Thursday, January 03, 2008

What I Hate


I have to admit that I rarely pay for concert tickets. Some people get discounts on store merchandise or free fries or some other perk in their job, and mine just happens to be that I don't usually pay for concert tickets. HOWEVER, that is not always the case, and the ones I do pay for, are usually the really mind blowing expensive ones. I remember on one of U2's tours a few years ago paying like $250 for a ticket from a scalper or ticket broker as they prefer to be called.

I bought the ticket a few days after tickets had gone on sale, so the concert was still months away, and I hadn't even really heard much about the show. When I did start hearing things, I heard that U2 wasn't playing more than two or three of their big hits, and were instead only playing songs from the past two albums or some nonsense. Yes, those two albums are and were great, but that is not the point.

I don't care how tired you are of playing your hits, or if you are trying to sell more albums, or you are trying to make your show fit one theme or style. We as fans are not paying hundreds of dollars per ticket so you can experiment. We want what we like and what we enjoy. You want to charge $15, you can play whatever the hell you want. You charge $500 for VIP seating, I better hear crap I know every word to.

Another favorite trick of musicians is to combine 4 or 5 of their hits into a medley. Again, this only works if you have 20 hits and can't possibly sing them all in the time allotted. Cool. But if you are doing it to give the old songs a rest, forget it. You might sing the same songs 50 times each tour, but we, your fans are only hearing them once. Yes, if you are Phish fans you are hearing them every night, but you don't remember what you heard the night before anyway so it doesn't matter.

Oh, and Dave Matthews, I love you, but if I hear another 40 minute version of one of your hits, I am going to storm the stage. At last count, Dave plays about five songs in a 2 hour set.

I bring all this up because I saw that Kylie Minogue is going to not play any of her big hits on her new tour. Now I don't give a rats ass about Kylie or her tour, but I'm sure there are hundreds of thousands of her fans who will be paying astronomical sums to see her, and they want to hear her hits. If an album doesn't sell well, it means that fans didn't like it, so why on earth would you charge a fortune to your fans and have them endure only songs from that album that sucked.

22 comments:

Jesse D said...

AMEN!! I hate when stars use those hits to promote their tours on radio and tv, then refuse to play them in favor of the *new* crap. WE WANT HITS!!!

joehawkins said...

this is the reason why i never go to concerts...

Lola said...

I mostly agree. I am a concert junkie and while I like to hear a few older hits, the main reason I go to each new show is because I want to hear music from the current album and not every radio hit they ever had.

Mother Campfire said...

I actually don't agree. I typically spend money on concert tickets for acts that I not only respect, but trust musically. As such, if I am spending $200 each ticket, I trust that they are playing something a true fan would admire. Yes, throw a couple of 'hits' in there but if you're a true fan, you probably hate the damn 'hits' anyway. Most artists do.

This rant sounds like something a Top 40 fan would bitch about. Yes, you buy albums, but the shows are where the money is at and where the true fan enjoy themselves anyway.

Just my opinion.

Chatty Cricket said...

Perhaps it's because she's MV and *can't* perform those songs live because they'd sound like crap?

Anonymous said...

I agree! I LOVE Dave Matthews but you're spot on about his sets. And if I go to hear a band and pay 200 or more dollars, yes, I expect to hear a lot of hits, the stuff that made them so memorable to me that I'm willing to shell that out. Of course, my favorite band is Red Hot Chili Peppers, and they do a pretty good job of mixing up their new stuff with older hits. However, their career has spanned so many years and is so successful, even if they DID only play stuff from their last two albums, it could still be full of hits. And if I heard only songs that were filler on their CDs (lol all bands do it), I would be sorely disappointed.

YahMoBThere said...

oh.my.god.

Having gone to several Dave Matthews concerts, I can tell you he does NOT play five songs he plays 15 to 18 songs and then does more than one encore song. WTF, EL! And I don't know where you're going, but at Alpine in WI it's much less for tix!

Here's a set list from one of Dave's shows:

Sep.25.2007
Cricket Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ

Set
A Dream So Real
Pig
Corn Bread
Dreamgirl
You Never Know
Everyday
The Idea Of You
You Might Die Trying
Eh Hee
#27
Fool To Think
(Typical Situation)
Dancing Nancies -->
Warehouse
Grey Street
Louisiana Bayou
Ants Marching

Encore:
Gravedigger +
What Would You Say?
Grace Is Gone -->
(Black Water)
Stay (Wasting Time) *


Don't be lyin' about my Dave, EL!

Simone said...

As a Pearl Jam fanatic, they do a great job in spreadin' the love of their entire catalog to fans. Sure, they play and introduce to us songs from the current album and we love it... but the crowd really goes bananas with the older stuff - just because we love it and enjoy listening to it.

But this shit that Kylie is doing is wrong. The old stuff made her what she is. So for her to deny her fans what I pay top dollar to hear her sing, it's just not cool and it's kinda disrepectful to the fans.

Mel said...

ENT, where are you getting your dirt?

On Kylie's official website it says 'Kylie said today: "After two celebratory tours, 'X' will be a look to the future but will DEFINITELY INCLUDE FAVOURITES alongside the new. I can't wait to share it with you next year! See you soon!"

If your information is true then surely the fans could take legal action.

Personally I doubt it's true, Kylie's all about her fans.

Mel said...

Btw thanks for posting two Kylie stories in one week and it's great to see her pic up on here. x

Rare Avis said...

I don't go to concerts. The last one that I saw was Depeche Mode in LA. I will attend small venues, but those tix are too $$.

jax said...

I am a HUGE music junkie..however the last big show i saw was David Bowie and that was cuz it was free in the owners box (ya it was fully awesome). If i had tried to buy a ticket it would have been well over $200 for my seat. That is wrong!!!!!

How do concert prices go from $30 to $90+ in 10 years when nothing has changed? Hey its nice that you employ 75 dancers and a light show to rival the Planetarium..but if it's going to cost me an extra 40 bucks then i'll see you on Youtube. God i still remeber seeing Coldplay at a 300 person venue for $20 in when Parachutes came out in 2000.

cindie said...

Right on Twisted Sister...I came here to defend Dave myself! I'm a DMB junkie, and just saw them in NJ in November. Shows are almost 3 hours, and songs range from 15-18 a set, maybe more, and that includes the jamming.

liveunderarock said...

Amen, Brother EL. Preach on !

But, I am accustomed to free tickets myself. So perhaps we are just spoiled Ent.
Unless Kylie can morph into The Rolling Stones on stage, I don't care what she sings.

jax said...

lol..do you guys not recognise sarcasm from El? I've seen Dave perform..those ARE long ass songs and unless you are a die hard DM fan..and i know there is a whole fuckin legion of you..its too much man ..too much.

Good on him for giving his best though.

YahMoBThere said...

Tell it, Cindie!!!

The only thing that's changed is the price of gas, but still, tix aren't $200!

jax said...

well maybe you better tell Ticketmaster that. Tix for a big name certainly are in the $100-200 ranges and UP.

YahMoBThere said...

I didn't say they weren't in the $100 range, I said they weren't $200 or more a ticket. At least not the people I see (including DMB).

cindie said...

Sorry, there has NEVER been a DMB ticket for $200 on ticketmaster..unless it was a TM auction, which I know nothing about. DMB and Toby Keith had the lowest average ticket prices of $47.80 and $49.41 (respectively) per ticket for 2007, and are in the top 20 highest grossing revenue for the year, and that's with an abbreviated summer tour due to the birth of Dave Matthews' son.

cindie said...

In fact, with furthur research (slow day at work), they are in the top 8 of the top 2007 selling tours of '07 (based on total dollar volume of tickets sold, not ticket prices).

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0336458.htm

YahMoBThere said...

I'm surprised we're having this debate. Jax is in Canada where many things are more expensive. Maybe that's the difference.

bionic bunny! said...

AHA!! a topic in which i am well edumacated!!!

back in the early days of Parrot Heads in Paradise (for the uninitiated, the official jimmy buffett fan club org), i was the ticket procurer for all the nationwide clubs.
ticket prices vary GREATLY between venues, due to location, venue sponsor (here in SoCal, price varies between glen helen, irvine and the hollywood bowl).

and what ticked ME off, is i spent 12-14 hours a day on the phone and computer, plus driving down to h'wood to pick up certain tix and fed ex them myself, PLUS every single club member does a ton of charity work, and we still paid FULL price for NOT (mostly, some clubs got better) top notch seats. now, i still love jimmy, but i've never even met the man. and i haven't been to a show in several years, cuz of my "bionics". but $185 bucks for hard working, dues paying officially sanctioned club members is getting just a little ridiculous.

sorry about the rant. i just the the price info would be helpful.

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