Live Nation chairman Irving Azoff: Fleetwood Mac to tour in 2011
 

L.A. Times

After noting during an investors meeting that ticket sales for the top 100 touring bands are down 12% this year, Live Nation Entertainment's major executives went on the defensive Thursday, blaming the press for "scaring" artists from touring and arguing that acts need to alter their pricing strategies.

The company's CEO, Michael Rapino, and executive chairman, Irving Azoff, painted a grim picture for the second half of 2010 yet noted that major artist tours, and a more customer-service-focused approach, were on tap for 2011.

Journey, Kenny Chesney, Neil Diamond, Van Halen and Fleetwood Mac were among the artists cited by Azoff as plotting outings in 2011. He added that Christina Aguilera, whose 2010 summer tour was taken off the docket, would be on the road next year. He also noted that more dates are on the horizon from the cast of "Glee," the hit Fox musical-comedy.

Yet the company, a recently merged pairing of ticketing powerhouse Ticketmaster and promotions behemoth Live Nation, would first have to navigate a limp 2010.

"The press has implied the sky is falling," Rapino told Wall Street investors, yet he also noted that the company's operating income for 2010 will be down significantly from that of 2009, perhaps by as much as $80 million, and said Ticketmaster's sales are down about 12% from those of 2009.

"The press," Rapino said, has "scared about every artist" out of touring in the fourth quarter. A number of major tours have struggled in 2010, including the refurbished Lilith Tour, and once-can't-miss artists such as the Jonas Brothers have been canceling dates, as outlined in this front-page story in Friday's Times. Amid rampant reports of a down market, Rapino said, "a lot of artists who had planned to tour are now saying they're going to sit it out."

Yet the company's top brass did more than point fingers at the media, and promised a leaner, friendlier model for 2011. But first, artists would have to budge on ticket prices, executives said. Jason Garner, the company's CEO for global music, acknowledged that "ticket prices need to come down" and directed the second half of his statement at artists and managers: "Your guarantee needs to come down."

To that end, Live Nation Entertainment promised that "dynamic pricing," which would add numerous pricing tiers, would be more widely implemented in 2011.The company's executives said they were months away from introducing a ticketing inventory system that can adjust prices in real time.

Think of the future of buying a concert ticket not too unlike that of buying an airline ticket, in which the price can go up or down in the days leading up to an event based solely on demand.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/musi...g-artists.html

Exciting news! Thanks for posting. :thumbsup:

Thats great. for what album.and I hope they can have a talk to Christine to come along for the ride.But she probably not.

The Greatest Greater Hits of Fleetwood Mac.

Or:

Hijacked

I predict it will be the same setlist as Unleashed. And the same promotional materials as Unleashed... err Say You Will! :wavey:

This also suggests: no album.

They should do a 30th anniversary remastering of Mirage though.

Or the country version Rumours tour,first stop The Grand Ole Opry.By then the Opry house should be all cleaned up after the floods.Stevie ,Lindsey,Mick and John will be in their country attire,Stevie will be wearing one of those southern belle big dresses with a cowboy hat. the guys will be wearing jeans and a country shirt with suspenders and cowboy hats.John will be playing a standup bass. anyway At lease Dreams,GoldDust woman,Don't Stop and Go your own way will sound different with the country twang to them.Sorry guys.

Every time I think about them touring next year I wrinkle my nose cringing :distress:.

If they could find a way to launch a tour prior to Feb. 2011 they could still brand it as the 33rd anniversary of Rumours:

FL33TWOOD MAC

But I wouldn't suggest it.

The Greatest Greater Hits of Fleetwood Mac, Part 32: Electric Boogaloo

This is totally a possibility. I mean, they can just recycle the costumes from that one scrapped video of "Stand Back." Think of all the money they'll save, especially if they also recycle the Say You Will/Unleashed promo material. Mick'd be totally down with that shizz.

When this happens, I'm blaming you. Just so you know.

My money is on Diamond.

He always wins in the A.I.S. stakes.

Now I'm wondering If FM tours in 2011.now I'm confused about when Stevie's new cd comes out after the august mini tour.I'm wondering if Azoff is thinking of Stevie only.then mentioning FM by a mistake.btw I would love to go see Neil Diamond.he's great.on the other hand .grim 2010 ,come back to earth with those inflated ticket prices to a level people can afford.

LOL. Azoff is not going to make that kind of mistake. He's been talking about Fleetwood Mac for a couple of years. They are definitely working on something. I would bet Stevie's project will be out in the fall. And, I wouldn't rule out a new release from Fleetwood Mac of some kind. During the Unleashed promos, Stevie said "the next time" we would have to "suffer" through new music. Lindsey said every night of that tour that there was no new album "yet". We know there is a 4 disc compilation with "never before seen" video footage waiting to be released. There will be something - I would bet money on that.

Never going to happen :distress:

Christine would probably be cringing as much and both you and me.

Maybe a Men of the Mac tour! :blob1:

I always thought it'd be cool if Lindsey, Mick, and John toured together and made a Cream-style trio.

What really got me was seeing that Van Halen was do to tour next year. Even thoug Michael Anthony won't be there, the thought of seeing Dave, Eddie, and Alex live really gets me.

NOW you're talkin' :nod: God, how cool would that be?!!

Actually it is going to be called the Never Break The Chain Tour and for us, just this once, they are going to play nothing but the hits!!!!

Hum that will be different. And I guess Stevie will go on tour to support her new cd.

Best case scenario: I'd love to see a Men of the Mac tour playing small venues AND a Stevie solo tour that finally gets to Europe. After that, a new Mac album and tour.

Oink flap oink flap, etc. :p

Not sure where to put this, but I met Paul Rodgers this weekend and he may be working with John and Mick later in the year.

He also mentions that in this article:

http://www.mydesert.com/print/articl...ompany-tonight

You mean 29th, right? ;) :D

Hmmmm, what would they call it?

"Free-twood Mac"?? (Hmmmm, THAT would confuse the heck out of the Asian fans!)
"Mac-wood Company"?
"Rodgers-wood Mac"??

I say go with either Mick, John, and Paul or Fleet-rodgers Mac

I don't really trust that they will actually tour in 2011. I'm afraid that mr.bigshot just dropped the Mac's name to ease the mind of the worried investors that he was talking to.

I have to agree.I dont remember when the 18 month time off announcement was made.I guess Mick and the guys changed their minds.Now if this is a case.whats Stevie going to do with her release of her cd now.

She promoted Soundstage when she was out on tour with the Mac... :shrug:

Even better... "The Very very Best of the best of the Greater greatest Hits."

I'm not the least bit excited to hear that they are even considering touring again, unless they radically change their set list. Have they any shame?

I'd have more respect for them if they recorded a new album, went on tour with a set list that was half new songs and half older, more obsure songs...

...when pigs fly, but it seems, at this stage of the game, they are just being piggish.

Yeah, I wouldn't put too much stock in them touring in 2011. Wasn't this the guy who said they would be touring with the Eagles? If so, I rest my case.

I don't think Azoff was ever quoted as saying that. He's a high roller and part of a bigger picture than you might think. Now, they may be putting feelers out there but other than that if he says they are set to tour, they are either going to tour or it's in negotiation.

Last year when the Mac came to NC i had missed it due to a) Not knowing who they even were, and b) didn't know of the concert. Now that I have had the Mac experience I definently want to go to a concert. Went to my first concert last year in August when Cruefest 2 came to Raliegh, went cause my mom would've loved to come had just started getting into Motley Crue ( my mom used to play them to get me to go to sleep). But anyway, would love to see the Mac live, and of course hopefully see a Stevie concert.

The brilliant financial wizard, Mr Oiv Azoff (Irving) is doing his job right now, which is some serious 'damage control'-- The Eagles tour he put together, with The Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban has tanked, badly. Badly, badly.
He manages none of them. He is the manager of Ms. Christina Aguilera, who is struggling desperately with her new cd release. Though she is happy with the cd, it's the first failure of her career, and he's trying to rescue it with a (good) ballad-single, 'You Lost Me', but it may be too late. He's having to issue press denials that Aguilera's record label is totally freaking out; which, they probably are, and 'spin' why she's postponed her concert tour.
Mr. Azoff is slipping a little; in that it really isn't possible for Fleetwood Mac to be on the road in 2011, they have saturated the market, the concert industry is WEAK now, plus this biggie: the Stevie Nicks solo cd will not be released only to have her disregard it and get back on the road with Fleetwood Mac.
He's not Stevie's manager, I don't believe. Or Fleetwood Mac's. Correct me anyone, if I'm wrong.
In addition to his Live Nation endeavors, Azoff is Aguilera's manager, and he has to concern himself with her make-or-break November film release, 'Burlesque'. Advance word is good, that Christina and Cher are sensational in it, that it is a film along the lines of a 'Cabaret' and 'Chicago' and fortunately, not 'Showgirls'.
But things can go wrong, and Azoff will have his hands full the rest of the year with trying to rescue Christina's current cd release, 'Bionic' - and making sure there's a 'Burlesque' soundtrack agreement best for his client, Christina, while also pleasing Cher's savvy handlers. (She has 2 managers, Roger Davies and Lindsey Scott, the same 2 men who were behind several mega Tina Turner tours). They started managing Cher in 1999. Since then, she's earned well more than $100 million touring, some $60 million alone is from her current Vegas engagement, which will wind down soon, after a 3 year run.
No wonder Stevie wanted that same Vegas slot at 'Celine's Theater' at Caesar's Palace so badly.
You can already pre-order a coffee-table book of 'Burlesque' on Amazon.com, the film is opening Thanksgiving weekend, and it's gotta be a smash or Christina will be in serious trouble. (I'm told one hope is for Christina to receive an Oscar nomination for songwriting for one of her numbers in 'Burlesque', and another is that she may become a major film star). Irving Azoff has a lot to deal with.
There is also hope that Cher may make a big splash in the film and get a nomination for Best Actress; though, it's said Annette Bening already is expected to win the Oscar next year for an upcoming film in which she plays a lesbian. Very well, apparantly!
It may be Azoff somewhat fondly and foggily recalls the $60 million gross "success" of 'Unleashed' but, really, the tour very much underperformed to expectations, and with Nicks readying a solo cd release, no way is Fleetwood Mac going to be touring in 2011. Stevie will be, I believe. But, no Mac til 2012, I'm willing to bet.
I bet Irving Azoff is going to need a nice long rest in 2011!

Aren't we all glad that Fl. Mac didn't go out with them?

In many ways, I am. First off, the Eagles are too different a band (much more laid-back and country-tinged) and, since it sounds like that they overstayed their welcome touring, it's good that the Mac didn't tour with them and, instead, we're getting a new Stevie album.

Irving manages The Eagles. Front Line baby.

And, he and Howard Kauffman manage Fleetwood Mac under Front Line.

I also heard that the movie with Christina is going to be great! I can’t believe that Cher is still active at her age, but she supposedly did a good job. The movie apparently also premiers in a Las Vegas casino, or am I mistaken? I believe to have picked that up somewhere. :shrug:

But Cher is only 64. That's in the same general area as our Macsters. They are still active --sort of!

Michele

I saw Cher in Vegas last month. There's no comparison between her show and anything Stevie or FM have ever done. Cher uses every square inch of that massive stage while Stevie could barely use one-third of it. Yes, she contains more synthetic products than a DuPont chemical factory, but whatever she's doing, she looks fantastic. Sounds great too. The show runs until February; I highly, highly recommend it if you can stomach the ticket prices. If you get there early, you may luck out with half-price tickets at the tix4tonite booths along the Strip.

Age is just a number :laugh: I think (and lord strike me down for saying it) some of FM's problem is laziness. Steve has said before, this is their JOB so why are they getting so lazy in it?

Like Cher, Debbie Harry is only 65 and she still jumps about the stage "dancing" as much as she's ever done. I also think that people on the inside are to blame by getting fans hopes up like this for nothing to come of it. I've learned that, for my favourite bands at least, anything we get now is just a bonus and not to expect anything massive :wavey:

I agree on both counts. They are lazy, but the biggest bonus I could think of would be for them to allow a big aeroplane to convey their lazy arses across to where I live, so I can see them before they or I cark it, thankyouverymuch.