Sour notes
By Kevin C. Johnson
Post-Dispatch Pop Music Critic
08/01/2004
http://www.stltoday.com/s...Sour+notes



It's another bummer summer of a concert season, more of the same old story. Except this year, it could be worse.

While superstar acts sweat it out on the summer concert trail, too many fans are taking vacations away from the nation's amphitheaters and arenas, giving the touring industry reason to sing the blues. Telling headlines such as "Tours in trouble," "Shedding tears over sheds," "Concert tours struggling this summer" and "Touring biz runs into wall" are plentiful, echoing some of the bad-news proclamations issued two years ago.

Lollapalooza, once the leading music festival, was stopped before it started this summer when slow ticket sales quickly derailed the tour. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were expected to be big draws this summer, but the singers called in sick. Spears busted a knee while filming a video, and Aguilera, who was going to tour with St. Louisan Chingy, received doctors' orders to rest her vocals. In both cases, there were grumblings that the real illness was ailing ticket sales.

Lagging sales also forced Norah Jones to shift some shows from arenas to theaters on her upcoming tour, though the St. Louis show remains scheduled for Savvis Center Oct. 22. The American Idols Live tour, which comes to Savvis Center Sept. 19, isn't selling as many tickets as the first two years of the tour. And where did Jewel's fans go? Many were missing from her recent Family Arena concert.

Fast start, but ...

Interestingly enough, the year started off well. The top tours in the country from January-June grossed a record $753.5 million, up 11 percent from 2003's midyear report. Locally, Savvis Center topped the list of Pollstar magazine's Top 50 Arena Venues during the first quarter of this year, and the Pageant came in at third place on the Top 50 Club Venues list, its best-ever showing.

But ticket sales began dropping in the spring and carried over into the summer, when it's most notable.

"It's not a pretty summer, for sure," says Joe Litvag, who heads up the Midwest offices of Anschutz Entertainment Group/Concerts West, the country's second-largest producer of concerts. "There are certain tours that are doing fine. To toot our own horns, every single Prince show is selling out. We're putting some Usher shows on sale that are coming out of the box really well. And Van Halen overall is doing pretty well. But at the same time, there are still a lot of other tours not doing the business they thought they would.

"It's a rough summer," adds Litvag.

"Everybody is hurting," says Dennis Petrullo, general manager at Savvis Center. "They're putting together these big shows, and they're not selling out. They're not getting all the fans to show up."

Not everyone, however, agrees with the negative assessments. Dave Gerardi, marketing director for Clear Channel Entertainment, the country's top concert producer and booker of shows at UMB Bank Pavilion, believes all the doom and gloom surrounding the summer concert scene is overblown - or at least not applicable to St. Louis. "We've dodged the troubled tours," Gerardi says.

"I can't claim to know the whole country," he says, "but I think, compared to last year, we're having a very good year. Based on what I've read, we must be doing very well, with just success story after success story. I can give you a list of shows that outperformed other parts of the country."

Gerardi says tickets for the Kid Rock show at UMB this summer were twice what they were two years ago. Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney's UMB concerts are showing their best-ever numbers for St. Louis, he says, and sales for Rush and Styx at UMB and Josh Groban at Savvis Center were among the best on their tours.

Gerardi does concedes that "every year you're going to have some shows that don't meet your expectations. We had a few of those. But I don't think this so-called slump has affected us in St. Louis." For example, he believes Spears' UMB concert would've been a home run for St. Louis. "I hated to lose that tour."

Who's hot, who's not

Gerardi's positive appraisal of the summer is more the exception than the rule, although the season has seen some clear success stories in Prince, Madonna, Sting, Kenny Chesney, Simon & Garfunkel, the Warped Tour and Groban.

But some of the often-mentioned underachievers, according to Billboard magazine, include Incubus, the Dead, Gloria Estefan, Van Halen, Kiss, Eric Clapton and the Dave Matthews Band (whose St. Louis show was a sellout).

Petrullo says attendance for the Incubus show at Savvis Center was "terrible," and he's not sure why. "It's doing poorly all over the country. It's hard to keep up with when these bands are hot and when they're not." Litvag, whose AEG booked the show, says, "There's a lot of competition out there in the same genre when you look at the variety of modern-rock shows. The kids going to these modern-rock shows don't have unlimited income. They have to make choices: Do they see Ozzfest or Linkin Park or Incubus or Evanescence? And they're all suffering because of it."

Van Halen, who just performed two shows at Savvis Center, was a surprise non-sellout despite the fact that this is Sammy Hagar's biggest market. "We pushed it going for the second show," says Petrullo. "If we stayed with one show, it would've sold out. We would have packed one show."

Jessica Simpson didn't fill UMB Bank Pavilion last month, and although she drew respectable numbers, her ubiquitous presence these days would seem to have promised more. "She's never been on a headlining tour, so I think there's a building process," Gerardi says of Simpson, whose concert attendance benefited from the loss of Spears' tour. "It was a good show for her first time out there. She sets herself up to come back with another great album, and business will grow."

American Idols Live's slipping sales are a similar case of failing to meet high expectations, given the TV show's enormous popularity. "True, it's not as hot," Petrullo says. "I don't think the audience really connected with the winners this time. The success of this is based on the TV-audience connection with the winners, and I don't think they did this year."

Reasons for the summer slump vary. Always-reliable rock sure-shots such as Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, U2, the Eagles, Billy Joel and Elton John aren't touring this season, whereas too many of same type of shows are on the road. In addition, some artists have been elevated to arena-amphitheater status before they've built up the fan base to justify such a venue. Concerts are also competing not just with each other but with other entertainment options, from blockbuster movies to a booming DVD market.

Locally, St. Louis is being treated to a number of quality free shows (such as those offered by River Splash) that could take away a bit from the ticketed shows.

It all starts with money

Ticket prices, however, are the first culprit cited when discussing an underwhelming concert season.

The average ticket price last year was $50, although some tours have managed to keep costs reasonable. Vans Warped, which just played UMB, charged only $26.25 and drew an impressive crowd. But other shows have sky-high prices, such as those for Simon and Garfunkel's recent Savvis Center show ($55-$197).

"Certainly, there are some instances where everyone would benefit if the prices were lower," says Gerardi, but he points out the irony of the high-end tickets always moving more quickly than the cheaper tickets. Simon and Garfunkel, for instance, was a near-sellout. "Is it too expensive if it's selling out the first weekend?"

Of course, the main reason ticket prices are so high is because of artists' escalating paychecks, or "guarantees." In some cases, artists are getting nearly $1 million per show. Petrullo says the Clear Channels and the AEGs are paying too much for acts, who can't be blamed for taking the money they're given. "The ticket prices are just killing it. We have to wake up. They can't pay this kind of money, because people aren't paying these ticket prices. Until CCE and AEG make those decisions, this will continue."

"In theory, I don't disagree with that," says Litvag, "but when you're a venue operator, it's a lot easier to make that statement." Litvag points out that competition is just too tough. "If we don't make the offer the artist wants, the guys across the street will. Promoters duke it out on a daily basis. We all like to say when (artists) demand (exorbitant) money we'll say no. But none of us do it. We want the show. We want to bring the act to town."

Gerardi says Clear Channel works to combat high ticket prices by offering incentives such as $10 lawn tickets the first weekend that select shows go on sale. "People really respond to that," says Gerardi. Evanescence, Styx and Lynyrd Skynyrd were discounted this way. Offering two-for-one tickets is another way to fight high ticket prices.

Litvag says he doesn't have any shows he believes warrant deep discounting. "You have to be careful about that. There's the perception that it cheapens the act. You have to keep what's best for the artist in mind. As soon as I see a promoter doing two-for-one specials and certain discounts, it's loud and clear we made a mistake and got too aggressive with the ticket prices. I'd rather have ticket prices lower out of the box."

"When we offer discounts, we sell more tickets," counters Gerardi. "Business is better, and we're putting more people in the buildings."

A better fall?

Fall/winter shows could turn things around. Usher and Metallica are among the big third- and fourth-quarter shows, but outside of those two, there's not much announced that promoters are touting. Talk of the once-reliable Janet Jackson tour has quieted (neither CCE nor AEG sounded as if it would be getting behind it).

Petrullo hasn't gotten much buzz on who else is hitting the road later this year, and Gerardi says he hasn't heard much, either, though he's still working on a couple of to-be-announced shows for UMB. While Litvag promises some elite acts will be announced, he says, "I prefer not to tip my hand. But I've got some big names up my sleeve. The more elite acts we can keep on the road, the better chance we have of reviving our business."

But it'll take much more than the right acts to set things straight. "We're trying to figure out ways to solve the problem," says Litvag.

"But the industry by and large is controlled by people who don't want change. We all know what the problems are, but we haven't made a lot of headway. Who's going to take that first step?"

Critic Kevin C. Johnson
E-mail: kjohnson@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8191