Concerts. 2021 and beyond.

A lot of festivals announcing this past week, too many to list here but I will list some locals that may be of interest. What is interesting to me is the amount of pop, R&B, and hip hop acts that are turning what was the domain of jam bands and heavy metal acts into a hipster scene. Much of this is probably tied to the VIP experiences and the to be part of an "in thing" as I cannot see Lizzo fans dealing with multiple unrelated acts and a limited stage show that makes the music the primary focus and not the spectacle.
 
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Bourbon & Beyond is my favorite festival and they announced a very eclectic bill that features multiple genres of music; I mean the following is covered if you go all 4 days: Rock, Alternative Rock, New Wave, Americana, Jam Bands, Bluegrass, Country, Pop, R&B, Soul, Traditional Blues, Modern Blues, Disco, & Las Vegas Show. In what kind of world on the same day you can see the hottest lesbian pop act, Brandi Carlisle, share a bill with the hottest jam band performer, Billy String? Also who would have thought Wayne Newton would be playing on the same stage and below the Killers? Finally because of the success of Brandi Carlisle's set last year it looks like they have decided to go in a more pop focus for the last day as opposed to the traditional outlaw country of Chris Stapleton or Zach Brown who have held this position down he last couple of years. Probably will still go for all four days but not very enthused about the Sunday bill:

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Columbus' Wonderbus announced today and yet another festival that is all over the map. Never would have thought a club like act in Pitbull would be at the same festival as Caamp.

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Original Goth Rockers The Cure will be playing Blossom in June:

www.clevescene.com

The Cure To Play Blossom in June

A portion of the proceeds from the show will benefit the Rock Hall
www.clevescene.com www.clevescene.com

The Cure noted in a tweet: "THE CURE HAVE AGREED ALL TICKET PRICES, AND APART FROM A FEW HOLLYWOOD BOWL CHARITY SEATS, THERE WILL BE NO ‘PLATINUM’ OR ‘DYNAMICALLY PRICED’ TICKETS ON THIS TOUR."

See big name bands, it is that easy to be fan friendly.
 
Auggie said:
Bourbon & Beyond is my favorite festival and they announced a very eclectic bill that features multiple genres of music; I mean the following is covered if you go all 4 days: Rock, Alternative Rock, New Wave, Americana, Jam Bands, Bluegrass, Country, Pop, R&B, Soul, Traditional Blues, Modern Blues, Disco, & Las Vegas Show. In what kind of world on the same day you can see the hottest lesbian pop act, Brandi Carlisle, share a bill with the hottest jam band performer, Billy String? Also who would have thought Wayne Newton would be playing on the same stage and below the Killers? Finally because of the success of Brandi Carlisle's set last year it looks like they have decided to go in a more pop focus for the last day as opposed to the traditional outlaw country of Chris Stapleton or Zach Brown who have held this position down he last couple of years. Probably will still go for all four days but not very enthused about the Sunday bill:

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Looks good....Wayne Newton? LOL
 
Auggie said:
Columbus' Wonderbus announced today and yet another festival that is all over the map. Never would have thought a club like act in Pitbull would be at the same festival as Caamp.

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A homecoming headliner for Caamp as they have roots in Upper Arlington.

I'd stay far far away from that Friday lineup, but Sunday should be outstanding. Brittany Howard has some absolute pipes. Saint Motel and Portugal are essentially clones in my head canon, but they're both fun and bouncy.
 
Auggie said:
Original Goth Rockers The Cure will be playing Blossom in June:

www.clevescene.com

The Cure To Play Blossom in June

A portion of the proceeds from the show will benefit the Rock Hall
www.clevescene.com www.clevescene.com

The Cure noted in a tweet: "THE CURE HAVE AGREED ALL TICKET PRICES, AND APART FROM A FEW HOLLYWOOD BOWL CHARITY SEATS, THERE WILL BE NO ‘PLATINUM’ OR ‘DYNAMICALLY PRICED’ TICKETS ON THIS TOUR."

See big name bands, it is that easy to be fan friendly.
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There's a reason they chose Robert Smith to be the hero in that early South Park episode to fight mecha-Streisand.
 
Got my Cure tickets but when I tried to get pavilion seats entire sections disappeared as quickly as I clicked them, probably because they were only $50. Still got lawn seats @ $40 each with only $11 in fees; in this day and age for a tour like this that is an incredible price. Also Ticketmaster agreed to not allow transfers of tickets if they exceed face value. A lot of folks are pushing back on the big names that could have gone this route, Taylor Swift looks disingenuous now trying to sympathize with the Swifties who got shut out. If she allowed a flat cost and not dynamic pricing along with no transfer above face policy her fans would have gotten plenty of good tickets. Doubt any big names get on this train but at least one act is doing this.
 
Auggie said:
Got my Cure tickets but when I tried to get pavilion seats entire sections disappeared as quickly as I clicked them, probably because they were only $50. Still got lawn seats @ $40 each with only $11 in fees; in this day and age for a tour like this that is an incredible price. Also Ticketmaster agreed to not allow transfers of tickets if they exceed face value. A lot of folks are pushing back on the big names that could have gone this route, Taylor Swift looks disingenuous now trying to sympathize with the Swifties who got shut out. If she allowed a flat cost and not dynamic pricing along with no transfer above face policy her fans would have gotten plenty of good tickets. Doubt any big names get on this train but at least one act is doing this.
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Tried to get pavilion had same issue, sections were gone in seconds. Debating on lawn seats now.
 
Was able to schedule some business in the Cincinnati area last week and saw Billy String at the Brady Ctr on 3/16.

First up I like these new modern larger theaters that are trending in the concert business. While we all love the look and feel of an old school theater the logistics for a modern music concert are not there in these buildings. The Brady has an open floor concept which for shows that are more about being on your feet this is much better than having to deal with those narrow aisles and seats at an older building. Also these buildings tend to be a bit bigger and have ample concession and bathroom facilities. Also large ceiling fans moving the air is a smart touch and kept the climate more bearable.

As for the show Billy String is a modern guitar God and his fans were treated to a fine example of his chops. To me it feels like he has 2 shows in 1; he played over 20+ tunes of traditional Bluegrass music that accounted for about 60% of the time, the balance of the 6 tunes were full on jam band style open-ended songs that filled up the other 40% of the time. Both worked well and the fans seemed to like both genres but I could see him peaking at the current core audience and not really ever gaining much main stream success unless it is as a lead guitarist with another act or a sit in with a big name. That's fine with me as I am one of those fans and would much rather see him playing places like the Brady or Rose than have to deal with the "in" crowd at Riverbend. I will be seeing him again in CLE and Bourbon & Beyond this year so I will get my fix.

A little Crystal Gayle:

Followed by a big Billy Strings jam vehicle:
 
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Less than a month until The Two Step Inn in Georgetown, TX. Still very excited for the headliners in Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan in addition to some of the side acts. I was intrigued with TPain as I know, despite coming to fame via a heavily auto tuned voice, he is incredible talented vocally, instrumentally, etc. and have heard it on NPR’s Tiny Desk and a few other acoustic performances floating around the internet. However I’m almost as excited to see TPain as the headliners after listening to his new album, On Top of the Covers, which is predominately his actual singing voice in lieu of his heavily auto tuned voice. He covers the likes of Chris Stapleton, Sam Cooke, Journey and Frank Sinatra.
 
Orin Swift said:
Less than a month until The Two Step Inn in Georgetown, TX. Still very excited for the headliners in Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan in addition to some of the side acts. I was intrigued with TPain as I know, despite coming to fame via a heavily auto tuned voice, he is incredible talented vocally, instrumentally, etc. and have heard it on NPR’s Tiny Desk and a few other acoustic performances floating around the internet. However I’m almost as excited to see TPain as the headliners after listening to his new album, On Top of the Covers, which is predominately his actual singing voice in lieu of his heavily auto tuned voice. He covers the likes of Chris Stapleton, Sam Cooke, Journey and Frank Sinatra.
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One of the hottest tickets in the concert business is Tyler Childers. He helped make the Railbird Festival in Lexington a sellout and his sold out show in Cleveland this June is close to $300 a ticket on the resale market. He is drawing not only from the fans of country music but also the Americana hipsters, that is a good combo to make some coin on the road.

Sitting in with Bob Weir:
 
And this just came in my inbox this morning:

You're getting a partial refund


For your recent order for The Cure, you will receive a partial refund of $10.00 per ticket.

This is all thanks to Robert Smith.

No action is needed on your part. Your tickets are still valid, and your seats have not changed. You will automatically receive this partial refund which is already in process. It's common for this to take 7-10 business days to show up in your bank account
The Cure
Blossom Music Center
Sunday, June 11, 2023 at 7PM
Ticketmaster Fan Support
 
I came here to ask if I could just go see CAAMP and not all the other acts at Wonderbus. I’m assuming I can buy a ticket for Sunday only and come later, planning to stand way in the back. I miss CAAMP playing the Newport, where I’m 30-40 feet away; with three extra tickets that I couldn’t even give away.
 
Auggie said:
Bourbon & Beyond is my favorite festival and they announced a very eclectic bill that features multiple genres of music; I mean the following is covered if you go all 4 days: Rock, Alternative Rock, New Wave, Americana, Jam Bands, Bluegrass, Country, Pop, R&B, Soul, Traditional Blues, Modern Blues, Disco, & Las Vegas Show. In what kind of world on the same day you can see the hottest lesbian pop act, Brandi Carlisle, share a bill with the hottest jam band performer, Billy String? Also who would have thought Wayne Newton would be playing on the same stage and below the Killers? Finally because of the success of Brandi Carlisle's set last year it looks like they have decided to go in a more pop focus for the last day as opposed to the traditional outlaw country of Chris Stapleton or Zach Brown who have held this position down he last couple of years. Probably will still go for all four days but not very enthused about the Sunday bill:

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I’ve been listening to Paolo Nutini for a long time. I’d be surprised if someone here knows him as I’ve never seen him mentioned. Ryan Bingham…it was probably 2009 when I first saw him. It was four guys in a van setting up all their own stuff, playing for 50-75 people. Now, he’s got a Grammy and is on one of the hottest TV shows going. My how times change. I smoked a bowl with him before he played and then hung out with Elijah and his drummer afterwards in the basement of some small joint in Indy. That’s how new they were to the touring scene.
 
Auggie said:
www.yahoo.com

How Robert Smith, rock’s greatest contrarian, became Ticketmaster’s worst enemy

It ranks as one of the music’s industry’s least likely victories. Robert Smith, the 63-year-old frontman of British goth-pop band The Cure, has forced global concert giant Ticketmaster into a very public climbdown over the fees it charges fans when they buy tickets. Even Taylor Swift, the...
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com
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Saw some screenshots of people buying tickets to this on Twitter and it was insane. Regular ticket price was $80 and then another $80-90 in fees
 
Steel Valley FB said:
I came here to ask if I could just go see CAAMP and not all the other acts at Wonderbus. I’m assuming I can buy a ticket for Sunday only and come later, planning to stand way in the back. I miss CAAMP playing the Newport, where I’m 30-40 feet away; with three extra tickets that I couldn’t even give away.
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You can pull a Sunday only ticket to take in the Caamp set, I would get it sooner rather than later as they do raise ticket costs when they hit certain benchmarks in sales. I have done a handful of the "Wonder" festivals and they are a good introductory type festival with a manageable sized crowd and easy logistics. For this festival I bring a blanket and a low profile folding beach chair and set up a "camp" area towards the back of the grounds where I can still here the music and have a view of the screens showing the music acts. When I want to see someone I just work my way up to the stage, this isn't a massive heavy metal or punk festival so I can usually get very close to the stage if I want and still have enough room to boogie to the tunes. Also if sunny and hot bring a water bottle and an umbrella, there is little shade at this site and even in the early evening it can be hot and dry.

But if you get a ticket for the entire day why not check out a couple other bands? My suggestion is once they announce the start times of the various acts to get there at the start of Brittany Howard's set and take it in, she is a heck of a guitar player and plays a festival friendly soul/funk set that easy to groove to if you are not familiar with the music. Portugal. The Man is a little more "pop" but you will know a couple of their hits and they do play known covers during their festival set. Again this is not a high energy day of music so if you want you can probably get close to the stage for Caamp's set, especially in the 2nd half when folks that have been there all day start to peel off because there are just out of gas.

Hope to see you there.
 
Steel Valley FB said:
I’ve been listening to Paolo Nutini for a long time. I’d be surprised if someone here knows him as I’ve never seen him mentioned. Ryan Bingham…it was probably 2009 when I first saw him. It was four guys in a van setting up all their own stuff, playing for 50-75 people. Now, he’s got a Grammy and is on one of the hottest TV shows going. My how times change. I smoked a bowl with him before he played and then hung out with Elijah and his drummer afterwards in the basement of some small joint in Indy. That’s how new they were to the touring scene.
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I gave Paolo Nutini a listen, was all right. Kind of had a neo-soul vibe that looks like is a much a bigger thing over in Europe. Ryan Bingham I had heard of but was not that familiar with the music, he has a cool almost Bob Dylan country era vibe. Interesting placing smack in the middle of the only pop day at this festival, how many festivals would you see a Ryan Bingham set placed between Babyface and Jon Baptiste? I will make an effort to see his set.
 
Went and saw Air Supply at Van Wert a few weeks ago.

Those guys are amazing...73 yrs old and sound pretty dang close to when they were in their hay days.

They have performed 5300 shows since they got together.
 
Lollapalooza announced this week and keeping in the current trend of pop acts jumping on to the festival circuit what was once an alternative fans must see event has turned into a pop music dominated festival, I mean K-Pop? Seriously?:
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