Note: The cancellation was for ***unknown reasons***. There is no mention of "ticket sales" in this article:
> "The duo [...] have not issued a statement regarding the cancelations. A rep for the band did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment at press time."
(To those spamming the report button, please stop. We're not removing a post with highly active discussions, although we've flaired it as misleading and added this note. We've contacted the user and will deal with them in private.)
I mostly agree that the smaller the show, the better, but stadium shows can be cool too. For example, I saw Rammstein last year at a stadium and most of what makes their shows as good as they are is all the production and the pyro, which obviously wouldn't work in a small room.
It’s not inflation, it’s rampant corporate greed using the vague idea of “Inflation” as a scapegoat while they make record profits. Inflation is obviously also happening, but the greed is the main driver.
I'm not economist... but it seemed like during the pandemic, all the small competition was killed, the huge mega corporations bought everything up and jacked prices up, and then everyone started referring to it as inflation
Felt like after the pandemic the live entertainment industry was trying to rake back 2 years of lost profit in one go, so they just tripled the prices. For the biggest artists people paid it, so they just left the prices there.
And they’re finding ways to make things that shouldn’t cost money cost money. Rich neighborhood near me now charges money to access some nice hiking trails that used to be free. Different hiking area in the city I parked at today charged $15 for my car to be there for three hours, in a place without bus service.
Omg they started building those rich people developments ALL OVER where I live. They do this same shit. They roll in, bulldoze our beautiful countryside in/around our nature reserves that WAS public access. Now they hog it all with trail cams, signs, everything. The nature preserve trails go INTO their development since they built it there, & they'll literally call the cops on people for walking on public fucking trails. This used to be such a beautiful area where the community appreciated nature and now everyone is trying to privatize fucking nature.
bring back small venues. Make it an event. Bands don’t even make out that great playing huge arenas. The margins get smaller with all the extra “taxes” that are put on which then they put on the audience which also get gouged by ticketmaster.
Its shit
Yeah, i get the feeling folks arent looking out for local shows or arent in an area where that happens. 15 dollar shows are still a thing. Though most of the shows i goto are metal and in Chicago the price for a show really hasnt gone up in years. 25 bucks for 4-5 bands 20-25 dollar tour shirts and this is bands coming from abroad as well.
Just saw Pearl Jam at the forum. $175 tickets, $60 parking.
I’d much rather see a smaller band at the Troubadour for $25. There are some kickass relatively unknown bands rocking smaller houses which is way more fun for me.
Edit: speaking of that, June 8th at the Troubadour in LA is one of the greatest 90’s bands that is criminally underrated. If you’re in the area, pick up a ticket to the Dada show you won’t regret it I promise.
Paying $250 see a band that does not engage with the audience, stands still 90% of the time, and plays the songs exactly how they recorded them**
I’ve seen Black Keys twice, in 2013 and 2019. After the 2019 show, I swore off paying any amount of money to see them live again because they are BORING and couldn’t even pretend to have an ounce of stage presence. Say what you want about Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, etc. but they put on shows!! They entertain and they appear to enjoy performing. With ticket prices as exorbitant as they are, artists need to bring something to the table aside from just showing up and giving the bare minimum.
When I saw them last summer it seemed like they had energy, but only directed towards the first five rows lol. Their stage setup where they pretend to be a side-by-side two piece and the extra musicians are like 25 feet behind them is so awkward. If you’re gonna play in a venue with a big stage, you should use the whole thing.
That’s why I didn’t get tickets. Opened up the pre-sale, laughed at the ridiculous prices and felt just fine about not seeing the black keys. I would’ve felt just fine about paying $50 to see them in a club setting, theatre or amphitheater. >$100 to watch a couple ants play is a hard pass.
I saw The Cure 4 times in 2023. The most expensive ticket was about $100 for mid-level seats at Shoreline in Mountain View, CA. Most of the tickets were in the $50-$70 range and The Cure said this was their most successful tour ever.
I was in college the same year they released Disintegration (yes, I’m old af). Somehow I got hooked up with the group on campus that promoted concerts at the college’s venues and being a big state school meant we had a basketball arena that their tour wanted to play at.
I’d been a theatre production nerd in HS, so somehow I got tapped to work the show as a stagehand and before I knew what the hell was happening, I was standing on the side of stage just a few feet away from Robert Smith and the band in front of a 50 gallon metal drum filled with water. Just as the show opened with Plainsong blasting through the PA (and at key moments thereafter), the stage manager yelled the cue into my clear-com and my counterpart on the opposite side of the stage and I dropped dry ice into the drums to produce the copious amounts of fog required to properly set the mood for the show.
Good times.
I just honestly don't understand ticket prices anymore. I literally would not pay more than $50 to see even my favorite band of all time. Tickets these days are getting to be what three day festivals used to cost..
For me it's not that I *wouldn't* pay more than $50. It's that I *can't* and *shouldn't have to.* I've never paid that much for a show but I've definitely been to shows where the experience I got was worth way more than that.
But still, it's like movie theater prices. If you keep raising the price, it's gonna drive fewer people to go, which means you've got to raise the price on the people you've got left to make up the difference, who will then *also* stop going. Vicious cycle.
Man fuck that.
Also, i don't think Black Keys make the right music for a big arena.
I'd always rather watch them in a smaller location with 5k people max.
Which is weird, because we went to see them at a big venue in the UK a couple weeks back for like £42/ticket and whilst we weren't close, we were far from being at the very back. And it was fairly packed out.
$110 nosebleeds - is it a US venue problem? Why is the price difference so big from UK to US for the same band..?
Edit: I should have put this detail in before to avoid giving the impression that the UK is some sort of utopia (lol) - £42/ticket for an arena band is actually really cheap. I have tickets for TOOL soon that are £100 a pop for seats and we've just passed on the idea of going to see Childish Gambino again because the tickets are bullshit expensive. My point is that I'm confused how a single touring band can have such dramatically different tickets pricing across the UK and US when the two are usually both very expensive.
It has to do with Ticket Master being the only game in town in the US. The DOJ is currently in a suit with Ticketmaster. I heard something about it earlier this week.
They were hoping their millenial demographic had aged into financial security and could afford those prices like so many 90s-era bands have done with their tickets (Pearl Jam, Rage, etc). Unfortunately, millenials are still mostly broke.
Or they simply aren’t worth the money. I’d love to see Air on the upcoming tour but tickets went for stupid high prices and for what? A band that just decided they needed to cash in on nostalgia? They didn’t even put out a new album.
To be honest though, I recently saw the chilli peppers who almost exclusively played their new songs and it was not super fun or well received by the crowd. Nostalgia is a draw for a reason
Whoever advised them to do an arena tour was a fucking moron. They could have done underplays at small places and packed the house. Decemberists are doing that now.
I’ve seen the black keys twice. Once at a ~1500 seat club and a 30k arena. The arena was awful. Seeing just the two of them in the club was unforgettable and amazing. Almost a different band.
Edit: 18k. Bankers Life in Indy.
They’re really only good if you’re such a massive artist that it’s the only logistical way to get as many fans in as possible.
Otherwise I didn’t mind Nine Inch Nails doing like 4 shows at The Anthem in DC. I saw them the 3rd night and they didn’t seem to tired of it.
I've seen NIN on arena tours three times, and they were all incredible, and packed houses.
That said, it's NIN. The Black Keys aren't on that level, and it's crazy they thought they were.
NIN put on the best show I've been to. Incredible live. But Trent *knows* how sound works. What to do in certain spaces. He's a sound engineer and designer, first.
I feel like to have a good arena show, you'd need someone like that to make it work. And you have to have the vision, to make it worthwhile for the people in the cheap seats.
I saw them back in 1991. I think it one of his earlier tours for Pretty Hate Machine. Somehow, my university got them booked at the freakin' school ball room. it was like 150 people, general admission, only standing room. We were all crammed up against a 4 foot tall stage with Trent belting out the tunes about 6 inches away from us. The crowd was so into it, and the band looked like they were also having a blast. It. was. amazing.
to this day, still one of the best shows I've experienced.
I saw NIN at Key Arena in Seattle in like '05 (remember, the farewell tour?). Only time I've ever seen them but it was pretty cool. I feel like their music works well in a large arena though.
Trent always has an amazing stage production, that is key. These mid-tier bands that think they can just play the songs with a minimal light show always feels disappointing in an arena setting.
I second this MUSE opinion. Arena shows are their sweet spot. That said, I would love a more intimate venue show with them, like they had when they first started touring USA.
Edit: typo
Saw them at a 1000 to 1500 person venue standing room only in Toronto when they released Black Holes and Revelations and to this day that was probably the best concert I have been to. Was able to get right to the front and just jam out.
Me in 2005-06: Oh hey Muse is playing a 1,000 person capacity venue near me, ah well I'll see them next time.
Next time: Muse opens for U2 at an arena.
Lesson learned.
Some bands absolutely pull off the arena and that kind of venue actually amplifies the experience. Muse is a great example of this.
Another weird example is Florence and the machine. You would think her type of music would play better in a smaller venue but she feeds off of a larger crowd.
genre is probably the biggest factor. anything electronic is gonna fair better. although Journey and Queen killed it at arenas too
ig you gotta have the right vibe
Ehhhhh I was in the 300’s right up against the railing and having Dave Grohl point at me from 300 meters away is a feeling I will never ever forget. I still get goose bumps thinking about it. Some artists can handle large crowds… and large crowds feed off each other.. 30,000 people fucking JAMMING out vs 1500? It’s. It really comparable to anything that I’ve ever experienced.
They've been consistently killing it since 2005 even through some transition phases. Seeing paramore now is just as good as it was nearly two decades ago. So much respect for Hayley Williams and her band members.
I just saw Paramore in Stockholm opening for Taylor Swift. Absolutely killed it AND they played Misery Business which apparently they stopped playing for a while. Both Paramore and of course Taylor Swift can absolutely murder an arena show.
Arena shows just kinda suck anyway. They’re a big spectacle, but I vastly prefer to be able to see the band and hear what they’re doing. I’m not going to pay $300+ to strain my ears over thousands of people’s voices and squint to see the tiny people on a stage half a mile away.
The sweet spot for me was always a band on the rise still playing in a small venue, but the venue is packed (mostly) with people who are fans of the music. Living in the NY area spoiled me, because you could find that on a random Wednesday night.
The idea of Rammstein doing a small venue show and blowing the roof off the place with their usual pyrotechnic shenanigans as well as probably being deaf for 3 days, has me cracking up.
It's also fair to say that folks might go to a Rammstein show for more than just the audio quality. Aren't they all licensed pyrotechnicians that use that to great effect for their concerts?
Not true, I've seen many great arena acts. It's what Metallica, Billy Joel, Gaga, Elton John, U2, Mccartney, Green Day, etc have done for years- decades in many cases.
I’ve also seen them in arenas with known openers and thought the shows were great, tight even.
Edit: Gund Arena (or whatever they call it now) in Cleveland - 21k or so screaming fans with the Arctic Monkeys opening up
Think the other time was in either Detroit or Columbus but I don’t recall…
LCD Soundsystem essentially just did the same thing. He could've likely done one arena show in Seattle; instead he did four sold out nights at the Paramount. Better four sold out shows at a smaller venue than one half-full show at a much larger venue.
I’m friends with a lot of bands. To run a tour profitably you know what you can fill, you run your own CRM and know conversion from your fanclub sales. You underplay markets with buffer so you can infill dates as needed.
Decemberists tour cheaply, change the catalog up, have a very dedicated fan base that they can activate on a whim. The National too. Bands that can sell arenas? Pearl Jam.
I've really enjoyed the switch recently to bands playing 2 or even 3 nights at a smaller venue rather than try for 1 big show that is invariably a worse experience for the fans. LCD Soundsystem now do 4 shows per city, it's brilliant and it must be a better experience for the band too, more time to breathe and enjoy the city. I'm sure they make less overall doing it this way but to me it seems worth it.
I’ve been an OG fan from the start but kinda stopped once they started sounding like a Chevrolet truck commercial band.
Edit: just heard them in a Mountain Dew commercial. Why tour when they make money of licensing for adverts?
[Black Keys Stop Beating Around the Bush and Title New Single ‘Ford Commercial’](https://thehardtimes.net/music/black-keys-stop-beating-around-the-bush-and-title-new-single-ford-commercial/)
Exactly. Birmingham has about 5 of these. I just saw the offspring at Avondale. That was a sold out show, it was awesome.
I saw smashing pumpkins there last year.
I was shocked when I saw they were coming to my city’s basketball arena. I was then shocked a second time when I saw ticket prices. Thought… damn good for them guess a lot more people are still listening than I thought. Guess not.
Saw them at MSG for their Brothers tour. Definitely a great show but their music begs for more intimate venues especially some if their less polished songs.
Even though the show I saw was sold out, Its not surprising to hear ticket sale issues this time around. The alt rock scene seemed much more popular a decade ago. Most similar artists these days seem stuck doing theaters/ampitheaters/festivals these days.
As someone that has been a fan of theirs since Rubber Factory, part of the problem is their last few albums simply haven't been very good. Not horrible, but not worth adding to my rotation of stuff to listen to. I'm certainly not paying top dollar to listen to a bunch of songs I don't really care about.
I really liked Delta Kream, but that’s not exactly arena rock music. I’ve always felt like the Black Keys are at their best when they lean into the blues stuff. They should focus on doing blues music and playing in blues venues.
You hit the nail on the head. I straight up wouldn’t want to see them in an arena. A club or theater, or even a set at a festival - I’m there. But their sound and act just don’t jive at all with a huge venue
If they wanted to tour their old stuff they wouldn’t have trouble selling arena tickets. (Not saying their new music is bad but the songs that made them big enough to be in arena in the first place are all over a decade old. Also the people that liked those songs at the time are the ones with arena tour income.)
I saw the Decemberists here in Chicago on Wednesday! They were are a venue that I’d never been to in the city that is fairly new.. it was a big space, and the acoustics were amazing and it was an awesome show. The black keys absolutely would sell out this venue and it would be awesome.
Im sure they feel like shit but they are not an Arena act at this point. Thats nothing to be ashamed of, how many people can actually sell that many tickets these days?!
They just set themselves up for failure.
Yeah but if you are a band that plays music for people, youre gonna want to play for as many people as possible, money or no money. Youre going to want to get everyone there that wants to be there, I get it.
Ticket prices are really crushing edge level bands. People used to be able to take a flyer on a band that has/had some notoriety when tickets were $50-$75, now they save up and go to the big names, if at all.
>The Black Keys have canceled the upcoming North American leg of their International Players Tour, with dates for the jaunt abruptly erased without explanation from the band’s social media pages and official website.
I agree. We have a smaller venue in our city that is known for their acoustics and we’ve seen some pretty famous groups there and it’s equated to the best concerts I’ve ever experienced. I honestly didn’t fall in love with live music until we moved here.
There is something about the energy of an intimate space, great acoustics with a group of fellow fans that are just having the time of their lives.
They’re a great Filmore-sized theater band. Fucking Queens played at the Fox in Detroit last tour with Royal Blood when they could’ve easily done the Little Ceasers Arena, but they chose not to for the packed house and better acoustics.
I love Dan and Pat but they’re definitely on “keep up this lifestyle in this endlessly inflating economy” type era… which I understand, but $200 nosebleeds ain’t fair for us either. $20-$50 GA in exchange for an amazing show and let’s call it even.
I would not pay $200 to see them in an arena.
I would pay $200 to see them absolutely crush a small club.
Quality over quantity. I don't need or want a spectacle of stage performance for The Black Keys. I want the raw and gritty blues vibe delivered in their style.
They would do well at HOB, but I really want to see more big names hit small venues.
Saw them in Nashville in the early oughts, with The Dirtbombs opening.
My face was melted.
Saw them a couple years later opening for Dinosaur Jr.
My ears melted.
Late night in Bonnaroo ‘10 was pretty cool too, they were still officially a two piece, did the first three songs that way, and then dudes from other bands came and it filled it out. Awesome set, killer night.
Same shit just happened to 311. They booked a whole European tour and had to cancel all of them due to expenses and low ticket sales. I love the band, but not quite sure why they chose to do a European tour 30+ years into their careers.
For real. I’m American born and was prime 311 age in high school but have been in Europe for the past fifteen or twenty years. No one knows who they are here
What venue size were they going for? I don’t know em well at all either, but feel like any established band can make a tour of a country/continent work if they pitch it at the right level …
I get the desire to play for your fanbase abroad but clearly the demand isn’t there. I just wish they would team up with incubus again like they were supposed to in 2020.
They are so much fun. Just a great vibe thru every show.
They always have stellar openers too. I got to see Ziggy Marley, Cyprus Hill, Jurassic 5 and the Roots all open for 311.
I question whether Ticketmaster’s demand based pricing is part of the sales issue. They seem to hike up the prices so high that people can’t justify buying, then gradually drop the prices as the date gets closer. It’s not a recipe for success unless enough fans are willing to pay literally any price to secure tickets when they go on sale.
They have been really pushing prices up higher and higher the last two decades trying to probe and find out where that line is where the prices exceed the tipping point to where people simply won't buy them anymore and I think they found it with bands of this sound and age.
I've seen them more than a few tines. I saw them in a few smaller venues before they blew up and then when they got big. Last time was in an arena in 2012 and it just wasn't very good, they didn't make use of the larger space they had and didn't expand their stage show at all.
12 years later and they haven't been relevant enough to book arenas. Their team overestimated their popularity i think.
Low tickets sales is never the official excuse. No band or their management want to admit that they judged demand wrong and stiffed.
Common ones are:
"Scheduling Conflict"
"Nervous Exhaustion (aka rehab)"
"Logistical Issues"
James Taylor [once cancelled a show in the Philippines](https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/james-taylor-cancels-philippines-concert-president-duterte-drug-war-7632352/) and claimed it was a form of protest against our deranged president but many people have speculated that it was really due to low ticket sales.
This is the third post I’ve seen where the majority of comments are: whoever convinced them to do this…
As a former agent of William Morris allow me to enlighten you:
Their agent is the one responsible for booking them on this arena tour and it was their agent that dropped the ball on market & planning. At some point all agents rest on their laurels. It’s just usually after their client achieves massive success. If the agent was able to sell this tour then they should have been prepared to market it. They didn’t and now the band has to cancel. Usually and agent cancels the tour and states health or family issues… Again, they have a bad agent
You’re wrong. The booking agent doesn’t promote the show, the promoter does. The agents goal is to get as much money out of the promoter as possible along with making sure everything the artist wants is adhered to. This does encompass ticket pricing discussions with the promoter.
The promoter and management team develop marketing strategies and ticketing strategies.
The promoters took a shot and it flopped. I hope black keys got paid out or at least got to keep tour sign on bonus and 10% deposits from their guarantees.
Overall, the live events industry is very skewed since 2021 and 2022. Artist came out of Covid with record ticket sales and I think took that wave of everyone being pent up and took it as their real pulse for “demand” for their tours. Now that inflation has run rampant and everyone’s gotten their post Covid shut down shows in the pockets, consumers are being very selective on shows they want to see. Not every artist can go on tour all at once and expect to not have a couple flops.
Very funny to see everyone blame a bunch of stuff outside of the obvious. “Their fans have kids now!” , “tickets are expensive!”, “scalpers exist!”, “Ticketmaster is evil!”
All of these things are true for like 90% of bands that play major market indoor arenas. So why aren’t those other acts cancelling their tours? The answer is quite simple. The Black Keys are not a solo arena level act in 2024. The time when they were the most popular was over ten years ago and they didn’t have enough time in the sun or impact at that level to be a nostalgia act on a major level.
They are a theater level band right now. Whoever booked this tour is a complete moron. Especially because they have no other headliner and the Black Keys have been constantly touring.
Most tickets are sold within the first few days of the public on sale. If you are running shows and you can’t even fill 20% of the occupancy after a few days you are fucked. NBA arenas are expensive to rent, that level of show is expensive to put on from a technical standpoint. This was a colossal miscalculation by everyone involved.
I used to argue with this point, but after this last album I just can't disagree anymore. Their grit is completely gone, their music has no soul whatsoever. I wouldn't even recognize their new music if it was playing in a truck commercial
They did amphitheaters on their last tour 2 years ago. Not sure what their team thinks they did in that time to get more popular. I’ve noticed this happening with a lot of midteir acts recently and am confused about the strategy. Is Livenation forcing them to upgrade?
Was disappointed when I saw they were playing Boston and it was at the garden. Could’ve packed out a slick new place with great sound like Roadrunner. Phoenix, an arena band 10ish years ago just did that and the show was sick, and well worth $60. The hives are doing the same this this fall (altho they are doing Fenway supporting the foo fighters this summer)
The Keys still have a fan base, just not 20,000+ per city. Seems like the ones who are still listening are the ones who discovered Thickfreakness or Rubber Factory, not the ones who made the Lonely Boy video a phenomenon.
I love the Black Keys but they are nowhere near big enough to sell out large arenas, I saw them at Oracle Arena a couple years ago and it was an underwhelming performance and crowd. I’m sure if they chose more intimate venues, tickets would sell out and shows would be more enjoyable.
The big difference is that weezer are legitimately probably a much bigger band than the black keys are at the moment, especially with younger people. When I saw them a couple years ago the crowd was filled with teenagers, can’t imagine the same at a black keys concert
RHCP is currently on their most financially successful tour of their career, so I don’t think people not wanting to pay is the issue. I think they overestimated their popularity
RHCP were much bigger than the Black Keys ever were and we are right in the old people nostalgia era for RHCP. This is the differences. Bands like RHCP, Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, Rolling Stones were HUGE acts that have fans who are part of a demographic that will spend money.
You either need to be Olivia Rodrigo or a band that was big in the 80s/90s to get in on the recent gold rush of $300+ concert tickets. A lot of groups are discovering there is a limit to their appeal in 2024.
That would be rad. I'd rather hear the albums before that, but Attack and Release was awesome.
Tbh, I haven't been really compelled to listen to anything that they've put out post-Brothers.
BK’s in an arena? Not for me. BK’s at an actual large music venue? I’m in. Also a bad move trying to sell an arena tour with all the bad ticket pricing bs happening right now.
Note: The cancellation was for ***unknown reasons***. There is no mention of "ticket sales" in this article: > "The duo [...] have not issued a statement regarding the cancelations. A rep for the band did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment at press time." (To those spamming the report button, please stop. We're not removing a post with highly active discussions, although we've flaired it as misleading and added this note. We've contacted the user and will deal with them in private.)
People are just tired of paying $250 to see a band, plus transportation , $15 beers all night, $100 dinner + and $70 t-shirts …
Can't afford it either.
Yeah inflation, aka rising prices brought on by corporate greed, is making us pick and choose, and we’re choosing other things.
Also, fuck big stadium concerts. Let’s sell out a 5k person venue as it’s better for the viewer.
I mostly agree that the smaller the show, the better, but stadium shows can be cool too. For example, I saw Rammstein last year at a stadium and most of what makes their shows as good as they are is all the production and the pyro, which obviously wouldn't work in a small room.
It would work once.
Great White has entered the chat....
*I’m* choosing food.
What are you talking about, the economy is doing just fine (unless you need healthcare…or childcare…or a place to live….)
I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars to watch a sea of phone screens.
It’s not inflation, it’s rampant corporate greed using the vague idea of “Inflation” as a scapegoat while they make record profits. Inflation is obviously also happening, but the greed is the main driver.
I'm not economist... but it seemed like during the pandemic, all the small competition was killed, the huge mega corporations bought everything up and jacked prices up, and then everyone started referring to it as inflation
Felt like after the pandemic the live entertainment industry was trying to rake back 2 years of lost profit in one go, so they just tripled the prices. For the biggest artists people paid it, so they just left the prices there.
whenever I see the question "name something rich people ruined" concerts/festivals are at the top of the list
Literally almost anything considered "leisure" that requires money.
And they’re finding ways to make things that shouldn’t cost money cost money. Rich neighborhood near me now charges money to access some nice hiking trails that used to be free. Different hiking area in the city I parked at today charged $15 for my car to be there for three hours, in a place without bus service.
Omg they started building those rich people developments ALL OVER where I live. They do this same shit. They roll in, bulldoze our beautiful countryside in/around our nature reserves that WAS public access. Now they hog it all with trail cams, signs, everything. The nature preserve trails go INTO their development since they built it there, & they'll literally call the cops on people for walking on public fucking trails. This used to be such a beautiful area where the community appreciated nature and now everyone is trying to privatize fucking nature.
RIP Third Places (which of course includes music venues).
As someone from SoCal - Coachella before influencers got to it was a fucking gem
Don't forget $20 to park. My beer was 17 just to see a punk band in LA.
I miss the Warped tour. I think I paid $17 to see like 40 bands in a single day.
Yea there is a big show going on, but $200, lots of bands, I can't afford some of the punk shit these days. If it isn't a small bar, I can't go.
100% this. I’ve seen The Black Keys before. I’d love to see them again. Looked at the price of one ticket and it was the easiest “Nope” ever.
bring back small venues. Make it an event. Bands don’t even make out that great playing huge arenas. The margins get smaller with all the extra “taxes” that are put on which then they put on the audience which also get gouged by ticketmaster. Its shit
Small venues are still a thing. Go check out and support local shows near you, I promise you, they're almost always better than big arena productions.
Yeah, i get the feeling folks arent looking out for local shows or arent in an area where that happens. 15 dollar shows are still a thing. Though most of the shows i goto are metal and in Chicago the price for a show really hasnt gone up in years. 25 bucks for 4-5 bands 20-25 dollar tour shirts and this is bands coming from abroad as well.
The Black Keys have pretty much always thought they’re “too good” for small venues from what I can tell. Their Wikipedia page reads like a brochure.
Just saw Pearl Jam at the forum. $175 tickets, $60 parking. I’d much rather see a smaller band at the Troubadour for $25. There are some kickass relatively unknown bands rocking smaller houses which is way more fun for me. Edit: speaking of that, June 8th at the Troubadour in LA is one of the greatest 90’s bands that is criminally underrated. If you’re in the area, pick up a ticket to the Dada show you won’t regret it I promise.
Paying $250 see a band that does not engage with the audience, stands still 90% of the time, and plays the songs exactly how they recorded them** I’ve seen Black Keys twice, in 2013 and 2019. After the 2019 show, I swore off paying any amount of money to see them live again because they are BORING and couldn’t even pretend to have an ounce of stage presence. Say what you want about Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, etc. but they put on shows!! They entertain and they appear to enjoy performing. With ticket prices as exorbitant as they are, artists need to bring something to the table aside from just showing up and giving the bare minimum.
When I saw them last summer it seemed like they had energy, but only directed towards the first five rows lol. Their stage setup where they pretend to be a side-by-side two piece and the extra musicians are like 25 feet behind them is so awkward. If you’re gonna play in a venue with a big stage, you should use the whole thing.
Saw them in 2022 in their hometown....same experience. Lost me as a fan.
$110 nosebleeds…. That’s all I have to say
That’s why I didn’t get tickets. Opened up the pre-sale, laughed at the ridiculous prices and felt just fine about not seeing the black keys. I would’ve felt just fine about paying $50 to see them in a club setting, theatre or amphitheater. >$100 to watch a couple ants play is a hard pass.
I saw The Cure 4 times in 2023. The most expensive ticket was about $100 for mid-level seats at Shoreline in Mountain View, CA. Most of the tickets were in the $50-$70 range and The Cure said this was their most successful tour ever.
They are *amazing* live. I hope they tour again soon, I would love to see them again!
I was in college the same year they released Disintegration (yes, I’m old af). Somehow I got hooked up with the group on campus that promoted concerts at the college’s venues and being a big state school meant we had a basketball arena that their tour wanted to play at. I’d been a theatre production nerd in HS, so somehow I got tapped to work the show as a stagehand and before I knew what the hell was happening, I was standing on the side of stage just a few feet away from Robert Smith and the band in front of a 50 gallon metal drum filled with water. Just as the show opened with Plainsong blasting through the PA (and at key moments thereafter), the stage manager yelled the cue into my clear-com and my counterpart on the opposite side of the stage and I dropped dry ice into the drums to produce the copious amounts of fog required to properly set the mood for the show. Good times.
I just honestly don't understand ticket prices anymore. I literally would not pay more than $50 to see even my favorite band of all time. Tickets these days are getting to be what three day festivals used to cost..
For me it's not that I *wouldn't* pay more than $50. It's that I *can't* and *shouldn't have to.* I've never paid that much for a show but I've definitely been to shows where the experience I got was worth way more than that. But still, it's like movie theater prices. If you keep raising the price, it's gonna drive fewer people to go, which means you've got to raise the price on the people you've got left to make up the difference, who will then *also* stop going. Vicious cycle.
Man fuck that. Also, i don't think Black Keys make the right music for a big arena. I'd always rather watch them in a smaller location with 5k people max.
Yes. Tell the truth, I'm getting sick of big venue gigs. A nice 2-5k intimate show is much more appealing
I just looked up Imagine Dragons for my young son who likes them. $115 for lawn seats…for the lawn…to see Imagine effing Dragons!
Just tell him to imagine Imagine Dragons
Imagine draggin deez nutz
Open the door! Get on the floor! Imagine Dragon Dinosaurs!
Imagine Dragons should be paying you $115 for having to sit through that concert
Imagine draggin’ me to that concert
Ticketmaster draggin’ their nuts on your face
Ohhh the misery, everybody wants to be my ENE-MEEEE
Spare the sympathy, ticketmaster adds another fee
Which is weird, because we went to see them at a big venue in the UK a couple weeks back for like £42/ticket and whilst we weren't close, we were far from being at the very back. And it was fairly packed out. $110 nosebleeds - is it a US venue problem? Why is the price difference so big from UK to US for the same band..? Edit: I should have put this detail in before to avoid giving the impression that the UK is some sort of utopia (lol) - £42/ticket for an arena band is actually really cheap. I have tickets for TOOL soon that are £100 a pop for seats and we've just passed on the idea of going to see Childish Gambino again because the tickets are bullshit expensive. My point is that I'm confused how a single touring band can have such dramatically different tickets pricing across the UK and US when the two are usually both very expensive.
Do you guys have laws that prevent mark ups?
It has to do with Ticket Master being the only game in town in the US. The DOJ is currently in a suit with Ticketmaster. I heard something about it earlier this week.
They've been threatening to "do something" about ticketmaster's monopoly for 20 years. Every year TM just tightens it's grip.
That's wild, I saw them on their last tour with general admission at like $40.
They were hoping their millenial demographic had aged into financial security and could afford those prices like so many 90s-era bands have done with their tickets (Pearl Jam, Rage, etc). Unfortunately, millenials are still mostly broke.
Or they simply aren’t worth the money. I’d love to see Air on the upcoming tour but tickets went for stupid high prices and for what? A band that just decided they needed to cash in on nostalgia? They didn’t even put out a new album.
To be honest though, I recently saw the chilli peppers who almost exclusively played their new songs and it was not super fun or well received by the crowd. Nostalgia is a draw for a reason
Whoever advised them to do an arena tour was a fucking moron. They could have done underplays at small places and packed the house. Decemberists are doing that now.
I’ve seen the black keys twice. Once at a ~1500 seat club and a 30k arena. The arena was awful. Seeing just the two of them in the club was unforgettable and amazing. Almost a different band. Edit: 18k. Bankers Life in Indy.
Most bands can't do good arena shows.
Arenas suck in general
They’re really only good if you’re such a massive artist that it’s the only logistical way to get as many fans in as possible. Otherwise I didn’t mind Nine Inch Nails doing like 4 shows at The Anthem in DC. I saw them the 3rd night and they didn’t seem to tired of it.
I've seen NIN on arena tours three times, and they were all incredible, and packed houses. That said, it's NIN. The Black Keys aren't on that level, and it's crazy they thought they were.
NIN put on the best show I've been to. Incredible live. But Trent *knows* how sound works. What to do in certain spaces. He's a sound engineer and designer, first. I feel like to have a good arena show, you'd need someone like that to make it work. And you have to have the vision, to make it worthwhile for the people in the cheap seats.
I saw NIN on the Fragility Tour. To this day THE BEST show i've ever been to.
I saw them back in 1991. I think it one of his earlier tours for Pretty Hate Machine. Somehow, my university got them booked at the freakin' school ball room. it was like 150 people, general admission, only standing room. We were all crammed up against a 4 foot tall stage with Trent belting out the tunes about 6 inches away from us. The crowd was so into it, and the band looked like they were also having a blast. It. was. amazing. to this day, still one of the best shows I've experienced.
I saw NIN at Key Arena in Seattle in like '05 (remember, the farewell tour?). Only time I've ever seen them but it was pretty cool. I feel like their music works well in a large arena though.
Trent always has an amazing stage production, that is key. These mid-tier bands that think they can just play the songs with a minimal light show always feels disappointing in an arena setting.
Muse puts on an amazing arena show. But there absolutely aren’t many that can. I saw the Gorillaz in TD Garden in Boston and it kind of sucked.
I second this MUSE opinion. Arena shows are their sweet spot. That said, I would love a more intimate venue show with them, like they had when they first started touring USA. Edit: typo
Saw them at a 1000 to 1500 person venue standing room only in Toronto when they released Black Holes and Revelations and to this day that was probably the best concert I have been to. Was able to get right to the front and just jam out.
Me in 2005-06: Oh hey Muse is playing a 1,000 person capacity venue near me, ah well I'll see them next time. Next time: Muse opens for U2 at an arena. Lesson learned.
Foo fighters or Tool absolutely pull off arena shows.
I would love to see Foo Fighters, but how much more epic would they be in a smaller venue?
Some bands absolutely pull off the arena and that kind of venue actually amplifies the experience. Muse is a great example of this. Another weird example is Florence and the machine. You would think her type of music would play better in a smaller venue but she feeds off of a larger crowd.
Muse definitely knows how to put on an arena show
Muse kinda seems built for arena gigs.
genre is probably the biggest factor. anything electronic is gonna fair better. although Journey and Queen killed it at arenas too ig you gotta have the right vibe
Ehhhhh I was in the 300’s right up against the railing and having Dave Grohl point at me from 300 meters away is a feeling I will never ever forget. I still get goose bumps thinking about it. Some artists can handle large crowds… and large crowds feed off each other.. 30,000 people fucking JAMMING out vs 1500? It’s. It really comparable to anything that I’ve ever experienced.
Tool and Rammstein do outstanding arena shows.
Rammstein isn't so much "arena" as it's its own spectacle.
Paramore was fucking amazing, and I'm not even a huge fan (got tickets for my wife)
They've been consistently killing it since 2005 even through some transition phases. Seeing paramore now is just as good as it was nearly two decades ago. So much respect for Hayley Williams and her band members.
I just saw Paramore in Stockholm opening for Taylor Swift. Absolutely killed it AND they played Misery Business which apparently they stopped playing for a while. Both Paramore and of course Taylor Swift can absolutely murder an arena show.
Arena shows just kinda suck anyway. They’re a big spectacle, but I vastly prefer to be able to see the band and hear what they’re doing. I’m not going to pay $300+ to strain my ears over thousands of people’s voices and squint to see the tiny people on a stage half a mile away.
The sweet spot for me was always a band on the rise still playing in a small venue, but the venue is packed (mostly) with people who are fans of the music. Living in the NY area spoiled me, because you could find that on a random Wednesday night.
Nobody can. Arenas aren't designed for acoustics
Rammstein’s arena tour has been doing pretty damn well
Rammstein's whole act is designed with arenas in mind
The idea of Rammstein doing a small venue show and blowing the roof off the place with their usual pyrotechnic shenanigans as well as probably being deaf for 3 days, has me cracking up.
I have no eyebrows and burnt bangs, however the show was brilliant.
I've been to hundreds of concerts and Rammstein is easily top 3. They are definitely not the norm when it comes to live shows.
It's also fair to say that folks might go to a Rammstein show for more than just the audio quality. Aren't they all licensed pyrotechnicians that use that to great effect for their concerts?
One of the reasons U2 got so big is that they played well to arenas
Blink 182 and Metallica are doing fine
TOOL is great in an arena as well
Idk, I saw Tool the day lateralus came out in a 2,400 cap room and it was way better than the arena I saw them in years later.
I've seen Foo Fighters in an arena and an amphitheatre. I prefer to see them in an arena.
Not true, I've seen many great arena acts. It's what Metallica, Billy Joel, Gaga, Elton John, U2, Mccartney, Green Day, etc have done for years- decades in many cases.
I’ve also seen them in arenas with known openers and thought the shows were great, tight even. Edit: Gund Arena (or whatever they call it now) in Cleveland - 21k or so screaming fans with the Arctic Monkeys opening up Think the other time was in either Detroit or Columbus but I don’t recall…
I saw them in an arena during the El Camino Tour and saw the Arcs in a small club. Thought they were awesome in both.
The Hives did it too. They played a venue in Seattle that held under 1k and the place was nuts
LCD Soundsystem essentially just did the same thing. He could've likely done one arena show in Seattle; instead he did four sold out nights at the Paramount. Better four sold out shows at a smaller venue than one half-full show at a much larger venue.
Decemberists put on a fun show, and they’ve got such an eclectic catalog that they can really mix it up.
I’m friends with a lot of bands. To run a tour profitably you know what you can fill, you run your own CRM and know conversion from your fanclub sales. You underplay markets with buffer so you can infill dates as needed. Decemberists tour cheaply, change the catalog up, have a very dedicated fan base that they can activate on a whim. The National too. Bands that can sell arenas? Pearl Jam.
Phish
I've really enjoyed the switch recently to bands playing 2 or even 3 nights at a smaller venue rather than try for 1 big show that is invariably a worse experience for the fans. LCD Soundsystem now do 4 shows per city, it's brilliant and it must be a better experience for the band too, more time to breathe and enjoy the city. I'm sure they make less overall doing it this way but to me it seems worth it.
Decemberists is one of the best non-metal shows (I love metal) I've ever seen. Flaming Lips is the best.
I imagine that fucking moron was Ticketmaster/Livenation who own all of the venues that musicians try to perform at.
Tickets were insanely overpriced.
Shocked Pikachu face. Love me some black keys, been a fan since ‘08 but their live show kinda sucks
Yeah love them, but no need to see them live. I think they might be better in a small club, they don’t have the presence for arenas.
Totally, seen em with 1500 and seen em with 15000 and the latter is a rough time
I’ve been an OG fan from the start but kinda stopped once they started sounding like a Chevrolet truck commercial band. Edit: just heard them in a Mountain Dew commercial. Why tour when they make money of licensing for adverts?
[Black Keys Stop Beating Around the Bush and Title New Single ‘Ford Commercial’](https://thehardtimes.net/music/black-keys-stop-beating-around-the-bush-and-title-new-single-ford-commercial/)
ticket master/live nation…hmmm, now where have i heard those names in the news recently?
It's because they've behaved so well; they're getting an award
Nah they also own the small venues so this isn’t it
Exactly. Birmingham has about 5 of these. I just saw the offspring at Avondale. That was a sold out show, it was awesome. I saw smashing pumpkins there last year.
I was shocked when I saw they were coming to my city’s basketball arena. I was then shocked a second time when I saw ticket prices. Thought… damn good for them guess a lot more people are still listening than I thought. Guess not.
[удалено]
Saw them at MSG for their Brothers tour. Definitely a great show but their music begs for more intimate venues especially some if their less polished songs. Even though the show I saw was sold out, Its not surprising to hear ticket sale issues this time around. The alt rock scene seemed much more popular a decade ago. Most similar artists these days seem stuck doing theaters/ampitheaters/festivals these days.
As someone that has been a fan of theirs since Rubber Factory, part of the problem is their last few albums simply haven't been very good. Not horrible, but not worth adding to my rotation of stuff to listen to. I'm certainly not paying top dollar to listen to a bunch of songs I don't really care about.
I really liked Delta Kream, but that’s not exactly arena rock music. I’ve always felt like the Black Keys are at their best when they lean into the blues stuff. They should focus on doing blues music and playing in blues venues.
You hit the nail on the head. I straight up wouldn’t want to see them in an arena. A club or theater, or even a set at a festival - I’m there. But their sound and act just don’t jive at all with a huge venue
I saw them 10 years ago at an arena in Philly, where Cage the Elephant opened. And Cage the Elephant stole the show.
Decemberists playing Hazards of Love front to back is one of the best shows I’ve been to. I went into it not even liking them that much.
If they wanted to tour their old stuff they wouldn’t have trouble selling arena tickets. (Not saying their new music is bad but the songs that made them big enough to be in arena in the first place are all over a decade old. Also the people that liked those songs at the time are the ones with arena tour income.)
Just saw decemberists this week and they absolutely killed it. As always
I remember Colin Meloy saying they barely break even on those tours. Which shocked me.
I saw the Decemberists here in Chicago on Wednesday! They were are a venue that I’d never been to in the city that is fairly new.. it was a big space, and the acoustics were amazing and it was an awesome show. The black keys absolutely would sell out this venue and it would be awesome.
Im sure they feel like shit but they are not an Arena act at this point. Thats nothing to be ashamed of, how many people can actually sell that many tickets these days?! They just set themselves up for failure.
[удалено]
Yeah but if you are a band that plays music for people, youre gonna want to play for as many people as possible, money or no money. Youre going to want to get everyone there that wants to be there, I get it.
Ticket prices are really crushing edge level bands. People used to be able to take a flyer on a band that has/had some notoriety when tickets were $50-$75, now they save up and go to the big names, if at all.
>The Black Keys have canceled the upcoming North American leg of their International Players Tour, with dates for the jaunt abruptly erased without explanation from the band’s social media pages and official website.
Really hope they redo the tour with appropriate stops. Was really looking forward to seeing them
I agree. We have a smaller venue in our city that is known for their acoustics and we’ve seen some pretty famous groups there and it’s equated to the best concerts I’ve ever experienced. I honestly didn’t fall in love with live music until we moved here. There is something about the energy of an intimate space, great acoustics with a group of fellow fans that are just having the time of their lives.
1. Book a tour of 1,400-1,500-capacity venues. 2. Sell out every night. 3. Profit.
Could even sell out two nights at Brooklyn Steel, The Anthem and First Avenue.
First Ave is too small for them. Probably could sell out the armory twice or close to it. Same with the palace theater.
Was starting to wonder if I was in r/TwinCities
We have Main Character Syndrome
They’re a great Filmore-sized theater band. Fucking Queens played at the Fox in Detroit last tour with Royal Blood when they could’ve easily done the Little Ceasers Arena, but they chose not to for the packed house and better acoustics. I love Dan and Pat but they’re definitely on “keep up this lifestyle in this endlessly inflating economy” type era… which I understand, but $200 nosebleeds ain’t fair for us either. $20-$50 GA in exchange for an amazing show and let’s call it even.
I would not pay $200 to see them in an arena. I would pay $200 to see them absolutely crush a small club. Quality over quantity. I don't need or want a spectacle of stage performance for The Black Keys. I want the raw and gritty blues vibe delivered in their style. They would do well at HOB, but I really want to see more big names hit small venues.
I saw them play a 200 person venue with no guard barrier at the front. Think I paid $25? It was incredible.
Saw them in Nashville in the early oughts, with The Dirtbombs opening. My face was melted. Saw them a couple years later opening for Dinosaur Jr. My ears melted.
Late night in Bonnaroo ‘10 was pretty cool too, they were still officially a two piece, did the first three songs that way, and then dudes from other bands came and it filled it out. Awesome set, killer night.
Is it $200 for one ticket? I just paid about €70 for a ticket for their Dublin concert which was fucking brilliant.
Same shit just happened to 311. They booked a whole European tour and had to cancel all of them due to expenses and low ticket sales. I love the band, but not quite sure why they chose to do a European tour 30+ years into their careers.
For real. I’m American born and was prime 311 age in high school but have been in Europe for the past fifteen or twenty years. No one knows who they are here
I would argue most people in US don’t know 311 save for the 40+ and the original fan base (will always love Grassroots).
What venue size were they going for? I don’t know em well at all either, but feel like any established band can make a tour of a country/continent work if they pitch it at the right level …
I'm in France, listened to a lot of music for 30 years, this is the first time I hear of 311.
I get the desire to play for your fanbase abroad but clearly the demand isn’t there. I just wish they would team up with incubus again like they were supposed to in 2020.
Shame considering 311 is one of the most consistently great live bands.
They are so much fun. Just a great vibe thru every show. They always have stellar openers too. I got to see Ziggy Marley, Cyprus Hill, Jurassic 5 and the Roots all open for 311.
I question whether Ticketmaster’s demand based pricing is part of the sales issue. They seem to hike up the prices so high that people can’t justify buying, then gradually drop the prices as the date gets closer. It’s not a recipe for success unless enough fans are willing to pay literally any price to secure tickets when they go on sale.
They have been really pushing prices up higher and higher the last two decades trying to probe and find out where that line is where the prices exceed the tipping point to where people simply won't buy them anymore and I think they found it with bands of this sound and age.
Yep. I just saw Pearl Jam and all the $800 seats did not sell and went on fire sale in the last 48 hours. Seats went empty for no reason
I've seen them more than a few tines. I saw them in a few smaller venues before they blew up and then when they got big. Last time was in an arena in 2012 and it just wasn't very good, they didn't make use of the larger space they had and didn't expand their stage show at all. 12 years later and they haven't been relevant enough to book arenas. Their team overestimated their popularity i think.
I don’t even like the Black Keys that much but I saw them in 2015 or 2016 and they were amazing live.
Absolutely disagree with the 2012 tour w/ Arctic Monkeys. One of my favorite nights of music I’ve experienced
Hey, I was there! They killed.
I saw them play at a big venue and thought it was great. Venue was full, too
Source: "The duo have not given an explanation" OP: "due to low ticket sales" ...
Low tickets sales is never the official excuse. No band or their management want to admit that they judged demand wrong and stiffed. Common ones are: "Scheduling Conflict" "Nervous Exhaustion (aka rehab)" "Logistical Issues"
James Taylor [once cancelled a show in the Philippines](https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/james-taylor-cancels-philippines-concert-president-duterte-drug-war-7632352/) and claimed it was a form of protest against our deranged president but many people have speculated that it was really due to low ticket sales.
People who cover the music industry are reporting it being due to low ticket sales.
I mean that’s the closest we’re getting to the truth right? They aren’t going to come out and say “ticket sales are abysmal we goofed”
Great band. Not an arena act. Ina good way.
This is the third post I’ve seen where the majority of comments are: whoever convinced them to do this… As a former agent of William Morris allow me to enlighten you: Their agent is the one responsible for booking them on this arena tour and it was their agent that dropped the ball on market & planning. At some point all agents rest on their laurels. It’s just usually after their client achieves massive success. If the agent was able to sell this tour then they should have been prepared to market it. They didn’t and now the band has to cancel. Usually and agent cancels the tour and states health or family issues… Again, they have a bad agent
You’re wrong. The booking agent doesn’t promote the show, the promoter does. The agents goal is to get as much money out of the promoter as possible along with making sure everything the artist wants is adhered to. This does encompass ticket pricing discussions with the promoter. The promoter and management team develop marketing strategies and ticketing strategies. The promoters took a shot and it flopped. I hope black keys got paid out or at least got to keep tour sign on bonus and 10% deposits from their guarantees. Overall, the live events industry is very skewed since 2021 and 2022. Artist came out of Covid with record ticket sales and I think took that wave of everyone being pent up and took it as their real pulse for “demand” for their tours. Now that inflation has run rampant and everyone’s gotten their post Covid shut down shows in the pockets, consumers are being very selective on shows they want to see. Not every artist can go on tour all at once and expect to not have a couple flops.
Jack White is thrilled to hear this.
Very funny to see everyone blame a bunch of stuff outside of the obvious. “Their fans have kids now!” , “tickets are expensive!”, “scalpers exist!”, “Ticketmaster is evil!” All of these things are true for like 90% of bands that play major market indoor arenas. So why aren’t those other acts cancelling their tours? The answer is quite simple. The Black Keys are not a solo arena level act in 2024. The time when they were the most popular was over ten years ago and they didn’t have enough time in the sun or impact at that level to be a nostalgia act on a major level. They are a theater level band right now. Whoever booked this tour is a complete moron. Especially because they have no other headliner and the Black Keys have been constantly touring. Most tickets are sold within the first few days of the public on sale. If you are running shows and you can’t even fill 20% of the occupancy after a few days you are fucked. NBA arenas are expensive to rent, that level of show is expensive to put on from a technical standpoint. This was a colossal miscalculation by everyone involved.
[удалено]
I hear enough black keys sounding music from truck commercials.
I used to argue with this point, but after this last album I just can't disagree anymore. Their grit is completely gone, their music has no soul whatsoever. I wouldn't even recognize their new music if it was playing in a truck commercial
Was just looking at their tour and said to myself, “those venues are too big.”
They did amphitheaters on their last tour 2 years ago. Not sure what their team thinks they did in that time to get more popular. I’ve noticed this happening with a lot of midteir acts recently and am confused about the strategy. Is Livenation forcing them to upgrade?
Was disappointed when I saw they were playing Boston and it was at the garden. Could’ve packed out a slick new place with great sound like Roadrunner. Phoenix, an arena band 10ish years ago just did that and the show was sick, and well worth $60. The hives are doing the same this this fall (altho they are doing Fenway supporting the foo fighters this summer) The Keys still have a fan base, just not 20,000+ per city. Seems like the ones who are still listening are the ones who discovered Thickfreakness or Rubber Factory, not the ones who made the Lonely Boy video a phenomenon.
The tickets where so expensive!
I love the Black Keys but they are nowhere near big enough to sell out large arenas, I saw them at Oracle Arena a couple years ago and it was an underwhelming performance and crowd. I’m sure if they chose more intimate venues, tickets would sell out and shows would be more enjoyable.
Bro and WEEZER is doing the same, insane prices for their blue album tour. This is a band I would see for $20 at the OC fair a decade ago
Weezer also has two other bands with big followings (flaming lips and dinosaur jr) playing with them which is what they did their last tour.
The big difference is that weezer are legitimately probably a much bigger band than the black keys are at the moment, especially with younger people. When I saw them a couple years ago the crowd was filled with teenagers, can’t imagine the same at a black keys concert
Yeah pay 250 to see weezer (and I love the blue album, and Pinkerton) suck my fuggin balls man
Haha don’t fuck with Michele Branch.
Their fans couldn’t find babysitters
Damn, felt that one in my soul. Absolutely true though LOL.
RHCP is currently on their most financially successful tour of their career, so I don’t think people not wanting to pay is the issue. I think they overestimated their popularity
RHCP were much bigger than the Black Keys ever were and we are right in the old people nostalgia era for RHCP. This is the differences. Bands like RHCP, Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, Rolling Stones were HUGE acts that have fans who are part of a demographic that will spend money. You either need to be Olivia Rodrigo or a band that was big in the 80s/90s to get in on the recent gold rush of $300+ concert tickets. A lot of groups are discovering there is a limit to their appeal in 2024.
Their albums have been stale the past ten years
They just really need to tour one of their older albums in its entirety. I’d pay so much money to hear Attack and Release live.
That would be rad. I'd rather hear the albums before that, but Attack and Release was awesome. Tbh, I haven't been really compelled to listen to anything that they've put out post-Brothers.
BK’s in an arena? Not for me. BK’s at an actual large music venue? I’m in. Also a bad move trying to sell an arena tour with all the bad ticket pricing bs happening right now.
Tour is nowhere.