Charlie Sheen Lessons
1. Critics only go to the first show. So, do it in an out of the way venue, or even better, do it unannounced, so you can practice without scrutiny. Now, with the "Spider-Man" debacle, the concept of holding back reviews for "opening night" is done forevermore.
2. Critics only go to the first show, so if you get better, no one cares, because no one was there to report it.
3. The press now piggybacks on those who were actually there. TMZ live blogged Charlie’s Chicago show and didn’t put an overtly negative spin on it. Therefore, every Website known to man said the show was decent, usually not even referencing TMZ, but never saying they were actually there themselves.
4. Your best source for real time news remains Twitter. You can search here:
but best to follow authorities, like Richard Roeper:
Here’s a sample of Roeper’s tweets:
"It wasn’t horrible. Just…dull. Amateur production values, terrible interviewer, and the same tired rants."
5. Second night reviews that are local don’t really matter. Roeper reviewed the show negatively in the "Sun-Times", but no one outside of Chicago reads that newspaper and the show has already left town:
6. Don’t open on Saturday. Even though people are free to go, they’re also free to stay home and blog and tweet and text, they have time to follow the story, they’re not burdened by work. Just like politicians reveal news on Friday afternoon, you’re better off launching a sketchy live show on a weekday, when fewer are paying attention.
7. You can’t recover from a trashing. No one said the Chicago show was actually good. At their most positive they said it wasn’t bad. This is not going to encourage people to buy tickets.
8. Ticket counts are the new SoundScan. They may not be trumpeted in the newspaper, but they’re all over the Web. The "Hollywood Reporter" reported that 1,685 tickets were available on StubHub for the Radio City date. 1,216 were available for $24, much less than their $126 face value:
No one reads the "Hollywood Reporter" except for other press outlets, which are quoting these figures galore. As for their accuracy, it doesn’t matter, the public is in control of the spin, not the act.
9. Press will decline. It was all about the first night. This tour will whimper to an end. The unsold seats will not be sold, no one will care, Charlie Sheen will be hurt more than helped. You don’t want to see a has-been no one else wanted to see.
10. If fixing a show was that easy, "Spider-Man" would be getting rave reviews.
11. Subject: Â Â Â Detroit – dumb promoter, or not? Charlie Sheen Disaster
I find it a bit ironic that promoters would schedule Detroit of all cities as an opening date. It is common knowledge in the entertainment industry that Detroit audiences are the toughest crowds in the nation.If they like you they will embrace you fully. If they do not, they are NEVER SHY telling entertainment they suck. I’ve seen it many, many times. Bands terrified of the Detroit audiences and feeling if they were accepted by Detroit they were good to go.  I do not know who booked Charlie’s tour dates. Any knowledgeable agent would have know Charlie was being thrown into a lions den….maybe they did it on purpose?
Paula Sullivan-Higgins
This is what happens when a national promoter books a tour. All concerts are local, they need to be booked by a local person familiar with the marketplace unless they’re guaranteed sellouts.
12. No one cares anymore. No member of the public anyway. This story is done. Charlie rode the wave of the Internet but made the mistake of entering real life. It’s like going on a date with someone you met on the Internet. They post a good picture, they give good e-mail, you might even have had phone sex, but when you meet them in real life, you want to run. Cyberspace and the real world are two completely different animals, never forget it.
13. If rambling on stage were a show, Live Nation would be a gargantuan success booking everybody featured on TMZ.
14. The news cycle is very short. Next!
15. Just because you sell tickets that does not mean attendees are on your side. People bought ducats to say they were there. They enjoyed hating it as much as liking it. They got to be authorities on the subject, they got to tweet and text from the venue. Don’t make the mistake of equating numbers with emotions.
16. The leader of the pack doesn’t sustain. Charlie’s lifestyle and rants were equivalent to an employee saying "Take this job and shove it!" In a world where bosses have all the power, the public identified with this. Who else would talk about his employer this way? Who else would flaunt his flaws? But just like an entrepreneur is succeeded by a manager, Charlie is not the one to lead us out of the doldrums, to give power back to the worker, he’s just one step in a very long process.
17. Your failures sustain. Live Nation booked this tour. People know it and will not forget it. This is a rip-off. And it hurts not only Live Nation, but every concert promoter. Who is seen now as someone just interested in a money grab. Would Bill Graham have promoted this show? Where was the emcee? Where was the crowd control? Where was the person giving refunds? Where was the person trying to make a bad situation good? Nowhere to be found.
18. An independent promoter would have to repair its relationship with its constituency. Live Nation is a carpetbagger which booked the income and then ran.
19. It’s not only the record labels who are uninterested in careers, it turns out Live Nation doesn’t care either.
20. Just because Sunday’s show was better than Saturday’s, that does not mean this tour plays out, it can still be canceled.
