Yes to all this! It’s very dispiriting seeing great local musicians struggle to find decent audiences when there is so much home grown variety and talent. The desire for nostalgia pervades more than just music and not in a good way.
Totally- I’m in Otautahi and I could go out pretty much every night of the week and see fantastic live music 🎶 As a small time promoter of our own house concerts I know it’s not hard to find talent but it is way harder to persuade audiences to come out.
I hear this over and over again - from those at Whammy and Wine Cellar and everywhere else - that the byproduct of the Pinks and the Pearl Jams is that fewer go out to smaller shows because their spare money goes on the big ones.
For sure, plus it’s hard to persuade people to actually go out and see music they don’t know. We have a real variety in our HCs and are lucky to have be a small number of regulars who will come to ‘anything’ and their feedback is always positive. To get up close and personal with live music and the musicians is so different to the big shows and that intimate connection is something that audiences really value ( if you can get them to come)
Five years ago, my attitude to concerts was like a bucket list - the only ones worth spending big money on were legacy artists of the "you have to see them live" variety (which is how I ended up at an underwhelming U2 concert). But as I listen to more new music, and especially this year, I find myself bothered - like you seem to be saying here - by the number of legacy acts taking up space.
I think my theory might be that concert promoters - and especially festival organisers - are choosing safe bets to remove the element of risk, similar to Hollywood relying on established IP and sequels, or publishers pushing sequels and series, or music magazines covering legacy artists. New just doesn't sell tickets, or books, or mags, or albums.
PS: That Todd Stephenson interview was wild; I initially thought "good ole' Braunias with the satire" and then I found out it was real and I was like "whaaaaAAAAAATT?!"
PPS Enjoyed your Consumer piece on in demand tickets. Nice one.
Were you at that awful U2 show where Bono bought a massive wide screen TV with him? Awful show! My wife walked out! I wished I could have too.
I absolutely agree: safe bets, easy wins, no risk-taking allowed. I get that that's the market conditions rn, but if all we have are safe bets then things definitely skew towards attracting the market that has money (that's why Fatboy Slim, Groove Armada and Basement Jaxx are touring so much again) and fails to serve those wanting to hear fresh stuff.
I think that's why I liked Laneway so much this year: lots of new artists on display (Nia Archives), discovering acts I hadn't heard before (Domi & JD Beck) with some more established acts doing the business at the end (Stormzy).
Gah! Where is this going if we don't support acts that could go on to create future nostalgia?
Aside from failing to serve people who want to see/hear new artists now, the question I have (and this might be a piece for Ephemeral at some point ;) haha) is what happens when the legacy acts are no longer available? Promoters do play a part in artist development; demand for stadium shows isn't going to stop. Presumably broad audiences will want to go to them. So who fills the seats? Not just here where Post Malone manages it, but internationally. Billie, Taylor and Pink can't do them all. Who takes over once the Foo Fighters quit?
RE: U2, it was the 2010 show - they had Jay-Z open for them and, honestly, I enjoyed Jay-Z more (though I've heard others thought he was underwhelming too). I've been a U2 fan on and off over the years, but I didn't even think about going to the widescreen show even though they were playing The Joshua Tree in its entirety.
Yes to all this! It’s very dispiriting seeing great local musicians struggle to find decent audiences when there is so much home grown variety and talent. The desire for nostalgia pervades more than just music and not in a good way.
Totally- I’m in Otautahi and I could go out pretty much every night of the week and see fantastic live music 🎶 As a small time promoter of our own house concerts I know it’s not hard to find talent but it is way harder to persuade audiences to come out.
I hear this over and over again - from those at Whammy and Wine Cellar and everywhere else - that the byproduct of the Pinks and the Pearl Jams is that fewer go out to smaller shows because their spare money goes on the big ones.
For sure, plus it’s hard to persuade people to actually go out and see music they don’t know. We have a real variety in our HCs and are lucky to have be a small number of regulars who will come to ‘anything’ and their feedback is always positive. To get up close and personal with live music and the musicians is so different to the big shows and that intimate connection is something that audiences really value ( if you can get them to come)
I agree our local scene deserves to have a moment. Crazy ridiculous how much talent is out there right now.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6PS17CyDpW/?igsh=MWx5ODFpeXlqaGo4OA==
Five years ago, my attitude to concerts was like a bucket list - the only ones worth spending big money on were legacy artists of the "you have to see them live" variety (which is how I ended up at an underwhelming U2 concert). But as I listen to more new music, and especially this year, I find myself bothered - like you seem to be saying here - by the number of legacy acts taking up space.
I think my theory might be that concert promoters - and especially festival organisers - are choosing safe bets to remove the element of risk, similar to Hollywood relying on established IP and sequels, or publishers pushing sequels and series, or music magazines covering legacy artists. New just doesn't sell tickets, or books, or mags, or albums.
PS: That Todd Stephenson interview was wild; I initially thought "good ole' Braunias with the satire" and then I found out it was real and I was like "whaaaaAAAAAATT?!"
PPS Enjoyed your Consumer piece on in demand tickets. Nice one.
Were you at that awful U2 show where Bono bought a massive wide screen TV with him? Awful show! My wife walked out! I wished I could have too.
I absolutely agree: safe bets, easy wins, no risk-taking allowed. I get that that's the market conditions rn, but if all we have are safe bets then things definitely skew towards attracting the market that has money (that's why Fatboy Slim, Groove Armada and Basement Jaxx are touring so much again) and fails to serve those wanting to hear fresh stuff.
I think that's why I liked Laneway so much this year: lots of new artists on display (Nia Archives), discovering acts I hadn't heard before (Domi & JD Beck) with some more established acts doing the business at the end (Stormzy).
Gah! Where is this going if we don't support acts that could go on to create future nostalgia?
Aside from failing to serve people who want to see/hear new artists now, the question I have (and this might be a piece for Ephemeral at some point ;) haha) is what happens when the legacy acts are no longer available? Promoters do play a part in artist development; demand for stadium shows isn't going to stop. Presumably broad audiences will want to go to them. So who fills the seats? Not just here where Post Malone manages it, but internationally. Billie, Taylor and Pink can't do them all. Who takes over once the Foo Fighters quit?
RE: U2, it was the 2010 show - they had Jay-Z open for them and, honestly, I enjoyed Jay-Z more (though I've heard others thought he was underwhelming too). I've been a U2 fan on and off over the years, but I didn't even think about going to the widescreen show even though they were playing The Joshua Tree in its entirety.
I mean, the Rolling stones are still going, and they're in their 80s now. Can't see Dave Grohl giving up any time soon!