allwaystired

I think the fact so few people on this forum are going to the tour speaks volumes about the tour.

What show did you buy? What's the quality like?

Tip of the iceberg I reckon. Definitely not a place for those of us who value freedom of speech, equal rights, gay rights etc. Not that I don't think the people that live there don't deserve to see a gig of course.....but there does seem a recent rise in 'event-washing' in these sorts of places. Brush the shit under the carpets folks, smile for the cameras.

Talk to us about gardening. We're not so bothered about the shows.

"No setlist" remember?!

Really? I'm not sure that can be right. For a start you have to factor in what the stadiums main purpose is. If it's sitting idle for a long period, then inevitably they're going to be open to fairly low-ball offers from anyone wanting to use it. Why would the fees be fixed? That would be terrible business sense. Negotiation is a key part of a promoters strategy and plotting what venues a tour will end up in. It's also a key part of venue owners strategy, especially at the larger end of things. I would imagine that Live Nation have negotiated good prices on all the stadiums they're doing, which renders booking them instead of Arenas much more financially viable, even if they're half full. If this wasn't the case Live Nation would have no reason to move GNR back to stadiums after Arena runs. Live Nation, bastards though they are, know how to make money very well. Half empty stadiums will have definitely factored into their plans, especially as so free/discounted tickets were given out on the last stadium run.

Yeah, that's what I said- Live Nation do the booking.

I can think of another option for it that also involves the word trash.....

I like Anything Goes!

Yeah, it seems just unnecessary to release a CD that's half full when they have the full gig sitting in front of them. I'd imagine we'll see a full release of the gig at some point.....could be years though!

Do you have stats and figures for that? I'd be interested to know. I can't think of any other reason to book GNR into stadiums again otherwise. After the last US stadium run Live Nation will be very aware they won't fill stadiums, and they know what they're doing in terms of making money. The only reason I can think is that you can turn a decent profit from a half full stadium. Otherwise they'd put them in Arenas again.

The Fortus 'GNR have no setlists' comment was the straw that broke the camels back in terms of trusting what band members say!

Yep. Why do that stuff behind closed doors a d cost yourself money when you can do it in front of a ticket buying crowd, hey?

You know the CD only has 6 songs on? Guess it would be too 'generous' of them to actually fill up the disc.

First night of the tour so the chances of it being good aren't great!

It's only a smaller arena though -18,000 capacity. That and the fact they haven't played in Abu Dhabi much (think the only time on NITL was that really bad one at the Grand Prix) mean it probably isn't that surprising.

Highly possible too. One or the other really isn't it? I'm leaning towards radio silence, but your scenario I can see playing out for sure.

My speculation is that the cost of hiring an otherwise unused stadium is probably not that different to an Arena, so even if they play to a half empty one they'll still make money.

In terms of them saying new music was on the way?

I think after this tour, and the general lack of interest in it, GNR might just slip away. At least for a number of years. There won't be the demand for them to tour after this, so I think we'll just go to radio silence for years. I don't think there's any plan or scheme now. Perhaps in five years or so they'll tour again, but I can't see any big 'farewell tour' or anything like that. Slash and Duff will keep busy, we'll have the occasional sighting of Axl out somewhere and that will be it.

The shape of it is so weird- it looks more like a towel!

So if you were in the fanclub you already had it anyway? Very poor. But then I wouldn't expect anything more from Nightrain.

Definitely. They've been terrible for fans and are probably terrible for artists too.

Yeah the latter point is very fair. Who knows? I like what The Cure are doing on their US tour. They seem to have had enough of it all. I think we accept greed a bit too readily- we take it as granted that people need to make a million or so a night, which is outrageous when you think how most fans are living.

Oh I'm not really talking about GNR here....as they haven't actually flogged themselves off to adverts yet (speculation was that may happen after their demise so we shouldn't beat them for something they haven't actually done!). More the concept of it. There's a reason people like Cobain, Hendrix, Lennon etc are so well respected. The music, obviously.....but it's more than that. Imagine if Cobain had cropped up telling us about the joys of buying Coca Cola or taking a cruise? His legacy would be VERY different. No one is deriding musicians for being successful here. But is there criticism of high ticket prices and high merch prices? Absolutely. Everywhere on here and doubtless on lots of other forums. Personally I think there is a huge problem with greed in the upper levels of the music industry, which seems to come at the expense of new and younger artists. I'm afraid no-one can really convince me otherwise on that one. I'm totally onboard with people making money- I mean, hell, I don't stream anything on principle, and buy any album I want as I believe strongly in bands making money. But I'm not onboard with gigs costing hundreds because very rich people want a few more digits on the end of their pay cheque. People will always cite 'supply and demand' and stuff, but I'd just love to live in a world where things weren't based solely on money and rich people thought 'well, perhaps I don't need to make quite so much cash, and some of these people who don't have as much as I do might like a break and see us play'. Yeah I'm probably naive, but you know, fuck it. That's what I believe.