Funny how you say they can’t fill a stadium. Stadiums are all shapes and sizes. BC Place Vancouver holds 60000 for sporting events. It’s sold out! Regina, sold out 35-40000.

In Europe they are filling 70000 seat stadiums. So what if they haven’t sold out Giants Stadium. The seats for $29.50 will be way, way up there. It’s smart to lower the price on those seats.

As for ticket prices. I have no issue with their ticket price. $100 is a bargain for the night of entertainment they deliver, each and every night. U2 tix are $250 for the best seat. No thanks.

If you are wondering how well AC/DC tix are selling, look online at their European dates. Check the numbers in Austraila. 500000 seats sold in 30 minutes for 11 shows. I’d say they’re doing ok in terms of ticket sales.

I don’t think you get what the whole debt bubble was about and how it inflated the entire global economy over the last couple of decades, particularly the last 5 years. It’s not necessarily that the people who are paying exorbitant amounts for concert tickets, etc. are going into debt to do it (although plenty of that was going on, no doubt), it’s that the entire economy was artificially pumped up on leverage which found it’s way into almost every aspect of our economy. All that “wealth” that was created by pulling future demand into the present and by creating more money through debt creation manifested itself in crazy prices that people were willing to pay for such things.

Much more could be written but hopefully you get the point.

Phish tour is sold out. Not sure any other artist has sold out whole tour this summer.

Did not view Bonnaroo as spring break, but I see your point.

My point is that AC/DC is trying to sell a venue behond their status. My point is that there are not any other compelling bands out there.

Did Buffett sell out tour? I’s say that is a better barometer as to economy’s impact on concert sales that AC/DC.

I agree with you on AC DC and disagree on the recent Dead tour. They did well. It was a bit of a money grab but spoke to their following in such a difficult time period. The main question is what is at the heart of the success of the Jam Band culture. Fun wrapped into high quality musicianship (whether the style suits you or not).

As for Bonnaroo…..it’s a destination event as branded as Spring Break. It doesn’t belong in the realm of one nite stands. The question is less about their sellout and more on how much it cost to sell out.

First of all, no way AC/DC can fill a stadium. Venue too big. Dead could carry stadiums with Jerry, no more. Meanwhile Phish sold out entire tour $50/seat. Tertiary bands are doing poorly. AC/DC is secondary. I just took my son to Bonnarro, and I am hearing it nearly sold out (75,000 tickets at $200-$250 each, with VIP area looking full too me at $1200 or so.). The number of RVs down there was incredible.

Point being, AC/DC is not a barometer, especially in a stadium.

I own the book read it twice….it’s great stuff but consider your music example again. The hard edged AC DC may have an appealing, edgy sound to it during declining mood periods but how about applying a little old fashioned business sense? The Grateful Dead sold out (almost or did) a reunion tour this spring at high prices in large arenas. Many would dismiss it as nostalgic Boomers reaching deep one more time for their fav tunes. That may be part of of but I submit that most of it is experience marketing. They have a customer base of loyal fans that know that the live music is The Event. How about the familiar tune done in a slightly different tempo or key? (How many record label stars can actually pull that off live?) How about letting them record live and share the tunes and, in the process, they make you love and remember the best moments of their lives dancing with friends at a show? Then hit the road for a string of dates and be a true professional musician instead of waiting for the check in the mail? The days of king kong record deals is dead. Labels don’t have consumers in the squeeze they did in the Sam Goody days and likely never will again. That puts the onus back on entertainment and the artists themselves. The only time in history that musicians have been raised to the economic heights of Madonna was during the rein of the FCC. Them days are over now.
And as for hockey? Rodney Dangerfield had it right. He must’ve read that book too.

yeah, I think lots of pro-sports are in trouble. Which is a shame because I really love sports but I don’t see how you give a kid out of college $40 mil of gauranteed money in football before he even throws a pass in the leauge. I read such an interesting take on this not long ago so I will post it again:

Pioneering Studies in Socionomics, Chapter 17 (excerpt): “In 1985, The Elliott Wave Theorist’s original study on ‘Pop Culture and the Stock Market’ asserted, ‘Trends in sports reflect the prevailing mood.’ The emergence of a bull market produces an escalating energy level that is physically embodied in the organization of athletic competitions. As the rise in social mood progresses, people share the optimism of the time by heading out to the ball park in larger numbers and constructing elaborate events.” Ch. 10 (excerpt): “Our ‘Popular Culture’ Special Report of 1985 concluded that baseball is a bull market sport (good guys are the good guys) and football a bear market sport (bad guys are the good guys).”

Hockey is also on the “bear market sports” list — see Pioneering Studies in Socionomics, Ch. 12. Also, the there was a wave forecast in 2003 that said: To suit a bear market of high degree, entire new forms of athletic competition will emerge. In our 1996 report, we noted that after 200 years of rising stock prices, it is ‘hard to imagine what a bear market sport would be like. We envision something along the lines of boxing, where it’s man against man. There is no ball to displace man’s natural aggression and no hoop to make us focus on any loftier ambition than survival.’ The rising game on the scene is just such a sport: Ultimate fighting…”

A season luxury-box at a Lakers game is something like $2 million. I can’t see how businesses can keep justifying that kind of expense.

ARE WE NOT MEN???
WE ARE DEVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!