MERGED --> why not stadiums in north america? + US/UK Stadiums or arenas?

[Yahweh]

Take what No Control says with a grain of salt...after all hes in bed with Roger Waters, he maintains that Pink Floyd is still the biggest band in the world which they once were but are not anymore...

They have 20 albums the last of which came out in 2003 but has anybody heard of it? They have only sold slightly more albums then U2 have with many more albums. So the distortion of the facts by No Control is just his way of trying to provide for his own misguided hate for whatever reason he might have it.

 

[Nube Gris]

correct
agree 100%
i love pink floyd but their status as the world biggest band ended long ago

Im sure that stadium shows will come later in the year, no doubt
Also were hoping for some South American gigs, say late 2005 jan-feb 2006

Queremos a U2 aqui!!!

 

[NoControl]

Album sales:

Pink Floyd - 200 Million (22 releases)
U2 - 135 Million (17 releases)

Concert Attendance:

Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason tour '87-'88-'89...5.5 Million tickets sold (4.7 Million minus return)
Average price: $21.68 worldwide & $20.00 in North America

U2 - Joshua Tree & Lovetown tours '87 & '89...3.5 Million tickets sold (3 Million minus return)
Average price: $17.30

Pink Floyd - Division Bell tour '94...5.4 Million tickets sold (only performed on two continents)
Average price: $34.50 & at least the same on the European leg

U2 - ZOO TV tour '92-'93...5.4 Million tickets sold (4.5 Million minus the return)
Average price: $30.00 & $28.25 in North America

Back Catalog Sales (annually):

Pink Floyd - 4 Million (2 Million in the US)
U2 - 1-1.5 Million (750,000-1 Million in the US)

Every time Pink Floyd have toured since 1977, their ticket prices have increased at least 70% in the US (and a bit less elsewhere) while their attendances continue to increase in just about every market. Every time U2 & The Stones have toured since 1989 (The Stones) & 1992 (U2), their attendances have decreased with each ticket price increase in just about every market.

A new Pink Floyd tour would break every record imaginable (apart from Springsteen's Giants Stadium record of 10 shows a few years ago).

Get A Clue...

 

[spacefreak]

The profit margin just wasn't there for U2's last 2 US stadium tours. The stadium leg of ZooTV was so-so... not nearly as good as their indoor leg, and POP was a wash. Even MTV/VH1 retrospectives on the band highlight this.

This is a business, and it's all about profits.

Whether or not Joey B. and his 14 friends from Philly can get tickets is not their worry. Putting on a show and walking away with truckloads of money is.

 

[NoControl]

I have to respond to a few other poster's comments on this topic, because my other thread (U2 & The Floyd) was closed...conveniently..."rolling eyes"...

The RIAA didn't start counting double albums as two units sold instead of one until 1997. And therefore only Echoes..., The Wall Live 1980-'81: Is There Anybody Out There?, Delicate Sound Of Thunder and the latest certification of The Wall in 1999 for 23x Platinum (11.5 Million copies) would be deducted from Floyd's album sales total, which currently stands at 73.5 Million in the US. So, even though you'd have to deduct the four albums mentioned above accordingly, you'd have to ad these certifications (because of the amount these albums sell annually and considering the last time these albums had been certified) below because they've already hit these sales levels - it's just that they haven't been certified by the RIAA yet:

The Dark Side Of The Moon - 18x Platinum
The Wall - 25x Platinum (12.5 Million copies)
Wish You Were Here - 7x Platinum
Animals - 5x Platinum
Delicate Sound Of Thunder - 4x Platinum (2 Million copies)
Pulse - 4x Platinum (2 Million copies)
Atom Heart Mother - Platinum

Pink Floyd's US album sales total is at least 66 Million.

Oh and U2 also have a couple of albums that are counted as two unit sales instead of one (big surprise no one brought that up). In case you haven't guessed what they are, they are The Best Of: '80-'90 (B-Sides) & The Best Of: '90-'00 (B-Sides). So, you'd have to deduct 2 or 3 Million from U2's RIAA US total, then ad HTDAAB for 2x Platinum (2.4 Million sold in the US to date, not 3x Platinum) and The Joshua Tree for 11x Platinum, since it sells around 100,000 annually in the US. Bringing U2's US total to over 50 Million units sold in the US to date.

 

[NChilton]

US/UK Stadiums or arenas?

Does anybody know the reason why in the US ,U2 are playing all arena dates and in the UK/Europe its all stadiums. Is there a reason for this?

 

[P-T-P]

My guess would be that nearly every big city in North America has a 15,000 or so seat arena. UK and Europe don't have enough of those kind of facilities.

They'd end up playing 20 nights at Earls Court, 15 nights at MEN Arena, 15 Nights at Cardiff CIA etc. That or they'd have to go back to playing even more "small" gigs at places like Newport Leisure centre, Hammersmith Odeon and so on.

It's a question of both time and economics. They'd have to tour longer, play more shows and gross less per show. It would be so much better if they could tour in smaller places here, but it's just not gonna happen any time soon.

 

[mo786]

Also I have read that they would not be able to sell out stadiums in the USA. Lets face it most of the people are probably going to both shows in their city (if there are 2 shows in that city) and theres probably laods of people going more than twice.

In the UK, they can sell out stadiums - plus the UK is pretty small and all the stadiums are a few hours away from one another.

I live right down the south of England - London and Cardiff are reachable within 2 hours or so, Manchester is about 4 or 5 hours I think.

 

[Sken]

I've read that stadium shows in the US are seated, and that those with the most money will always get front row tickets. U2 on the other hand would rather see their fans front row, hence playing arena's where standing GA enabled fans to be up close.

Also, due to the excellent quality of arena's in the US, they are better venues to play than stadiums, for a number of reasons, acousitics, weather conditions etc etc.

In regards to selling out stadiums, U2 can do this just as easily as any other band. It just depends on the market. Any of the markets where they are playing 3 - 4 shows they could sell out stadiums. The 1-2 show markets, maybe, but unlikely.

The Vertigo production doesnt really require stadium either as it is a rather simple design, so it really does suite the arena setup. Also U2 are able to earn more revenue by doing multiple shows as quite often they get the same fans going to numerous shows, whereas doing one stadium gig wont do that. Eg. 1 stadium gig could hold 40-60 thousand fans. Four arenas could hold 80-90 thousand.

Sken

 

[bravoland]

True.. They can sell out Stadiums in places like New York and whatnot..but it becomes harder to sell out stadiums in the midwest and south... i'm not saying they don't have the fanbase or anything..


but those shows from popmart and 3rd leg zoo tv..thad did sell out took a while to sell out... they had to spend money on advertising to pull in that many people.. let's face it..who would shell out a ton of money for a crappy nose bleed in a stadium..


Stadiums cost more to rent.. require more equipment

The answer is to put on arena tours at inflated prices

$160 bucks for lower bowl $ 95 for up top..

a Stadium Show would be priced around 60-100 dollars... so basically it's like selling out a 40,000 seat stadium in a lower cost to rent arena with 20,000 people paying twice the price..


good economics.

 

[communist]

Even though I love U2 to death, I would have to agree that U2 would not be able to sell out stadiums in every city in the US.

The Popmart tour is a prime example of that, they really had to go out of their way to sell some seats out.

When they played in Tempe, AZ at Sun Devil Stadium, some of the upper deck sections were empty.

Now when Pink Floyd played at the same stadium, the whole thing was packed!

Because of the fact that Pink Floyd have not toured in almost a decade, and because they have a reputation of putting some of the best shows ever (atleast production wise), I think they would beat U2 in a stadium race.