These shows were all announced today, taking place in Lewiston, NY, right on the Canadian border between Buffalo and Toronto. Not all things I would go to, but all at low prices of $5 to $8 per show (OK, not price is low enough to sit thru REO Speedwagon, but the others as a value). Instead of buying ONE ticket to the Stones in Toronto for $625, you could buy 90 to 125 tickets to see any of these:

Billy Idol
Joan Jett
REO Speedwagon
Chicago
Doobie Bros
Bad Company with Paul Rodgers
ZZ Top
Gov't Mule (with Warren Haynes of the Allmans)
and for those of us who progressed beyond the sounds of the 70s:
The Flaming Lips
MGMT

Each will be a sellout at about 10,000 people. Each is sponsored by Molson and Coors beer(s) and the $8 per 16 ounce beer they sell pays for the bands.

They used to allow many more people in, but it just got too big. Beautiful setting on a hill overlooking a gorge and the Niagara River.

I live in Buffalo, too. I would rather pay for an overpriced ticket to see The Stones on their worst night rather than see every one of those bands combined on their best night.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-04-25 03:07 by Tonyz.

I have to agree with Tonyz!!

The Mule is a great band. Fantastic loud heavy rock.

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Tonyz
I live in Buffalo, too. I would rather pay for an overpriced ticket to see The Stones on their worst night rather than see every one of those bands combined on their best night.

I have seen the Stones a dozen times. Some amazing shows, some duds (due to band performance like SarsStock, or bad sound, like one Carrier Dome show). But never at $625 a ticket as the lower bowl is going for in Toronto this tour.

If I had a choice between the Stones for $85 and one of the above bands, I would pick the Stones. But at $625 it's an embarrassing money grab. They went from ahi-establishment to the establishment.

I plan on catching Mule (agreeing with whitem8), The Flaming Lips (who are amazing fun live) and MGMT (who I have never seen).

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Tonyz
I live in Buffalo, too. I would rather pay for an overpriced ticket to see The Stones on their worst night rather than see every one of those bands combined on their best night.

Gov Mule and B. Idol may be worth it but the rest...

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dcba

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Tonyz
I live in Buffalo, too. I would rather pay for an overpriced ticket to see The Stones on their worst night rather than see every one of those bands combined on their best night.

Gov Mule and B. Idol may be worth it but the rest...

You may pat more the $5 to see a local cover band. Not many are bands in the lineup that I was ever a fan of...i didn't bother listing the other $5 shows at this venue like Skynyrd (though not sure any of the members was in Skynyrd), Blue Oyster Cult, O Jays, 38 Secial, etc. But much more 'fan friendly' than $625 is my point.

This promoter will make enough off concessions and corp sponsorships to make a profit, even with a very cheap ticket price. There are ways for bands to play and make money, and promoters to make money without charging wildly high ticket prices.

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buffalo7478
These shows were all announced today, taking place in Lewiston, NY, right on the Canadian border between Buffalo and Toronto. Not all things I would go to, but all at low prices of $5 to $8 per show (OK, not price is low enough to sit thru REO Speedwagon, but the others as a value). Instead of buying ONE ticket to the Stones in Toronto for $625, you could buy 90 to 125 tickets to see any of these:

Billy Idol
Joan Jett
REO Speedwagon
Chicago
Doobie Bros
Bad Company with Paul Rodgers
ZZ Top
Gov't Mule (with Warren Haynes of the Allmans)
and for those of us who progressed beyond the sounds of the 70s:
The Flaming Lips
MGMT

Each will be a sellout at about 10,000 people. Each is sponsored by Molson and Coors beer(s) and the $8 per 16 ounce beer they sell pays for the bands.

They used to allow many more people in, but it just got too big. Beautiful setting on a hill overlooking a gorge and the Niagara River.

I would go to every one of those at those prices, trying for good spots for Billy Idol, Joan Jett and Bad Company.

A highlight of my summer is all the free outdoor shows in Los Angeles.

Of course, a lot of these bands aren't all that different than the Stones, they aren't really real bands anymore, they just hit the road raping their back catalogs for the highest possible paycheck. In this case, it's the corporate sponsorship paying your ticket price which is why the bands are playing here instead of the local casino/theatre/House Of Blues for $100.

The Flaming Lips are awesome and they put on a super fun concert. Highly recommended!

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buffalo7478

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dcba

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Tonyz
I live in Buffalo, too. I would rather pay for an overpriced ticket to see The Stones on their worst night rather than see every one of those bands combined on their best night.

Gov Mule and B. Idol may be worth it but the rest...

You may pat more the $5 to see a local cover band. Not many are bands in the lineup that I was ever a fan of...i didn't bother listing the other $5 shows at this venue like Skynyrd (though not sure any of the members was in Skynyrd), Blue Oyster Cult, O Jays, 38 Secial, etc. But much more 'fan friendly' than $625 is my point.

This promoter will make enough off concessions and corp sponsorships to make a profit, even with a very cheap ticket price. There are ways for bands to play and make money, and promoters to make money without charging wildly high ticket prices.

I would pay $20-30 to see Blue Oyster Cult if they ever actually played in Los Angeles instead of farflung dinner theatres. However, they did play a free show in Woodland Park in 2010 and that was my favorite gig out of all the free shows that year with the exception of maybe The Tubes.

I would pay atleast $150 to see Bad Company, my favorite band after The Stones.

Going to Bonnaroo this summer partly to see Sir Paul for the 3rd time. Tix around $250 for four days of great times. Another vote for Flaming Lips - I used to see them in small clubs in Kansas, where I grew up. I hear this new tour will be somewhat different from previous in terms of new stage set & etc (used to see them with Christmas lights as the stage set... those were the days...)

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tnhybrid
Going to Bonnaroo this summer partly to see Sir Paul for the 3rd time. Tix around $250 for four days of great times. Another vote for Flaming Lips - I used to see them in small clubs in Kansas, where I grew up. I hear this new tour will be somewhat different from previous in terms of new stage set & etc (used to see them with Christmas lights as the stage set... those were the days...)

One of my worst concert injuries was during Flaming Lips in 1993. Got dropped on the concrete on my back, neck and head while crowd surfing.

Saw Flaming Lips outdoors last summer and it was really good and I'd like to se MGMT, too. And I'd see Ms. Jett any day of the week, love her.

Actually, ZZ would be pretty fun as well-that list ain't bad at all, especially at those prices.

I would go to all those gigs at that price.
Sounds like a great setting for the gigs.

Tops for me would be ZZ Top and Bad Company.