Re: Re: Re: Re: Will they add a 2nd Cleveland show??
NoControl said:
They weren't sold out when I tried. I brought up very good seats. And there's no need to tell me about ticketbastard's practices... I know.
The following markets (for the one millionth time) only sold or had additional shows added because there are not shows scheduled in markets nearby or relatively nearby:
Toronto - 3rd and 4th shows added because there's no shows in the Prairies (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) on the third leg - a region where they can sell up to 65,000 tickets at current prices
Vancouver - 2nd show added because there's no shows in the Prairies (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) on the first leg - a region where they can sell up to 65,000 tickets at current prices
Seattle - 2nd show added because there's no show in Portland until the very last week of the tour, 8 months later
Phoenix & San Diego - 2nd shows added because there's no shows so far in Las Vegas, New Mexico and Mexico
Denver - 2nd show added because there's no shows in Kansas City & SLC (until the very last week of the tour, 8 months later)
Detroit - 2nd show added because there's no shows in Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati or Indianapolis
Philadelphia - 4th show added because there's no shows in North Carolina & Virginia
Atlanta - 2nd show added because there's no shows Alabama, Louisiana & South Carolina
And again, scalpers/brokers today have up to 50% of the house's tickets. It's a total sham.
If you take a look at my predicted 3rd leg schedule I posted a couple of weeks back, it was around 75-80% correct (minus the exact dates). This tour is scheduled brilliantly. U2's making themselves look more popular than they really are in North America.
Toronto- like any other market, its not going to be impacted by markets that are MORE than 3 to 4 hours driving distance from it. Yes, there are always fans from all over who come to various shows, but they are small in number. Your average fan is not going to spend $200 plus beyond the price of the tickets themselves to see the band, not to mention taking off work and other things to see the band in another city that far away.
Vancouver- the band have soldout two shows here on the demand in that market. Whether shows take place in Alberta at some point is irrelevant to this market that is 10 hours driving distance from Calgary and Edmonton.
Seattle- Once again, two shows soldout in minutes here because the level of demand in this market. Its true that Portland is not till the third leg, but tickets for ALL these Northwest shows went on sale within days and weeks of each other and soldout in minutes. To the degree that some markets are actually close enough to impact each other, its more important to look at when tickets went on sale for each market, rather than which particular leg the show takes place. There are still people locked out of these shows in the Northwest and not everyone wants to pay scalper prices are risk buying tickets from scalpers which could actually be fakes.
Phoenix and San Diego - 2nd shows added because of the level of demand in these markets. All four shows here soldout in minutes. New Mexico and Mexico have no impact on these markets. U2 did not play New Mexico or Mexico on the Elevation tour. Las Vegas is far enough from these markets and will have to sell based on the demand there.
Denver- 2nd show added because the first one soldout in minutes. The second show then soldout in minutes as well. St. Louis and and Kansas City are each 8 hours or more driving distance away. To far for enough people to travel from those area's in numbers that would impact the show. St. Louis just went on sale only a few weeks after the two Denver shows and it is selling better than the Elevation show there at a higher ticket price.
Detroit- second show added and nearly soldout hours after going on sale. There are several markets to the south which are 3 to 5 hours away that may get a few shows as well before the end of this tour.
Philadelphia- 3rd and 4th shows were added and went on sale at the same time, because U2 had their fastest sellouts ever in Philly for the first two shows. Despite four shows in Philly, there are still fans without tickets in this market. U2 is playing Washington DC which many would consider to be Virginia or Maryland depending on who you talk to. Both DC shows went on sale at the same time and soldout in minutes. Friends from DC were amazed that anyone got tickets and are searching for them. North Carolina has NO impact on either the DC or Philly markets. Its true that both DC and Philly to some degree impact each other as the two markets are only two hours from each other, but the impact is here is limited and an artist that could only sellout one or two shows in each city would not be able to sellout 2 or 4 shows in one city by not playing the other. There is an impact, but its not that large. Anyways, I may do a survey of the people in the GA line to see where their coming from and we'll see how many people are actually coming from North Carolina or any place else thats more than three hours away. I'd estimate at most you may get a couple of dozen people from North Carolina at any single Philly show, not anywhere nearly enough to impact the market there.
Atlanta- second show added and soldout in minutes. This was not the case on Elevation where the second show crawled to a reduced capacity sellout. The Elevation tour did not play South Carolina, Alabama or Louisiana on Elevation either. No matter how you compare it there is more demand in Atlanta on the Vertigo tour than there was on Elevation and the same holds true for the entire Vertigo tour!
Every artist who goes on tour had to deal with scalpers/brokers in 2001 and 2005 is no different. Scalpers and brokers go after the shows where the demand is greater. Whatever rise in their activity in regards to U2 shows since 2001 is simply another example of the increasing popularity of U2 in North America since 2001.
Everyone new in general how the tour was going to be scheduled, and that there would be somewhere around 80 shows played across North America. There are currently 73 shows planned, and its likely more will be added. The band will likely play to more than 1.4 million people accross North America, NOT 1.1 to 1.2 million people. Of the 73 shows planned so far, 66 shows have completely soldout or will be once they go on sale. 4 only have single seats remaining which is essentially a sellout, and 3 only have behind the stage seating available. All of this taking place in just the past few weeks and the tour has not even started. A huge contrast from the Elevation tour and a sign of the heavy demand to see U2 across North America despite tickets costing an average of 100 dollars a ticket. The band could play stadiums at 100 dollars a ticket and have the same level of attendance as they did on POPMART or greater in North America. But if they cut the average price to 60 dollars, they could play stadiums with ZOO TV levels of attendance or greater in North America.
The band will indeed pass 300 million dollars in GROSS this year for all the dates played in North America and Europe. It will mark the first time and artist has ever GROSSED this much in the January to December time frame of a single year.
