I don't think it's ridiculous, stickydion. The majority of people who attend a Stones show anymore are 1) fans like us who have adored the band for decades, and 2) people who go just to say that they saw them. I really believe that the last three tours were made up mainly of the latter, which is why they were so successful. During the 90s, the Stones were a legendary cultural attraction, and yuppies with money just wanted to see what all the historical fuss was about.

Today it's a totally different story. The casual fans are out because of the ticket prices (which says a mouthful about their true interest level in the first place), a lot of wealthy yuppies are out because they've already seen them, and kids between the ages of 18 and 25 -- who would otherwise sell every one of their belongings to see, say, Radiohead or Coldplay -- just don't consider a Stones concert worth listening to.

The bottom line is, it comes down to the music. If the Stones were still cranking out brilliant, soulful, hardcore rock n roll, people would definitely notice and the shows would sell out. But the fact is, the Stones aren't doing their part anymore to attract them.



-- Keep on rollin'. Keep on. Keep on. Keep on. --

I read a funny story about Jagger and some of the band riding around in a van somewhere on the 81 tour asking people what the scalpers were getting for the tickets. (I'm certain this story is common knowledge for some) Jagger has always wanted the tickets to reflect the true street value. He has found it!

AC/DC did a full headline stadium tour of Europe 2001 including playing to 70,000 in Hockenheim. Metallica has headlined stadium shows in the bay area.

AC/DC's Stiff Upper Lip DVD is from a sold out Olympic Stadium in Munich. If I recall, they did their usual arena tour and then came back for a stadium tour in the summer.

correct!

As I said, I am happy that they are on the road again. But for my taste it's one year to early. There are a lot of one time concert goers who spend an evening for about what ever $$$ for the ticket, BUT only once. So for this time it was perhaps U2. Remember that on the last tours there was not that much competition around, especially during Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle and Voodoo Lounge. Already BTB and Security had open spots. Licks was very good promoted with the 40 Licks as a lot of people believed it would be the last tour. Mind you in Munich on the opening of the European leg there was one section completely empty. And on the day of the concert you could get tickets for stadium down to 10 euros even in Germany.

At there age....you have to do it while you still can. I am a bit surprised they decided to do the stadium shows.....they could easily fill arenas. I suppose they figure the people who are going to see them (like me) will pay any price and the ones who are on the fence wouldn't even buy a $50 ticket.

any way still a great run but i agree this is a soft concert season

More encouraging never have been spoken. I intend to see all the Southern California shows and can't afford to pay the face value for these shows. I have the first night Bowl show so far that's it. It gets expensive when you have a wife for whom to buy a ticket and she doesn't even really know the Stones too well. She's originally from the southern part of Mexico.

Charles Baudelaire
1821-1869

i agree with the consensus here. the stones could easily sell out nearly any venue if those tix were capped off. i didn't even want to take my girlfriend because i knew it was like a $500 evening!! that really is outrageous. if it costs this much for a cool stage and all the trappings, i'd rather they play a theatre for 2 nights, knock the price down and just concentrate on the band and music like keith richards did in '88 and early '93. there would be nothing wrong at all with that. no one, sports, broadway or rock is worth tix that are that high...period.

also, a lot of young people who i know would love to see the stones but just can't swing it and that's a shame because that would lead to more exposure and better sales of their music ultimately.

I'm overwhelmed. Still bought tickets for Pittsburgh......
Hi Monkey Man

andy js Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
>
> AC/DC headline Hockenheim themselves when they
> tour Germany. not to mention the likes of
> Donington Festival in the UK which holds more than
> Twickenham / Wembley Stadium
>
>
> then why would they open for anyone then
>

Hi Marcia ma dear. I hope you have a ball in Pittsburgh. :0)

stickydion

Comparisons of the seventies are a little too old to bother bringing into the topic I think. But that said, my point is that the Stones would be selling at least double - probably more if the tickets were reasonably priced.
This is common sense.

As for “You mention AC/DC and Metallica. So what?”.
I answered the question in my initial post.

These bands are brought in to assist with ticket sales at some shows. The bigger the band the more likely that sales will increase. Again common sense.

Do you think that in Germany 2003 that ticket sales (to shows that had appauling tix sales) would have increased if you’d brought in the Black Eyed Peas? I don’t think so. So they brought in one of the biggest bands in the world – AC/DC.

As for “OK, if the australian rockers are SO popular, i suppose they will do a stadium tour in Europe to attract atleast 1.5 million people... MMmm??”
The answer is they’d do it without blinking an eyelid. I'm surprised you're unaware of this.

As for the Vertigo comparison, thanks for the breakdown but I’d sort of already worked that one out all by myself. The tours could only be comprehensively compared attendance wise once each of the respective tours were finished.

>” Monkey Man, yes, U2 is the "heaviest selling band on Earth" if you talk about album sales. But as live act, the Stones are by far #1. And the high ticket prices (in the USA), even being a annoying factor, even we hate it, is a figure of the popularity of the Stones.”

Agree with all the above.
Hence this leads to my point that the sales thus far are embarrassing because the Stones ARE the #1 live act.
The lack of demand for what one would expect of the Stones - along with the lack of speed (in general) that these tickets are selling (or rather not selling at) -is testament to the outrageous prices they are charging.

Leyeter gets the point with...” The problem is not how many people are going to be there...But how much do "I" have to pay.....I rather pay 60£ for the pitch and get there early and asure a good spot and not have to pay 450USD...”

And Tom Bluespeyer baby - no dingo has stolen all my bootlegs this time! hahaha. :0)


kyle m

Have you ever lent somebody $20 and never seen them again? It was probably worth it.

Karl knows what he's on about....

>"When you're talking about ticket sales, you have to talk about the primary market (Ticketmaster) and the secondary market (brokers, ebay, news listservs, etc.). Just because Ticketmaster is out of tickets for a show does not mean all the seats are filled. As Kyle states, there are a lot of tickets available in the secondary markets that are being offered at near list price, and it's doubtful that they will get any more expensive as the show date nears. Prices have definitely curbed some of the demand this time around."

>I wonder how excited the credit card companies get when the Stones go on tour?"
hahaha.

kyle m

Have you ever lent somebody $20 and never seen them again? It was probably worth it.

I don't care who is supporting the Stones, I don't care about ticket prices, - I only go to see the greatest band on Earth!!!

"The drummer thinks that he is dynamite..."

Poor ticket sales = brokers in trouble = lower prices. At least I sure hope so.

BTW in the US, despite the hype & tour, U2's album has been outsold - latest album near bottom (# 187) of top 200 after 35 weeks - by Green Day, still # 28 after 44 weeks on chart. BUT U2 can still outsell GD on tour. Eminem, who has managed to sell over 3 mil of his current cd, is not selling out on tour - 11 thousand out of 20,000 in Columbus!! I've said it before, others have fleshed out similar ideas, but Most people I know, folks not obsessive about getting tix any way they can, heard the shows were SOLD OUT, or saw in the Boston Herald "Tickets Going For 3,500$ - & will go higher!" (banner headline), or like me tried T'master, Fenway site, etc, many times & came up empty - announcing that the tour was sold out in May has likely hindered sales, as people just stop trying, too much of a hassle. Plus the 'idea' of $450 ticket prices (even though most are $163 or less) is another turnoff. And the high end prices have got a LOT of publicity & criticism.

I'll get the new cd and look for boots but I refuse to pay the prices this time around. I saw them 3 times on the VooDoo tour and in Detroit for each tour since. I'm very unhappy to be missing them but I just won't/can't do it this time.

Hi Mellilo,

AC/DC opened for the Stones at the personal request of Keith. As most here know, Angus and Malcolm joined them onstage in Australia and that lead to the invitation to join them for a couple European shows as well as the SARS event in Toronto. Keith has said he's always been a fan of their music.
AC/DC weren't touring at the time and weren't in studio so they agreed to. Judging from the clips I've seen, they seemed to enjoy the shows, and it looked like the bands got along really well. As Brian said in an interview backstage in Toronto as to why AC/DC was there, he said,"Because when Keith asks, you do!"
Stones are probably the only band AC/DC would consider opening for, although if Paul McCartney were to ask (however unlikely that would be), I'm sure they'd seriously consider that, too.

I thought that in particular that Rock Me Baby from the Sydney club show (video posted on rs.com) with the Young boys was among the top 2-3 highlights of the entire tour....goosebump stuff. "Bash it out" indeed....