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http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1488569/20040622/farrell_perry.jhtml

damn that sucks for those who were planning on going, great lineup too :/

 

[arter_2]

ouch

 

[Alucard]

Nooooooooooo. I hadn't bought my ticket yet but NOOOOOOOOO. Damn the mainstream and not buying tickets!

 

[Mason]

WTF?! This is insane. I thought Lollapalooza was one of the biggest festivals, too.

I like how they mention ticket sales in New York were fine; you can thank the Pixies for that, I have a feeling.

 

[WasabiKing]

Most people I knew would buy tickets the day of. Making it a two day thing and across that may cities is not smart...

 

[Triumph]

Haha, my ex not being able to see her precious PJ Harvey makes me giggle like a mad schoolboy!

 

[Alucard]

This is just really hard to understand because the lineup was easily the best that the festival had seen in years. How does a festival that features Morrissey, Broken Social Scene, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey, Wilco, and a host of others not sell enough tickets to even make the show happen? I just don't get it.

 

[teepo]

i was planning on seeing sonic youth and flaming lips... >:|

 

[Triumph]

This is just really hard to understand because the lineup was easily the best that the festival had seen in years. How does a festival that features Morrissey, Broken Social Scene, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey, Wilco, and a host of others not sell enough tickets to even make the show happen? I just don't get it.

I dunno, dude. I was even planning on going, as much for the music as for the opportunity to toss stuff at my ex as she was listening to PJ Harvey(whose music I actually like, but whose ability to inspire rabid fandom I can't quite comprehend).

 

[element]

doh, i wonder if the bands will reschedule for the shows in the local area.

I wouldn't mind seeing Broken Social Scene, The Von Bondies, Elbow, Gomez, The Polyphonic Spree, and other in smaller venues here in seattle.

 

[Substance]

This is just really hard to understand because the lineup was easily the best that the festival had seen in years. How does a festival that features Morrissey, Broken Social Scene, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey, Wilco, and a host of others not sell enough tickets to even make the show happen? I just don't get it.

It actually doesn't surprise me. What was the band lineup of last year's festival and how successful was it?

 

[RobotChant]

That sucks. I was excited about the lineup buy my plans were still in the planning stages. I was waiting for some things in my personal life to settle down before I bought tickets.

Sonic Youth and Broken Social Scene were the main attractions for me.

 

[Diablos]

There really is no hope left for the mainstream audience and their taste in music.

It's not because of ticket prices, it's because your average listener would rather see some retarded band like Seether or Disturbed.

God, the lineup was amazing. And it's canceled.

 

[GG-Duo]

man... fuck Ticketmaster. it's all their fault

and maybe music has become too elitist? I don't know.

they should've squeezed in Sarah Maclachlan in there just to get a larger crowd :-/

 

[GG-Duo]

 

[heavy liquid]

Nooooooo! This sucks. I was really looking forward to this!

Yeah, and I also say fuck Ticketmaster and Clear Channel, for over inflating prices and only promoting artists who go along with their games.

 

[Diablos]

man... fuck Ticketmaster. it's all their fault

and maybe music has become too elitist? I don't know.

It isn't 100% ticketmaster's fault. Tickets were only up to $25 according to Farrell, so a $7.90 ticketmaster charge still isn't gonna make tickets that expensive.

Music hasn't become too elitist. If you don't sound like every other angsty "my dad hit me over the head with 2x4's" post-grunge band that plagues clear channel alternative rock radio, you don't fit in. If you aren't into the rap/rock thing, you don't fit in. The bands playing Lollapalooza (or the bands that WERE going to play) are among the best we've all heard in years, but they get NO EXPOSURE. Last year you had QOTSA, Audioslave and Incubus -- three respectable mainstream bands. I'm amazed they are still popular considering they don't really blend in with Clear Channel's idea of a modern rock playlist. Stupid post-grunge nu metal bands are taking over.

It's really sad. The music industry no longer sells art that means something, but more of a predetermined easily marketable kind of thing.

 

[Willco]

Awesome. Coachella is still the greatest lineup of all-time, though.

 

[wandering goat]

God damn it. I go to hardly any concerts (being situated in a small town in Ontario) but I was planning on buying tickets to the one in Toronto (even though I have school during the summer). Aghh, so many great bands. . .

 

[Malleymal]

Being that I help run a tour bus company that supplies the buses that these artists ride on, I can say first hand that this is getting out of hand... Lolla is one of the biggest tours in this industry... I know some of our competitors are running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to find work for the buses... we have alot of buses on the Warped tour, so hopefully we are safe, but I know companies that had their whole fleet of buses on the Lolla, it must be crazy... I was pissed with christina's tour got cancelled because 3 of my buses lost that work, I can only imagine losing work for 40 some odd buses... whats the real reason behind this.......

 

[shoplifter]

It isn't 100% ticketmaster's fault. Tickets were only up to $25 according to Farrell, so a $7.90 ticketmaster charge still isn't gonna make tickets that expensive.

They were $45 when I looked, and the service charge was TWENTY FIVE FUCKING DOLLARS. I didn't buy any, even though I wanted to see Morrissey oh so badly.

 

[Matlock]

"In all markets but New York, ticket sales were well below estimates."

...
...
...
...
I thought the Ohio show sold out rather quickly.

/me smells bullshit

 

[White Man]

I wouldn't mind seeing Broken Social Scene, The Von Bondies, Elbow, Gomez, The Polyphonic Spree, and other in smaller venues here in seattle.

I hear ya. I don't think I'd have been able to get to Lollapalooza, but just about all my favorite bands were on it. If this gets Sonic Youth into the city, then hell yeah, cancel Lollapalooza.

 

[sefskillz]

For the record, my atlanta tickets were 62 a piece with about 10 dollars in service charges per ticket, so that 25$ bit was bullshit, at least in my case. This really sucks, I have to cancel my hotel and get my money back from ticketmaster now. I was really looking forward to this to finish off my summer break

 

[Star Power]

fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
fuck.
FUCK!


I planned my FUCKING SUMMER around this fucking concert. They said they New York date was selling well, why couldn't they at least keep THAT one. Shit.

 

[Diablos]

They were $45 when I looked, and the service charge was TWENTY FIVE FUCKING DOLLARS. I didn't buy any, even though I wanted to see Morrissey oh so badly.

Ok, that IS their fault. $25 for a service charge? Bull effing shit.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

After missing Coachella i was beginning to feel god about getting to see Modest Mouse, Sonic Youth and the Moz himself. Already had tickets. FUCK FUCK FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit- $25 my ass, i paid over a $100 for 2 tickets. This is such a pain because now I have to scramble and find out when (if) each of these artists are hitting my town. This was a nice little package of 15 or so bands that I was going to see over the summer anyway, just thrown together for my convenience, now... ugh.

 

[Star Power]

Ok, that IS their fault. $25 for a service charge? Bull effing shit.

They can't really control that, it's all Ticketmaster.

 

[BuddyC]

I already had my hotel reserved!

 

[LinesInTheSand]

Good, it was a shitty concert anyways.

 

[shoplifter]

^^^actually it was quite fucking awesome. fuck you.

They can't really control that, it's all Ticketmaster.

Which gets to the heart of the matter. I shouldn't have to pay a $25 'convenience fee' for a $45 ticket. Ticketmaster and Clearchannel have the market so cornered that nothing can be done other than just NOT BUYING CONCERT TICKETS. Of course, that's how artists get paid, cause they sure as hell don't make much on albums half the time.

I've seen people have to pay 150% of the ticket price in service charges. This shit has to end.

 

[dskillzhtown]

Maybe if they had thrown someone like Velvet Revolver or some mainstream group on there to ehadline, maybe sales would have been better. When you are trying to do a tour like this, you need a mainstream draw to guarantee sales. For everyone who hates mainstream artists, wouldn't it have been a good trade off to have 1 or 2 mainstream artists in exchange to seeing the groups you like?

 

[GG-Duo]

question:

So what makes Ticketmaster so special? How did they achieve this monopoly? What can we/government do about this?

 

[Echoes of Pink]

Figures....I was going to buy my tickets today. What a shame too because the line up really was amazing. I hope Sonic Youth comes to town still. I've been dying to see them for a while now.

Oh yeah tickets for the tweeter center in camden were like 40 to 70 bucks. Hell even the lawn ended up costing 50 bucks after service charges. So I don't know where the 25 dollar figure is coming from.

 

[shoplifter]

For everyone who hates mainstream artists, wouldn't it have been a good trade off to have 1 or 2 mainstream artists in exchange to seeing the groups you like?

No, it wasn't necessary back in 91 or 92, it's not now either. Keep in mind that RHCP and Pearl Jam hadn't exploded yet.

Again, it wasn't the lineup. It was a shitty economy and ridiculous fees.

 

[dskillzhtown]

No, it wasn't necessary back in 91 or 92, it's not now either. Keep in mind that RHCP and Pearl Jam hadn't exploded yet.

Again, it wasn't the lineup. It was a shitty economy and ridiculous fees.

If you say so, but in '91 and '92 running a tour like this was not as expensive as it is now and when Snoop and Tool were headlining, I don't think they had any problems selling tickets.

 

[shoplifter]

question:

So what makes Ticketmaster so special? How did they achieve this monopoly? What can we/government do about this?

They have exclusive ticketing rights to something like 85% of all venues in the US. The other 15% are most likely small clubs that more popular artists would take a loss for playing unless they charge exorbitant amounts for tickets.

What has been evidenced is that as there are fewer and fewer competitiors they have (in true monopolistic fashion) raised their fees greatly.

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1951167

http://www.cincypost.com/news/1998/ticket031098.html (from 1998)

http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/testimon.shtml (Pearl Jam's 1994 testimony before Congress)

 

[WasabiKing]

It's definitely an issue of being able to draw people, but it's this new format that's screwing everything up. Two days! Also, some of those shows ran during weekdays. Makes absolutely no sense.

 

[shoplifter]

^^The weekdays really did hurt as well. That was a really fucked up decision for a multi day festival.

On a good note though, this means I'll get to see Moz in a more intimate setting. Big arena type shows suck.

 

[Mercury Fred]

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!!!

Grrrrrr. I was on the guest list for the NYC dates too. Although I would have gladly bought tickets. Jeeez this sucks so much.

Hmm, maybe I should get a Curiosa ticket now...

 

[heavy liquid]

It's definitely an issue of being able to draw people, but it's this new format that's screwing everything up. Two days! Also, some of those shows ran during weekdays. Makes absolutely no sense.

I was down with the two day format, but yeah, having shows during the week was an idotic decision. I would've gone to both, but could only afford to take one day off from work. I'd guess that this was the biggest factor as to why they didn't sell more tickets.

On a good note though, this means I'll get to see Moz in a more intimate setting. Big arena type shows suck.

Yeah, I'd rather see most of those bands in a small club, anyway. I was still looking forward to seeing them all at once. And I had good pavilion tix with VIP parking!

Arguably best Lollapalooza lineup since the mid-90's just went down the drain. Too bad.

 

[UtadaBarkley]

I feel like a such a lollapaloooooooooza now

 

[BuddyC]

 

[WasabiKing]

I was down with the two day format, but yeah, having shows during the week was an idotic decision. I would've gone to both, but could only afford to take one day off from work. I'd guess that this was the biggest factor as to why they didn't sell more tickets.

One day in the middle of the week isn't that bad. Last year, Lollapalooza was on a Tuesday and I took the day off. I think they forgot that a lot of the older crowd would come out to see the artists, and there's no way a 9-5er is going to take two days off for a concert... And it's my guess that 9-5ers have no problem reserving tickets in advance.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

Meh. I was planning on going just for Modest Mouse and Sonic Youth... the other stuff was just icing.

I wonder how many people were actually planning on going but just haven't gotten tickets yet. Probably a substantial amount. Everyone I know that was planning on going hadn't actually ordered theirs yet.

 

[BuddyC]

For the Ohio show, 2 day lawn passes were only $50 off the Lollapalooza site.

 

[Eminem]

It's not hard to believe it's cancelled. A lot of people here may think these bands kick ass, but the average person doesn't know who the hell most of them are. It lacks the big names that would draw the casual listener.

Last year had Incubus, Audioslave, A Perfect Circle and Queens of the Stone Age. Incubus alone would draw a huge number of mainstream fans. You guys are telling me you're surprised Broken Social Scene, Morissey, and Modest Mouse didn't draw? Come on now.
Whether people here like Incubus/Audioslave/APC/QOTSA, the fact is, people hear their singles on the radio and go. When was the last time you heard Broken Social Scene or Modest Mouse on heavy radio rotation? The bands just aren't big enough to draw the mainstream fan, which is what you definitely need for a festival such as Lolla.

 

[heavy liquid]

Whether people here like Incubus/Audioslave/APC/QOTSA, the fact is, people hear their singles on the radio and go. When was the last time you heard Broken Social Scene or Modest Mouse on heavy radio rotation? The bands just aren't big enough to draw the mainstream fan, which is what you definitely need for a festival such as Lolla.

I don't think it's hard to believe that it's been cancelled, but for completely different reasons. Read WasabiKing's post as to why I think it didn't sell well. WAY more people would go to a festival like this on a Fri & Sat rather than a (in my case) Mon & Tues. And Lollapalooza was never about the casual listner.

Lollapalooza was founded as an alternative to mainstream alternative. It shocked the industry during it's first year, who expected it to do terrible because it didn't feature any "mainstream" bands. Most bands, except for one or two headliners, were almost never heard on the radio. Believe it or not, Nine Inch Nails, and Ministry were hard to come by on "mainstream" radio when they played Lolla, and Pearl Jam had just gotten big at the time.

 

[AlphaSnake]

There really is no two buts about it...it got cancelled because the line up was just the polar opposite of what it was last year. Those bands have no draw power. Eminem is absolutely right.

Deny it all you want, though. Ticket sales and fees were the same for last year's Lola event. -_-

 

[BuddyC]