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MADONNA, PRINCE SIZZLE, BUT
MOST SUMMER TOURS FIZZLE

High Ticket Prices, Lack of Compelling Headliners, Sales Too Far in Advance, Deteriorating Venues Cited as Reasons

June 3, 2004

With the exception of sold-out tours by Madonna and Prince, along with a handful of others, this summer’s touring season is turning out to be a disappointment, according to a survey of promoters around the country.
William Morris’ Peter Grosslight said, "It seems like over the last three weeks or so, ticket sales have just dropped dead across the board—affecting all genres and all ticket prices. It’s strange. There’s not any one thing you can point to. I’m mystified. Hopefully, this is just a blip on the radar, and it will sort itself out."

A variety of reasons was given for the downturn by promoters, including exorbitantly priced tickets and rising costs, a plethora of alternative entertainment choices, sheds not keeping up with the times in terms of modernizing their facilities and papering the house with free seats. Clear Channel’s domination of the concert promotion business and raising artist guarantees is also negatively affecting the marketplace, according to observers.

"It’s not just the ticket price," adds Grosslight. "Add in $20 for parking, concessions, etc., and you have a pretty expensive evening. People are being very particular in choosing which concert to attend."

After Madonna and Prince, the next most successful tours are Sting/Annie Lennox, Dave Matthews Band and Van Halen, the latter doing better in major markets. Double-headliner shows, such as No Doubt/Blink-182, are doing well, though Blink-182 on its own is lagging. Country artists like Alan Jackson/Martina McBride, Shania Twain and Kenny Chesney also look unaffected by the downturn.

Andy Hewitt books the Hollywood Bowl, a venue many say is the finest in the country. He insists he’s having his biggest year ever, with healthy advance sales for Simon & Garfunkel, Rush, Eric Clapton and Sting/Lennox, among others: "You can’t take New York, L.A. and Las Vegas ticket prices and spread them across the country. And you need fresh acts that don’t go out year after year."

Among those tours doing less well to bombing are Fleetwood Mac, Jessica Simpson, Norah Jones, Gloria Estefan and the American Idol tour.

Ticket sales for veterans Aerosmith and Clapton, as well as the Linkin Park/Korn/Snoop Dogg jaunt are disappointing in a few markets. The second leg of the Simon & Garfunkel tour, now hitting second-tier cities after having played New York, L.A., Chicago and other major markets, is having a difficult time selling what, in some venues, is a $500 top ticket.

As for the multi-group shows, Warped, with its average low $25 ticket, is doing better than either Ozzfest or the two-day Lollapalooza.

Grosslight insists the firm’s not disappointed with Lollapalooza, headlined by Morrissey, because of "lowered expectations" for the two-day event.

"There isn’t such a thing as a slam-dunk today, if you make mistakes like putting an act in the wrong venue," concludes Grosslight.

One prominent agent called it the perfect storm of several factors working at once.

"There is no magic cure," he says. "It’s everything from gas prices, a bad economy, deteriorating venue facilities, rising concession prices to tickets which are too expensive going on sale too far in advance and competition from casinos, radio shows and fairs to book talent. Kids today have many other entertainment options and interests. Stir that whole pot together, and it’s no surprise we’re in the situation we’re in now."

Among the suggestions for improvement is to stop shoving all the touring into the summer season, but to spread it all year round.

"How many $300 concert tickets can the average fan attend over three months?"

That question will be answered soon enough for beleaguered agents and promoters.

"What can fix it are must-see events," says one prominent promoter. "Madonna’s an event. Coachella’s an event. But those are few and far between."

Concluded Hewitt: "There are still lots of bright spots. There always are. You just don’t want to give people the same old shit all the time. Know what I mean?"

I dont care how "talented" she is,,,I would NEVER pay 300.$ to see Madona~~~

Yup,,,thats what tickets are going for..You would have to be "Beyond" obsessed~

sonic said:

Actually i know someone who went to the prince show in san jose
last tuesday and loved it so much that she even thought about somehow
getting the tickets for wed show


But she was more excited about the madonna show last week but come mon
she said madonna show is such a rip off she only player 1:30

sonic said:

You don't have to. The entire tour is already sold out.

sonic said:

Madonna's talented??

Madonna??!

Sold out? SF Chronicle said there were still floor tickets left for M's show tonight.

sonic said:

I got a floor ticket to see Madonna for half the face value.

DEFINITELY WORTH EVERY PENNY.

I was much more moved by Madonna than by Prince, which really surprised me.

Madonna,Janet&MJ all put on dazzling visual spectacles with good pre-recorded music with musicians playing over the top of the recordings. I would pay 2 see all 3 of them but never more than i would whatever P's tix was going 4. He is my measuring stick. I would go see P-Funk over those 3 anyday of the week. And i felt Alicia Keys and Eryka Badu's shows more than i ever felt a Madonna show. And let me tell u Tina Turner is the real Queen. Her shows kick Madonna's all over the place. But like i said b4 i would go see Madonna but only at the right price. 50 to 60 dollars worth!

ELBOOGY said:

I LOVE TINA TURNER. She's the Queen. But for a stage show,
and all around concert experience, Madonna's Re-Invention totally
slays Tina. Truly though, it's apples and oranges.

madartista said:

U say potato,and i say potata. But it's all good u like Madonna and i like Tina 4 different reasons. The reason that i like P the best is bcuz his shows are more spontaneous. They are never really the same. I'm not 1 for video recreations in live performance. I want 2see something different. If i want the ultimate spectacle i'd go see David Copperfield!

I just talked to someone today who saw both the Prince and Madonna shows in San Jose. He liked the Prince show better, though he did enjoy Madonna. He said he had more fun at Prince's show and that the show was longer. I love when people try and describe Prince's musical skills and just get all tongue tied.
I gotta wait til 9/10/04 to see Prince at the Shark Tank. And possibly the night before at the Coliseum. Can't wait.

asg said:

The Bowl is a great sounding amphitheater, but it can't touch the atmosphere at Red Rocks.

asg said:

The Bowl is a great sounding amphitheater, but it can't touch the atmosphere at Red Rocks.

I really hate when people blame "a downturn in the economy" as a reason for lowered entertainment sales because ENTERTAINMENT is supposed to be the only industry that doesn't suffer from recession because people actually demand more escapism.

Bottom line is this: when Madonna's tour hits the market, she takes a large share of the pie, leaving less money to be earned by Jessica Simpson or whoever.

I saw previews to the Madonna concert and made me wanna puke-- a bagpipe accompaniment for the song Get into the Groove-- what's that about??

Anotherwontdare said:

A few days before every Madonna concert,she releases some great seats at the last minute.I just got back from the second San Jose show,and it looks like those seats are now completely sold out too.

madartista said:

Agreed.Ever since the 'Blond Ambition Tour' in 1990,Madonna has been doing incredible tours,and each tour is always better and more exciting than the previous one.I just came back from her second San Jose show and I'm still trying to recover,lol.

rainbowchild said:

When I saw the previews a few weeks ago,I thought this part ("Into The Groove") was gonna be extremely tacky.But to my surprise,it's GREAT! The bagpipe works surprisingly well with the song.It's just a way of "re-inventing" the song,and giving it a new,unique arrangement.

CinisterCee said:

True....also to be really real:
let's not forget most of today's mtv talent are just tasty image candy and unable to measure up to the reality of live music performance anyway. Viewers are savvy enough to appreciate this 2 bit group for who they are: Cute enough to watch on cable for a few bucks a month (from mom & dad), but pay for it live? Please! America has spoken with its wallet. Industry is in denial. Could go on. pointless. More fun buying a ticket to see live funk.

("...closing time, ugly lights, everybody's inspected..")

How in the hell can someone, ANYONE, be moved by a muscian/artist, thats not a muscian or an artist??? Face it people Madonna has live off of T&A for 20 years, and when they started to sag, so did her sales. Moved,,,,,right thats like me saying, Man I was moved by the guy lip synching's dancing! And Why in the hell do music flakes that can't play an instrument keep getting mentioned on this website? And 300 for a ticket, If anyone still wants to see M, that bad, go by the SEX book, its still out i bet.

evreed said:

Refreshing to see someone put it down right on Madonna. The fact that Prince and Madonna are the two acts that are doing well on tour prove two points: in America, sex usually wins and, every now and then, so does undeniable talent - you guess who represents which.

onenitealonelamont said:

Oh.let's stop it with the Madonna bashing.The fact that she's on a successful,sold-out tour proves that more than a few people are "moved" by her and her music.Twenty years after her 80s heyday,she's still out there,kicking ass on tour and filling arenas.Don't hate,congratulate.

sextonseven said:

No it isn't- not at all.

DavidEye said:

I dont hate but sure not gonna congratulate. There were lots of succesful sold-out tours out there but that doesnt mean the quality is the same. I think Madonna is a great performer with a good feel what the public wants. Too bad she can't sing (and that aint bashing, just a fact)

one of the reasons maddy's concerts are sold out is due to broker purchases.....brokers have continually complained about not being able to sell tickets for face value..during the opening show in LA front section tickets sold for $25 bucks.....

one of my agents gives me updates from his broker and each email ticket prices drop.....

but doesnt mean anything to madge...she got all her money...stupid brokers!!

CynthiasSocks said:

Exactly! Where are people getting this "All of Madonna's shows are sold out" nonsense? Like I've said in a previous post, many tickets are still available on Ticketmaster.com for more than 30 of her 37 US shows. Don't even get me started on the hundreds of tickets on Ebay. Even if Madonna does sell out all of her 6 Madison Square Garden shows, Prince has just finished doing his 7th show at LA's Staples center and 3 or 4 of those were add-on dates. I like Madonna, but I wouldn't pay $300 to see anyone...even Prince. Plus, someone above said that her concert is only an hour and a half.... . For $300+, her concert had better be damn flawless for such a short show. Prince is doing 2 hours plus and his tickets are waaay cheaper than Madonna's. I don't care if she can make her head explode and magically regenerate on stage during her shows, only an obsessed Madonna fan would spend that much money to see her perform for such a short time. If my Prince concert ends up being an hour and a half, at least I only spent $75....I'd be pissed if I had spent more for just an hour. Rent "Truth Or Dare" for $2.00 at Blockbuster....even it's more than an hour and a half.

Actually- the only tickets that are "sold out" are the cheap ones!

estelle1981 said:

lol, that's gotta be worth a few hundred bucks of anyones money surely

CynthiasSocks said:

Or the ones that people are buying off of Ebay for like $50 for two floor tickets. From my understanding, her tickets aren't really selling all that great if someone above mentioned buying two floor tickets for $25 each. From $300+ to $25, that's a huge price drop. If Madonna is the one allowing them to be sold soo cheaply, then she must be having trouble selling her supposedly sold out shows.