Touring
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DENVER — Tennyson’s Tap was the kind of music club where, on packed nights, the lone frazzled employee serving drinks, running sound and manning the door might ask one of the bands to help out and collect the $5 cover charge. I know because I sang in one of those bands, Smaldone Faces, and our bassist Luke and I pretty much let everyone in for free.
The Tap, at 4335 W. 38th St. in Denver, specialized in whiskey and scruffy musicians of every conceivable genre — my two bands that played there did country, punk and metal covers, and we opened for screamo indie-rockers, jazzy improvisationalists and dreadlocked funk-and-reggae combos. The bar smelled like cigarettes and beer, and had a capacity of about 90, but when we drew our crowds of 20 or 30 people, it roared like Springsteen at the Roxy.
“It’s one of those places where everybody’s right in your face. You don’t just hear the music, you feel it,” says singer and guitarist Aaron Garcia, whose Denver band 78 Bombs played its first gig there. “It’s so comfortable, it’s like an old shoe — an old Chuck Taylor.”
A few weeks ago, I drove by the Tap and the beige-colored, shack-like building was now a pile of collapsed lumber and cinder blocks as tall as the nearby telephone poles. The band I’m currently in, Sid Delicious, played its last gig at the Tap on March 6, 2020, and we soothed our small crowd that was feeling nervous about COVID-19 through the healing power of the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams.” Cody, the big-bearded sound guy, had assured us that, just as 9/11 had brought people together, live music would never die, and offered plenty of hand san.
The bar closed a week or so later, and remained that way. “LOVE,” read the marquee. Eventually, somebody painted “Thank you!” on the wall outside.
Through quarantine, Fauci, Trump, vaccines, anti-vaxxers and the triumphant return of live music, I drove by, waiting for the band names to reappear on the marquee. But the Tap, like B.L.U.E.S. On Halsted in Chicago, the Satellite in Los Angeles and, this year, Exit/In in Nashville, couldn’t make it — despite the Small Business Administration’s multimillion-dollar grants to thousands of music venues forced to temporarily shut down during the pandemic.
According to the National Independent Venue Association, more than 25 U.S. clubs have permanently closed in 2022.
“For a whole year, I kept that place open and legal and ready to open the doors,” says Dave Fox, one of the club’s co-owners, who also ran a recording studio as part of the same corner complex. “But it was really the landlord’s decision to not proceed with the corner.”
The neighborhood surrounding Tennyson’s Tap is a long-since-gentrified portion of Northwest Denver known as Berkeley, and over the past 20 years, condos and coffee shops have replaced the old hardware store, the family-owned window-repair business and the music shop that used to repair my keyboard after I banged the “E” key too heavily during the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” The previous, longtime property owner suggested to Fox he could keep paying the Tap’s lease, but, according to Fox, new owners went in another direction last year.
(Representatives for the property, listed with the Colorado Secretary of State, did not respond to calls and e-mails about what they might do with the site of the former Tennyson’s Tap.)
In January 2011, Fox and a partner opened the Tap and began booking music. The odd national touring name played there, like metal-and-bodybuilding star Thor, but the club showcased mostly local artists, as many as five per night. A bartender, Cat Ackermann, was also a musician, and inaugurated a karaoke night; Leonard Apodaca, one of the club’s managers, had the idea to merge Taco Tuesdays and dance music, and it became a high-grossing, heavy-drinking success; the bar’s lack of genre discernment drew metal, ska, funk, jazz, reggae and, yes, punk-and-metal cover bands.
“We found the underlying grit in the DJ scene,” says Apodaca, who indulged me when I showed up at the bar on Tuesday afternoons to beg for new gigs, sometimes after we managed only 15 or 20 people at the previous ones. “All those people are used to going to clubs and paying a big cover. One night a week, they didn’t have to get all dressed up, they didn’t have to worry about going downtown. They can just be themselves. The girls would come out in sweatpants and backwards baseball caps.”
Sid Delicious hasn’t played a gig since that March 2020 night at Tennyson’s. A couple of our members were dedicated quarantiners and were reluctant to expose their young kids until they were eligible for vaccines. Then, last summer, we booked a date, but it was on a difficult night, in an inconvenient part of town, and, unlike band-friendly Tennyson’s, required us to rent our own PA, haul it in, figure out how to set it up and sound-check it ourselves.
We eventually canceled the gig. We’re figuring out how to move forward, but the band is adrift without the perfect venue, one like Tennyson’s Tap, where you could rock an hour long set on a tiny stage, closing with Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades,” after which Cody would hand you an envelope containing one or two crisp $100 bills. Of all the things we lost during the pandemic, a dingy old club with a back room for darts was not the most consequential.
Or, maybe, it was.
“It was just a community,” Apodaca says. “It’s all basically dirt now.”
What remains of the site of Tennyson’s Tap in Denver.
Steve Knopper
Pantera‘s first major tour in more than two decades is getting off to a rough start after bassist Rex Brown has been forced to sit a string of South American dates due to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. “I caught a very mild strain of Covid, but because of our own protocols, I simply do not wanna risk getting my brothers or the crew sick!!” Brown wrote on Instagram on Monday (Dec. 12).
“I’m feeling better & am on my way to a speedy recovery. Merry Fckn Christmas & see you all next Year!” Brown thanked Cattle Decapitation bassist Derek Engemann — who also plays with Pantera singer Phil Anselmo in his Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals side project — for filling in for him after the bassist missed the band’s gig at Knotfest in Bogotá, Colombia on Dec. 9.
The group’s South American tour kicked off with a gig at the Hell & Heaven Metal Fest in Toluca, Mexico on Dec. 2, followed by the Dec. 6 Monterrey Metal Fest, the Bogotá Knotfest show, a Knotfest Chile appearance on Sunday (Dec. 11) and a headlining show at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile on Monday night (Dec. 12). The final shows on the swing are slated for Thursday (Dec. 15) at the Vibra São Paulo in São Paulo, Brazil and a Dec. 18 Knotfest in Sao Paulo.
Pantera will get back out there again in late May in Europe, then return to the U.S. in August before opening some North American dates on Metallica’s 2023-2024 72 Seasons global tour. In addition to Brown and singer Anselmo, the reunion tour also features drummer Charlie Benante — filling in for late original Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul — and longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, who is playing late guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell’s parts.
Check out Brown’s post below.
Just a week after Caroline Polachek announced that her new album Desire, I Want to Turn Into You will be arriving in February, the singer revealed her list of 2023 tour dates on Monday (Dec. 12).
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The North American and European run, called the Spiraling Tour, features a number of opening guests that will take part in certain dates of the tour, including Doss, Alex G, Ethel Cain, Sudan Archives, Magdalena Bay, George Clanton and Toro y Moi.
The tour will kick off on February 10 in Brighton, England, and stretch through February 27 in Antwerp, Belgium. The live shows will then head across the pond on April 14, when Polacheck will begin her North American tour in Philadelphia, Penn. The “Hit Me Where It Hurts” singer will perform in major cities across the continent including Boston, Mass.; Austin, Texas; Los Angeles, Calif.; Chicago, Ill.; Nashville, Tenn. and more before wrapping up in New York City on May 20.
Fans can sign up for ticket pre-sale via Polachek’s website here beginning on Wednesday (Dec. 14) at 10 a.m. local time. General onsale goes live on Friday (Dec. 16).
Polacheck’s upcoming album Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, arrives on Feb. 14, 2023, and follows her 2019 album, Pang, which featured singles “Door,” “Ocean of Tears,” “Parachute” and “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings.”
See Polachek’s announcement, which includes the full list of tour dates, below.
Replying to mounting criticism from the public and Mexican officials, Ticketmaster Mexico issued a formal statement on Monday (Dec. 12) following a ticketing fiasco that led to hundreds being denied access to Bad Bunny’s Mexico City shows Dec. 9 and 10.
“As has been reported, on Friday an unprecedented number of fake tickets were presented at the entrance of [Estadio Azteca], purchased outside our official channels,” wrote Ticketmaster in its release, posted on Twitter late Monday. “In addition to causing confusion among entrance officials, this situation generated a malfunction in our system, which for moments at a time, couldn’t properly identify legitimate tickets. It’s important to underscore that there was no oversale of tickets. Ticketmaster took the technological and logistical measures needed to ensure what happened on Friday would not happen on Saturday.”
Mexico’s Federal Attorney’s Office for Consumers (PROFECO), reported that more than 1,600 people were denied entry to Bad Bunny’s Friday show, leading to crowds of angry ticket-holders clamoring outside the gates of Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca. At the time, Ticketmaster attributed the issue to fake tickets that caused their system to malfunction. On Saturday, just 110 were denied entry.
PROFECO, however, said the ticketing problem for the Puerto Rican superstar’s shows was triggered by an “oversale” of tickets and that Ticketmaster would be fined as a result. “The difference between those defrauded in the first and second concert is proof of it. 1,600 tickets in the first concert… and 110 in the second”, PROFECO head Ricardo Sheffield explained on TV program Aguila o sol.
The fine for Ticketmaster México could amount to up to 10% of that company’s total sales in 2021, Sheffield said.
“Ticketmaster claimed they were counterfeit, but they were all issued by them,” Sheffield said in an interview on Saturday with Radio Fórmula.
PROFECO’s investigation determined that many tickets claimed as false were indeed legitimate and had been purchased through legitimate channels, according to Sheffield.
In its new missive, Ticketmaster says the Bad Bunny shows were the most in-demand ever in the country’s history, with 4.5 million people attempting to purchase just 120,000 available seats for both Azteca dates. The company said it’s collaborating “openly and widely” with the investigation and will refund ticket buyers in addition to paying them the 20% indemnization mandated by law.
Read full statement in Spanish below:
Ticketmaster has technology that can prevent the type of fraud that allegedly impacted entry to the show, but so far it has only been deployed in the United States. The technology, known as SafeTix, digitizes tickets and eliminates easy to duplicate barcodes that can be resold to multiple people. It’s unclear when the technology will be available in countries outside of the U.S.
Ticketmaster Mexico had been owned and operated by OCESA-CIE since the 1980s but last year Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation finalized its acquisition of Ticketmaster Mexico, transitioning the company from a license holder to a Ticketmaster subsidiary. Ticketmaster Mexico is forecast to sell 20 million tickets this year.
Massive overselling of tickets for the last two concerts of Bad Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour in Mexico City this weekend led to hundred of people being denied entry to the superstar’s shows and will have million-dollar consequences for Ticketmaster Mexico, according to Mexican authorities.
The head of Mexico’s Federal Attorney’s Office for Consumers (PROFECO), Ricardo Sheffield, told the Televisa network on Sunday that those affected must receive a 100% refund plus a 20% compensation, and that the company will also be fined.
In a statement, Ticketmaster México acknowledged on Saturday that “the access problems were the result of the presentation of an unprecedented number of counterfeit tickets, which caused an unusual crowd of people and an intermittent operation of our system” which “generated confusion and made entrance to the stadium complicated, with the unfortunate consequence that some legitimate tickets were denied entry.”
Sheffield confirmed the ticketing problem for the Puerto Rican super star’s shows was triggered by an “oversale” of tickets. A total of 1,600 faulty tickets were reported for the first concert Dec. 9, and 110 for the second on Dec. 10. Both shows were at Estadio Azteca. Organizers said some 80,000 people attended each night.
“The difference between those defrauded in the first and second concert is proof of it. 1,600 tickets in the first concert… and 110 in the second”, Sheffield explained on TV program Aguila o sol.
The fine for Ticketmaster México could amount to up to 10% of that company’s total sales in 2021, the official said.
“Ticketmaster claimed they were counterfeit, but they were all issued by them,” Sheffield said in an interview on Saturday with Radio Fórmula.
According to the Mexican official, in its investigation, PROFECO determined that many tickets claimed as false were indeed legitimate and had been purchased through legitimate channels.
Those affected are also preparing a class action suit against the company. PROFECO opened an investigation and invited those who had irregularities with their tickets for Bad Bunny and other major events to file a complaint.
“As we are a fiscal authority, if they don’t want to pay of their own will, we will seize their accounts then, and they will pay because they have to,” said Sheffield.
The ticket issue delayed Bad Bunny’s show on Friday for almost an hour, while a crowd of hundreds outside Estadio Azteca demanded an explanation. Some people climbed through the main gate of the compound in an attempt to gain entry but were stopped by law enforcement. On Saturday, PROFECO announced plans to assist those affected.
Billboard Español reached out to both Ocesa and Ticketmaster Mexico for comment on Friday and Monday, but had not received a reply by press time. On Saturday, Ocesa sent Billboard the press release issued from Ticketmaster Mexico about what had happened at Estadio Atzeca the night before. Last year, Live Nation acquired 51% of the operations of the Mexican company Ocesa and Ticketmaster México.
Cancellations or duplications of tickets for concerts operated by Ticketmaster México and concert promoter Ocesa have increased in recent months for massive concerts, including those of Daddy Yankee, Harry Styles and Dua Lipa, according to complaints from users of the popular ticket sales platform.
The situation in Mexico comes after fans of pop star Taylor Swift collectively sued Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation in the United States for the chaotic ticket sales of her The Eras Tour. Thousands of the singer’s followers were unable to get tickets for her concerts.
Elton John’s Farewell stadium run was one of the biggest touring stories of the year, selling 2.07 million tickets and grossing $334.4 million, according to Billboard Boxscore. But even he felt the pain of being on the road in 2022. The singer, 75, postponed two shows early on when he caught COVID-19. John and his entourage of security and hairdressers had to travel in one bubble while his longtime band was in a separate one. And gas prices were astronomical.
“It’s emotionally and spiritually healthy for people to get back out and see shows again,” says David Furnish, John’s husband and manager, calling from the family’s Los Angeles home ahead of the tour’s Nov. 20 finale at the city’s Dodger Stadium. “We just eat the extra cost. You just have to acknowledge that’s the world we’re living in now and press on.”
In 2022, the biggest stars once again performed to packed venues. Bad Bunny’s aptly named World’s Hottest Tour finished in stadiums, selling 1.8 million tickets and earning $375.5 million, the highest-grossing Latin tour ever. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lady Gaga, Garth Brooks, Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard and The Weeknd played stadiums. Harry Styles sold out 15 straight nights at Madison Square Garden. Live Nation reported huge revenue all year, including $6.2 billion in the third quarter. “2022 has been an incredible year of returning to live events,” CEO Michael Rapino said in a November letter to investors.
Yet high costs, supply chain issues and canceled concerts due to COVID-19 and mental health concerns posited a bleak side to this triumphant touring return after a lost 2020 and wobbly 2021. When canceling a tour in September, Santigold posted about the challenges of being on the road: “We were met with the height of inflation — gas, tour buses, hotels and flight costs skyrocketed.” In November, Lorde, who had sold out shows in New York, Los Angeles, London and elsewhere, wrote a newsletter to fans detailing “truly mind-boggling” freight costs, crew shortages, overbooked trucks and other factors that created an “almost unprecedented level of difficulty.”
“The hardest thing for touring this year, which may be a one-time occurrence, is you’ve got three summers of touring in one,” says Lorde’s manager Jonathan Daniel. “The amount of choices for people is insane. You can’t cry for artists who are wildly successful — they just have to spend more for freight — but for the middle class, it’s really hard.”
yim-touring-billboard-2022-bb16-illustration-by-andrei-cojocaru-pro-1260The biggest stars largely skated over the problems. In touring with the “largest production he has ever taken on the road,” as Furnish calls it, John’s team created an elaborate COVID-19 protocol to protect the singer, his band and the crew, providing regular testing and updated vaccines and boosters. “It’s important we deliver the same quality show and entertainment for everybody,” Furnish says. “It didn’t even occur to us to reconfigure it in any way to try to make it cheaper.”
Country star Luke Combs, who sold out multiple stadiums in 2022, was determined to tour the same way as he had before the pandemic — including ticket prices. He employed his regular band and crew throughout 2020, then capped ticket prices at $100, employing Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan service to cut down on resales. (Some upcoming tickets, however, cost as much as $2,800 on secondary-market sites.) “You take the hit,” says Chris Kappy, Combs’ manager. “We locked everything in at pre-pandemic pricing and post-pandemic expenses.”
According to Fielding Logan, the Q Prime manager who represents Eric Church and other top country acts, bus prices are 30% to 80% higher than they were before the pandemic. But like Combs, Church maintained low ticket prices, putting many seats on sale for $40. “Eric eats the additional expenses and has the lower profit margin,” Logan says. Not every artist has the means to absorb the additional costs, though: Another of Logan’s clients, singer-songwriter Paul Cauthen, was hoping to graduate from a van to a tour bus, but high costs have complicated those plans. “Could this inflation temporarily put a bus out of his reach? Yes, it could,” he says.
Some agents and managers have predicted 2023 will bring back a more manageable, pre-pandemic-style touring roster now that artists are neither rushing to make up for lost revenue nor rescheduling canceled shows from the past two or three years. But in July, demand was so high for Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s 2023 tour that resale seats on Ticketmaster cost over $5,000. And when Taylor Swift’s stadium tour went on sale in November, fans flooded the ticket-selling site to the point that it shut down. Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran and George Strait are among other stars playing stadiums next year. “2024 is probably where it really goes back — because everybody will have toured,” says Daniel, who also manages Green Day, Sia and Fall Out Boy. “Just having not everybody out at once is going to help.”
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022, issue of Billboard.
Several Swifties woke up Monday morning (Dec. 12) to discover that a new ray of hope had dawned. Weeks after countless dreams were crushed by the catastrophic Ticketmaster presale for Taylor Swift‘s 2023 Eras Tour — which left many fans without tickets to Swift’s first tour in four years in spite of their preassigned “Verified Fan” statuses — the 32-year-old pop star unveiled a surprise second round of ticket sales specifically geared toward those who missed out.
Certain fans found out they were selected for the Verified Fan sale 2.0 upon receiving an email from Ticketmaster. “Congratulations, you have been selected to participate in a limited-time opportunity to request to purchase 2 tickets to Taylor Swift The Eras Tour,” the email read. “You were selected for this opportunity because you have been identified as a fan who received a boost during the Verified Fan presale but did not purchase tickets.”
“We apologized for the difficulties you may have experienced, and have been asked by Taylor’s team to create this additional opportunity for you to purchase tickets,” it continued, noting that the ticket purchasing window will begin sometime before Dec. 23, with invitations issued on a staggered basis by tour date in each city.
Naturally, Swifties far and wide are rejoicing following the news that many of them will get a second chance at attending an Eras Tour show and coming face-to-face with the “All Too Well” singer, who publicly condemned Ticketmaster’s handling of the original Verified Fan sale in November. The ticketing service experienced mass outages caused by a historic amount of hopefuls flooding its site on sale day, a commotion that wasn’t helped by the surplus of fans to whom Ticketmaster had assigned special Verified Fan presale codes.
“Taylor swift going out of her way to make sure ticketmaster gives ALL fans who got a verified boost a chance to get tickets…,” tweeted one Swiftie on Monday. “This is why we love her.”
Other fans, however, expressed disappointment that they had been shut out of the Verified Fan program a second time over. “HOW did i not get chosen for verified fan presale even though i have a boost, not get tickets on capital one presale AND not receive this email from ticketmaster for tickets?” tweeted another. “I’m soooo sad 🙁 anyone wanna help a girl get to nashville :(”
See more Swiftie reactions to Taylor Swift’s surprise second Verified Fan presale with Ticketmaster below.
taylor swift going out of her way to make sure ticketmaster gives ALL fans who got a verified boost a chance to get tickets… this is why we love her 🤍— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) December 12, 2022
GUYS I GOT THE E-MAIL 😭😭😭😭 … But i don’t want to get so many hopes bc the last time was awful. Btw i was not boosted, but i was a verified fan with a code. So i hope there is a chance for all of us.🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞 #TheErasTour pic.twitter.com/tWoieb36qe— Jo📖TaylorSwiftArtistOfTheDecade (@SwiftiePost) December 12, 2022
taylor and her team getting ticketmaster to select people for verified fans again is not what i was expecting to wake up to today but it’s the best thing actually.. i really hope that everyone will actually be able to get tickets without any errors— jill 🎄 (@wildestdagger) December 12, 2022
TAYLOR GETTING THEM TO CONTACT VERIFIED FANS FOR THE REST OF THE TICKETS☹️ i love her too much so many deserving people are gonna get another chance now— hana (@wreckmyyplans) December 12, 2022
HOW did i not get chosen for verified fan presale even though i have a boost, not get tickets on capital one presale AND not receive this email from ticketmaster for tickets? i’m soooo sad 🙁 anyone wanna help a girl get to nashville 🙁— taylor🕰🫶 (@TAYLORNOTSWlFT) December 12, 2022
Waking up to an email about #TaylorSwiftTheErasTour tickets on this fine Monday was NOT on my end-of-year bingo card, but thank you. 🥲🥳🥳— Stephanie D’Amico ☀️ (@writemesteph) December 12, 2022
After being unable to tour behind his 2020 debut album, experimental alt artist Jean Dawson embarked on his first headlining tour this year with second full-length, Chaos Now, which hit No. 35 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart. Below, he reflects on the experience.
Being that I had no expectations, everything I received was hyper-special. The tour was completely sold out, which was wild, and the audiences were right there with me. I feel like I made thousands of friends in the span of a month. Nothing was expected, so everything was gifted.
The first Los Angeles show [at The Roxy in November] blew — there were so many suits in the building standing in VIP, just staring and analyzing, seeing how they could commodify the energy in the front, where the audience was at full throttle. I hated it. That show stood out because I could clearly see the disparity between love and greed. The true VIP was the pit where people were feeling the push and pull of what we do together. The area where the “important people” stood was a daycare center for those who feel above the true sentiment of what we did that night. The next night in Los Angeles was amazing, though.
When I did meet-and-greets, which was about every night, I got to see how many people felt a kinship with something that just lived in my head until it didn’t. It’s like getting 20,000 hugs all at once. I think I’ll spend my whole life trying to understand it and, moreover, appreciate that feeling. It was love. For the first time in my life, I felt like no one was judging me. The only challenges that felt like hurdles were not getting sick over and over, which ended up happening.
I’m trying to practice having no goals — sounds counterproductive, but I just want to be. Take everything with grace, gratitude and f–king heart. The shows will [continue to] be legendary because it isn’t about me — it’s about them.
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022 issue of Billboard.
Given how hard nightlife was hit during the pandemic, with many clubs closing permanently, industry insiders are pleasantly surprised with its 2022 comeback. JoJo Walker, director of programming at New York’s Avant Gardner and Brooklyn Mirage, attests that the industry is generally doing “amazingly well,” even though “it’s more challenging now than ever before.”
As clubs reopened amid the lingering pandemic in mid-2021, venues scrambled to get DJs back behind the decks to play for fans eager to return to dancefloors. “2021 was a free-for-all because everybody wanted to party,” says Walker. “People were willing to pay high ticket prices, and the wheel was being fed from all angles.” This competitive market boosted DJ fees, which in many cases increased up to 20% for club and festival sets. But now, fees remain lodged at these higher rates even as demand has declined, creating headaches for dance promoters who are also navigating inflation’s effects on nightlife.
“It’s not just that artists are being greedy,” says Walker, “but for them to do what they need to in terms of traveling and making a living, they need to have their costs covered: flights, hotels, cars. Those costs are being passed on to the promoter, and now there’s not a wealthy part of the wheel that can be taken from.” Walker adds that many DJs are touring less after enjoying the pandemic’s slowed pace, prompting agents to negotiate higher paychecks for the shows these artists do play.
Promoters have had to get creative in order to turn a profit. Walker is currently structuring artist deals that involve a lower flat rate and a per-ticket bonus, which incentivizes DJs to promote their shows, as their final rates are relative to those shows’ success. Given that she books for multiple venues, along with the annual 100,000-person electronic festival Electric Zoo (owned by Avant Gardner), Walker also has the dexterity to offer multishow contracts, creating an advantage over promoters booking a single room.
Brig Dauber, entertainment director at long-standing Los Angeles club Avalon, says the venue has “kept on step” with new fee expectations while working harder to determine which artists are most viable in the current market. This year, Avalon has skewed toward theme-based nights centered on certain genres and musical eras to “diversify the patronage and avoid the risk of not actualizing profit versus artist fee.”
But whether booking a tiny space or an 8,000-capacity club like Brooklyn Mirage, the surge in venue overhead is resulting in consumers having to deal with higher ticket prices to cover costs. Walker says fans “can’t necessarily afford to go out in the same way they used to, so they’re much more selective about the shows they do attend.” This scrupulousness has created a major increase in week-of and day-of ticket sales, which in turn fosters even less certainty among promoters.
And yet, Walker remains confident things are heading in the right direction. “I feel like among everyone working in the industry there’s a lot of optimism that this will balance out. It’s just going to take some time.”
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022, issue of Billboard.
One of the Philippines’ breakout music stars is expanding his global reach via a new tour and growing team. Billboard can exclusively share that James Reid will kick off the new year by touring North America for the first time since hitting the entertainment scene more than a decade ago. The singer-songwriter’s LOVESCENE North American Tour takes its name from Reid’s latest album.
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Released in October, LOVESCENE has been promoted with two singles so far: “u & I” and its latest “Lie to Me,” which features California singer-songwriter Destiny Rodgers, also signed to Reid’s Careless indie label.
As part of Reid’s global team, Wasserman will handle the tour (Wasserman Music represents the singer for worldwide booking, minus the Philippines) and join previously announced management Transparent Arts (the company founded by Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers Far East Movement that spotlights Asian talent on a global scale).
The trek kicks off in late January in Houston, and heads across the U.S. and Canada before closing in late February in Los Angeles. Tickets will be available for pre-sale through James Reid’s Bandsintown page on Dec. 14, and go on sale on Dec. 16. More information will be shared via James Reid’s social media.
See the full list of his concert dates below.
2023 James Reid LOVESCENE North American Tour Dates
Jan. 29, 2023 – Houston, TX – Downstairs at White Oak Music Hall
Feb. 1, 2023 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry
Feb. 4, 2023 – Ashbury Park, NJ – Asbury Lanes
Feb. 5, 2023 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
Feb. 7, 2023 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House
Feb. 9, 2023 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
Feb. 11, 2023 – Winnipeg, MB – Exchange Event Centre
Feb. 14, 2023 – Calgary, AB – AB – Bella Concert Hall
Feb. 16, 2023 – Vancouver, BC – Hollywood Theatre
Feb. 19, 2023 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
Feb. 21, 2023 – San Francisco, CA -The Regency Ballroom
Feb. 24, 2023 – San Diego, CA – Music Box
Feb. 26, 2023 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour