Just to keep this up to date, it is apparantly now 50 shows.

......and all 50 have sold out!

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Manofwealthandtaste
......and all 50 have sold out!

Seriously? Wow! If that's true, forget what I said about people not paying £800.00 to see him. Lordy, lord... He really is the KING OF POP!

CBII

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CBII

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Manofwealthandtaste
......and all 50 have sold out!

Seriously? Wow! If that's true, forget what I said about people not paying £800.00 to see him. Lordy, lord... He really is the KING OF POP!

As quoted on the BBC news pages - [news.bbc.co.uk]

I daresay not all of the 'Thriller Packages' at £800.00 have sold though - these seats will find their way back on the market in due course I imagine.

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Manofwealthandtaste

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CBII

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Manofwealthandtaste
......and all 50 have sold out!

Seriously? Wow! If that's true, forget what I said about people not paying £800.00 to see him. Lordy, lord... He really is the KING OF POP!

As quoted on the BBC news pages - [news.bbc.co.uk]

I daresay not all of the 'Thriller Packages' at £800.00 have sold though - these seats will find their way back on the market in due course I imagine.

Well that's simply incredible! Good for him and everyone involved. I just hope he does every show. It will bring his career back with a vengeance.

Unreal ... had pre-sale codes and wasn't offered anything at all, tried this morning with AMEX, same thing !

Guess I'll just wait until some of the seats tied up in the "never destined to be sold" Thriller packages ............ or maybe (heaven forbid) they will all end up getting sold ? Well bugger me !!

I don't think all the shows were already put on public sale, did they ?
If he seels 80% of all the seats of the series, it'll be quite a financial success.

Musically, I don't know what to expect.
Playback or not ?
Will the priority go to dancing or singing ?

I also hope for all the people who took tickets that Bambi will get a serious preparation and the he'll be fit enough to play all the dates.

[doctorstonesblog.blogspot.com]

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paulywaul
Unreal ... had pre-sale codes and wasn't offered anything at all, tried this morning with AMEX, same thing !

Guess I'll just wait until some of the seats tied up in the "never destined to be sold" Thriller packages ............ or maybe (heaven forbid) they will all end up getting sold ? Well bugger me !!

Don't blame it on the sunshine.....

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SonicDreamer
I just don't get why anyone would want to play so many concerts at the same venue. If I was Jacko, I'd play stadiums, less work and the same money, he he he.

Really? I can see why not having to travel between locations and acclimatize to a different venue/stage every few nights is very appealing to an ageing star with health issues. Why expose yourself to the elements and potential security threats in an open stadium when you can play a closed, modern arena with very high security? This way he does a few hours 'day at the office' routine every night for a couple of months with the minimum of disruption and rakes in enough to stave off financial disaster. Even so, I'll be amazed if he plays the entire run. The insurance premiums must be off the radar!

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Lady Jayne

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SonicDreamer
I just don't get why anyone would want to play so many concerts at the same venue. If I was Jacko, I'd play stadiums, less work and the same money, he he he.

Really? I can see why not having to travel between locations and acclimatize to a different venue/stage every few nights is very appealing to an ageing star with health issues. Why expose yourself to the elements and potential security threats in an open stadium when you can play a closed, modern arena with very high security? This way he does a few hours 'day at the office' routine every night for a couple of months with the minimum of disruption and rakes in enough to stave off financial disaster. Even so, I'll be amazed if he plays the entire run. The insurance premiums must be off the radar!

Playing the same place for 50 shows would be a dream for ANYONE playing live for all the reasons you mention. Aren't the shows on, off, on? Man, everyone involved should be getting stoked for what's gonna be one historic time.

I would love to be part of that production. No it's not playing Rolling Stones music but it's playing fifty shows of some great stuff even so. I'm still learning how to do this stuff and that many shows over to different spans of time would be fantastic (or all at once).

Some may say playing the same music over that many dates would get old. I much rather be having fun on stage for 50 days than shoveling snow thats for sure.

This guys catalog is very DEEP and one would expect him to go as far back as ABC!

CBII

Same set every night? OR Will he change it up from night to night?

I saw The Jackson 5 as well as MJ solo, he puts on a fantastic show. 50 nights...that's cool!

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Bingo
Same set every night? OR Will he change it up from night to night?

I saw The Jackson 5 as well as MJ solo, he puts on a fantastic show. 50 nights...that's cool!

One would think they would break the shows up. Like I said he has a very deep bench to work with.

CBII

Not quite the same in all respects perhaps, but lets not forget the Broadway/West End musicals which (some) run for ages. Same venue every night.

Compared to the stars of these shows (and actors in long running plays) you could argue that rock stars have an easy time of it.
And of course get paid tons more.

I'm sure Macca (or Lennon) once had a hope that The Beatles could play at the same venue for exteneded runs and/or seasons. I think it was in the post touring days (1967/69). As a contrast to the bind of touring/travel.

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CBII

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Bingo
Same set every night? OR Will he change it up from night to night?

I saw The Jackson 5 as well as MJ solo, he puts on a fantastic show. 50 nights...that's cool!

One would think they would break the shows up. Like I said he has a very deep bench to work with.

With a show as choreographed as his, though, I would doubt it leaves much room for variety between one show and the next. A bit like Madonna, I guess.

However, I'm just speculating. I dont know if he has a history of changing things around as I've never seen his shows and dont pay much attention.

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Gazza

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CBII

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Bingo
Same set every night? OR Will he change it up from night to night?

I saw The Jackson 5 as well as MJ solo, he puts on a fantastic show. 50 nights...that's cool!

One would think they would break the shows up. Like I said he has a very deep bench to work with.

With a show as choreographed as his, though, I would doubt it leaves much room for variety between one show and the next. A bit like Madonna, I guess.

However, I'm just speculating. I dont know if he has a history of changing things around as I've never seen his shows and dont pay much attention.

You have a point. As a fan, 1 show would be enough. As a musician playing, I'd take everyone of them. You have to figure it will be an absolute top notch production from one end to the other.

CBII

ROCKMAN

I must say I find the interest in this quite incredible. Even given the reasonable prices, (for most seats), the level of interest is beyond me. The promoters say they could have sold out 150 shows. I honestly hope everyone gets a good show but I find it very hard to believe that he still has it. Expect lots of high tech backdrops, dancers and theatrics but I'll be surprised if he can even sing let alone dance. Sorry to rain on anyone's parade.

Regardless of the economic times, there are plenty of people, and corporations that could easily afford this, I know, I see it every day. And these Americans who fly over to see will try to write it off on their taxes. The question is are they willing to do it, and let's face it, everybody, well maybe not everybody, but there are plenty out there that love freak shows.

As I mentioned previously. I saw Jacko about 20 years ago at the L.A. Sports arena. I only went because I got free tickets. It was a great stage show with lousy sound (which is unusual for that venue.

Did someone say he'd be lucky to sell five shows??!! A bit of a miscalculation was that! Is there anyone else who could sell out 50 shows in no time (if it's really true)? Not our boys, for sure. They and all the rest must be looking on and shaking their heads in disbelief.

I would love to see him play- you gootta remember theres a generation of folks that grew up on the legend of his videos

before you all jump on the bandwagon remember this site exists to represent 3 heroin addicts a serial adulterer and man who dated his future wife from the age of 13 onward.

OLDKR

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Beast
Did someone say he'd be lucky to sell five shows??!! A bit of a miscalculation was that! Is there anyone else who could sell out 50 shows in no time (if it's really true)? Not our boys, for sure. They and all the rest must be looking on and shaking their heads in disbelief.

Well, if Mick had spent less time pursuing babes and more time fiddling with adolescent boys, and similarly Keith had devoted less energy to being a junkie and more to turning himslf into Howling Wolf or Muddy Waters, courtesy of the surgeon's scalpel and skin dye ... then maybe the Stones too could've sold out 50 dates at the O2 back in 2007, instead of just the 3 ?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-03-14 11:13 by paulywaul.

"Well, if Mick had spent less time pursuing babes and more time fiddling with adolescent boys, and similarly Keith had devoted less energy to being a junkie and more to turning himslf into Howling Wolf or Muddy Waters, courtesy of the surgeon's scalpel and skin dye ... then maybe the Stones too could've sold out 50 dates at the O2 back in 2007, instead of just the 3 ?"

I don't think the freakshow is what people are paying for. I think voyeurism makes you buy the sun for a few pence; but it doesn't make you pay 75 pounds to see the freak in the flesh. At least I hope not - and to be honest, I think the man who pays 75 pounds to see a freak is himself scarily freakish. Are the days of Barnum not over? Should we have public hangings as well?

I am in awe at Jackson's creative heydays, and I think they stretch further than just Bad. Dangerous and even Blood on the Dance Floor were quite good, in the way that Some Girls and Tattoo You are loved by Stones fans, although they are not in the Beggars/Bleed/Exile category.

I would certainly have gone to see Jackson - but indeed I am scared that it would be playback and lots of hysterical ball-grabbing. And it would make me too sad. Sincerely there is no other feeling that Jackson today gives me but lots of sadness and pity. Such a genius, wasted in the head and in the flesh.

In his earlier video interviews, even as late as the Bad years, I always find him very intelligent and very moving, although of course idiosyncratic and rather confusing when he goes on having water balloon fights with kids. But this very strange man, even if he did very wrong things, never comes accross as a predator who would stalk kids with a knife in his pocket. A very strange man, perhaps dangerous, not a mean man. But today he seems plain out of his mind. The video from his press conference is so sad.

So I don't want to go see the twilight of the idol. I wish, with regards to this man's contribution to music and even to humanity's parties for forty years, he'd be treated with much kindness and care, prevented from doing harm to others and himself, but not villified.

Anyway, I think people who bought tickets do hope the show will be good, and if it happens to be (as I fear) the dreadful exhibition of a man gone mad, they'll be disappointed, rather than voyeuristically drooling. I hope I am right; if Jackson f*cks up, I'll be sorry for one mad person, but if everybody rejoices in the sight, I'll be terrified to discover that London is packed with mad persons.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-03-14 13:13 by otonneau.

The market is driven by 13-18 y.o. people. What they want to see is what they missed because they were too young, and that is :
- ACDC (a world tour with sold out" written all over it despite a mediocre new album and tired gigs)
- Metallica (a world tour with sold out" written all over it despite a mediocre new album and tired gigs)
- The Stones (an incoming world tour with "sold out" written all over it despite a mediocre new album [or no new album] and tired gigs?)

Michael Jackson is #4 in the list. Kids WANT to experience live what they only saw on Youtube. These are conservative times people!

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otonneau
"Well, if Mick had spent less time pursuing babes and more time fiddling with adolescent boys, and similarly Keith had devoted less energy to being a junkie and more to turning himslf into Howling Wolf or Muddy Waters, courtesy of the surgeon's scalpel and skin dye ... then maybe the Stones too could've sold out 50 dates at the O2 back in 2007, instead of just the 3 ?"

I don't think the freakshow is what people are paying for. I think voyeurism makes you buy the sun for a few pence; but it doesn't make you pay 75 pounds to see the freak in the flesh. At least I hope not - and to be honest, I think the man who pays 75 pounds to see a freak is himself scarily freakish. Are the days of Barnum not over? Should we have public hangings as well?

I am in awe at Jackson's creative heydays, and I think they stretch further than just Bad. Dangerous and even Blood on the Dance Floor were quite good, in the way that Some Girls and Tattoo You are loved by Stones fans, although they are not in the Beggars/Bleed/Exile category.

I would certainly have gone to see Jackson - but indeed I am scared that it would be playback and lots of hysterical ball-grabbing. And it would make me too sad. Sincerely there is no other feeling that Jackson today gives me but lots of sadness and pity. Such a genius, wasted in the head and in the flesh.

In his earlier video interviews, even as late as the Bad years, I always find him very intelligent and very moving, although of course idiosyncratic and rather confusing when he goes on having water balloon fights with kids. But this very strange man, even if he did very wrong things, never comes accross as a predator who would stalk kids with a knife in his pocket. A very strange man, perhaps dangerous, not a mean man. But today he seems plain out of his mind. The video from his press conference is so sad.

So I don't want to go see the twilight of the idol. I wish, with regards to this man's contribution to music and even to humanity's parties for forty years, he'd be treated with much kindness and care, prevented from doing harm to others and himself, but not villified.

Anyway, I think people who bought tickets do hope the show will be good, and if it happens to be (as I fear) the dreadful exhibition of a man gone mad, they'll be disappointed, rather than voyeuristically drooling. I hope I am right; if Jackson f*cks up, I'll be sorry for one mad person, but if everybody rejoices in the sight, I'll be terrified to discover that London is packed with mad persons.

I was only being irreverent. I did seriously try and get tickets, both in the pre-sale and also later through the American Express allocation in the public sale, but it just wasn't to be. No big deal, seeing Jacko is just really a "tick box" job for me, if I don't get to see him I won't lose any sleep over it. But out of fairness to both the man himself and also everyone who's bought tickets and who's infinitely keener on him than I am, I do hope he doesn't f**k up. That would be horrible for him personally, and also downright disappointing for all his diehard fans. So I do hope he survives this run of 50 shows and pulls it out of the bag ... so to say.

So he beats Prince at the box office. Who says the majority is always wrong?

I dont believe there wont be more tickets that 'mysteriously' become available between now and the dates of these shows.

And there's simply too many tickets available (what is it, about 800,000?) for the e-bay chancers to make a huge killing on it.

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Gazza
I dont believe there wont be more tickets that 'mysteriously' become available between now and the dates of these shows.

And there's simply too many tickets available (what is it, about 800,000?) for the e-bay chancers to make a huge killing on it.

Agree. You might not get 'em for exactly £75, but as you say, there's too many out there for people/scalpers to make quite the "killing" they're so obviously after. I reckon £20/30 above face value - if that - will get you a halfway decent seat as showtime looms.

Absolutely right - the secondary market is already saturated. E-bay alone has 50 pages of tickets on offer, with close on 2500 people trying to offload anything up to 12 tickets.

Actually AC/DC's Black Ice is pretty good, in the same ranks as Back In Black, FTATR, Flick Of The Switch and Stiff Upper Lip. But that's just me. And I'd go see them if I could. I really doubt 13-18 year-olds are what are behind AC/DC's tour selling out as well as whatever Metallica is doing considering both bands have enormous fan bases that have been around for eons.

I'm sure there are Jacko fans that like his albums beyond BAD but they are probably very few - everyone stopped listening after BAD because it was so bad and made Thriller even that much better (or at least Billie Jean). So I really doubt anyone is going to see Jacko to hear anything from his past, er, however many albums that would be. Hasn't he done one since BAD? Aside from HIStory, what else has he managed to do? There was the over hyped Dangerous and then something that cost something like 13,000 people at Sony their jobs because it didn't sell worth a shit.

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Beast
Absolutely right - the secondary market is already saturated. E-bay alone has 50 pages of tickets on offer, with close on 2500 people trying to offload anything up to 12 tickets.

Good God !! Well, this elevates "scalping" into a whole new dimension. I'm impressed, gotta say. How in the hell does ONE person even GET HOLD of 12 tickets ? I guess it's heavily organised or something ?