Is a requirement at the arena level. The old days of the music being enough…there are very few acts that can pull this off, usually ones who became established before the death of MTV/VH1/radio and the advent of the internet.

Yes, in the late eighties and beyond acts felt a necessity to replicate their videos live. This also reflects a change in the music. A return to the pop star of yore as opposed to the post-Beatles rock star. The trappings became more important, as did the visual image. Such that we got spandex and costume changes and even tapes and then hard drives to replicate the sound of the record perfectly. It was believed this was what the audience expected. Whether they did back then, they certainly do now.

Especially for this price.

A show is an event, more akin to a Broadway play than a greasy, dirty, underground affair. Those shows do still exist, just not in arenas. One can also argue that it’s in these smaller venues where the music is paramount that the future of music lives, but in a world where moneyed-interests want it all and they want it now, in big numbers, i.e. the major labels, there is little support for that which cannot rain down bucks in great amounts very soon. If you’re different, it happens slower, now more than ever. The word can be spread online, but with so much in the channel, it’s hard to reach critical mass quickly.

We live in the train-wreck era. That’s what the algorithm is all about. Featuring clips that shock you. Same with clickbait headlines. You can play this game, and win, but it is extremely competitive, and requires a constant presence.

As for those who win, who play arenas, they are now in the SHOW business as opposed to the CONCERT business.

And that’s a big change.

Just in terminology. “Show” doesn’t have the gravitas of “concert.” Show is spectacle, razzle-dazzle, a lot about what you see as opposed to what you hear. This is where we’ve devolved to. Sure, Devo based its entire act on de-evolution, but the alternative as an answer to the mainstream has died. You are no longer reacting, a counterpoint to the mainstream, but in a world unto yourself. If you are taking the road less travelled don’t be concerned with putting down those playing the big commercial game, just follow your own path. You want to be seen as outside the system as opposed to in opposition to it. Outside is where all the action is, the rebels. You’re outside the constant self-promotion. That does not mean you cannot post, but you need to be cheeky, or downright authentic, you can’t be saying LOOK AT ME, BUY MY STUFF!

We are waiting for the outside to triumph once again, the essence of FM radio after the Beatles, it only takes one act and then the floodgates open, but so far this has not occurred, there is no transcendent act that demands attention that refuses to play the conventional game.

But if you have won playing the conventional game know that people are paying a sh*t-ton to see you, and they expect value for their dollar. The music is not enough, they want show.

As for it being already available on YouTube…this is not a disadvantage. This would be like saying watching a porn film is as good as having intercourse. A show should feel of a piece, the audience at the arena should feel included. You’re selling a vibe, emotion, a once in a lifetime experience. The show attendee must leave the arena feeling something, having experienced more than the music itself. Something that cannot be garnered elsewhere, something so special that they need to return to see the act irrelevant of whether they have more hits.

Kenny Chesney is famous for changing up his show and delivering new experiences live.

And he’s not the only one.

Of course there is Taylor Swift.

But don’t see these efforts as extra, they are an integral part of arena/stadium shows today. Don’t skimp on your production designer, they are stars in their own right today. Your production is not an afterthought, it deserves focus if not quite equal to the music, certainly significant.

The apotheosis of this is the Sphere. Where the acts are almost incidental to the experience. Sure, the music is necessary, but it’s the visuals that wow, that draw business. After all, most of these acts can be seen elsewhere on a regular basis, but they can demand beaucoup bucks at the Sphere.

As for intimate, acoustic music… The heyday of the singer-songwriter can return, as long as acts focus on those two words. You have to be able to both sing and write, at a very high quality level. We all played guitars and sang Beatle songs back in the day, but we did not believe we deserved mainstream attention, whereas today’s younger performers do. And as big as Phoebe Bridgers might be, imagine someone with a better voice singing more palatable songs, numbers that anybody anywhere would like and would be capable of singing. There still is a mainstream, it’s just that very few are playing to it. The last person who did so successfully was Adele, but she was not a rock star, rather closer to a diva. But someone with a rock sensibility could take the stage in their jeans and t-shirt and that would be enough, even in an arena, because they would be selling something more cerebral than visual.

But that’s not what is happening today. Today it’s about what you see, attendees want to be wowed, they want their jaws to drop, it’s more akin to an amusement park ride than a concert of yore.

So if you made it by playing the game, being in the Spotify Top 50, utilizing publicity such that you can play arenas, you’d better have a ton of production, do your best to overwhelm your audience.

Because that’s what people expect.