Gold dust woman justifies the high price of a Fleetwood Mac Concert
 

Gold dust woman justifies the high price of a Fleetwood Mac concert

BRAD WHEELER
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
February 11, 2009

“We wish we didn't have to charge anything,” says Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac singer. “We wish we could go out and play. That's what we do – we're performance artists.”

Rock on, gold dust woman. During a teleconference Tuesday, Nicks and her fellow Mac mates were chatting up their upcoming North American tour (which kicks off March 1 in Pittsburgh, with dates in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver to follow) when the subject of ticket prices came up. Fleetwood Mac, legendary for its rock-star indulgences in its prime, charge up to $149.50 for top seats in Toronto.

“The price of life in general is a gazillion dollars more than it was four years ago,” reasoned Nicks, not an economist. The British/Californian band's most recent tour wrapped up in 2004. “Our emotions are about trying to do this in the best way that makes sense for our audience,” chimed in drummer Mick Fleetwood, “and in a way that we can get to our audience.”

Ticket prices and ticket distribution are a touchy subject these days. A $510-million Canadian class-action suit filed this week alleges that Ticketmaster and subsidiary TicketsNow.com are conspiring to hold seats from the public and reselling the tickets at a higher prices – seemingly a violation of anti-scalping laws

Those looking for Fleetwood Mac seats for the Air Canada Centre show on Ticketmaster.ca are able to pay face value, but also are offered “Official Platinum Seats” at the site's Marketplace, where concertgoers can purchase premium seats at inflated values – as much as $800 a ticket.

The band is represented by Irving Azoff, who also happens to be chief executive officer of Ticketmaster Entertainment, and will become executive chairman of Live Nation Entertainment if the just-announced merger of Ticketmaster and concert promoters Live Nation goes through. Asked about any unsavoury ticket-selling practices involving Fleetwood Mac, Nicks promised she would be “making phone calls” on the matter.

Nicks went to say that tour's “Unleashed” title refers to the unleashing of the band's furies “back into the universe.” Asked if the public would be able to handle all the pent-up rage, Nicks answered in the affirmative, but cautioned that fans might need to bring their “armour.”

That, and their gold card.

priceless.

thanks macman.

Such a shame that they want us to believe that they really do this for the love of the music and not the almighty dollar.

Matt

This just gets better and better :rolleyes:

I wish we had a recording of the call!

ME TOO! I would like to hear exactly what type of tones were used. So why is it that they wouldn't give VIP passes, FOR FREE, to people who are making shirts to honor their band? If they want to reach the fans and give something to the fans... then start handing some stuff out.

ken, you may want to read that entire t-shirt thread to come to an understanding that FM will not be selling the 'winner' shirt at the venues...the shirts will be sold through the website designbyhumans. FM may have lent their name for use in the 'contest' but read between the lines...FM is not running that program.

Right, and that is totally understood. I read that first thing when littledemon posted it. My point was that there is still a fan, out there, who is putting time and effort into something they hope would please FM... that means something- to me, at least.

right, but bottomline those submitting are doing it to please themselves, other FM fans, graphic artists galore, random internet seeks, and those at designbyhumans. How is it FMs fault someone misunderstood what designbyhumans was/is offering? Seems to me designmyhumans would be at fault for not making more clear to the average reader what exactly that contest was/is all about. You were under impression FM would be selling tshirts, giving away backstage passes, prizes, etc, am I correct?

I'd even take a transcript of the whole thing, as opposed to just the choice excerpts we've been getting.

The idea that Stevie is going to be making phone calls is simply hilarious.

There are going to be some antitrust hearings on this deal. Stevie should testify before Congress.

Michele

Nope- I know what the deal is now. Initially, you would win the backstage passes (With no mention of M&G.) So... Now it's itunes money??? Anyway, it's shocking that FM wouldn't do a little something more than lend their name. Honestly, I am almost over it, but it eats my lunch that they give an illusion that they are all about the fans, but... :shrug:

Have any of the shows sold out yet?

FM might just be paying the price themselves for the high ticket prices.

I would think not because there are so many tickets being held back by Tickets.now, ticketmaster's "premium" tickets, and the scalpers. I don't think All Access holds back that many.

I've been looking for a single floor seat (a good one, admittedly) since it's gone on sale. I think, the first few days, there were bad floor seats available--now (and for the past 6 or 7 weeks), it says nothing is available. But, that's not true. There are plenty. Just not being released.

No, please don't. She does not need to get up there and do the hippie speak before Congress...I can just see her telling them how her fury has been unleashed and thrown her out of the universe...

No tickets are being "held back" by Ticketsnow- the tickets listed on Ticketsnow were purchased (mostly by brokers and scalpers, yes, but purchased all the same) and are not eligible to be returned.

Yes, but Ticketsnow is part of ticketmaster, no? And ticketMASTER is sure not releasing everything.
I don't know. It seems as if I've seen broker seats being thrown back in the pot, on ocassion.
If not, I guess there might very well be a lot of empty seats in the place.

what kaleidoscope are you looking through? Although, I would find the statement 'all about the fans' more applicable to Lindsey and John. Lindsey solo is very giving and John, well, damn, he did do some fantastic Ledge Q&A...Stevie, periodically, but not so much, and Mick?...fogetaboutit!

Oh Hell...
they are giving us this tour...we should all be ever so thankful :blob1:

Yeah, sure. does Mick agree?? :laugh:

I really don't get it. Concerts in Peru or South America are less expensive. First roads are less than $200. And cost include air tickets from US or England (I mean Roger Waters, Kiss, B52, Cyndi Lauper, Elton, etc.), the whole logistic issues, 5 star hotels (as expensive as in the US), etc..

Well, I am confused, that's all. They say one thing, but then do another. They are performing for us and still on the road so... I am thankful for that. I look at it like: it's their job. We pay, they play. They could leave it there, but instead they say things like they wish they didn't have to charge... BUT we just paid a lot of money, just to meet Mick- ONTOP of an already large amount just to get great seats, gift bags, and preshow shopping. LOL It was our decision we made, I shouldn't gripe- So, I will stop now. ;)

Don't stop now. You're growing more & more skeptical, & it makes for a hell of a show!

I wanna know what this RUmours CD/DVD thing is going to have...

Well, I'd say that I wished they'd brought that up in the interview questions, but in all probability the band members don't know. So, no need to ask them.

Michele

I'm ignorant of these things and you know a lot more about it than I. So, maybe you can help me out.

I think that the tickets on Ticketsnow are owned by Ticketmaster, as are their "Platinum" tickets in their Marketplace on their website. They try to sell them for a premium. And, whatever doesn't sell gets thrown back in at the last minute. Along with all the tickets being held back by the artist, venue, promoter, etc., that aren't needed.

I could be wrong, but it just seems too convenient to me. Also, how do the brokers consistently get tickets in the first five rows? And how does Ticketsnow have tickets listed in the first few rows for shows that aren't even on sale yet? Does TM have an arrangement with the brokers to sell to them first?

me, too since they already did this a few years ago, along with reissues of Tusk and FM. My suggestion is they included on the DVD portion an entire Rumours Tour show.

Well, that's how it's supposed to work but you can't say for sure that it's not happening.

That would be so cool!

You're have it all correct except for the 'Platinum', a.k.a. 'Marketplace' seats. Those seats are actually owned privately and anyone can sell their own seats using the Marketplace.

Yes.

Full disclosure time: I've used Ticketmaster's TicketExchange (an earlier incarnation of Ticketsnow) to both buy and sell tickets to sports events, and I've always had great experiences (most recently the courtside ticket I snagged for a Celtics game a couple months ago- for face value!) Of course, the vast majority of premium tickets for games were originally purchased as part of a season ticket package, so its a bit more transparent (to even the harshest Ticketmaster skeptics/conspiracy theorists) than with concerts.

Two weeks ago, I bought two concert tickets from the Marketplace and I sold one back. It sold within hours of my posting it. I think they took out about $33 as their share of the proceeds. I will definitely do that again if I can't find single tickets. I'll buy 2 and sell the other. Of course, right now, tickets for the California shows are about $1500. So, I'm not quite prepared to pay $3000, even if I could get a good portion of it back.

Michele

Keith Urban realizes people are hurting AND he's doing something about it. I think I'll look for $20 KU tickets tomorrow. :) I will not be going to see FM this tour. :(



KEITH URBANS "ESCAPE TOGETHER WORLD TOUR" TOGETHER WITH KC MASTERPIECE AND KINGSFORD TO OFFER FANS TRUE $20 TICKET

Keith Urban's "Escape Together World Tour," which is already expected to be one of the biggest concert events of the Summer, today announced the creation of a concert ticket that will cost fans only $20.00. At Urban's insistence, select number of seats will be made available for all "Escape Together World Tour" dates*. In what is a truly unprecedented occurrence, especially for an arena tour, all per ticket transaction fees for the $20.00 ticket have been waived.


"It's easy to see that people out there are hurting," said Urban. "And if these ticket prices can help some of them to let loose, forget about their daily grind and enjoy a night of music, then that's what we intend to give them and everyone else that comes out to our shows."

Urban's 2009 is already shaping up to be a big one. His current single "Sweet Thing" marks his 18th Top 5 single in the US and his 14th #1 in Canada. He will be performing live at the Super Bowl of car racing, the "Great American Race" - the Daytona 500 - at the Daytona International Speedway, which will be broadcast live Sunday, February 15th on the FOX Network. And March 31st will mark the release of his 6th studio album Defying Gravity.


"Escape Together" gets underway this May and fans are encouraged to stay tuned to their local Country radio station and/or to go to www.keithurban.net for play dates and ticket information.