has paid $500,000 per year to put the Forum out of business as an entertainment venue," the lawsuit claims.

While it is possible that there might be some dirty dealings here, I am inclined to believe that the true culprit is the over-sized overstuffed Forum itself. As we've discussed here numerous times before, the ticket buying public is not interested in the supersized arena shows of yesteryore (sic). As the less popular (or more sorely neglected, let the judge decide) of the two venues, they are obviously going to feeling the pinch a lot more. The case might just boil down to zeitgeist.

OK, OK, I'm back

So yeah, a few days turned into a month, and then I thought maybe I'd just stay away, but there were social pressures and so now I'm back. News and views will recommence today. Stay tuned.

***on vacation***

Hey Kids

I forgot to mention, the website is on a short vacation. Be back in a few days!

Enjoy The Shows!

Lollapalooza and Lance Armstrong

Did you know that this year's Lollapalooza might not be happening if not for bicycle-superstarLance Armstrong? What? you ask. Well, Jim Derogaitis explains it all in his Sun Times profile of the masterminds behind this year's Lollapalooza, the two Charlies from Austin: Charles Attal of Charles Attal Presents and Charlie Jones of Capital Sports. Jones was a small-time promoter who rose to prominence on the Austin scene after putting together a large celebration for Lance Armstrong's 1999 Tour de France victory, and in 2002 he came together with Charles Attal to produce the now reknowned Austin City Limits festival. While it is an interesting story, it is ultimately sad to know that two people who amount to little more than "suits" who are taking the helm of some beloved musical institutions without any true curatorial love or care besides making big profits.

In a marked contrast to many concert promoters, Jones and Attal do not come across as enthusiastic or even particularly knowledgeable music fans: In a dozen conversations with this reporter over the last two years, neither has ever been the first to bring up a band or album he's excited about.

...................................

"These guys are real go-getters, really ambitious, and they want to be the biggest concert promoters in the world," Austin journalist Corcoran said in an interview. "Lollapalooza was a huge brand that had failed. They saw that, and they wanted to do something national -- something really big to break out of Texas and prove what they could do -- and they just followed the model of what they did with the ACL Fest."

Launched by former Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell in 1991, Lollapalooza started as a traveling day-long festival epitomizing the alternative-rock era. It grew as Farrell partnered with the Hollywood-based William Morris Agency, but petered out when the alternative scene waned in 1998. Revived in similar form in 2003, it fell apart again in 2004. Music-business insiders thought it was dead for good -- until Capital Sports bought a controlling interest from William Morris, which maintains a stake, and Farrell, who was convinced to stay on as a spokesman and consultant after the two Charlies wined, dined and flew him to Europe to watch the Tour de France.

Check out the rest of the article here.

Black Eyed Peas Freedom Campaign

Has the whole world gone mad? Yes!

You know how I know?



Just recently it was announced that the world's most benign group of breakdancing clothes-horses is advocating a cause. The Black Eyed Peas recently performed at a concert in Thailand to support the release of Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi. The concert, which is part of the Freedom Campaign initiative ( a joint project between Human Rights Action Center and U.S. Campaign for Burma) will also be simulcast in Burma where the author is under house arrest for promoting a democratic agenda. the simulcast marks the second time the people of Burma will ever be party to a concert calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the first time it will be broadcast from a neighboring nation.

Hmm, I think Art Brut's Eddie Argos has got it all wrong, I think The Black Eyed Peas will write the song that makes Israel and Palestine get along.

More info here.

BRIEF: Live Nation Swallows Up Everything In Sight

In an effort to...er..um...take overthe entire live music industry. Live Nation announces plans to acquire MusicToday, an industry leader in connecting fans with artists through VIP services, fan clubs, and ticketing. The six year old company handles such big name artists as Britney Spears, Usher, and Christina Aguilera, as well as providing services to venues, promoters, labels and even non-music stars like Teri Hatcher.

"Our mission is to build larger and more passionate communities of fans around our artist clients," said Mr. Capshaw. "Partnering with Live Nation will allow us to provide the artist with a full suite of services related to the live experience. We are now in the unique position to create opportunities for artist-fan interaction both online through our platforms and offline at venues, taking fan communities beyond the virtual world to the places where artists and fans converge. Together we will offer artists unparalleled marketing reach while championing new and innovative products for their fans."

Full press release here.

More info on MusicToday here.

Tickets Not So High After All?

Apparently after all that balking about ticket prices sales appear to be up.
According to a recent article in the Ithaca journal (with information culled from Pollstar I presume) ticket sales are up 20% for the first half of 2006. In addition to the usual suspects, comedy acts like Jerry Seinfeld and Larry the Cable Guy had great record sales as did rock band Fall Out Boy.

The robust market is a bit of a surprise. Last summer, many said that high ticket prices accounted for a drop in the number of tickets sold in the first half of 2005.

But this year, “the really huge acts haven't seen that much price resistance,” says Pollstar Editor-in-Chief Gary Bongiovanni.

Fans paid as much as $350 to see Madonna (not including third-party sales), with the average ticket going for $186. A typical Stones seat cost $170. By contrast, the average ticket last year for U2 — the biggest draw at this point in the 2005 season — cost $97.

Of course, we are all waiting for the drop off point which may be around the corner, with $750 tickets on a slow trickle for Barbara Streisand.

Full article here.

Gigantour Returns!!

(Via Pollstar) I'm mostly writing about this because it has a fun name. Sponsored by Xbox 360, Gigantour, the heavy metal concert tour created by Megadeth's frontman Dave Mustaine is headed back to stages this year. I don't understand why this tour exists when there is already the Ozzfest to contend with. But considering it features Anthrax, Dream Factory, and Anthrax maybe this is the festival for the heavy metal legacy/old school acts? I dunno.



The whole deal kicks off in September. To find out more about it click here (the website secretly kinda rocks)..