After U2, Rolling Stones, The Who, Aerosmith, and other bands of that distinction are gone will arena rock suffer?

Are there any current bands that could sell out football stadiums 30 years from now?

I don't really see any current bands that would appeal to several generations of new fans.

Rock music just isn't that popular anymore, and its audience has fragmented. But I'm guessing R.E.M. could fill a few arenas, if they wanted.

Pearl Jam and Green Day

I'm a little skeptical that they could. They've been playing the amphitheater circuit since Bill Berry quit. I remember back in the early 80's probably 30 or 40 bands could play the LA Forum or MSG.

Yeah, this is key. I mean, who are the biggest rock bands to emerge (or rise to popularity) in the 2000s? On one side you have generic mainstream groups like Nickelback, who certainly have their fanbase but seem to be hated by everyone else. Then you have the critical darling indie groups like Arcade Fire that will probably never be huge enough to draw that a fraction of that crowd. Coldplay sort of splits the difference, but they're still far from a universally liked, let alone universally loved, group.

Taylor Swift sold out Lincoln Financial Field in 10 minutes. I don't know who on earth would want to see a concert in a football stadium let alone Taylor Swift. (I did see The Who and Pink Floyd in football stadiums but they were rock legends, c'mon!) But the biggest stars right now seem to be the putrid amalgam of pop and fake country.

Wasn't the Dave Matthews Band playing stadiums?

It's just a shift in Pop music I'd assume. There are still acts that sell out stadiums (Taylor Swift mentioned above) but Pop music isn't as rock oriented as it used to be. I'd consider any band that sells out a stadium for a concert would fall into the category of Popular Music/Top 40 (whether they once were or still are). Aerosmith, U2, Nickleback play rock/blues styled music, but they are Pop acts. Madonna, Lady Gaga mash elements of rock, dance, but I'd consider them Pop artists. I bet Phish could still sell out a stadium and other reunion tours from once popular artists probably could as well (New Kids on the Block just a bit ago, in example).

I think sometimes people who are "into music" will unfairly categorize pop music as generic or uninspired and a lot of the time it is, but there is something to be said for a good pop tune. And a lot of those Classic Rock bands everyone loves so much are pop bands through and through.

Personally, I'd never go see Aerosmith, or U2, or Nickelback... but I've seen Page and Plant and Pearl Jam and The Cure in large stadiums. The experience can be fun, but really I prefer smaller clubs and venues and luckily most of the acts I enjoy only play those. I don't go to shows as much as I used too, the last show I went to (excluding house parties and friends bands) was Gogol Bordello and Devotchka playing at a medium sized club in Detroit last March. Had a blast!

I know the stadiums around here still have concerts and sell plenty of tickets, I assume there are plenty of current acts selling tickets, their music is just not on my radar (and probably the same for many folks). Radio is practically useless for music discovery nowadays I never turn one on, why would I with internet radio, forums or my MP3 player? We all have much better ways of discovering music and tuning into what we want to hear.

That's because more than half the tickets sold for a TS concert are to parents who are taking their offspring to go see her.

Muse sells out arenas pretty easily these days (thank in no small part to the Twitards).

I hope to never see any band in a hockey, football, tennis , etc. arena or stadium ever again. It's not that I don't like the bands that typically play those large shows, but I guess I'm just getting old and cranky because I don't enjoy the entire experience; from the inflated price*, shitty seats, parking, sound quality, drunken morons, kids, security, etc.

Will we ever get to a point where bands like Coldplay, Rush, Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, etc. are playing concert theatres instead of arenas? Maybe not... but I'm fine with the era of "stadium rock" passing, and seeing a bigger focus on concert-specific venues.


*inflated price isn't necessarily a problem with the venue per se, but a culmination of all the additional costs associated with doing an "arena tour" including roadies, lights, screens, etc.

Well, is it about Arena Rock, or Stadium Rock? Big difference. I see few bands still being able to fill a Stadium. I did see Coldplay and Green Day in a 35-40k seat venue in the last few years, but not too many bands are left that can "sell out" a stadium on a nationwide basis.

Arenas are easy. I am actually surprised at a lot of bands that play Staples Center in Los Angeles, and can "sell out"...

Fair enough. In my post, I mistakenly used Arena and Stadium to mean the same thing; oversized venues that are built for sports, not concerts.

How many seats does a typical Arena (not Stadium) have?

12k-25k in my experience. The two here in Columbus each hold ~20k for concerts.

Metallica can definitely fill stadiums, but they probably fall in with U2 in terms of age.

And it isn't even good pop: crummy overly auto-tuned crap.

This thread made me think of the quote from the Metallica Behind the Music that came out right when everyone really started to hate them...

"Yes, We Sell Out --- Every Seat In The House" I remembered it being James that said it, but apparently according to the internet, it was Jason.

It was Jason. He clapped his hands while saying it ... 4:30 mark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PFNHQ2aLHA

Metallica will sell out any arena or stadium until the day they quit.

What's really killing Arena Rock is greed. $500 for an obstructed view in the back of the stadium, plus $50 in Ticketmaster fees. Thanks, but no thanks.

This,

Back int he day, it would be a slow month with 3 or 4 shows. Because even though I made a ton less money when I was 16, I could afford a $5 to $15 ticket 4 times a month. If there was a band I kinda sorta likes, I'd pay $5 for a nosebleed just to go and look at the girls dressed up and hang out with some friends.

Now, for a $75 and up price, there are just not that many bands I like enough to pay that and I probably see 4 shows a year at most.

would nickelcrap and fuckcherry count as arena rock? Although Fuckcherry's current tour is in large clubs only

I checked the upcoming schedules for the two arenas in town (Nationwide Arena and Value City Arena), and in terms of musical acts:

Nationwide:

Lil Wayne ($40.75)
Keith Urban ???
Jason Aldean ($26)

Value City:

Lady Gaga ($52.50)
Tim McGraw ($28.75)
New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys ($32.50)

(Amounts in parentheses are the least expensive tickets available for each show)

So, there you go.

Who?

He's a country singer. I'd never heard of him either.

Difference between an arena and a football stadium.

Remind me again what the title of this thread is.