Following on from MickJagg 65's thread about warhorses how about rather than either greatest hits or rarities, having exclusively new material from the upcoming album with perhaps a couple of hits for the encores?
If they promoted it thoroughly as such then most casual fans would probably stay away. This means the Stones could make it a strictly arena (or arena and club) tour pleasing the hard core fans and the challenge and freshness of the material would keep the Stones themselves engaged & passionate throughout the tour. Even hardened critics would be forced to admire their bravery.

Of course for this scheme to succeed the new album would have to be a genuine killer but what a way to bow out (if this is going to be the curtain call).

the probabilities of something like this? too low to calculate. not a chance....

Making an strictly arenas or clubs tour means no money enough. So as much as we hardcore fans would love it, it's impossible. As simple as that...

[There'll be no wedding today...]

A tour of strictly new material, it will never happen. Not profiable from a bussiness standpoint.

Sure, they could do areana shows like they did in '75, hell they sold out MSG for 7 nights. An arena tour would be in the strongest markets, NY, LA, Chicago, Phoenix, San Francisco/Oakland, Charlotte, Boston, Atlanta. It would be a short tour, 2 maybe 3 shows in each city with an outrageous ticket price ($75-$350).

Does seem terribly unlikely from a business and historical point of view. The Rolling Stones were one of the first groups to deviate from the previous norms in the business by not being afraid of opening up their back catalog on stage. Many an early rock and roll giant, think Ricky Nelson, tried to distance themselves from the works that brought them so much fame only for it to backfire in their attendance numbers after they no longer were cranking out the hits.

Short of a miracle, it seems a tall order that the Rolling Stones will come out with an album so strong it would warrant an exclusive review on stage. But I would like to see a better incorporation or showcase of newer works, not just the big single in slot #3 followed by 2 other songs later in the evening.

And the thing that mystifies me are the recent comments by Don Was and Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones have long been their own greatest competition; their works are seldom compared to other artists, only their previous works. And the critics have said since the early 1970s that the releases just don't stand up to the old standards (the premise behind "It's Only Rock n Roll"). So, it seems absolutely foolhardy to promote a new album as comparable to a classic like Exile, because whatever the merits of the material (and it could even be a better album!!), it will be a letdown just because it isnt Exile. And the greater problem is that many a person unconciously compares the Stones recent works with the entire back catalog, an entirely unfair comparison (my goodness, even some of their best albums have some real sleepers).

But I agree that the new tour must be innovative. I dont think the market will bear another Stones tour of the same format (really everything since Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle sadly runs together). And Don Was and Keith Richards need to stop shooting the band in the foot by comparing the new album to Exile or any other classic. An old rule in business: "never oversell a product; you will only disappoint the consumer."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-02 01:35 by JamesBurton.

I agree that the chances of this are almost too small to measure, it was a wish-fulfilment kind of thing. Having said that, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds who formed in 1983 just toured with completely new material (bar encores) which is like the Stones going on the road in the early eighties and playing the whole of Undercover!
I don't see why financially it wouldn't work assuming they would be charging outrageous ticket prices again and they would be saving a huge amount by ditching all the pyrotechnics and shedding most of their crew.

Although I would love the new tour to be innovative I wouldn't say the market won't be able to bear another tour of the same format: the '89/'90, '94/'95 and '97/'98/'99 & '02/'03 tours have all been wildly successful, the Voodoo Lounge tour still the money-making record holder. In fact I imagine the moneymen are urging the Stones not to change the winning formula too much.

Let me hear the new songs before answering this one!

C

yeah, that's the bottom line isn't it.

Nick Cave can do this because his base is more fanatical and would accept it. The Stones appeal outside of music fans so the majority go for what they know, the hits. I saw Lou Reed during the Ectasy tour twice and although it was slightly more accepted in a theatre (but only just) in an arena the audience were not happy that the majority of the set was from the new album.

The majority of people go to see The Stones (the hits) not The Stones (the artist). It's okay to scale things down to theatres to enable it but do you think that only fans get tickets for these shows, no just more ambulance chasers who go so they can say thay were there.

Neil Young also tried this with his "Greendale-project" without succeeding...

Nick Cave's audience has become a lot broader and almost mainstream in the last few years what with the South Bank Show special and various sunday supplements etc. I think the only reason it went down generally well is that the new album is so strong and varied.
I agree that most people go mainly to the Stones to hear the hits which is why if they made it clear on all the ads and pr for the shows that they wouldn't be getting any of this then only true fans/people who are interested in the current phase would go.