Jump to content

Madonna in Stadiums - First In Music Analysis


agclef

Recommended Posts

posted on yahoo.com's homepage today: -link-

Madonna In Stadiums

Posted Sun May 11 8:34am PDT by Bob Lefsetz in The Lefsetz Letter

It is important to study history, so one does not repeat the same mistakes. Don't Guy Oseary, Arthur Fogel and Madge herself remember U2's PopMart tour? The biggest, baddest band in the world, one beloved by Gen-X'ers everywhere (the true Gen-X, in its forties now, the one from Douglas Coupland's novel), books stadiums and...DOESN'T SELL OUT!

Maybe the record was rushed to completion. Or maybe the fan base was aging and didn't want to sit that far away.

Stadium shows are for youngsters, and YOUNGSTERS DON'T WANT TO SEE MADONNA! Especially not at these prices.

Why take this risk? Either she plays to empty seats or you've got to give tickets away. In this Internet era, do you think everyone's not going to KNOW?

They call it ARENA ROCK. Not Arena POP, or Arena DANCE! Blow it up even bigger, and IT'S GOT TO BE ROCK! It's got to be big and ballsy, anthemic. Madonna might have brass balls, but her music DOES NOT! Rock has historically been the guarantee in arenas. It's the ONLY guarantee in stadia. Why go against this? Why try to reinvent the wheel? Why take the risk?

To prove that Madonna is the biggest, baddest act on the planet.

Well, that's certainly questionable, but that's what she needs. For her ego.

Even the Eagles don't play stadiums. And they own the biggest selling album of ALL TIME! Their audience doesn't want to go. And sit that far away. Do you really think fortysomething women, driving minivans, still carpooling their kids, want to get all dressed up to sit in the upper deck and eat hot dogs? Watching a miniature Madonna down below?

No way. At least not until she admits she's a has-been.

Oh, the album may be running up the chart, but people don't want to hear Hard Candy live. Just like they didn't want to hear Page Plant's new material when those two toured. They eventually eviscerated almost all of it from their set and focused on Zeppelin tunes. The steady stream of people to the bathrooms and concessions made them feel less like superstars and more like...wannabes?

Madonna refuses to believe her time has passed, that she's a has-been. Everybody inside knows she won't go out with a greatest hits show. But that's what you need to sell stadiums, that's what you need to get oldsters to leave home and spend a fortune.

Maybe once. Maybe they'll come to the train-wreck once. But they'll stay home after that. And there's no talk of this being Madonna's RETIREMENT tour.

Who's advising her? Madonna's such an egomaniac, she won't hire a real manager, someone familiar with the game of choosing the right building, of scaling, of ticket counts. She thinks it's all about TV and radio, that they drive people into a frenzy where they HAVE to go to the show. Uh-uh. That was the eighties, the nineties, but not today's music world. Money is made on the road. And the show's got to be about the audience, not the performer. At least if you want people to come back at these inflated prices. You've got to DELIVER!

Maybe she'll change the set list to drive ticket sales.

But you know the show can't be good... SHE CAN BARELY SING!

She makes a deal with Live Nation and the stock she gets immediately tanks by half. She decides to play venues way too large for her. She needs the aforementioned Irving Azoff. But she won't listen to him. Because Madonna knows EVERYTHING!

No one knows everything. Not even me. But I've got a feeling, this tour is a mistake.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest valhum

When i read about Stadiums i got a feeling that she wanted a lot of people attending (duh!) but i mean general not just her fans. Then i was listening to this radio station and they were all OMG Madonna is gonna play at San Diego (1.30 hrs from Mexicali) and they were saying how they wanted to go, etc, since it is very common for people to go to SD to see big shows but then i thought about the prices.

Madonna's prices are not for the average joe who wants to see what the deal is about. No one in their right mind (but us) would pay $400 for a ticket.

Also, just one night at L.A. i dunno, i just cannot imagine the stadium full.....i dunno.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also have a feeling the tour won't sell out everywhere like her past tours. All the good seats will be gone and she'll still make money of course, but perhaps not as much as she and LN hope.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not like every stop on the tour is stadiums. How many stadium shows is she going to do in the US...I'm assuming this is a US based article and of course it was written by a man. I love how contradictory the article is. Idiot.

Are stadium show ticket prices the same as the arenas or are they marked down some?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Pud Whacker
But you know the show can't be good... SHE CAN BARELY SING!

actually, imo, her best singing has been in arena shows. wtg and girlie. :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

actually, imo, her best singing has been in arena shows. wtg and girlie. :thumbsup:

I went to Anaheim Stadium (so cal) for the WTG tour> SOLD OUT

and afterwords KIISfm played all her songs on the radio-we were stuck in the parking lot for hours.

it was great!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/thelefsetzletter/5322/madonna-in-stadiums

Madonna In Stadiums

Posted Sun May 11 8:34am PDT by Bob Lefsetz in The Lefsetz Letter

It is important to study history, so one does not repeat the same mistakes. Don't Guy Oseary, Arthur Fogel and Madge herself remember U2's PopMart tour? The biggest, baddest band in the world, one beloved by Gen-X'ers everywhere (the true Gen-X, in its forties now, the one from Douglas Coupland's novel), books stadiums and...DOESN'T SELL OUT!

Maybe the record was rushed to completion. Or maybe the fan base was aging and didn't want to sit that far away.

Stadium shows are for youngsters, and YOUNGSTERS DON'T WANT TO SEE MADONNA! Especially not at these prices.

Why take this risk? Either she plays to empty seats or you've got to give tickets away. In this Internet era, do you think everyone's not going to KNOW?

They call it ARENA ROCK. Not Arena POP, or Arena DANCE! Blow it up even bigger, and IT'S GOT TO BE ROCK! It's got to be big and ballsy, anthemic. Madonna might have brass balls, but her music DOES NOT! Rock has historically been the guarantee in arenas. It's the ONLY guarantee in stadia. Why go against this? Why try to reinvent the wheel? Why take the risk?

To prove that Madonna is the biggest, baddest act on the planet.

Well, that's certainly questionable, but that's what she needs. For her ego.

Even the Eagles don't play stadiums. And they own the biggest selling album of ALL TIME! Their audience doesn't want to go. And sit that far away. Do you really think fortysomething women, driving minivans, still carpooling their kids, want to get all dressed up to sit in the upper deck and eat hot dogs? Watching a miniature Madonna down below?

No way. At least not until she admits she's a has-been.

Oh, the album may be running up the chart, but people don't want to hear Hard Candy live. Just like they didn't want to hear Page Plant's new material when those two toured. They eventually eviscerated almost all of it from their set and focused on Zeppelin tunes. The steady stream of people to the bathrooms and concessions made them feel less like superstars and more like...wannabes?

Madonna refuses to believe her time has passed, that she's a has-been. Everybody inside knows she won't go out with a greatest hits show. But that's what you need to sell stadiums, that's what you need to get oldsters to leave home and spend a fortune.

Maybe once. Maybe they'll come to the train-wreck once. But they'll stay home after that. And there's no talk of this being Madonna's RETIREMENT tour.

Who's advising her? Madonna's such an egomaniac, she won't hire a real manager, someone familiar with the game of choosing the right building, of scaling, of ticket counts. She thinks it's all about TV and radio, that they drive people into a frenzy where they HAVE to go to the show. Uh-uh. That was the eighties, the nineties, but not today's music world. Money is made on the road. And the show's got to be about the audience, not the performer. At least if you want people to come back at these inflated prices. You've got to DELIVER!

Maybe she'll change the set list to drive ticket sales.

But you know the show can't be good... SHE CAN BARELY SING!

She makes a deal with Live Nation and the stock she gets immediately tanks by half. She decides to play venues way too large for her. She needs the aforementioned Irving Azoff. But she won't listen to him. Because Madonna knows EVERYTHING!

No one knows everything. Not even me. But I've got a feeling, this tour is a mistake

Well this is not exactly accurate. The Rolling Stones for example have sold out stadium shows in America many times over and their fans are much older. I have seen them at Giants Stadium and it was sold out. I also saw The Police at Giants Stadium last year and it was also sold out. And you really can't consider The Police a rock band. In fact their show and stage was quite sparse for a stadium show. I think Bon Jovi recently also played stadiums and they're not really rock either. By the time, the U.S. shows come around, the buzz from all the European shows will be so strong that all her shows will eventually sell out. Plus she's only doing one show in L.A. and one in Miami which are really the only worrisome venues. Vancouver will easily sell out simply because she's never been there. Houston will sell out as well cuz her fans there have been waiting for her return for so long. And the assumption that Live Nation doesn't know what it's doing is wrong. They're the biggest tour promoter in the world so if anyone should know what they're doing, it's them. This writer seems to just want to create some negative buzz and hopes the tour tanks. I think he will be greatly disappointed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah that article is just to make negative buzz.

Exactly. This man obviously has a bias against her already. He's already said the show can't be good and rehearsals haven't even began for the effing tour. I'm sure he's one of the ones who said she be out of the business in 6 months back in '85. He says she needs to admit she's a has been but in the same article admits her new album is flying up the charts. Well Bob, one isn't a has been when their past 4 albums have went to number one, one isn't a has been when their last album was the biggest (or second biggest) selling album in the world the year it came out. One isn't a has been when they have just scored their biggest radio hit in 7 years....but between all of that STILL had legitimate hit songs in the US and the rest of the world.

I'm gonna say it before someone else does.....Mimi paid him to do it!! lol :demonic:

j/k

Seriously though, this is just a shoddy article that as a couple of you have pointed out was written for the sole purpose of creating negative buzz. Next week when the mad frenzy to get tickets begins this article will barely be a blip on the radar. I'm sure he'll then work on the article that says she only sold out because of "publicity stunts".....ie: negative critics of CT that said people were going because of the "cross scene"......yet when those shows sold out nobody even knew a damn thing about the show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plus she's only doing one show in L.A. and one in Miami which are really the only worrisome venues.

San Diego is also a stadium. I think her TX date is also a stadium.

I don't think they will be completely soldout, but close. It won't matter though, since the tickets are so expensive the stadium shows will still be extremely profitable.

Madonna can make this work is she lights up the whole stadium. She needs to put lights up all over the stadium. Most artists get lazy and use the exact same setup for arenas and stadiums. She needs to reinvent pop stadium shows by using a huge stage and putting lights up all over the stadium.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to Anaheim Stadium (so cal) for the WTG tour> SOLD OUT

Where her tickets expensive back then?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Pud Whacker
I went to Anaheim Stadium (so cal) for the WTG tour> SOLD OUT

and afterwords KIISfm played all her songs on the radio-we were stuck in the parking lot for hours.

it was great!

thats where i saw it - it was PERFECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, there are only 4 stadium-dates in USA(Vancouver is not a problem, canadians love her): L.A, Miami, San Diego and Houston.

L.A, Miami, San Diego are filled with latinos who love her, so I think that a sold out is guaranteed. About Houston I don't know (Texas scares me badly....and she bashed hard president Bush).

But I'm a spanish boy and I know for sure that european stadiums will be sold out with several dates in each city....because Madonna is the biggest solo artist ever in Europe...and this is a fact.

Look at this numbers:

European album sales

Rank / Artist / Total sales

1 Beatles - 92,500,000

2 Queen - 80,100,000

3 Madonna - 74,600,000

4 Michael Jackson - 71,000,000

5 Pink Floyd - 69,900,000

6 U2 - 59,300,000

7 Phil Collins - 55,200,000

8 Rolling Stones - 53,800,000

9 Elton John - 52,600,000

10 ABBA - 52,300,000

10 Dire Straits - 52,300,000

12 Celine Dion - 51,000,000

Link to comment
Share on other sites

here you go - a scan of my ticket

$22.50

How much where the most expensive tickets? Everyone wants to see Madonna live, but most people won't pay a lot to see her. From your ticket, it looks like the WTG tour was pretty affordable. I dunno how well Dodges stadium will sell since the tickets are expensive. When she does lots of arena shows in a row in LA, you see a lot of the same people at several shows. It will be interesting to see if she can sellout Dodgers stadium.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Little Red
Madonna's prices are not for the average joe who wants to see what the deal is about. No one in their right mind (but us) would pay $400 for a ticket.

True, but prices range all the down to $55 and I guess tix for $55 to $100 will be snapped up by more casual fans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Pud Whacker
How much where the most expensive tickets? Everyone wants to see Madonna live, but most people won't pay a lot to see her. From your ticket, it looks like the WTG tour was pretty affordable. I dunno how well Dodges stadium will sell since the tickets are expensive. When she does lots of arena shows in row in LA, you see a lot of the same people at several shows. It will be interesting to see if she can sellout Dodgers stadium.

i was on hte floor, like 12th row but then she told everyone to fuck the security - she wanted to feel us and everyone charged to the front!!!! :thumbsup:

so, 22.50 for 12th row. xo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest bluejean

This article is completely sexist for a start.

He forgets to mention that Madonna is known for huge spectacle, and has massive energy on stage to rival the likes of Mick Jagger.

And to say that its about her ego is WRONG. It is well known Madonna prefers Arenas and is most likely opting for stadiums because of money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

True, but prices range all the down to $55 and I guess tix for $55 to $100 will be snapped up by more casual fans.

The cheapest tickets at Dodger stadium are $95! Thats very expensive for the nosebleed section.

US $95.00 - US $350.00

23013s.gif

dodger-stadium-pic.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i was on hte floor, like 12th row but then she told everyone to fuck the security - she wanted to feel us and everyone charged to the front!!!! :thumbsup:

so, 22.50 for 12th row. xo

:lol: Hopefully she does that again. Since I've never been to a stadium concert, I dunno where to buy my tickets this time :confused: I loved my tickets for RIT & CT, but I dunno what section is the best for a stadium concert :confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also saw The Police at Giants Stadium last year and it was also sold out. And you really can't consider The Police a rock band. In fact their show and stage was quite sparse for a stadium show.

The Police also sold out Dodgers stadium:

the%20police9.jpg

the%20police15.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd buy floor tickets and be prepared to FIGHT. The stands are just too far away.

I don't think that's allowed. Dodger stadium concerts seem pretty orderly. If rock concerts at Dodger stadium are orderly, I'm sure M's will also.

23013s.gif

The typical concert setup at Dodger stadium looks like this: (the pic is from a foo fighters concert)

image338.jpg

Here's a video of the crowd at a Foo Fighters concert at Dodgers stadium:

dodger-stadium-pic.jpg

The Police at Dodgers stadium:

the%20police9.jpg

the%20police15.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...