Cancellation of Lollapalooza is only one sign of poor concert market
.The revamped Lollapalooza, featuring alternative acts one night, and dirty hippie music the second has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales.
According to today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, the Perry Farrell-created traveling festival isn’t the only summer tour that’s been effected:
“Lollapalooza’s demise has caused some to question its choice of acts. But even shows by marquee talents such as Kiss, Jessica Simpson, and Grammy darling Norah Jones are performing sluggishly at the box office this season.
‘The summer concert business is going to be lackluster,’ said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar magazine, which monitors the touring industry. ‘A lot of high-profile tours are doing poorly.’
Some artists, whose appearances are considered “events,” have avoided the slump. Prince, who is giving away his album Musicology with a $75 concert ticket, is on his most successful jaunt ever and will play three nights at the Wachovia Center in August.
Madonna, who plays the Wachovia on July 4 and 5, is doing good business despite charging as much as $302 per ticket. And with seven weeks to go before its sold-out Aug. 12 concert at the Tweeter, a single lawn ticket to see the retiring jam band Phish is going for more than $150 on eBay.
Still, Lollapalooza has good company, Marc Geiger, cofounder of the tour, told MTV.com. Lollapalooza was to star Morrissey, PJ Harvey and Sonic Youth on its first day and the String Cheese Incident and Flaming Lips on its second. Perennials the Dead and Dave Matthews are also suffering, he said.
‘It might be that ticket prices are too high,’ Geiger told MTV.com. ‘Maybe it’s the sundry add-ons,’ such as parking and Ticketmaster fees, ‘that up the cost. Maybe gas prices are too high. Just like the record industry is suffering, the concert business is not exempt.’
Sluggish ticket sales have moved promoters such as the San Francisco area’s Bill Graham Presents, a division of industry leader Clear Channel Entertainment, to slash lawn tickets at amphitheaters to $20 for all shows, a decrease of as much as 65 percent.”
Well, it’s my opinion that contrary to the Bush campaign’s claims, the economy is in not as great shape as they’d like us to believe. I think that, more than anything, is leading to slower ticket sales.
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