Artists with 40+ years of history and can consistently still tour arenas/stadiums

As well as Van Halen

 

Read on:
Still No Sign of Rain-0ut Money from Hard Rock

 

Stevie Ray Vaughan played 2 sellout shows at Alpine Valley before his helicopter crashed. Alpine Valley is a more elite venue than any arena in the surrounding area. He is correct, it held 30K easy. I think there at least 10k seats under roof and the lawn was about 3 times the size as the assigned seating area. The surrounding area is both Chicago and Milwaukee. The biggest issue is weather. You can't have concerts there when it's snowing. I know when I was going to school up there just before the SRV died (I saw him in Milwaukee with Jeff Beck), Alpine Valley was way more lucrative than even County Stadium where Brewers played. Chicago has an NFL football stadium, so it's probably the only more elite venue than Alpine Valley. Arenas today can only be considered more lucrative because of corporate purchased Luxury Boxes. I'm betting the there is a lot of money to be made from those Luxury Boxes. These really didn't exist in arenas 30 years ago. People love going to Alpine Valley. You can tailgate all day before the show. You don't have to drive into either Chicago or Milwaukee traffic as you would for a basketball arena.

 

Interesting! Thanks for posting that.

"According to other booking agents contacted by the Reporter, KC books for not more than $30,000 and often the cost of hotel stays for the band."

With like 15 members in his band...that doesn't seem like much of a profit.

 

Don't like to point to just them, but it was contributing factor for helping to kill the series. The Niagara Falls Reporter is this muckraking rag. They pressed their finger on that nerve about KC and the Sunshine Band to embarrass the Niagara Falls mayor, which they did in practically every issue.

The series included acts, such as Psychedelic Furs and English Beat, excellent for free summer outdoor shows!

 

To be clear, it was a Blues-Rock festival headlined by Clapton, by far a bigger draw than SRV (As great as Stevie was), with both Stevie and Robert Cray playing full sets too. Buddy Guy and others showed up to jam over those two nights as well.

Alpine doesn’t get used nearly as often now as it did back in the 80s and 90s, probably, in part, because of more competing venues in both Chicago and Milwaukee. But, as mentioned, Buffett, Phish, and Matthews regularly play there. The Who was there recently, as was this year’s Farm Aid a couple of weeks ago. Maybe Alpine’s lost some of its luster, but in general I don’t know that sheds are any less “prestigious” necessarily. Number of seats available/sold is probably more the factor.

 

Springsteen played Alpine back in the 80s around the height of his popularity. The Dead, back when they were the biggest touring band around, did too. Even when they were playing Soldier Field in Chicago or other stadiums though, they also played smaller sheds in other places too. Again, Buffett, Phish, and DMB do the same now. Some big festivals, some stadiums too, but also sheds. Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters often do too. Massive draws all. All of them play at least some sheds.

Some of it depends on the season (Sheds aren’t open in the northern states during late fall, winter, or likely spring), some of it depends on the market and what venues are available, and some venues are just well liked/preferred by the artists.

Honestly, again, how many seats a venue has and how many an artist can sell at a given venue, is probably the driving factor.

In U2’s case, however, their massive staging probably doesn’t lend itself to a shed since you can’t exactly fit their screens, ramps, runaways, and other props into a shed with a low roof and permanent seating. So, for some acts, that can be a factor too. They are mostly stadiums anyhow, aren’t they?

 

The Time tour was in the 80s wasn’t it?

 

Arenas and stadiums? How about AC/DC?

 

On the arena vs. shed debate, I spoke to a friend in the concert industry a few years back. This gentleman has been in his job for more than 30 years and knows the business inside and out.

He told me that there was a definite trend back to arenas for the biggest touring acts, even in the summer. Those acts can charge more at arenas and there’s the added advantage of being able to sell seats behind the stage.

Within the industry, he told me, sheds are now seen as the host for a lot of “package” tours with co-headliners (like, say, the recent Chicago-Doobie Bros. pairing) and are definitely seen as second-tier by most big acts, who prefer arenas.

 

Better ask somebody else. They were never in my wheelhouse.

 

Fair enough. Behind the stage seating makes sense. Depending on the market/venue, there is probably some variance though.

 

Queen tribute band featuring a guest singer, bassist and original drummer and guitarist.

 

The Who have been an arena act since the 1970’s. Even when they played some sheds, they still routed arenas (sometimes for multiple nights) on the same tours.

 

I saw Roger on the Pros and Cons tour '85 at a 13,000 seat venue. In '87 I saw him 3 times on Radio KAOS tour, one being same venue as above , and the 2 others were 11,000 and 12,000 seaters. Saw him again on first In The Flesh tour ('00?), same 12,000 outdoor seater as above, but it had expanded by then to 19,000. It seems to me his numbers were always going up, into the stadium shows he has been doing more recently. (With the help of "Dark Side" and "Wall" tours)

 

I think most - all? - big cities have pretty large sheds. Maybe not ones that top out around 25K, but certainly in the high teen-thousands.

Merriweather Post in Maryland probably only has 5000 seats (I'm guessing) but the lawn gets it up to 19K!

 

I didn't claim that every shed is regarded as "less elite" than every arena - there'll be exceptions.

But in general, the biggest acts will take arenas over sheds...

 

He started doing arenas at first but never filled them until he started doing DS/Wall shows.

 

And as I pointed out, the average ticket price is higher at an arena. Lawn seats tend to be relatively cheap, so if 60% of your ticket sales are lawn, you're gonna make less money...

 

According to its website, that place holds a whopping 1600 seats.

KC&TSB doesn't fit the OP's criteria at all. I don't know if they headlined large venues at their peak, but even if they did, it's been decades since they did so.

They're basically casino/state fair fodder now...

 

Metallica may be 38 years old.... but they'll still be filling arenas for at least another 10 years.

 

And they only need 2 more for this thread!

 

I think The Fred is actually 2500 but your point is taken. What would a "large" venue be considered -- 5000 or more?

 

Well, those are 2 very large cities (Toronto and Detroit). Darien Lake is about equidistant between Buffalo and Rochester, and isn't that big. So, you're only going by the places that you visit.

Even so, just because those venues have those capacities doesn't mean that they sell out!

 

That was my sense too, but OP put me on blast for suggesting such a thing.