Farewell tour opinions?

I think it’s genius. Bands can call it “farewell tours” and make mucho $.

 

Elton is doing this in many cities. He did a sweep of NYC last year, only to announce more shows at every single NY area arena in 2020. And I just saw him in Philadelphia last month - yet he played Philly about a year ago on the "Farewell" tour. It's definitely a cash grab, because he stated he wanted to spend more time with his kids - but he's done the major markets more than once, stretching the tour out over a couple years.

 

Whenever a "farewell tour" it's buyer beware. If you haven't figured out by now that these are a cynical cash grab then you can't be mad when the act comes back thru town multiple times after you paid to see their "farewell show."

Here's some examples of acts that did it right:

The Tragically Hip-everyone knew that Gord Downie was battling a terminal illness. It was a matter of when he'd pass and not if. The band never announced it as a farewell tour. They had a new record out. They wanted to tour behind it just like always. The band and the audience knew it was likely the last dance but there was no need to promote it as such. That tour was a triumph of the human spirit and the relationship between a band and it's audience.

Another Canadian band Spirit of the West hit the road for one last swing after John Mann was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers. I don't believe it was billed as a farewell tour but it was pretty clear they were up against the clock and if you wanted to see them you better not put it off. While Mann had to rely on an iPad for lyrics again it was a triumph of the human spirit.

Glen Campbell's farewell tour was announced as such. Check out the heartbreaking documentary about that goodbye tour.

Someone mentioned Rush earlier in the thread. Great example. I'm not a fan of the band's music but I'm a fan of the three musicians and their respect for one another. If Peart decides he wants to play a few shows I'm sure the other guys would go along with it. After what Peart went thru in his personal life I think Geddy & Alex were just happy to be able to hit the road and be together as a band again for however long it lasted.

 

We should probably give him a pass on this. S+V was the only time he did a hits tour, and every tour after that was on the back of a new album and generally focused on that with the justifiable aside of the Glastonbury 2000 show. The 1995/96/97 tours were very light on big hits and many of them went into played-occasionally/rotation status after 1990.

 

A similar story from Paul Simon regarding his London Hyde Park gig in summer 2018. The first email I had for pre-sale tickets clearly stated this was a farewell or final or last performance. A couple of days later this had changed to a performance on his farewell tour, and later than that it became a performance on his last European tour, with a number of US dates to follow a few months later. He even had the nerve to say in interviews that calling it a farewell tour meant he could charge higher prices for tickets.. not a man noted for his sense of humour. I'll still play his records, but no-one appreciates being lied to, and he's off my christmas card list.

 

Elton announced a very long tour from the start, so he'll play a lot of markets more than once...

 

What's the problem with that? U2 didn't claim they were doing a farewell tour...

 

I think ticket sales were better in 1987 than 1990. Bowie played bigger venues and did more shows at a lot of those venues in 1987.

I also think Bowie really intended to keep this promise, but the tour with NIN was a shock to his system and he decided to crawl back to the hits after that...

 

I will let the bands decide for themselves whether they want to do a farewell or a comeback tour.They never ask me for permission anyhow. I will decide for myself if I want to attend. That way everyone will be happy.

 

Nothing wrong with it! I was one of them. More an example of where people travel very long distances and spend lots of money to make a 'final' show.

 

FWIW, I saw The Who in 1982 on the original Farewell Tour, and again on the 1989 We Broke Our Promise Tour.

IMO, 1982 should have been their last tour. The show I saw that year was incendiary, a candidate for the best show I've ever seen. The 1989 show, with 20 guys on stage and Pete Townsend isolated in a hearing-loss chamber or something, was pathetic by comparison.

Sometimes, it's best to just hang it up.

 

Why, it's almost as if he's playing us like one of his pianos.

 

I believe that was the farewell tour of the classic band. The four of them never did tour again.

 

Live Nation throws up numbers and they come back. George Strait coming back was weird. He was a str8 shooter on his words for decades. Shania must have owed Mutt a fortune. Cher got bored. Vince and the club advances must have been pretty bad. Crue can still bring it on big time. Elton is a cash grab. Roger Waters doesn't need loot but he'll cram Floyd down your throat twice in one market in a year, Fleetwood Mac does the same thing. The Crue-Leppard-Poison tour is cash grab. Same sets for decades.

 

I don't know if he so much crawled back or just felt more comfortable embracing his legacy. Those last few tours feature a Bowie who appears much more happy and confident on stage. One of the great tragedies of his heart attack and disappearance for a decade was he seemed so darned happy to be on stage performing during the Reality tour. He was much less detached on stage. He smiled and interacted with the crowd more. It was almost as if David Bowie had been retired around Earthling/Hours and from 2000 on we were seeing David Jones performing David Bowie's material. While he did go back on his words and play hits like Fame regularly, some of the bigger hit songs like Let's Dance, China Girl, Modern Love and Golden Years were not staples of his sets. Again I think that's a sign of him being comfortable with his overall legacy and that he knew he was playing to longtime fans. New hits had dried up so he was no longer trying to attract a mass crowd.

 

Seems like a bad strategy to me, for the reason I stated. It's going to piss somebody off. It's the definition of modern marketing - see what the market is like, and let that determine the possibility of exploiting the fools.

 

I saw that 1989 show in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium and remember leaving disappointed for the reasons you mention. The next day a buddy asked me "How was The Who?" I replied "I didn't see the Who-I saw 3 guys who were in the Who and a village of other people playing Who songs for 2 hours." In their defense, their appearance in that 9/11 concert for NYPD and NYFD proved they could still deliver live. That was a hell of a performance.

 

I find it far more surprising that so many people are willing to pay high ticket prices for 70+ year artists (pop/rock) - you can' really blame the artists for milking the cash cow as long as possible

 

If the band are all 70 years old there is a reasonable chance that any 'farewell' tour will be exactly that. Anything younger than that and you can almost guarantee they'll be back.

 

And Cher perfected it.

 

The Stones have been using this concept for awhile. Though not formally announcing their retirement, some fans think each tour could be the last one.
Does help ticket sales a bit.

 

I remember my parents picking up a hitchhiker around 1976 who was trying to get to a venue (Knebworth?) where the Stones were playing an outdoor gig.

He was very keen to go ‘because they probably won’t tour any more after this year. They’re all int their thirties, now.’

 

I'm already tired of the 2020 live music schedule between reunion tours, anniversary tours, and farewell tours...enough already. Each naming version is just a silly way to add more money to the ticket price. I don't need or want to be gouged for this crap. It makes the experience far less enjoyable. And do I need to see you at 10-15x the price as when I saw you in your prime? I sound like an old man with that, but Jesus...enough! All these events feel like they're all being orchestrated to create social media clicks and likes and photo ops, nothing more.

Having said that, I do think we're seeing the bubble burst before our very eyes. THESE types of tours are the only thing generating hype right now. What happens after that? I'm happy to say that I haven't been suckered into even one of these events yet. Nothing feels all that important, just overkill and a money grab - looking at you "Black Crowes".

So yeah...currently hard passing on just about everything because these events don't feel worth it anymore.

 

How does that mean the Stones have "used" this concept? Because they've continued to tour and fans have made assumptions?

 

Like I said, Elton indicated it'd be a really long tour, and it was inevitable he'd hit some of the same markets more than once. He's only to blame if he advertises a particular show as "final Milwaukee appearance" (or wherever) and then returns...