Lefsetz has always tracked tour grosses . This is a rather lengthy article so I have only brought the Journey
mention here.
To read the entire article go to www.lefsetz.com
Def Leppard, Styx, Foreigner
Saturday 6/30/07
First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, IL
Gross: $614,249
15,848/28,534 (55.5%)
Ticket prices: $264.00/$23.50
This is a fuck of a lot of money. A lot of people.
But how many years in a row can Def Leppard go out? Even farmers let their fields lie fallow. By time they're through overcharging to see these one time poster boys summer after summer NO ONE will want to see them, not for the better
part of a DECADE! Like Fleetwood Mac. Who, ironically, share the same manager.
Live Nation needs to fill their buildings. Howard Kaufman wants to get paid. Maybe Def Leppard does too.
But even JOURNEY took the summer off.
What's that expression, leave them wanting more? Making yourself unavailable makes you DESIRABLE?
Def Leppard is breaking every rule. They're entitled. But do you want to do the same?
Bob Dylan's out constantly. But you never know what to expect. And, he might die any minute, and you want to be able to say you've seen him.
But there's nothing new about the Def Leppard show.
And isn't it creepy it's not the complete Styx, and Foreigner is sans its vocalist. Doesn't anybody get the memo?
Or maybe people just want to remember their youth.
But this is not as strong a package as last year's with Journey.
Journey are now the superstars, Def Leppard are not.
And last year it was the FAKE Journey, two different lead singers.
If the original Journey got back together, they could sell out stadiums. Oh, they wouldn't have the cred of the Police, but they've got the FANS!
I'm not one of them. But it might be exciting just to be part of it, to be at the gig to hear the ROAR!
I guess at one time I thought Def Leppard was more than pretty faces. Those two records, "Pyromania" and "Hysteria", are eighties classics. Then again, those are the ones done with Mutt Lange. Just like AC/DC's legendary records were made with the same producer. The more the band's on the road, grinding it out for a buck, the more I'm disillusioned. Maybe Mutt was the true star.
Oh, everybody's got to eat. But I can't tell you how many times I've stood alone in the dark, as "Hysteria" poured out of the stereo, making me feel good, in times when I felt down and at others when I was already elated!
This is our music. The machine thinks it's all grist for the mill. But it's not to us.
Protect your legacy judiciously.
Know that you can alienate a fan just like that.
Casual customers will fill the seats for a while, but when the fans abandon you, you're on your way to extinction.
Lefsetz may not be a fan (altho in another article he admitted to humming Journey tunes while he was driving) -
but he seems to have been paying attention.
Cat
