I've heard rumors that opening night sales in Boston were very poor. As a matter of fact the sales may be so poor they might have to cancel opening night of the North American tour.

Is this true? I thought the Boston market was a hot bed for the Stones?I know they have already played there 4 times in the last year.

But a stadium with nobody in it on opening night could signify the end of the Stones. And would be a huge embarrassment.

How are sales really going?

Sorry, have no clue. Anyway, I find it unbelievable the way we empathise with the Stones. Oh God, they might not fulfill another stadium! Shall we start a fundraiser so we could pay unemployed people to go see the Stones? They might be so sad if the stadium is empty!

It's a bit like wanting their records to be number 1 in the charts in order for everyone to know that the Stones are still the biggest band. But if they were number 1, then it would mean that everybody already knows since everybody would have bought the record!

I don't care if the stadium is empty. If they really want to play music, there will always be us 40 000, spread throughout the world, ready to listen, and maybe they'll stop playing stadiums, which is by itself an insult to fans, stadiums being made for other purposes, having very poor acoustics and no visibility for 95% of the spectators. Let them roll without gathering any moss for once, it can only do you good in the end - and if it makes them quit, then it will tell enough about their motivation for you to have no regrets.

James Kirk Wrote:
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> I've heard rumors that opening night sales in
> Boston were very poor. As a matter of fact the
> sales may be so poor they might have to cancel
> opening night of the North American tour.
>
> Is this true? I thought the Boston market was a
> hot bed for the Stones?I know they have already
> played there 4 times in the last year.
>
> But a stadium with nobody in it on opening night
> could signify the end of the Stones. And would be
> a huge embarrassment.
>
> How are sales really going?


REALLY badly

The stadium will be packed to capacity by showtime, how many of those tickets will be freebies is open to discussion.

How many have they sold as of today?

James Kirk Wrote:
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> I've heard rumors that opening night sales in
> Boston were very poor. As a matter of fact the
> sales may be so poor they might have to cancel
> opening night of the North American tour.
>
> Is this true? I thought the Boston market was a
> hot bed for the Stones?I know they have already
> played there 4 times in the last year.
>
> But a stadium with nobody in it on opening night
> could signify the end of the Stones. And would be
> a huge embarrassment.
>
> How are sales really going?

see Comerica 2005.

What happened at Comerica?

James Kirk, lets suppose that the stadium will be not packed to capacity by showtime, as LSTNT anticipates. Lets suppose that they will have 75%- 80% of the capacity (less than it? I doubt). So what? When this northamerican round will be finished, the Stones will have attract an amazing number: 2.2 - 2.5 million people in USA and Canada since 2005.

Contrary to otonneau, i care a lot about every figure of their popularity. I bet i care more than you! But i feel very tired of this untenable "catastrofism" on the board. Same talk a year ago. "Poor ticket sales", "this american tour will be a disaster", blah, blah. And what happened? The Stones played so far to 1.5 million people in US- Canada!

Once again, "the end of the Stones...". Do you think this will come after a badly selling gig? I don't. It didn't came in 1982, when for their second Olympiastadion (Munich) concert had been sold only 50,000 tickets out of 72,000. In contary, then the Stones did the first really massive worldwide tour in their history, playing to 3.5 million people.
The end didn't came after anyone of the gigs which had been canceled due to slow ticket sales: Turin 1990 (Year and country of World Cup), Gijon 1998, Stade De France II, Marseilles and Lyon in 1998. Yes, three out four gigs in France (World Cup again) had been canceled! But then the Stones did another successful tour. So see global, not only local...

After so many gigs and tours in the last years, with these ticket prices, we must be crazy expecting fast ticket sales everywhere. I say it once again: now the main question about sales is "how much", not "how fast". If the answer to the first one will be, at the end of the tour, "4.5 million" or so, who gives a shit about a few badly selling concerts?

BTW, for their standards a bad situation is a percentage like 80% (attedance/capacity), right? At the end of 2003, i saw Billboard's statistics about the tours. And i noticed: Stones 98.6%, Springsteen 97.2% (...) Pearl Jam 82.9%, Aerosmith- Kiss 82.3%, RHCP 80.3%, Mettalica 71% ... Acts witch, as you know, are performing usualy in much smaller venues than the Stones do. But when the Stones are selling 85% or 90% of a gig in Germany, where the band gave 43 concerts since 1989, in the summer of World Cup, a lot of us scream "disaster", "the end comes". WE MUST BE CRAZY!

James Kirk Wrote:
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> What happened at Comerica?

Poor sales made to look respectable thanks to a serious level of 'papering' of the venue

If Gazza says it is bad, it must really be bad.
They made some big mistakes with the prices this time around, in my opinion...

Lorenz Wrote:
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> If Gazza says it is bad, it must really be bad.
> They made some big mistakes with the prices this
> time around, in my opinion...


Yes.This is not the first time. To that must be added the fact that they play a lot of Boston shows these past years. What could have been a fantastic " au revoir " might turn to a disaster. After Austerlitz one year ago, Waterloo !!!Where is Grouchy ? They really play with our nerves. Cut those suicidairal prices.

Sapporo Japan takes the cake, though. I was not there, but fans were reporting that Tower Records and other chains were holding in-store promotions giving away 2 tickets (value approx $280) with the purchase of a Stones CD. Then, a few days before the show, 2 tickets with the purchase of any CD.

The show wont be cancelled. I think they are taking advantage of the stadium owners who might be relatively inexperienced in concert promotion. I think Cohl hustled a massive guarantee up front regardless of the amount of tickets sold. It means the Stones get paid their $5 million no matter how many people show up. If Gillette did a bit of research they would have found out the January shows in Boston only sold about 25,000 tickets when more than 28,000 were available. Remember, this is an in house promotion, Live Nation isn't involved or else Boston might have been passed over this leg.

Comerica Park in Detroit was a tough sell in 2005. First being that with the highest unemployment rate in the country; the Detroit metro area has the worst economy in the entire United states. Secondly the show was on a Wednesday night leading into Labor Day wekend. The Stones had no trouble selling out Ford Field when they played there during the Licks Tour in 2002. The show was on a Saturday night and it became the event of the year for this area. It was one of the best stadium shows that year of the entire Lick Tour.

I am still hoping for the Windsor show that still could happen. If it is on a weekend it will be a sell-out.

Detroit Rock City is a STONES TOWN!!

Hey gengiant90, should I infer from your moniker that you are a fan of Gentle Giant?
If so, we must be the only two on this board!!

Just did a quick search. And it looks like the only tickets for sale in Boston are in the $350 range as well as the $60 range.

The best and worst seats are all you can buy at this point. There is nothing on the floor in the $150 range. As well as the $97 range.

Since there are always $350 tickets for sale. It looks like ticket sales might not be as bad as some people have suggested.

Just did a search for mezzanine level and got a 150 $ imediately, the same with floor seating - actually B5 - so James Kirk one more try....

Ooop's your right about the $150 Mezzanine level. But there are no $150 seats on the floor left.

No gengiant is from my nickname gentle giant in college. I guess being 6"5 and mild mannered is why. Although I did use to watch the Gentle Giant show growing up.

Don't be fooled by the TM inventory. Cohl pulls inventory all time to give the illusion of a better selling show.. The day of the 1st sales you could pull 12 seats in a row anywhere in the satdium all day, that night you could not pull a single, this is ticketmaster/Cohl games to the max.

Let's hope the sales are worse than slow - it's time to stop ripping off the fans

James Kirk Wrote:
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> Ooop's your right about the $150 Mezzanine level.
> But there are no $150 seats on the floor left.


They'll be able to sell the cheap seats and they'll be able to sell the expensive seats that are near the stage

the key to how its really selling is how the "ordinary but very expensive" seats are selling - ie, the ones that arent near the stage but which are being sold for $450 etc. Sales on those kind of seats so far are very slow. As they should be. On the first day of sales it was VERY easy to get seats anywhere

LSTNT Wrote:
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> Don't be fooled by the TM inventory. Cohl pulls
> inventory all time to give the illusion of a
> better selling show.. The day of the 1st sales
> you could pull 12 seats in a row anywhere in the
> satdium all day, that night you could not pull a
> single, this is ticketmaster/Cohl games to the
> max.


How does this work? Do they hold back tickets?

It's a pitty "ticketmaster" doesn't have the same function as "eventim", where you cold get a view of the stadium and see how many tickets actually were sold.... that was a very good feature by "eventim".....

I believe Radio Shack is somehow involved in promoting this - no idea how big they are, but they have stores in the New England region.

country honk Wrote:
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> It's a pitty "ticketmaster" doesn't have the same
> function as "eventim", where you cold get a view
> of the stadium and see how many tickets actually
> were sold.... that was a very good feature by
> "eventim".....

Ticketmaster outlet representatives can enter a command called "open seating" to find out where seats are available.

"Ticketmaster outlet representatives can enter a command called "open seating" to find out where seats are available."

But a person like you and me can't see it, right?

Considering that this tour already rolled through here recently, the idea of $450 tickets is tough to consider as being reasonable. I will probably end up going to see them in Chicago, but I am in no hurry to get tickets for this one especially for yet another big outdoor gig. I think this card has been way overplayed to the audience they are seeking. However, I am glad they still want to be out touring and everyday these guys hit the stage is a good one. $450 though is F**&&^%$%$ outrageous for front end seats.

john r Wrote:
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> I believe Radio Shack is somehow involved in
> promoting this - no idea how big they are, but
> they have stores in the New England region.
they are the schlitz beer of audio (see Who 1982 tour)

This discussion has gone on since Voodoo Lounge...yet every show I have attended from Voodoo Lounge on (7) has been packed to the rafters--except one stadium show in 1994 in Columbia, South Carolina...there were about 10,000 empty seats at the end of the stadium. A very odd--and, for me, sad--sight. I bought friends who had never seen them before and it was REALLY embarrassing, after all my years of raving. They didn't play well either and it was the worst show I've ever seen them do since my first show in 1975--of COURSE. And also--of course--they never came back, and my friends never wanted to see them again either. I think there were 4 or 5 other shows that weren't sell-outs on that tour--in places like Turkey! I hope never to see them again where the place doesn't at least LOOK sold-out.

U2 played to a stadium in the Carolinas where only the floor and the first level were filled...the top levels were completely empty. So, it's not always a measure of the popularity of a band. The Stones still do better than anyone, anywhere, ever.

ARE THEY COMING TO ATLANTA OR NOT?