The Absurd Logistics of Concert Tours

[sphinxsix]

5 hours ago, Jud said:

she got a call that one of Elvis Costello's guitars was on the opposite side of the Atlantic from where it was needed.

 

Might have been one of @AudioDoctor's attempts to finish the guy off.. 

 

On topic. U2's 360° tour has had a 200-ton arachnid forming the stage, a million-piece video wall, 300 crew and a budget of $750,000 a day. The tour employed 120 trucks to move the stage, the screen, the lights, the 250 speakers and more from venue to venue. 

 

 

OTOH Beyonce’s Formation tour of Europe, needed 7 Boeing 747 cargo planes, to transport all the stage from one country to another.

 

[sphinxsix]

34 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I still think concert tickets are way underpriced.

This is what I sometimes think when I buy a ticket for a top classical or jazz performer for 25 euro (they go up to 60-70 in case of classical and down to 20 in case of jazz if you're ready sit on the stairs of Bimhuis which is the best jazz club in Amsterdam). Both music stages have sponsors (both gov'ment  and private ones) and I'm ok with such model as for culture in general.

As for pop/rock stars.. not sure if the ticks are underpriced...:

 

The Top 10 highest grossing tours of all time

 

(the no 1 on the list is mentioned above U2 360° tour - £704 million)

 

[sphinxsix]

54 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

If those highest grossing tours included aftermarket ticket sales, the numbers would be much larger. The demand for tickets is there. 

Let's not worry about finances of pop/rock stars. Let's worry about classical music, jazz and those whose work is artistically on a high and finances on the low level. A year ago an interesting new pop/rock female vocalist who got a BBC music award (deservedly IMO, got this album) announced that she moves to her parents house cause she can not afford an apartment in London (!). As for me, the person who has always searched for progressive pop/rock music that says something new and often found in way out of mainstream - let's sponsor people like that, classical and jazz and let's not forget about about music education of kids cause they are the future of music.