Are Stadium Shows quickly becoming a thing of the past?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Eric Weinraub, Feb 18, 2019.

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  1. Eiricd

    Eiricd Forum Resident

    very few bands can handle stadiums.

    some that don't still play stadiums, and a stadium gig by a band NOT able to handle the stadium format is often boring. (Foo Fighters spring to mind)

    Once Bruce is gone, Stones, Maiden, Ac Dc (may well be gone already)....stadium gigs by acts who CAN HANDLE THE VENUE may be gone for good
     
  2. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    I wish alcohol wasn't tied into concerts to the extent it is. I don't drink, and from my perspective all it does is make people stupid and loud.

    Either that, or you're just married to a magnificent hunk of man-meat.
     
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  3. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    As I said, to me, they're totally different experiences, sports arena and sports stadium shows, and mid size theater and nightclub shows. They don't scratch the same itch for me at all. In fact, I'm pretty much done with any kind of sports arena thing, and like I said, to me they're more the same than they are different.

    There's no doubt in any venue, some locations are better than others. Radio City Music Hall is a big room, 6K capacity. I've been in the second row for shows by the likes of Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin, and back in the balcony for a lot of other shows, and they are very different experiences. At 3K things tend to be a little less varied, 1,500 and smaller even better.

    Sounds like The Stones, for that Beacon show, brought a stadium type stage that would play well on film but stiffed half the audience -- didn't they shoot the shows for that Scorsese movie with the runway into the audience? (BTW, I thought that movie and the band was terrible -- I've never seen a rock band look like they were having less fun or less wanted to be with one another). I haven't been upstairs at the Beacon since they renovated the place, but I was in the next to last row of the balcony there for a Smiths show in 1985, and not only could I see all the action on stage (and all the folk down in front jumping on and off the stage), but the energy between audience and performers was palpable. One of the most memorable shows I ever saw, even basically with my back against the back wall of the theater and my head almost up against the roof. I've never had an experience like that at a sports arena, even seeing something like Springsteen on the Darkness tour from a few rows back on the floor. Just not the same to me. It's not just a matter of where I'm sitting. To me the experiences are different in kind.
     
  4. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    The biggest audience I’ve ever been a part of was 200,000+ at the Live 8 show in London’s Hyde Park. I went at 10:00 am and actually had a spot close enough that I could just barely see the performers on stage. But as night approached, I was tired, cold, hungry, and dying to use the restroom. I left my spot, took a leak, grabbed a burger and a cup of coffee and watched the rest of the show from wayyyy off to the side of the stage, where I strained to even see the screens. I would have had a much better view watching the live stream at home. But, there was a moment towards the end of Pink Floyd’s set, where the sound of “Comfortably Numb” was just huge, and David’s guitar suddenly seemed to just soar above the crowd - it was overwhelming and I actually had tears in my eyes.

    I suppose it was more of an event than a musical experience but I’ll never forget it. I still have my ticket stub and a copy of the morning paper with the day’s scheduled performances. And, I guess I do like to brag about it . . .
     
  5. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I don't even know what "acts who CAN HANDLE THE VENUE" means. Eye of the beholder stuff...
     
  6. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Yeah, I went to 1 of the "Shine a Light" shows. Had a ticket to the other one but ended up being unable to go.

    I don't know what the front of the stage looked like! :D

    We're almost certainly gonna continue to disagree, but I think some acts are better in a large venue. For instance, artists like Gaga or U2 who put on shows use the room to their advantage.

    I'd be happy to see them in smaller venues - and I have seen Gaga in Roseland - but I think there's something wonderful about acts who can work an arena or stadium...
     
  7. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I was at the Clinton show. In one of my few Ticketmaster triumphs over 40 years, I was somehow able to secure one ticket for $27. I was halfway down the balcony behind the lighting rig, so I could see. I didn’t think it was a great show - Atlantic City was better - but it was definitely an event.

    Perhaps it was because I came straight from work and was dressed in a suit, or because all security was concentrating on the mezzanine where Clinton was sitting, but I was able to walk right in to the first floor area before the show. It was kind of surreal - Martin Scorsese was setting up cameras, and there were all these young models who were being instructed on where to sit and what to do. It seemed chaotic enough that I probably could have stayed there for the actual show, and to this day, I regret going back to my single seat up in the balcony. I found myself in the Shine a Light film. At one point, there’s a sweeping shot of the audience in the balcony - and if I freeze the video I can see myself, with a phone in front of my face as I was taking a picture. Oh well.
     
  8. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    I went to one of the Roseland shows. Now I know why they're called "Little Monsters".
     
  9. bamaaudio

    bamaaudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Not a fan of stadium shows or really any shows with assigned seating. My favorite venues are the ones where you can walk up to the door with cash on the day of the show with general admission.
     
  10. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    As I mentioned, I actually managed to pull tickets for both shows. The logistics just didn't work for the first show, though.

    At the time, it killed me to toss back a ticket for a show as "exclusive" as that - especially given it only cost $25 - but ultimately I didn't care.

    Both seats were in similar spots, so I would've been frustrated with my crappy view twice instead of once!
     
  11. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Do tell!
     
  12. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    My favorite venues are the kind of arenas where you can remove the plexiglass partition your knees are squeezed against with the house lights still on*, and move into an unused rotating seat usually used for lighting/cameras, and have more leg room (and room to actually twirl and spin) than a first-class flight. Beats the heck out of seeing the whites of Bono's eyes. BTDT.


    * I decided that removing the slide-out partition - which was taller than me - during lights-out would immediately arouse suspicion. I decided, "Do something in full light and view of everybody, and no one will look twice... " I was right.
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2019
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  13. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Stadium experiences can be all over the board. I have had a few bad experiences - I remember waiting for 90 minutes just to park at the Rose Bowl to see U2 - the Rose Bowl has been around for nearly 100 years and they still can’t figure out the parking? But, there are venues like Verona Arena, an ancient coliseum in Verona Italy that probably holds 25,000 or so - we had a meal in the plaza in front of the arena, then walked right in and saw Adele under the stars. Breathtaking. Pretty amazing venue - notice that the floor is graduated making it much easier for everyone to see.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    Does Bono still have eyes? I thought he'd had them removed and replaced with some sort of bionic eyes that had to be shielded with those special fly eye glasses he always wears.

    Yeah, looking like you're supposed to be doing something is half the job of getting away with it. It helps if you look like a roadie or tech already.
     
  15. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    Well, I've never been mistaken for a Madison Square Garden VIP, but I think leg room is the ultimate VIP experience.
     
  16. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Fenway Park has been hosting summer and fall shows regularly for several years now, and they're expanding to do more of them.

    Billy Joel has done a couple every year there, James Taylor has been doing annual shows. Zak Brown Band has done a couple of shows annually. Roger Waters brought The Wall there a few years ago (that must have cool!).

    Again, they're adding shows at Fenway, not reducing them.

    Fenway seats about 30,000 in the concert setting, I believe.

    Gillette Stadium down in Foxborough still does concerts as well, and we're probably talking 70,000.
     
  17. lazydawg58

    lazydawg58 Know enough to know how much I don't know

    Location:
    Lillington NC
    Not trying to argue, just the way I see it.
     
  18. The Slipperman

    The Slipperman Forum Resident

    Music is fragmenting tremendously now, these shows will go away over time. Good riddance I say, the smaller venues are always better.
     
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  19. Randy5554

    Randy5554 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham, AL
    Excluding music festivals, I’ve only seen Springsteen, U2, and The Rolling Stones in stadiums. There’s something amazing about turning around during a song like Born to Run or Where the Streets have No Name and seeing 50,000 people behind you caught up (mostly) in the same moment. But I’ve always been up close on the floor for these shows, so I’m sure it wouldn’t be quite the same experience in the upper deck 90 yards away.
     
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  20. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Well, so much for that theory.

    BTS Sell Out 'Love Yourself: Speak Yourself' Stadium Dates in England, France & U.S.

    3/1/2019 by Tamar Herman

    Billboard 200 chart-toppers BTS continue to dominate, this time selling out four stadiums for their Love Yourself: Speak Yourself world tour across the United States and Europe, including London’s Wembley and LA's Rose Bowl.

    Tickets for Wembley Stadium kicked off the day, going on sale at 8:30 a.m. local time, and U.K. outlet Metro reported that it sold out in 90 minutes. At 1:40 p.m. local, the stadium’s official Twitter account tweeted that BTS’ June 1 date at the venue was sold out and alerted fans to stay tuned to an announcement coming Saturday. Paris' Stade de France similarly kept fans updated, and after tickets went on sale at 9 a.m. local time, the Twitter account shared that the June 7 date was sold out, posting around 2:30 p.m. local time.

    Tickets began going on sale for the Stateside shows at 9 a.m. in their local timezones, and similarly shortly sold out. New Jersey’s Metlife Stadium and Live Nation Chicago -- Chicago’s Soldier Field would tweet later in the day -- each shared the news two and a half hours after tickets went on sale and also hinted to further information coming Saturday. By 12:30 p.m. PT, just a few hours after the tickets went on sale for BTS' LA-area show at Pasadena, Calif.'s Rose Bowl Stadium on May 4, BTS' website, which had been updating throughout the day, had declared all five stops sold out. Shortly after, the Rose Bowl tweeted a similar post, announcing the show was sold out and hinting to more news to come on Saturday.

    Billboard has reached out to Ticketmaster and BTS' company, Big Hit Enterainment, for further details regarding precise sell-out times for the U.S shows.
     
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  21. Daedalus

    Daedalus I haven't heard it all.....

    :-plnktn-:Dead and Company at Gillette Stadium in June. So no -not a thing of the past. A thing of the future-near future:-plnktn-:
     
  22. akmonday

    akmonday Forum Resident

    Location:
    berkeley, ca
    Man I'm really out of it, I have no idea who BTS even are.

    I'm seeing McCartney at a stadium this summer, because I have a feeling it'll be the last chance we have to see him. But I"m passing on the Stones at the same stadium (Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara) because I can't find decent enough seats for anything under $700 and I've just heard absolute nightmares about the place. Worth it to me for McCartney, but not for the Stones now. I honestly can't think of anyone else I'd bother to see in a stadium of that size at this point.
     
  23. Fusionfan

    Fusionfan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Rammstein is a huge stadium act all over Europe as seen by their tour this year and next. There's also Helene Fischer in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and occasionally a few other spots.

    Ligabue, Eros Ramazzotti, Moda', Laura Pausini and Vasco Rossi play stadiums in Italy

    Mylene Farmer has an incredible stadium show setup in France and Indochine also play stadiums there.

    Romeo Santos is a huge draw in Latin markets.

    And of course, Japan has its stadium acts like Mr Children, Glay, AKB48, Radwimps and B'z.

    I didn't check the whole thread but people often forget Bon Jovi and Coldplay as well
     
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  24. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    I will not miss em
     
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  25. Fusionfan

    Fusionfan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Probably not the thread for you.
     
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