It´s lovely to se them in those smaller venues vor 14.000 to 20.000.
And my romantic Stones-heart beleive they do it because they want to be closer to us this time.
But is this really the reason?
Is there any hint that the Stones won´t sell out stadiums in the US anymore?

I think that is a huge reason....their aging fan base doesn't like to stand or sit in huge outdoor stadiums for hours upon a time anymore like they did in the good ole' daze. I certainly wouldn't. But there is another reason for the high ticket prices as well.

#......Go ahead....Bite the Big Apple....Don't mind the Maggots.....Uh Huh...#

well, it's a little cold in december-january!!!!!!!!

I remember they played that open air Nascar racetrack in Fort Worth in November 1997. Acres and acres of all that concrete and it was bitter-ass cold. The place could have easily held 200,000 people or more but they somehow did manage to get 75,000 people to pay to go out there. Not bad for an outside venue that late in the year.

#......Go ahead....Bite the Big Apple....Don't mind the Maggots.....Uh Huh...#

Like any other band these days, their drawing power varies from market to market. They may not even be a stadium act in the bay area any more since they had to put Metallica on the bill to sell tickets.

i doubt they'd play chicago's soldier field in january!

umm winter, DUH!

DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep. DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. It's WINTER!!!!!!!

While winter is a main reason, the simple fact is that high ticket prices lower ticket demand. There are several cities with dome stadiums that they could have played in but instead chose to play the arena in the city: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Atlanta, Tampa, St.Louis, Montreal. Vancouver and Indianapolis both have domes but they're not playing either city. Also, cities like Seattle and Phoenix have new baseball stadiums with retractable roofs that they could have potentially played but instead played at the arenas.

Another factor probably is that they're getting old. I'm sure a smaller arena stage is alot easier for Mick as opposed to a huge stadium stage where he'll be dong alot more running around through the course of the show.

It has nothing to do with sales or age or anything. The reason why they run stadiums and then scale down to arena shows at the end of the tour is simply due to economics and logistics. They know they will do 50/50 stadium and arena. So they simply do the stadiums first, with a crew and trucks of 300 people, then they scale down the cost level to 25% and run the arena set of the tour. Simple tour logistics they follow on every tour.

Bjornulf

Hi Bjornulf,

Why wouldn't they have done this for Steel Wheels, Voodoo or the Babylon tour? All stadiums in North America. Cohl was the promoter for all of those. It was only when ticket prices started getting higher that they started playing arenas here. I guess bottom line is that if you charge high prices, you'll still make the same amount versus drawing huge stadium crowds but not charging that much!

Just a remark : did the current greatest and fastest selling rock act, namely U2, perform stadiums in the US during Vertigo ? No. Why ? Do not have the answer.

Regardless of why, prefer the arena shows...that's where they're at their best!

Not so sure of that. My best souvenirs are from stadium shows. Wembley notably.
To me, there is nothing comparable to a mass reaction when Keith comes in on SMU or Brown Sugar. And end up on JJF or SFM

Simple the US. has more areanas then europe and its pretty cold here from Nov. through about March.

Right.

duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! it's winter!!!!!!!1duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

======the simple fact is that high ticket prices lower ticket demand.=====

A certain drop-out of th London School of Economics understands this as well.

#......Go ahead....Bite the Big Apple....Don't mind the Maggots.....Uh Huh...#

jeez the idiots on this board, nobody is going to play stadiums in the @#$%& winter, just read bv's post it nakes perfect sense.

Well thanks for calling me an idiot, but reason still stands. There are domed stadiums around the country that they could still play in - case in point - they played the Superdome in December of 1981 and in late 1994. 80,000 people indoors in a stadium.

Bjornulf makes a good point for when they do stadiums earlier as well. I believe its a combination of all these factors - tour management strategy, aging fan base and ridiculous ticket prices that keep bigger venues to a minimum.

#......Go ahead....Bite the Big Apple....Don't mind the Maggots.....Uh Huh...#

Hi phd,

You're right about U2 playing arenas in North America, but you should add that in many cities, they played multiple nights. 5 shows in Toronto a couple months ago. How many Madison Square shows? Earlier this year when they hit Vancouver, they sold out 2 shows at GM Place in a matter of a few minutes, 37000 seats. Could have easily sold out 1 or 2 more shows. 2 shows in Seattle a couple days prior to that.

Can you imagine the demand for Stones tickets if they were to go for $100 a piece for best seats?

FOLKS EVERY EVERY YEAR AFTER THE STADUIM TOUR THEY DO A ARENA TOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY HAVE DONE THIS THE LAST 4 TOURS COME ON PEOPLE! ITS FREAKING SNOWING IN THE EAST COAST!!!!!!!! THEY SOLD OUT THE STADIUMS ALREADY!

I about froze my ass off at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in 1997.
I know it was at least 40 degrees
it was Oct ony a couple of weeks after Charlotte (which was a beautiful night)

In November 1989, they sold 2 nights at the Dallas Cotton Bowl...

Man it was a glorious night outside...weather was perfect....

#......Go ahead....Bite the Big Apple....Don't mind the Maggots.....Uh Huh...#

DGA35 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Bjornulf,
>
> Why wouldn't they have done this for Steel Wheels,
> Voodoo or the Babylon tour? All stadiums in North
> America.


I saw them in Arenas all three of these tours, 89 Atlantic city 16,000 94 and 97 vegas 14000 98 January MSG 19,000. Besides that I beleive No security was all arenas. Why you ask? It was in the @#$%& winter.DUUUUUUUH

Again, regardless of the weather, it comes down to ticket demand. Partly due to high prices and as well, they have toured alot in recent years. I previously mentioned several cities with domes that they could have played but instead played arenas. In those cities, they sold out the arenas but I'm wondering if the stadiums could have sold out. The tour could have been planned so you hit the northern cities first and finish off in the south very last so you're getting fairly decent weather throughout. For the band, I'm sure they enjoy playing smaller venues for a change of pace, and it's alot better for the fans.

DGA35 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> The tour could have been planned so you hit
> the northern cities first and finish off in the
> south very last so you're getting fairly decent
> weather throughout.


You have some valid points But as BV mentioned logistics. Most of the Stones tours in the states start late August or Early September. This is the last month of the Baseball season and the start of The football season for college and pro's. So the Stones have to factor in the schedules for all three of these leagues.

gut Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I remember they played that open air Nascar
> racetrack in Fort Worth in November 1997. Acres
> and acres of all that concrete and it was
> bitter-ass cold. The place could have easily held
> 200,000 people or more but they somehow did manage
> to get 75,000 people to pay to go out there. Not
> bad for an outside venue that late in the year.
>
> #......Go ahead....Bite the Big Apple....Don't
> mind the Maggots.....Uh Huh...#




They were set up to sell 150,000 tickets and only managed to sell about 40,000. With regards to logistics Ft.Worth was a disaster. There were big spaces on each side of the main stage and the small stage was set up on the race track with a large chain-link fence in front ten yards from the fans. Bright lights stayed on the right and left side bleachers where the Stones could easily see about 60,000 empty seats when they turned their heads. Where were those special $40.00 general admission seats that were suppose to be near the stage? Nowhere, they could not even sell all the reserved seats.
If you remember BestBUy put on a music fest just a few months before the Stones concert that was a disaster. The tickets were free from Best Buy and they did not expect the 300,000 people that showed up. All the hype about this Best Buy disaster is what many think kept most DFW Stones fans from attending. Oklahoma fans didn't make the trip because they had their own show in Norman, that must account for a serious loss of ticket sales for Ft.Worth that year.
To be fair to the Stones, they put on one hell of a show - EXCELLENT! It was cold, I think the digital sign at the entrance of the race track read 39F when the show was over.

Oh yes like they can play the super dome if I recall New Orleans is still a mess from a huricane. Plus most dome Stadiums suck as far as sound goes.