Virgin Festival: Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who, The Killers, Gnarls Barkley, The Raconteurs, Wolfmother, Kasabian, Flaming Lips, Scissor Sisters, Thievery Corporation, Brazilian Girls, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The New Pornographers, Drive-By Truckers…

Pimlico Race Course – Baltimore, MD/Saturday 9/23/06
Gross: $3,476,962
Sold/Capacity: 34,714/60,000
Tickets: $250.00/$97.50

Enough with the Virgin brand meaning that much. The self-hype of Mr. Branson just doesn’t square with the interest of the public. Sure, he’s a renegade. Who has taken on the giants of airline travel with sizzle and very little steak. But his other ventures??? Come on.

Actually, I think he sold Virgin Mobile, which sponsored this event, but if I’m not sure, do you think the target audience for this festival knows?

This lineup is akin to the world of media today. A total assault on the senses. An overwhelming plethora of acts/information/movies to the point where you just can’t digest it and don’t give a shit. Hell, they probably would have done just as well if it were ONLY the Peppers.

Then again, one must comment on the ticket prices. What kind of fan of ANY of these acts has a spare c-note lying around to be dropped on a Saturday in September, when school is in session? Never mind TicketMaster fee/parking fee/food and drink.

Anybody who says festivals are the future of the live business doesn’t understand the concept of audience fatigue. And doesn’t realize that most people would rather see the one act they want to than a bunch they don’t. FURTHERMORE, at a festival one believes the act you love is going to play a shorter set.

Respect the audience.

Oh, respect went out sometime in the seventies…

Aerosmith/Motley Crue

Nikon at Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY/Sunday 9/17/06 & Tuesday 9/19/06 (2 shows)
Gross: $1,690,999
Sold/Capacity: 21,839/27,472
Tickets: $135.00/$35.00

Who does Aerosmith go out with next?

Yup, these acts share the same audience… Right!

I doubt hard core Aerosmith fans went to this show. They’ve already seen the band play their hits on the bazillionth time through on their never-ending tour.

Can’t Aerosmith take it off the road? Can’t they mix it up, play clubs or something? Can’t they stop driving towards the retirement home to join the Stones?

Dave Matthews Band, Robert Randolph & The Family Band

John Paul Jones Arena – Charlottesville, VA/Friday 9/22/2006 & Saturday 9/23/06 (2 shows)
Gross: $1,518,165
Sold/Capacity: 27,635/27,635
Tickets: $55.00

Biggest road band in America.

And notice the money left on the table with the ticket price. That’s for good will, so people will come the NEXT time. When did live music become so EXCLUSIVE??

Meanwhile, is this payback to the man who added texture to Zeppelin, truly made the act great, for being ignored by his two living brethren? Whew, having a venue named after you. Don’t you have to be dead? Don’t you have to be a CORPORATION??

Roger Waters

Tweeter Center at the Waterfront – Camden, NJ/ Saturday 9/16/2006
Gross: $1,245,885
Sold/Capacity: 24,963 / 24,963
Tickets: $130.50/$29.50

The tour of the year. And what’s great, the media MISSED IT

Not working a hit album, not in the Top Forty, not hanging at Hollywood clubs, the media thought the people didn’t care. EVERYBODY CARES! From sixteen to sixty.

Talk to anybody who saw this show, their eyes will water as they speak of its greatness.

Meanwhile, Roger might be the creative genius, but he’s known as an asshole. But everybody showed up anyway, to pay tribute to "Dark Side Of The Moon". Just IMAGINE if Gilmour had been there, everybody would TRULY be comfortably numb.

Rent out Kansas. Or North Dakota. Turn the whole state into a festival site. Charge whatever you want. And watch the masses come from ALL OVER THE WORLD to see Pink Floyd.

Two of many:

Danny Zelisko:

now let’s talk about the best arena/shed show you will EVER see.

last night i had the pleasure of presenting roger waters

since you care so much about music like no one else other than me, may i suggest you do whatever it takes unless you are already planning on it and go see this show.

also tell your friends in advance so they don’t miss any of the remaining west coast shows.

this is what the live spectacle is all about. i have seen almost everyone and i guarantee you will leave floating over the ground, drugs or not. not the reason to go here, but if you enjoy music and enhancements, or not, just forget about it…tell me after who has a better show.

hope to hear you have gone and seen this. you won’t be sorry. you will hate hearing about this from so many others unless you are there.

Randy Poe:

Went to the Roger Waters show at the Bowl last Friday night. Took my wife, my 250 lb. friend, and his wife. We were in a garden box, with only one row of boxes in front of us. Right when the show started, six very drunk and/or high guys entered the box directly in front of ours. The "leader" took all six chairs, folded them up, and tossed them to the side. My bruiser friend leaned over to me and said, "Looks like we might have a problem here." I told him to hang on for one song, because I’d be standing up through it anyway. Sure enough, the six guys in front of me were already so wasted that as soon as the first song was over, they unfolded all six chairs, sat down, and never made another peep the whole show (except to applaud in the proper places). It was heaven. Not only the best show I’ve ever been to at the Bowl – might just very well have been the best show I’ve ever heard/seen, period. Don’t know if you were there or not, but in case you weren’t, the triangle appeared above the Bowl, the laser light shot to the center of it, the prism came out the right side of it, and just to the right of the prism, there it was – a nearly full moon – the real one! Nick Mason was there on drums during DSOTM. The only way it could’ve possibly been any better would’ve been if the other two guys had shown up too. I still haven’t recovered, and I hope I never will.

Jay-Z

Point Theatre – Dublin/Tuesday 9/26/06
Gross: $528,262
Sold/Capacity: 8,027/8,027
Tickets: $70.30/$63.91

Am I the only person who never bought his retirement?

In a world where aging athletes like Michael Jordan and Roger Clemens can’t retire, I’m supposed to believe a RAPPER, who never lost his voice, is now becoming a businessman? That he no longer has a need to be in the public eye?

As for his A&R skills… I don’t know him, but if artists had the best track record in signing acts, Prince and Madonna would still be in the label business.

Now if you think this was about the music…

No, this was about BEING THERE!

KoRn, Deftones, Stone Sour, Flyleaf, Dir En Grey & others

Tweeter Center at the Waterfront – Camden, NJ/Friday 9/15/2006
Gross: $279,569
Sold/Capacity: 12,379/24,916
Tickets: $59.50/$7.49

Jeff Kwatinetz is a charlatan and the EMI brass are dupes.

Yup, advance all that money for a piece of a dying band and then after getting taken invest in this same manager’s RECORD LABEL??

Kwatinetz is as old school as they come. He’s just creating a dustup so people won’t realize it.

(Meanwhile, they did even worse in Virginia, doing 38.2% of the house and grossing $184,785. What do you think EMI’s slice of THAT is? Can you say NOTHING?!!)

Charles Aznavour

Warner Theatre – Washington, D.C./Saturday 9/16/06
Gross: $198,240
Sold/Capacity: 1,788/1,841
Tickets: $135.00/$55.00

Now THAT’S a career. Based on writing, playing and singing…what a CONCEPT!

The basics have longevity. The penumbra is here today, gone tomorrow.

And I’ll forever have a soft place in my heart for him because of his role in " Shoot The Piano Player", the most watchable film in the French cinema class I took in college, and that film’s inspiration for an album that Elton called "disposable" that has more gems on it than anything he’s done in DECADES! Never mind the two hits, "Daniel" and "Crocodile Rock", spin my personal favorite, "Teacher I Need You" ("She was long and she was lean/She’s a middle-aged dream") as well as "Elderberry Wine" and "High Flying Bird"!

Hot 97 Back to School Jam: DMX, Yung Joc, Foxy Brown

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum – Uniondale, NY/Saturday 9/30/06
Gross: $194,634
Sold/Capacity: 3,750/9,993
Tickets: $80.50/$65.50/$55.50/$25.50

I guess everybody was IN school!

Could it be that rather than listen to the ministrations of these rappers with no future they’re more interested in getting an education, so THEY can have a career with longevity?

Styx, Foreigner, Foghat

Ford Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL/ Sat 09/23/06
Gross:$191,726
Sold/Capacity: 13,540/19,438
Tickets: $43.50/$6.00

Now didn’t they kick Dennis DeYoung or whomever the lead singer of this far from classic act was out of the band?

And Lou Gramm’s not with Foreigner, right? Is Mick Jones?

And Lonesome Dave is DEAD!

Yet 13,000 people wanted to hear their songs. Do you think anybody’s going to want to hear the hits of today in twenty years??

No, they’ll still be listening to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the Doors.

Slayer

Palacio de los Deportes – Bogota/Friday 9/15/06
Gross: $181,233
Sold/Capacity: 3,755/3,755
Tickets: $63.39/$32.65

Think they’re interested in Jessica Simpson in Bogota? The rest of what’s on our hit parade?

Real music translates, can be sold worldwide. And the fact that far from the center music like Slayer can do this well gives you an idea why AC/DC does such phenomenal live business (and they’re not whoring themselves out on an endless tour like the aforementioned Aerosmith.)

Gigantour: Megadeth, Lamb of God, Opeth, Arch Enemy, Smashup, Sanctity, Into Eternity, Overkill

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum – Uniondale, NY
Gross: $75,960
Sold/Capacity: 1,899/10,322
Tickets: $80.50/$55.50/$35.50/$25.50

Obviously not that gigantic

Black Eyed Peas/Rihanna

Charter One Pavilion – Chicago, IL
Gross: $129,057
Sold/Capacity: 4,010/8,445
Tickets: $45.50

Had enough of Fergie?

Seems most of Chicago has too.

I had to reread this twice. The fact that the ticket price was reasonable and STILL most people didn’t care.

The mainstream press isn’t only out of touch re Iraq, it’s out of touch regarding what kind of entertainment people want too.

Ludacris, Yung Joc, 4-IZE, Ron Artest, Chris Capalanos

Assembly Hall-Champaign, IL/Friday 9/22/06
Gross: $120,240
Sold/Capacity: 3,876/9,000
Tickets: $35.00

Well, to illustrate the disconnect…

This guy’s album debuted number one on the chart two weeks ago, with 300+ thousand sold. And this week it’s still in the Top Ten. But he can’t even sell out in a COLLEGE TOWN! At a FAIR PRICE!

People don’t want to see most rappers live. Are they eager to see ANYBODY who rules the manufactured Top Forty/Sales chart?

The Strokes, Muse, The Like

ARC Pavilion – Davis, CA/Thursday 9/28/06
Gross: $112,245
Sold/Capacity: 3,415/6,284
Tickets: $35.00

Has-beens.

And illustrating the lack of wisdom in the package tour, Muse and the Like sold 2,329 tickets, 91.1% of the house, WITHOUT the Strokes, in Grand Prairie, TX.

Pat Benatar, K-Ent

Celebrity Theatre – Phoenix, AZ/Wednesday 9/20/06
Gross: $76,226
Sold/Capacity: 2,501/2,663
Tickets: $40.00/$30.00

Obviously her best shot is still pretty good.

If only Mariah Carey would cut out the melismas and sing other people’s material. Hell, her best hit was her cover of Badfinger’s "Without You" (yes, Badfinger wrote it, the Nilsson hit was a COVER!)

It’s not about the raw talent, it’s what you do with it.

Regina Spektor, Only Son

Town Hall – New York, NY/Wednesday 9/27/06 (2 shows)
Gross: $72,528
Sold/Capacity: 2,970/2,970
Tickets: $25.50

If this were a different era, Regina Spektor would be a developing star, as opposed to today, where she’s lost in the tidal wave of music.

If only there were a viable radio format to PLAY her music!

Sufjan Stevens, My Brightest Diamond

Tower Theatre – Upper Darby, PA/Thursday 9/28/06
Gross: $72,505
Sold/Capacity: 3,039/3,064
Tickets: $25.00

Check that ticket price!

Credibility knows you’ve got to establish trust, respect. That means YOU DON’T OVERCHARGE!

As for TicketMaster… Trust and respect are two words not in the company’s lexicon.

Classical Mystery Tour, St. Louis Symphony

UMB Bank Pavilion – Maryland Heights, MO/Saturday 9/16/06
Gross: $46,287
Sold/Capacity: 8,536/21,092
Tickets: $32.00/$5.00

Admit it. Wouldn’t you rather see a Beatles tribute band, with a symphony orchestra no less, than almost ALL of the new acts? You can go and let your mind drift. Picture yourself in a boat on a river…

Remember going to concerts and letting your mind drift? Before everybody was standing talking?

Wolfmother

House of Blues – Lake Buena Vista, FL/Friday 9/15/06
Gross: $30,395
Sold/Capacity: 1,966/2,100
Tickets: $15.00

Shouldn’t ALL developing acts be $15.00? With no more than a $3.50 service charge for tickets?

I just logged onto ticketmaster.com. For the gig at the Electric Factor in Philly next month the ticket price is $25.00 and the service charge is $6.75. BULLSHIT! Can’t TicketMaster help develop acts too? I guess not.

KT Tunstall

Meridian – Houston, TX/Saturday 9/16/06
Gross: $14,966
Sold/Capacity: 985/985
Tickets: $15.25

She’s sold in excess of 700,000 albums in the U.S. Her music was featured on "American Idol". Isn’t she poised to play arenas? Shouldn’t she at least be playing large theatres for fifty bucks? Shouldn’t she be raping and pillaging, taking what’s rightly hers? After all, she’s over thirty and she’s been woodshedding all these years and there’s no guarantee she’ll have a future.

But KT is TRYING to have a future. By winning FANS! Who will stick by her. If only the rest of the business adopted this philosophy.

Box office statistics courtesy of celebrityaccess.com.