Springsteen VIII - 2014, tour, album, etc.

[cobl04]

Completely with Laz on this.

That's... kinda pathetic and reads like a cranky U2 fan complaining that they couldn't get into the Bono Book Tour.

I get it that tickets were high. They're high for most acts currently.

re: a lifeline... I have zero doubt that a stadium leg will come next with a much different sticker price.

I thought it was extremely measured and well-written. There's no complaining or whinging whatsoever, it's a presentation of the reasons in an open way, and the vast majority of it is gratitude.

Fuck dynamic pricing. It is nothing more than greed and to try to package it up as anything else is wrong. We've lived without it for years and now we're just supposed to sit back and accept it as the new normal and not get shitty about it? In the hope that we'll luck out and get to see our favourite artists for a decent price? Fuck that. Thank god it hasn't happened here yet. I can understand high ticket prices for big artists, particularly in the current context of high inflation and a rising cost of living. I can understand doing what, for example, Elton John did - worst seats $150, you want the best seats, you pay $1,000 (and if you want extra money in these musicians' pockets, then go ahead, do that) but dynamic pricing is just greed.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Dynamic pricing is an imperfect solution to a real and actual problem.

It's easy to say "oh, well, the artist is already rich so they should just be fine with letting so much of the potential revenue for the show go straight to the secondary market where some other volunteer profits instead."

That's not a real solution.

And I'm sure everyone with a house for sale would take less than what the market dictates. You know - to keep it fair for the little guy.

Artists, including Bruce, have tried other methods to keep the tickets out of the hands of the secondary market. Most of them failed, and some, like in New York, were actually struck down by the state government under the false pretense of "protecting the consumer." All it did was protect the billionaire who owns StubHub.

Again - I'm not a fan of dynamic pricing. I'm also not a fan of letting huge amounts of revenue that should be going to the artist, the band, the people who work for the tour, the promoters, the union stage hands, the staff at the venue, etc. etc. simply walk out the door and into the hands of just another billionaire who isn't going to pay all those people.

Regarding the Backstreets guy deciding to use this moment to bail out? I'm sorry I have little sympathy for a guy who absolutely has received benefits from Bruce and the band that others have not all of a sudden crying about access.

And oh, by the way? The ticket prices for the shows down south dropped down to reasonable rates that are right in line, and in some cases cheaper, than what you would have expected them to go for if dynamic pricing wasn't in place. I saw tickets in Dallas going for $60. And this is a guy who has absolutely traveled to shows in the past.

The real problem is the Ticketmaster/ Live Nation monopoly. That's where people should be pointing their hatred and ire. They're the real problem. One company should not control the majority of the venues and the ticket sales. This does more to drive up ticket costs than dynamic pricing ever has. It limits what artists can do and stifles competition. The dynamic pricing debate is a distraction from the real issue.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Just go back to the ID-matching requirement for names on tickets, make tickets be fully refundable, and be done with it.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Just go back to the ID-matching requirement for names on tickets, make tickets be fully refundable, and be done with it.

i'm right there with you on the ID matching requirement. there's one rather huge problem - new york state.

they passed laws in 2016 guaranteeing a consumer's right to resell tickets on the secondary market - which limited a lot of the things some artists - including bruce and pearl jam and even u2 - tried to put into place to make sure tickets were purchased by - and stayed with - fans.

if you recall U2 went paperless - requiring your credit card for entry for certain tickets... except in new york city. shows at the garden all had hard tickets.

makes it tricky when you can't do it in the largest market in the country.

tickets being fully refundable is never happening. the venue and artist aren't going for it... plus it sets up situations where even if you were to block out the bots and second hand sellers you'd still have a certain subset of fans hording tickets to shows that they aren't even sure they'll be able to go to. it would also take all risk away from the second hand market - which is the opposite of what we should be aiming for.

 

[DeVaul]

if you recall U2 went paperless - requiring your credit card for entry for certain tickets... except in new york city. shows at the garden all had hard tickets.

JT30 ga floor went this way. People bitched. Acts need to spell it out for the stupid.

Love the PJ face value resale, too.

 

[DaveC]

JT30 ga floor went this way. People bitched.

and then they ultimately did no credit-card checking whatsoever, at least in toronto.

me and the guy who sold me his extra ticket went into the stadium at the same time in case they wanted to check his card, and nobody ever asked him for it.

the person to whom i sold my initial ticket was also able to get in with a ticket that had my name on it, without any issues.

 

[DeVaul]

and then they ultimately did no credit-card checking whatsoever, at least in toronto.



me and the guy who sold me his extra ticket went into the stadium at the same time in case they wanted to check his card, and nobody ever asked him for it.



the person to whom i sold my initial ticket was also able to get in with a ticket that had my name on it, without any issues.

You mean ID check right? They were scanning the credit cards to print the bullshit recept/ticket (Europe got a collector ticket option, bastards).

 

[LuckyNumber7]

tickets being fully refundable is never happening. the venue and artist aren't going for it... plus it sets up situations where even if you were to block out the bots and second hand sellers you'd still have a certain subset of fans hording tickets to shows that they aren't even sure they'll be able to go to. it would also take all risk away from the second hand market - which is the opposite of what we should be aiming for.

I see your point, but I still think there’s ways to defend against that. If you had a refund deadline close to the show, maybe 4 weeks out, it could make multiple successive drops. Or like 8 weeks for a full refund, 4 weeks for 50% refund, etc.

There’s no perfect solution, but I think the best way is to aggressively target the secondary market by making it incredibly hard for them to sell the tickets.

As for New York, I mean like fuck that noise.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I just don't see how having a refund policy is going to prevent the secondary market.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

Headache is correct: nothing will change until the Ticketmaster/Live Nation monopoly is broken up. And they know they're untouchable, they recently interviewed a former executive who basically said "Fuck you, that's capitalism. Deal with it."

 

[LuckyNumber7]

I just don't see how having a refund policy is going to prevent the secondary market.

Because you stop honest re-sellers (people who can’t go) from going to the resale market and you keep the original point of sale as a viable location to buy tickets. I can’t buy a ticket on Ticketmaster virtually 1-5 minutes after tickets go on sale for most big shows.

Don’t forget, I’m coupling that with a name-on-ticket policy. When you buy a ticket and it’s bound to you, it’s unattractive to the buyer to be bound to the ticket. But these shows will be sold out no matter what.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Because you stop honest re-sellers (people who can’t go) from going to the resale market and you keep the original point of sale as a viable location to buy tickets. I can’t buy a ticket on Ticketmaster virtually 1-5 minutes after tickets go on sale for most big shows.

Don’t forget, I’m coupling that with a name-on-ticket policy. When you buy a ticket and it’s bound to you, it’s unattractive to the buyer to be bound to the ticket. But these shows will be sold out no matter what.

i just think this would simply change the problem.

in the Vegas thread i brought up the guy who runs U2Songs mentioning on a podcast that he bought tickets for Bono's Reading Rainbow but doesn't know if he can go yet. if people knew that they could be refunded - this would become a common practice amongst those with the top seats.

there will always be issues - there's no perfect solution - but the main thing is the break up of Live Nation & Ticketmaster. nothing can change before that happens. and even if that actually does happen i'm sure another issue that nobody's even thinking about will pop up - but i don't think anyone can argue that more competition will be better for everyone.

i hear not everyone's thrilled with Live Nation, btw

 

[DeVaul]

The idea of refunds is a non-starter. That’s why I like the PJ fan-to-fan resale. *No guarantee* you can resell your ticket, but it’s going to go to someone at face. So the prospective buying and “just in case” gets a lot less convenient.

Take it a step further and set it up for fanclub tix only, or a fanclub-first window. So the tix sit on TM for a given period for fanclub codes only before going on “general” resale.

The options are in the platform, the artist teams just have to want to use them. I’m oddly hopeful this latest “Bono at the Beacon on Broadway” request system is indicative of a shift in approach, at least for Vegas.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Damn, Little Steven has Covid and missed last night's show in Dallas. Really hoping he can recover in time for the show I'm going to next Saturday.

Certainly wouldn't ruin the show but I'll be a little bummed if he's not there.

Also, the fact one member of the band has Covid gets me a little worried about the rest of the band in general. Thank goodness this is 2023 instead of 2021. Even just a year or so ago if any one member of a band or touring party had Covid it would usually shut down the whole operation.

 

[cobl04]

I just looked it up, Bruce has never played a song from Western Stars live. I know it came out shortly before COVID and he was tied up the Broadway show, but that shocks me. If he comes out again I'm gonna hold up a sign with "Moonlight Motel" on it.

 

[Hewson]

Damn, Little Steven has Covid and missed last night's show in Dallas. Really hoping he can recover in time for the show I'm going to next Saturday.

Certainly wouldn't ruin the show but I'll be a little bummed if he's not there.

Also, the fact one member of the band has Covid gets me a little worried about the rest of the band in general. Thank goodness this is 2023 instead of 2021. Even just a year or so ago if any one member of a band or touring party had Covid it would usually shut down the whole operation.

Hopefully they are following protocols that kept the rest of the band healthy. It's become fairly common place nowadays.
Fingers crossed Steve is back and healthy by the time they hit Chi-town.

 

[DeVaul]

Is Bruce sharing beers with the crowd this tour?

Get it all out of their systems before they hit the NY area…

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Bruce laughs at COVID

 

[DeVaul]

Bruce laughs at COVID

Microdosing paxlovid

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericfu...now-cost-the-same-as-two-gallons-of-gasoline/

 

[phanan]

Something tells me that won’t be the case back up in the northeast.

 

[DeVaul]

Something tells me that won’t be the case back up in the northeast.

Alas no, though stadiums should give us a better shot at tix than the arena shows did.

 

[Hewson]

Texas is definitely not Springsteen country.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

 

[phanan]

Fuck, he played If I Was The Priest for the first time the other night.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Something tells me that won’t be the case back up in the northeast.

Well of course not, but it does prove that dynamic pricing can actually work.. with a few tweaks (i.e. max caps on most tickets and only allow a certain number of platinum tickets to be truly crazytown expensive)

If the base level for the most expensive ticket was $350 and the cap was, say, $600? People would still be pissed but it wouldn't be the same level of outrage and bad press that seeing a 100 level go for 2 grand would get.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I have seen the future of rock and roll

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Holy shit guys I got really really close. It was incredible. Was about three people back from the front rail and off slightly to the right of the center stage/walkway ramp, so basically right in between Bruce and Stevie. Let me see if I can upload some photos. I've never done that on the Interference app.

During Promised Land he was right in front of me doin his harmonica thing and he tossed the harmonica (mouth harp) into the crowd and the man in front of me caught it, he was a bit taller than me.

I'd like to write up a lot more but for now I'll say that I was actually slightly worried for a minute that he wasn't gonna play Thunder Road. And then he fucking did! And I sang my heart out and then he went directly into Born to Run. And that combo was maybe my favorite live music moment ever. BTR went directly into Rosalita too which was a fucking blast. Lemme see about these photos.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

The first 35 minutes of the set had huge energy and intensity and fun...No Surrender, Prove It All Night, Promised Land, Out In The Street, Candy's Room (five classic bangers) along with two uptempo songs off the last E Street album Letter to You. He had the crowd spell out F-U-C-K C-O-V-I-D and started a Fuck Covid chant during one of the new ones because Jake Clemons was out sick. Pretty funny and unexpected.

Then there was a really stunning 15 minute version of Kitty's Back, which has never been a personal favorite but the rendition was cool as hell to hear. However, this is where the set kinda got a bit weird and slowed down for me. I fucking LOVE Johnny 99 but I don't need a 10 minute jazzy version of it. And I don't really care about the ballad off Letter to You or a cover from the Soul album. This whole stretch kinda broke the momentum of the show for me (obviously only temporarily). But it slowed the energy down so much that the following versions of Backstreets and She's The One (two songs I love dearly off an all-time favorite album) felt a little off. Still unbelievable to finally hear these live.

You know what picked the whole set back up for me? Wrecking Ball. That song kills live and I forgot it was in the setlist and it totally worked and brought me back completely. Then BADLANDS absolutely ripped. The crowd loved Badlands and I did too. A fist-pumping anthem.

Then came the aforementioned Thunder Road->Born To Run->Rosie stretch with the house lights on and it was beyond euphoric. I'm tired and done writing now but this motherfucker did not disappoint.

 

[cobl04]

Stoked for you man I haven't seen them in a few years now but I have very good memories of how good lesser/newer songs like Wrecking Ball and The Rising and Waitin on a Sunny Day were.