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Rokyfan

The question is what does "priced to sell"mean? If tickets are generally under $100, that would be "priced to sell," to me, in those markets given the number of tickets to be sold. I can't see there being much of a demand for higher-priced tickets than that. And as glimmergirl pointed out, the Stones are protected from these issues once the contract is signed. They get their guarantee, the promoters take all the risk.

Priced to sell= the closest 10-15000 seats to the stage will go for $600-800 UDS...there is the bands gaurenntee plus the promoters fees (or some other associated fee) or $8-12 million...the rest is all icing on the cake that they can sell substatially lower to make more money for the promoter. Your example $100 for the next 30K-40K seats (unlikey but lets go with it) is another 3-4 million. I think it more likely an average closer to $200 per seat, so more like $6-8 million...

a real life example:

I used to work in the aviation industry...we had commercial flights from Frankfurt to Charlotte, twice daily...if we sold out the 24 seats in first class, we broke even...ALL the rest of the seat in coach approx 210 of them would ALL be profit...NOT includuding the mail and freight in the belly below which was even MORE valuable than 30% of the coach seats as many flights would be restricted due to the freight and therefore go out with gobs of empty seats...for weight and profit. 1000 kg of freight is a greater money generator that a family of four and the costs of rebooking them, etc...

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Cocaine Eyes
If this is already here somewhere, sorry but I don't have the time to look for all the posts here.

SOURCE = SOLID



NOTE: Barring any unforseen illness/bad things happening.

But what's with the Wednesday hashtag from the new twitter video? What happens on Wednesday?

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thisheartisconstant

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JumpinJeppeFlash
Can anyone tell me if it would be dangerous for a european like me to travel alone to three or four shows in the US. I was thinking about Nashville, Orlando, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Are these dangerous cities?

You will be fine.
All four cities you mentioned are very nice places.
Like anywhere, each city has good and bad parts buy don't feel afraid.
You will be safe! Don't worry.

I'd say 3 out of 4 of those cities are safe. If you stay alert, not too curious and within the better areas you will be fine everywhere. Be informed about the news and what's happening on the streets. I was caught in the middle of a protest march in Manhattan a few months ago and the energy is volatile.

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IGTBA

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GlimmerGirl24

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IGTBA
Robin Leach was dead on in that February article. But I wonder about AEG's judgment. In 2013, they had to invent the "$85s discounting" to fill the overpriced US/Canada arenas. Same thing, or worse (like closed off sections), will happen this summer if they overprice stadiums. Hard to believe they will make more at a stadium show than they could at the MGM arena.

The $85 tickets weren't discounted. They sold a lot of upper deck and back of the arena seats for $85, that they would have had problems unloading for over $50. A small percentage of us ended up in high rent areas, but most got a seat that would have been priced less than $85. We paid a premium for a low rent district.

Arenas have to sell at least two shows at Stones' pricing to get into the black. They have pesky little deals with their season ticket holders to offer them tickets to any event for $X. X is less than a Stones ticket in the areas they have to offer seating. To make up for that loss, they need two nights. Which is why on the last two tours the Stones have skipped arenas in a lot of secondary markets - the arenas wouldn't sign onto their pricing. Markets like NYC, LA, Chicago, the Bay Area can sell two or more nights. However, they did have problems with Boston two years ago and the third Philadelphia show became a DC date.

I agree with lots of your comment, but the $85s were not offered at the beginning of the 2013 tour. Initially AEG had a very tight limit on the number of lowest priced seats, which I think were generally offered in the $70-high90s range, but few could get those because of the very limited quantity. AEG was trying to sell almost the entire lower level for the $350-450 price and most of the upper level for prices around $200+. But then they saw that was not going to happen, so they came out with the $85s - and to fill the arenas, thousands of those had to be sold, plus at several arenas they moved to discounting most, or all, of the seats that did not sell initially, except for Vegas - and lots of $85s were sold even for Vegas - so that was "discounting". I had $85s for twelve of the concerts and got in the pit twice and got good seats four other times. As for the other six times, most but not every time, I was able self upgrade to good seats from the nosebleed ones.

The arena issue with season ticket holder rights, is a problem for the Stones, even though I think that only applies to suites in most cases - so its not quite as big an issue as you imply - but its significant. I know, for the new Las Vegas arena being built by AEG/MGM, the season ticket holders for the proposed new NHL team will not have any special rights for tickets other than the NHL games (but ? not sure about any suites there).

It will be interesting to see how sales go for the big stadiums this tour. In 2013, those fans who were patient got better values than those who purchased in the initial sale.

If I remember, the lower deck was mostly $600's.

The Lucky Dips were planned from the very beginning. They were not a last minute idea. The pages were up on Ticketmaster, AXS, etc. before the pre and general sales began. AEG is sly, if they had the Lucky Dip sales at the same time, who would have spent $600 on the back of the arena or $150 in the upper deck side stage? They timed the Lucky Dip sales after the pre and general sales. If you didn't check RS.com or signed up for the alerts before the sales, you had no idea the Lucky Dip sales existed. And most people who figured it out, had already bought their tickets. A search of TM, AXS, etc. would not turn up the Lucky Dip sale page. The only way in was through a link at RS.com or figuring out the links. If you figured out the links (which I did) - you would have discovered the sale pages were up before the first presale, which was Chicago.

There was a fire sale of Lucky Dips for the Staples show - the day before and day of the show. The press had a field day. We never saw another Lucky Dip fire sale, although a few pairs here and there did pop up - they were tickets sold previously where the sale didn't go through or were kicked back because the limit condition was violated. We did though find lower deck seats discounted as low as $150 a few days before some shows. They would go back up to their original price day of the show. The press never picked up on those fire sales. What didn't sell in the fire sales were papered out a day or two before the show. Papering is quite common these days for any band that doesn't want empty seats and has $100 plus tickets.

The arena contracts apply to both season ticket holders and suite owners. The suite owners are a bit different in that they are required to buy X amount of events each year. Season ticket holders aren't. Comparing an arena in Vegas to other cities is comparing apples to oranges. What applies elsewhere does not apply in Vegas and vice versa. Considering that Vegas arena tickets are always pricier than other arenas in the country - I can see why season ticket holders aren't getting ticket offer contracts - the arena would never make a profit on concerts.

As for purchasing in a presale, it's foolish unless it's a small venue with less than 10k in seats for a high demand show or you're going for the cheapest price category or a VIP package. There is rarely anything worth buying - it's usually the less desirable seats in every price range. (There are exclusions - some presales are excellent). The general sale is also a toss up and if I buy - it's usually 40 minutes in when they've sold the yuckier stuff in each price range. I usually buy my tickets within 48 hours of the concert - sometimes over the phone with the box office on my way to the show.

If they go with '05 pricing, the stadiums should sell as well as they did then. There will be lots of papering in some cities, less in others. The question really isn't how well the tickets sell. Promoters have gotten really good at papering and putting bodies in the seats. The question is, will AEG show a profit. That depends on the amount of papering.

The 50th anniversary shows in NJ and NY had a lot of papering. So much so, the promoter lost money and didn'tt sign on for the summer leg. If I remember, the next promoter backed out too when the Stones wouldn't lower their guarantee. AEG came in at the last moment and came up with the idea of the Lucky Dips. They must have at least broke even, otherwise they wouldn't be promoting this leg.

And the Lucky Dips weren't discounted. The majority of them were located in areas that originally sold for less than $75. I think it was up to 15% that were in areas priced at $150 and up. Even the side stage upper decks were in sections that did not exist in the pre and general sales. AEG wasn't discounting - for the majority of those Lucky Dips, they made a minimum of $25 more than they would have if they had sold them in the pre and general sales. The perfect scam.

If there are Lucky Dips this leg and AEG keeps with the plan they used in '13, we have approximately a 1 in 10 chance of landing in a seat that was priced above the face value of our Lucky Dip. If we're not one of the lucky 10 percenters, we got fleeced.

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JumpinJeppeFlash
Can anyone tell me if it would be dangerous for a european like me to travel alone to three or four shows in the US. I was thinking about Nashville, Orlando, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Are these dangerous cities?

It depends pretty much on your own behavior. In your case, Jeppe...hmmm

yea pitt looks like a total nightmare of a place to see a show on a saturday night.

maybe spend the day at the warhol musuem

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bv

The secondary markets shows have been amazing. Wichita, Regina, Missoula.

Hope you hiked up the "M' and got a good view of Missoula, amazing place with a million acres of wilderness within 100 square miles. People are still talking about the Stones up there, biggest act to ever hit that town. Amazing that Macca and Jeff Beck have also played there recently.

It's a strange but good thing the Stones are hitting these secondary markets. Makes perfect sense to me, when you look at all the American cities they will have played on 14/15 On Fire it's a generous offering by the Stones and we've gotta be grateful they are trying to please such a broad swath of fans. They also boost the economies of every place they play.

I also wouldn't be too concerned with checking out the cities you are visiting as tourists. Like everywhere in the world you just have to use some common sense, stay out of the bad neighborhoods and keep your eyes open.

peace

Pittsburgh is my birthday..

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thisheartisconstant

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JumpinJeppeFlash
Can anyone tell me if it would be dangerous for a european like me to travel alone to three or four shows in the US. I was thinking about Nashville, Orlando, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Are these dangerous cities?

You will be fine.
All four cities you mentioned are very nice places.
Like anywhere, each city has good and bad parts buy don't feel afraid.
You will be safe! Don't worry.

Agree! But do your research on the hotels you choose to stay at. Reviews on sites such as Hotels.com will mention if there are issues in the areas where the hotels are located.

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stones2000

But what's with the Wednesday hashtag from the new twitter video? What happens on Wednesday?

The Hashtag #SatisfactionWednesday and the attached Video with the 'Beast of Burden' track has been removed on RS' Twitter. It was probably indeed a mistake or typo, so apparently no special double-announcement. RS' Website has got a new background color instead ....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-16 20:30 by Irix.

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DoomandGloom

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bv

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rbk
God what a bunch of whiners. The Stones are in their seventies and are not going to be able to do this again. Everyone of the markets that have been rumored for this tour have a longstanding history with the band who obviously don't need the money but do enjoy playing live. This tour is a way of thanking all of those people like they did down under last year and in Asia before that and Europe before that and in the OTHER American markets before that. They might do one offs in LA, London or New York in the next few years but for the big spectacle Stones show this is it. This is all she wrote.

Of course the only way they're going to reach the number of fans that want to see them is to play stadiums. These markets are smaller and far more spread out and are lower population wise compared to NYC, Toronto, DC, Chicago and LA. The cost of living in these places is lower so the people's incomes are proportionately lower as well. Hence, more people at a lower ticket price, one last time. Simple economics. These markets are more like those in Europe where the Stones played virtually all stadiums and festivals as well. O2 notwithstanding nary a basketball or hockey venue in the bunch.

We'll know in a few days but I'm guessing the high-rollers who doled out $250 to $600 for middling tickets in the US in 2013 are going to be shocked. These shows will be priced to sell or else there would be no point in doing them.

Best post of the year! I could not agree more. And this is the reason why I will spend the summer in North America. You only live once.

With all respect to you BV I really doubt the cities listed are the cities European fans like yourself want to visit in The US this summer.

Wherever you go...there you are.

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Irix

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stones2000

But what's with the Wednesday hashtag from the new twitter video? What happens on Wednesday?

The Hashtag #SatisfactionWednesday and the attached Video with the 'Beast of Burden' track has been removed on RS' Twitter. It was probably indeed a mistake or typo, so apparently no special double-announcement. RS' Website has got a new color instead ....

Thanks for clarifying! Just 3 more sleeps... (In my time zone, at least)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-16 20:32 by stones2000.

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JumpinJeppeFlash
Can anyone tell me if it would be dangerous for a european like me to travel alone to three or four shows in the US. I was thinking about Nashville, Orlando, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Are these dangerous cities?

No, it's not the 70s anymore. You find tourists in the strangest places everywhere, and Americans don't bite.

Nashville has a great new Johnny Cash Museum, and the eastern part has cool bars, and you could do a pilgrimage to the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Pittsburgh, as already mentioned, has the Warhol and a vibrant scene. (I have not done Atlanta in years, or Orlando at all.)

If anything, there is a general sameness to many American cities these days, so you have to do some digging if you want to see fabled Americana. Public transport may also not be up to European standards, as you see in Buffalo. If you have Uber + AirBnB, that might make life easier.

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DeanGoodman

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JumpinJeppeFlash
Can anyone tell me if it would be dangerous for a european like me to travel alone to three or four shows in the US. I was thinking about Nashville, Orlando, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Are these dangerous cities?

No, it's not the 70s anymore. You find tourists in the strangest places everywhere, and Americans don't bite.

Nashville has a great new Johnny Cash Museum, and the eastern part has cool bars, and you could do a pilgrimage to the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Pittsburgh, as already mentioned, has the Warhol and a vibrant scene. (I have not done Atlanta in years, or Orlando at all.)

If anything, there is a general sameness to many American cities these days, so you have to do some digging if you want to see fabled Americana. Public transport may also not be up to European standards, as you see in Buffalo. If you have Uber + AirBnB, that might make life easier.

Many thanks Dean

Warhol museum sounds very interesting.

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JimmyTheSaint
I haven’t been following this thread, so someone please bring me up to speed. No Mick Taylor on a Sticky Fingers tour? Is that correct?

If so, pretty disappointing.

I don't think that has been confirmed, although it is rumored. it is still possible that he may be on the tour in his familiar role playing Rambler and Satifaction.

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bv
My needs are basic. I love the Stones, and I love real people. Normal people. I have been on tour for Rolling Stones shows in Wichita, Lousville, Missoula, Regina, Hartford, Sacramento, Glendale, the list is long, but I don't go to these places to drink or do sightseeing or any kinds of tourist stuff. In fact I panic if I am on 5th Avenue more than five minutes, or may God forbid Rodeo Drive, Disneyland (never been there) or any such places. I like the local joint where the same people sit next to me every day, where they see I am the stranger the first time I am there, but after that I am one of them, same service, no extras, no buzz.

The secondary markets shows have been amazing. Wichita, Regina, Missoula. They don't make a lot of noise saying "We want Mick Taylor for ten songs" or "The show should last for 3 hours" or "three hundred dollars is way too much. They did only serve Pepsi Cola in Wichita because it was a Sunday but it was a great, great show without any beer drinking.

I do know Chicago, Miami, Boston, NYC, LA, SF and a bunch of other larger cities are jealous and think it is a total waste to play in the cities the Stones are approving now, but that is the whole point. The Stones are geographically communists. They practice equal rights for all people, all states and all areas to see them. They could have performed 15 ARENA shows with the same income in LA, LV, CHI, NYC, but they choose to perform in front of 2-3 times as many people in larger venues. Just like in Europe summer 2014. Those shows were great, I don't travel as a tourist, but as a fan, and I love to meet other fans, any place, large or small.

I travelled USa and Canada by bicycle. The backroads, the unpaved roads. Meeting (very friendly and special)people, sitting on the dusty doorstep with a huge cola. Just sitting and see life and nature in the USA. It was great. Don't need the big city's. There is so much to see and to experience for an european (fan) . And then... See The Stones! Nothing more to wish.
But BV, if you have time left then go cycling the divide. It's a beautiful bicycle route from Canada to Texas and crossing to Continental Divide. Mostly unpaved. Look at Adventure Cycling Great Divide. really worthwhile.

(Always took candy from strangers)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-16 20:50 by Niek.

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Dan

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alhavu1
No it is not. Why keep saying that?

Ooops, that's Citi Card.

It's either INGOLD or INPLATINUM.

I'm getting closer(I think. Haha) Another question: will the password be provided with the presale instructions? Sorry, but I'm a Citicard holder and will be using a friends account to get tickets

We mostly rent a car and stay only for one night depending where the venue is. The drive from one place to another can be boring on the freeways or you take the longer way via normal Highway and stop at obscure places. Depending on where you go you should fly out of Europe to a major Airport. For example. I was thinking of Pittsburg, Milwaukee and Kansas City. The best Airport for us would be Chicago and all three places are more or less 8 hour drive which you can do leisurely in two off days when there are no concerts.
Compare to the west toll roads can be annoying from midwest all the way to the East. I would rather think that finding a decent place for the concert night may be more a problem as I assume that People will travel to those shows from a further distance living in the Country side or off urban regions.

Missoula 2006. From my history book (i.e. out of my memory):

Not to be confused with any of the 15 or so stops on this tour, but still such a great memory. I could write a book about it, but it does not belong here. Still, as some seem to question the reason for visiting a smaller city where the Stones are playing, I will do a short resume. The summary first: If you love the Stones, you will love them in these smaller cities, where EVERYBODY do know they are in town. Also, any city has it's own charm. Missoula had plenty of charm!

You know you are not arriving into a central city when you fly from Wichita with a stopover in Las Vegas and spend most of the day getting to Missoula. But it was all worth the travel. Usually you have 2-3 days in a city, but the stay in Missoula was four days. I stayed at the cheap hotel Red Lion Inn. No window behind my bed, and I soon found out next morning like 7am, there was a rarely used train track like 3 feed from my back wall.

Always walk over to the stadium to check out the life. Then you see plenty of these red trucks from a well known Chicago company. So you know you are in the right place. The Stones are in town.

I never got any beer in Missoula. Every time I asked some place they said they did not have any license at the moment. But like the server said at my local Chinese: "... but if you bring your own I do not see it".

The scenery and the river was beautiful. Mick said on stage how much he loved Missoula: "I shot an elk, but don't worry, I put it back".

My record low budget stay was indeed in Missoula. Next door was Safeway. I spent usually 10-20 dollars then per day, one day in Missoula I spent nothing, that is my zero record on Stones travel. Breakfast included and yesterday's bread from safeway.

The crowd was amazing, great, energic, loved the place, and I do still miss Missoula Montana in my heart.

To make a long story short: If you love the Stones, and if you love real normal people, real normal Stones fans, and just real normal daily life, then go on tour and enjoy any city they play in this summer. You will not regret it. See you on tour.





Bjornulf



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-16 21:00 by bv.

Carolyn-Don't let being on your own stop you. I am an older woman and I went alone to Philadelphia in 2013 and had an absolute blast. You will meet other rabid fans. No worry.

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DoomandGloom

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MisterDDDD
How Doomy and Gloomy do you have to be to be telling the inventor of the boards, the man who has seen the Stones in these or similar venues many times before, and who is stating that he is looking forward to again, that "with all due respect... you're wrong"...

Ridiculously doomy and gloomy if you ask me.

He can take a little argument from time to time. This is a discussion but I will let up I've said all I can say about the schedule and my hesitation to visit these cities. BTW.... You completely misquoted me so there's that.

I paraphrased your words/message accurately, that is clear.
Sorry, if your message was one you would rather not have clarified..

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JumpinJeppeFlash

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DeanGoodman

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JumpinJeppeFlash
Can anyone tell me if it would be dangerous for a european like me to travel alone to three or four shows in the US. I was thinking about Nashville, Orlando, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Are these dangerous cities?

No, it's not the 70s anymore. You find tourists in the strangest places everywhere, and Americans don't bite.

Nashville has a great new Johnny Cash Museum, and the eastern part has cool bars, and you could do a pilgrimage to the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Pittsburgh, as already mentioned, has the Warhol and a vibrant scene. (I have not done Atlanta in years, or Orlando at all.)

If anything, there is a general sameness to many American cities these days, so you have to do some digging if you want to see fabled Americana. Public transport may also not be up to European standards, as you see in Buffalo. If you have Uber + AirBnB, that might make life easier.

Many thanks Dean

Warhol museum sounds very interesting.

Warhol museum is definitely worth a few hours. Lots of good stuff there to peruse. Pittsburgh has enough to keep you interested for a day or two, it's a nice town that takes a long time to get to from anywhere.

I think you are being a little paranoid about safety in these cities. And, worse comes to worse, it is very easy to buy a handgun in any of them if you want to feel safe.

(just kidding. partially)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-16 21:01 by Rokyfan.

I have traveled all over the world, never any problems, just dress like the locals, dress down, leave anything that looks expensive at home, no Rolex needed or gold neckless, follow the same common sense you would do at home. NYC 1989 was a zoo and it was wild but after that every city every travel any place as been a walk in the park really.

Bjornulf

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DoomandGloom

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DeanGoodman

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DoomandGloom
With all respect to you BV I really doubt the cities listed are the cities European fans like yourself want to visit in The US this summer.

Depends how interested you are in life. Most of the cities are good for a day or 2 of sightseeing, or a road excursion, or just chilling. If you can survive Duesseldorf, you can survive Orlando. And I think budget-conscious European fans would be grateful to be in relatively low-cost areas, especially as the euro slides to USD parity.

You'll see how interested you are in life when you go out on the town in the summertime in Detroit. A city that is essentially a ghetto during what has become a race war in these places. The idea that ,any of these poorer places are low cost is also off the mark... The reverse is true, you'd want to stay in the very best hotel in a place like Buffalo on the outskirts you'll find a roadside motel will mix section 8 welfare tenants with travelers. Maybe a midnight after show snack in Pittsburgh is better spent in the fancy hotel bar than roaming the streets. Plus you have to get to these places by private car or taxi since most are on the outskirts. I hate to paint this picture of America's cities but almost all except NY, Boston and LA are loaded with guns, tourists are rare in most on the list.

I see you haven't been to Detroit in thirty years. Downtown Detroit is not essentially a ghetto. Nor is the Detroit Metro area a poorer place. There's more wealth than you could ever imagine in the Detroit Metro area.

In downtown Detroit there are three casinos and a fourth across the river in Windsor. There are two stadiums built in the past 15 years. There are over a dozen hotels that are either new or renovated in recent years, rates start at $120. There are dozens of pubs and sports bars. The downtown restaurant scene can rival any large city in the US - including steakhouses, Greek, French, Cuban, Mexican, Italian. The night life is vibrant with jazz, blues, techno. If you're into dive bars - Detroit has the best. There's Greektown with street vendors, a bakery open until 1am for baklava and fortune tellers, Mexicantown and the Eastern Market.

Detroit has a world class art museum - the Detroit Insitute of Arts. It's collection rivals collections in NYC, Boston, Chicago and Europe. There is also the Motown Museum - a little quirky, but fun. Campus Martius in the heart of the city has a beach with beach bar in the summer. Hart Plaza on the river has concerts all summer. There's a beautiful river walk. Belle Isle, which once rivaled Central Park is a little run down, but she's coming back to her former glory. If you like Art Deco architecture, you will love Detroit. The arts are alive in Detroit with ballet, opera and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The downtown is populated by Millennials who love their city.

If you're into urban decay and want to play among the old Packard factory or the old train station - Detroit has that too.

Transportation wise, most hotels are near the Peoplemover, an elevated train that can be taken to the stadium, Greektown, riverfront, theatre district. Several hotels have 24 hour shuttles that will drop and pick you up anywhere in a 5 mile radius for free. If you choose a hotel in Greektown, you can safely walk to and from Comerica Park or Ford Field. A car or taxi is not needed in downtown Detroit.

Outside the city is Dearborn with the Henry Ford Village and Museum. There's a Ford plant that can be toured. In Rochester there's the Meadowbrook mansion tour. In Birmingham there's a vibrant downtown shopping area where the Stones have been spotted strolling in the past.

Detroit hasn't had a race riot in over 40 years.

Pittsburgh is also a beautiful city set between three rivers and the Alleghany foothills. It has the Warhol Museum - seven floors packed with Warhol. An afternoon isn't enough time to see it. I once had a conversation with Taylor in Pittsburgh and he mentioned he wished he had more time in that city because he'd like to see it.

Columbus is another city that is not a ghetto. Lots of pretty areas around Ohio State University.

I've heard the Milwaukee lake and riverfront are beautiful and the architecture is wonderful. I've been told Buffalo is doing a great job in reviving it's downtown and the Niagara Falls with the Maid of the Mist is nearby. I haven't been to Minneapolis in years, but I remember it as a nice city with a good nightlife.

Atlanta is a pretty city too - but I remember it being sleepy at night. Nashville is wonderful. Orlando - who doesn't love Mickey? I've never been to Kansas City - but I hear the blues and bbq are good. I've only been to the airport in Dallas, but if the city is anything close to Houston, Galveston and San Antonio - it's great food, friendly people and clean.

And San Diego, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The view of the harbor from downtown is unlike any other harbor view. It would take a couple of weeks to experience everything San Diego has to offer.

I think the Europeans traveling the Great Lake states, the South, Texas and Kansas will have a wonderful time and will take home as many great memories of those cities as they would in NYC, San Francisco, Boston and LA.

It seems one travel route could be the following:

Nashville Wednesday- are there still or any hotels within walking distance of the stadium?
Thursday/Friday Memphis
Friday Night or Saturday/ Memphis to Orlando.

It seems this route could quite possibly be done without a rental car.

I do remember from my days of youth in Jacksonville (1998-1999) being able to go shows at the old Orlando Arena and walk back to hotel.

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Maindefender

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Dan

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alhavu1
No it is not. Why keep saying that?

Ooops, that's Citi Card.

It's either INGOLD or INPLATINUM.

I'm getting closer(I think. Haha) Another question: will the password be provided with the presale instructions? Sorry, but I'm a Citicard holder and will be using a friends account to get tickets

The Citicard password is usually the first six or eight digits of the credit card. Google Citicard password - Several will pop up.

Detroit Rocks.

The rotating digital billboards here have 8 different messages.
I spent my lunch break under a billboard...really.

This one might be my favorite!

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bv
Missoula 2006. From my history book (i.e. out of my memory):

Not to be confused with any of the 15 or so stops on this tour, but still such a great memory. I could write a book about it, but it does not belong here. Still, as some seem to question the reason for visiting a smaller city where the Stones are playing, I will do a short resume. The summary first: If you love the Stones, you will love them in these smaller cities, where EVERYBODY do know they are in town. Also, any city has it's own charm. Missoula had plenty of charm!

You know you are not arriving into a central city when you fly from Wichita with a stopover in Las Vegas and spend most of the day getting to Missoula. But it was all worth the travel. Usually you have 2-3 days in a city, but the stay in Missoula was four days. I stayed at the cheap hotel Red Lion Inn. No window behind my bed, and I soon found out next morning like 7am, there was a rarely used train track like 3 feed from my back wall.

Always walk over to the stadium to check out the life. Then you see plenty of these red trucks from a well known Chicago company. So you know you are in the right place. The Stones are in town.

I never got any beer in Missoula. Every time I asked some place they said they did not have any license at the moment. But like the server said at my local Chinese: "... but if you bring your own I do not see it".

The scenery and the river was beautiful. Mick said on stage how much he loved Missoula: "I shot an elk, but don't worry, I put it back".

My record low budget stay was indeed in Missoula. Next door was Safeway. I spent usually 10-20 dollars then per day, one day in Missoula I spent nothing, that is my zero record on Stones travel. Breakfast included and yesterday's bread from safeway.

The crowd was amazing, great, energic, loved the place, and I do still miss Missoula Montana in my heart.

To make a long story short: If you love the Stones, and if you love real normal people, real normal Stones fans, and just real normal daily life, then go on tour and enjoy any city they play in this summer. You will not regret it. See you on tour.

Thanks BV for your kind message about Missoula Montana. It is one beautiful area in our beautiful state. And the Stones show was a first time event for the state. The show was covered by media all over in our large state. And yes, many restaurants don't have liquor licenses, but the Safeway would as well as any gas station-convenience store. You are welcome back any time, and I can show you around my part of the state with its mountain ranges, rivers and historic sites such as the Little Bighorn Battlefield.


plexi

Older ladies traveling alone in the US is such a non-issue if you use common sense. I was alone at MSG Sept 2002, Newark Dec 2012, Anaheim May 2013 (I saw many other shows in between 2002-2013 - just not alone). Choosing a mid-range cost hotel will mean other people at your hotel are going to the show. On public transit, before & after the show you stay near/travel with the other fans who are not hard to spot (particularly after!). If you don't feel comfortable on transit, cab/Uber it. In the smaller cities I cannot imagine it being much different. Even if there is no public transit directly to the concert site, there will likely be shuttles.

I am always astounded by how far people will travel to come to these shows. And I love meeting them - it is truly a melting pot of people & cultures.

See you on the road!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-16 21:57 by LovingCupola.

Thanks for the Missoula memories Bjornulf. Nice post and great photo, you definitely have an artistic eye with your camera.

Sorry you couldn't find the beer in town you must not have looked that hard, there are about twenty places there brewing their own beer these days and a couple more in the works. Pretty good for a town with a population of 67,000. There will be more people at some of the shows this summer than in the whole town of Missoula.

peace