Concerts. 2021 and beyond.

Going to the inaugural Format Festival - a multi day visual and audio festival that the Waltons are funding and hoping will one day rival ACL, Lolla, Coachella, SXSW, etc. - tomorrow. The main musical headliners tomorrow are Phoenix and Fat Boy Slim.
Interesting festival, not sure fans of those types of bands will travel to Bentonville to see a festival set. I would suspect the Wal Mart employees that moved in and vendor community that supports their business in town may show up though. Look forward to a review.
 
Not sure where you live but The Revivalist do a free show in Hamilton at the outdoor amphitheater every summer. The lead singer is from there. It's always part of a mini festival they host. David Shaw's Big River Get Down.
Very cool, hope they continue to build their audience. I know I will be seeing them if the date works out in NEO.
 
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Interesting festival, not sure fans of those types of bands will travel to Bentonville to see a festival set. I would suspect the Wal Mart employees that moved in and vendor community that supports their business in town may show up though. Look forward to a review.
Calling it FyreFest would be a disservice but it was closer to FyreFest than it was ACL, Lolla, etc lol. Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion was probably a better comp than those larger festivals and this didn’t even hold Luck Reunion’s jock. I shouldn’t have been too surprised given it’s the first day of the inaugural festival but whew it was bad. Stages entirely too close to each other, we went to see a local guy who incorporates his cello with some electronic music and could barely hear him over the main stage, art installations were terrible (this surprised me most), not nearly as many food options as you would expect, and the Bizarre Bazaar was a fitting name. Sex therapy booth, another booth where a masked person sitting at a computer searches all of your social medias and then writes a paragraph about what the world thinks of you? It was weird.
 
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So I went to see an Earth, Wind, & Fire tribute act this past weekend; Let's Groove Tonight. Fun show with decent musicians and a couple good singers and while I am not a tribute band kind of person I see that they bring a lot of joy and memories to some folks, I guess there is nothing wrong with that. I was much more a P-Funk guy back in the '70s for my funk fix as EWF was more of a pop act but a good friend's wife wanted to have a fun night out so we took in a show, It's been a few weeks since I saw live music as sports has been the live event for me recently so this ws a nice change of pace.

By the way not a lot of major acts out on the road right now, most blew their load during the summer when everyone could be outside. Jam Bands, live music is in their DNA, have been playing shows though and doing very well but outside of Marcus King nothing of note coming to Ohio in this genre.
 
So I went to see an Earth, Wind, & Fire tribute act this past weekend; Let's Groove Tonight. Fun show with decent musicians and a couple good singers and while I am not a tribute band kind of person I see that they bring a lot of joy and memories to some folks, I guess there is nothing wrong with that. I was much more a P-Funk guy back in the '70s for my funk fix as EWF was more of a pop act but a good friend's wife wanted to have a fun night out so we took in a show, It's been a few weeks since I saw live music as sports has been the live event for me recently so this ws a nice change of pace.

By the way not a lot of major acts out on the road right now, most blew their load during the summer when everyone could be outside. Jam Bands, live music is in their DNA, have been playing shows though and doing very well but outside of Marcus King nothing of note coming to Ohio in this genre.
Saw the Wood Brothers last night in Kent. Outstanding show, Steve Poltz opened. Had never heard of him, but was outstanding. Wood Brothers put on an electric show...
 
Went with the wife to see Jo Dee Messina at a newer place in West Chester called Lori's Roadhouse. Messina can still sing and other than talking a little too much it was a good show and I was a fan of this new venue. Beers were only $5 for a 16 ouncer and mixed drinks and shots were $8. Reminded me somewhat of Bogart's , but not quite as big. Would definitely go there again if they had somebody I want to see.
 
Did anyone see CAAMP in Columbus last weekend? I was planning to grab a late aftermarket ticket, since I’m 10 minutes from Nationwide, but forgot I had dental surgery two days prior and so I needed to pass.

I saw someone above post they put on a horrible show recently and that blew me away because I’ve seen them twice and each time they were amazing.
 
Went to the Asleep at the Wheel concert last weekend at the Blue Gate in Shipshewana, Indiana. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
 
Going to see Old Crow Medicine Show December 29th at the TAFT theater in Cincinnati. Saw them at the 1st Bunbury festival like 7 years ago and they were awesome then.
 
Did anyone see CAAMP in Columbus last weekend? I was planning to grab a late aftermarket ticket, since I’m 10 minutes from Nationwide, but forgot I had dental surgery two days prior and so I needed to pass.

I saw someone above post they put on a horrible show recently and that blew me away because I’ve seen them twice and each time they were amazing.
That would be me. The wife and I are huge fans of the music and it was one of the acts we were looking forward to seeing at a large festival and they really fell short. In particular there just wasn't a lot of energy and the playing was so loose it was to the point were songs just kind of petered out at the end and the crowd didn't know if they should cheer because they were not sure if that was it. We will give them a try again primarily because the song craft is so strong.
 
Going to see Old Crow Medicine Show December 29th at the TAFT theater in Cincinnati. Saw them at the 1st Bunbury festival like 7 years ago and they were awesome then.
Saw them at the Grand Ole Opry and they were a ton of fun. They fit well into the Willie Outlaw Festival thing that is happening these days with folks like Jason Isbell, Brothers Osbourne, Margo Price, etc...
 
8 December, Hobart in Troy.
Night Ranger!!!!

Isnt there someone in here who slings drinks at Hobart as a PT gig?

Still looking into 1 Dec WASP in Versailles. Wasnt a huge fan of them, but did have a tape or two and Lawless' voice is awesome, and by his interviews they are bringing a massive show to these small venues.

Great White in January.
Stryper early spring i think in Versailles as well.

20 November, Warrant in Lima Ohio. Wonder if sales are slow on that, I already received an email about free tix through an organization I belong to. Unfortunately, probably in PIttsburgh for the game that night.
 
Taylor Swift will be touring stadiums next year and she has a date scheduled for Cincinnati on 7/1:

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This might not be the biggest place for Taylor Swift fans but if you know someone who digs this music it is a show to see. I took my daughters to a Taylor Swift concert a few years back and the energy she gave to the audience and what they gave back was incredible. Stage craft and backing band too were fantastic, I have it as one of the top pleasant surprise concerts I have seen in over 40 years of live music.
 
Taylor Swift will be touring stadiums next year and she has a date scheduled for Cincinnati on 7/1:

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This might not be the biggest place for Taylor Swift fans but if you know someone who digs this music it is a show to see. I took my daughters to a Taylor Swift concert a few years back and the energy she gave to the audience and what they gave back was incredible. Stage craft and backing band too were fantastic, I have it as one of the top pleasant surprise concerts I have seen in over 40 years of live music.
I've never been to a concert that big. What stands out to me is it's a full week between different cities. Is that normal for an act of this scope?
 
I've never been to a concert that big. What stands out to me is it's a full week between different cities. Is that normal for an act of this scope?
Some things on how a modern stadium concert routes:

  • Sometimes the gaps allow for additional shows in case there are quick sellouts. Say the 2 NYC shows sell out in a hour or so and in a couple days there are new additional dates added.
  • The gaps also allow for any potential bad weather reschedules. A big time summer storm is due through on the scheduled evening? PPD until the next day and all is usually OK.
  • Not sure on the days of the week but Thursday-Sunday is what sells best, tough to sell out these days for Monday-Wednesday shows.
  • For most stadium tours the stage set up these days is totally insane and requires more than 48 hours to get everything up and running.
But the biggest change that has occurred over the years is just like every business everything is outsourced. Traveling personnel is broken down into 3 levels: A) The headliner B) The backup performers and key personnel like sound guy and tour manager. C) The equipment techs and transportation. Everything else is now handled by local union guys that actually set up and run everything. To save $s it is cheaper to rent out an air B&B or small hotel near an executive airport and fly groups A&B to and from the venue for every performance, no more tour entourages crashing at the local Hyatt and trashing up the place. A big act actually chose Cleveland recently as a home base for some Midwest shows. They grabbed some open apartments downtown for the band and put up the rest at the Hampton on 9th street. Had everyone show up at Burke airport at a certain time and leased a jet to each show, came back that night and were tucked into bed before 1;00 AM. I can guarantee you Taylor Swift will be doing this method of touring.
 
Taylor Swift will be touring stadiums next year and she has a date scheduled for Cincinnati on 7/1:

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This might not be the biggest place for Taylor Swift fans but if you know someone who digs this music it is a show to see. I took my daughters to a Taylor Swift concert a few years back and the energy she gave to the audience and what they gave back was incredible. Stage craft and backing band too were fantastic, I have it as one of the top pleasant surprise concerts I have seen in over 40 years of live music.


I'm already prepared to be very poor in a few weeks when tickets go on sale.
 
I'm already prepared to be very poor in a few weeks when tickets go on sale.
Go and have some fun, she puts on a heck of a show. You also don't need to spend huge $s for close to the center/front of the stage tickets either, a good 1/3 of it is spent usually at a remote stage and on the far sides of the set up.
 
Go and have some fun, she puts on a heck of a show. You also don't need to spend huge $s for close to the center/front of the stage tickets either, a good 1/3 of it is spent usually at a remote stage and on the far sides of the set up.

I won’t be going, but my wife, kids, and their friends surely will.
 
I've never been to a concert that big. What stands out to me is it's a full week between different cities. Is that normal for an act of this scope?
Well it appears I was right and Taylor added 17 more shows to her tour, including an additional Cincy show, to fill in many of those off days. And the tour hasn't even technically gone on sale to the public, she is still only in presale mode for those that signed up for the verified fans sale.

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I am hearing she is going the Springsteen route and using dynamic pricing so while those nose bleed seats may start at $50 + fees but when the big demand kicks in they will sky rocket and could easily double and triple a minute or two after going on sale. (I love the reasoning that this helps guard against scalpers ripping off the consumer, yeah right.) Then there are the fees, Ticketmaster is looking to make up for lost revenue in 2020 & 2021 and with 2022 being uneven they are making anywhere from 25-50% of the face cost of the ticket their service fee. So in markets like NYC & LA those tickets that technically started at $50 face+$25 fees for a hot minute could be $150 face + $75 fees 5 minutes later. Platinum Seats are going well over $5.0K. And this is for a stadium show where they are selling anywhere from 50K-70K seats per show.
 
Snagged tickets for the Two Step Inn “festival” in Georgetown, TX in April. Headline for Saturday is Zach Bryan and Sunday is Tyler Childers. Beyond excited to see both. Also playing is T-Pain (lol), Uncle Crack (lol), Diplo (lol), Charles Wesley Godwin, David Lee Murphy, Midland, Travis Tritt, Blanco Brown, Hailey Whitters, Lonestar and about 2 dozen others.
 
Snagged tickets for the Two Step Inn “festival” in Georgetown, TX in April. Headline for Saturday is Zach Bryan and Sunday is Tyler Childers. Beyond excited to see both. Also playing is T-Pain (lol), Uncle Crack (lol), Diplo (lol), Charles Wesley Godwin, David Lee Murphy, Midland, Travis Tritt, Blanco Brown, Hailey Whitters, Lonestar and about 2 dozen others.
That's an eclectic line up, Zach Bryan is very hot in the adult rock world. I would also be up for a Diplo sit in with Travis Tritt.

By the way does anyone have a take on Jelly Roll? I think he would fit in musically and visually with many of the above acts. He played a a hard rock festival a good friend went to and she said Jelly Roll had the best set outside of head liners, he is smoking hot on the radio.
 
That's an eclectic line up, Zach Bryan is very hot in the adult rock world. I would also be up for a Diplo sit in with Travis Tritt.

By the way does anyone have a take on Jelly Roll? I think he would fit in musically and visually with many of the above acts. He played a a hard rock festival a good friend went to and she said Jelly Roll had the best set outside of head liners, he is smoking hot on the radio.
I've been a big fan of Jelly Roll for several years now. Prior to branching out into country he was an underground southern hip hop star. I've not had the opportunity to see him live but I know a few people who have and they all say he is great. He was suppose to be at Bogarts in 2020 with Tech9 when covid hit and Tech9 did the show later but Jelly Roll was replaced with another act. He's somewhere in Columbus early in December but I heard the show is already sold-out.

Just saw that Voices of America park in West Chester announced a big 3 day music festival August 11-13 with Dan and Shay, Old Dominion, Chris Young and Alabama as the headliners. So far Jake Owen, Lainey Wilson, Jodee Messina, Riley Green and several other up and comers have been announced as part of the lineup. VOA is less than 5 miles from my front door. Tickets for all three days are right at $200. I definitely be there that weekend.
 
Well it appears I was right and Taylor added 17 more shows to her tour, including an additional Cincy show, to fill in many of those off days. And the tour hasn't even technically gone on sale to the public, she is still only in presale mode for those that signed up for the verified fans sale.

FhSo-upWAAUc2ZG


I am hearing she is going the Springsteen route and using dynamic pricing so while those nose bleed seats may start at $50 + fees but when the big demand kicks in they will sky rocket and could easily double and triple a minute or two after going on sale. (I love the reasoning that this helps guard against scalpers ripping off the consumer, yeah right.) Then there are the fees, Ticketmaster is looking to make up for lost revenue in 2020 & 2021 and with 2022 being uneven they are making anywhere from 25-50% of the face cost of the ticket their service fee. So in markets like NYC & LA those tickets that technically started at $50 face+$25 fees for a hot minute could be $150 face + $75 fees 5 minutes later. Platinum Seats are going well over $5.0K. And this is for a stadium show where they are selling anywhere from 50K-70K seats per show.
Some of yall listen to Eddie Trunk on SXM and he rants about that dynamic pricing, as he should.

As he says (and he has managed bands etc) the artist usually wrings his hands of the pricing but in reality they have as much control over it as they want actually. Most just blame the broker and go about their business, but if they truly wanted to have reasonable prices....they could
 
Some of yall listen to Eddie Trunk on SXM and he rants about that dynamic pricing, as he should.

As he says (and he has managed bands etc) the artist usually wrings his hands of the pricing but in reality they have as much control over it as they want actually. Most just blame the broker and go about their business, but if they truly wanted to have reasonable prices....they could
Very true, Kid Rock is one artist that comes to mind that is very vocal about keeping concerts affordable for his fans.
 
Very true, Kid Rock is one artist that comes to mind that is very vocal about keeping concerts affordable for his fans.
Garth....all tix are teh same price and usually not terrible.

They make their $$ on the tours and most will gouge customers all the while blaming ticketmaster, etc etc etc.
 
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