Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

i remember 25 some years ago my parents would scream at me to tell me that iron maiden, ozzy, metallica, poison, bon jovi and other big bands would never last and in 10 years they would all be forgotten. my dad was a big fan of the 60's and 70's classic rock which was smuggled east of the iron curtain and he didn't like most of the 80's stuff.

things change. bands and musical styles get old and new ones take their place. i like The Ramones but compared to newer punk type bands like Nirvana and Foo Fighters they sound like 5 year olds in guitar class

i'm pretty sure the tweens are listening to some artists now that us old people don't like but will be huge in 10-15 years

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

This argument again?

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

it's true. in the 20's parents hated jazz and a few decades later it's considered an art form. same with rock, a lot of pop and rap. in the 80's it was supposed to lead to drug addicted and delinquent kids. now the kids grew up and bring their kids to see metallica and other acts. i already see rap and rock being played on PBS and Nick Jr. 30 years ago it would sparked an outrage. another 10 years and we'll see rock being played on the snobby PBS music shows like classical music was in the 1980's.

one time i turned on the Boston Pops orchestra when i was a kid and was shocked that it wasn't pop music like madonna

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Springsteen but if we're lucky the E Street Band has one more tour left in them and when he's done tours solo and with other bands he's had to play smaller venues.

But yeah, I agree with most of the bands that people have mentioned. U2, Green Day, Coldplay, Metallica, Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones can still fill this kind of venue. KISS and AC/DC probably could too. There are a few of them still around.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Um yeah, but you replied to my post about Taylor Swift selling out a football stadium.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Yeah, that was my first sentence. My second sentence had nothing to do with your post - not everything is about you.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Well the title is about arena rock and the OP is about football stadiums so it's been confusing from the get go.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Big arena concerts are so few anymore I think people are going just to see one. Jimmy Buffett sold out the 20,000 seat Sprint Center in KCMO in something like two hours.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Our local PBS station already plays a lot of Doo Wop music, and that was originally "race" music not fit for polite society.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

I think you have to also include Iron Maiden. Those guys continue to sell out any venue including 300K capacity shows (RIR)

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Yeah in Brazil :)

Arena rock: indoor hockey/baketball venues turned into concert halls with 15-45K capacities. There are legions of artists that can and do sell out arenas. Gaga, Coldplay, The Killers, Green Day, etc.

Stadium rock: (normally) outdoor football venues with 50-100K capacities. These are the venues that Springsteen, U2, Stones, Aerosmith, Metallica call home. This is the dying "artform". There are very few younger artists who are selling out stadiums.

I don't really know, but Taylor swift might sell out a stadium in Texas but would she sell out The Rose Bowl? It's one thing to sell out a stadium in a city that you are really big in, it's another to do a stadium TOUR. Back in the '80s Depeche Mode would tour the US playing large music halls, maybe 10-20K seats, but when they played LA they'd sell out the Rose Bowl's 100K seats. That was a hyper-regional thing. LA just loved Depeche Mode.

Anyway, short answer: There do not appear to be many acts whose members are under 40 who could mount a true stadium tour.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

You guys may be interested in this: http://www.goldenvoice.com/shows/details/?id=30682

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Jazz was also originally considered popular music and not high art. Now it's the exact opposite.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

This is a good post. Filling a single stadium somewhere is completely different than doing a stadium tour. Last time Metallica toured here it was an arena. They could to a stadium tour here with some strong openers (like they are with the 4 big ones tour they have planned) but not sure if they could sell out stadiums with "regular" openers.

(Iron Maiden could not do a US Stadium Tour!)

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

The idea of watching a concert in an arena or stadium when I was younger was great. The bigger the venue, the better. Seeing the Stones, Who, Floyd, etc in these big venues was great at the time.

As I got older (and partially due to my changed musical tastes) I prefer concerts in small venues. I have no desire to see anyone in an arena or stadium ever again. I would much rather see a concert in concert hall with between 2,000 - 4,000 seats... although I'd go see a concert in an amphitheatre that holds more if I'm in sitting in the first 3,000 seats closest to the stage.

Luckily the artists I like now don't play the big venues.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Radiohead could sell out arena's any tour. Though, I'm glad I got to see them 12 years ago at Radio City.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Yeah, but similar to the other big bands discussed, Radiohead's been around for almost 20 years now and doesn't have that much ahead of it.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

I can count on one hand the amount of stadium shows I've been to:
The Rolling Stones (with Metallica opening)
Paul McCartney
Elton John & Billy Joel

That's it. Three shows, all for artists I would never have a chance to see in a smaller venue. I've never seen the attraction of such large shows. There's no intimacy, and you're stuck with these huge crowds of people. Luckily I live in a city with no shortage of great music venues.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

A few years ago Billy Joel sold out MSG for like 15 shows, Springsteen does it every time as well as Tom Petty. (well not 15 shows) I am sure Roger Waters doing the Wall could sell out as many shows as he wants @ MSG

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

This is how I view the distinction. I don't think I've seen any show at a stadium that wasn't being billed as a festival. Summer Sanitarium with Metallica is the closest.

On the other hand, I've seen a lot of shows at arenas that were sold out. Tool still does a good job of packing the house, for one.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

I've only head of him because I had to cover his concert at the 4H Fair for the small town paper I interned at. And tickets for the fair itself were $10!

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Zeppelin always did this with outdoor stadiums. Three days at LA Forum, then north for couple days at Oakland Colesium, then back down to LA for couple more nights at Forum. And you still couldn't get tickets! They hold/held some kind of record for playing in front of 1 million(paid attendance) in a week, or something like that.

Heard today that Taylor Swift is playing Arrowhead stadium in Kansas City.

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

Correct. Indeed, before jazz was pop music, it was considered brothel music!

Re: Arena Rock on verge of extinction?
 

not just music

people grow up and get sentimental about childhood and then pay ridiculous prices for "collectibles" like 1980's GI Joe toys or some old comic books or baseball cards. my brother used to have stuff like Mark McGuire rookie cards that he could sell to some sucker willing to pay a lot of money for a piece of paper