When a final tour is never a final tour (music)...

[MaineDolFan]

Around ten years ago 80's rockers Motley Crue struggled to fill mid-size cities when they toured.  They played here in Portland, Maine to a 3/4 house (which - when full - holds under 7,200 for a concert).  So what did they do?

What every band does when they can't draw any longer.  They go away for a year and a half, released a "greatest hits" CD (with a couple new songs) and announced a "final tour."  They went so far as to hold a press conference, showing a "legal document" (signed by the band) stating they could never tour again.  Off they went, touring the world (very successfully), around the world.  Fans, believing this was their final chance to see the band, soaked in the moments when they rolled in to town.  Instead of playing mid-sized cities like Portland, Maine the band was selling out arenas in large cities again.  158 shows and almost 1 billion dollars later, they were done.

Until last night when it was announced they were touring in 2020 with fellow 80's rockers (who, to their credit just keeping touring and don't pull this stuff) Def Leppard and Poison. 

How do you feel, as a fan, when a band pulls this stunt?  This certainly isn't the first (or last time) this will happen.  From pop music icons to glam metal to NIN; this spans each genre.  Do you care, are you happy to get a chance to see the band live again?  Or do you feel lied to?

Unlike the recent Guns 'N Roses tour - that band just imploded and the original members couldn't stand to be in the same room; this is a band playing on people's heart strings to get them to spend money.  Now they are looking for money, again.

Any thoughts?

[Dolphster]

Not really a "final tour" comment, but it is kind of sad to see how the once mighty end up falling.  I saw Jefferson Starship for free at Disney's EPCOT center once.  The same Jefferson Starship that used to sell out huge arenas. 

Some bands up doing 4 or 5 "final tours".   LOL

[CF DolFan]

Not really a "final tour" comment, but it is kind of sad to see how the once mighty end up falling.  I saw Jefferson Starship for free at Disney's EPCOT center once.  The same Jefferson Starship that used to sell out huge arenas.  

Some bands up doing 4 or 5 "final tours".   LOL

"Starship" was the headliner in Daytona during Spring Break 86. The good ole days when MTV hosted some very crazy parties and played music videos.

I think it's stupid to have "Farewell tours" and then come back and do it again .... but I am actually looking forward to this one.  These three bands were pretty significant to my adolescent years.  The first thing I thought of when hearing this was how MC wasn't going to play together any longer because of Mick Mars' health. Hopefully he is doing well.

[masterfins]

Unless it's a group I never got to see "Live" in their heyday I'm not going to one of these final tour concerts.  A couple shows next summer that are near me that I have not seen before are "The Black Crowes" in July and a joint concert by "Journey and The Pretenders" in September.  Another group I never got to see but would like to is "The Who", but they're not playing anywhere near me.  Probably the only old group I would go see, that I've seen before, is "The Police"; but their too dysfunctional to do a tour.

[Phishfan]

Not a fan of the final tour,  especially in situations like this. The Allman Brothers Band was the only one.

[Dave Gray]

I don't care at all.  My desire to see a band isn't really related to the feeling of it being my last chance to do so.

I'll go see a band if I like them enough to.  Whether it's their last tour or not, I don't care.

[Dolphster]

Not a fan of the final tour,  especially in situations like this. The Allman Brothers Band was the only one.

I still kick myself for never having seen the Allman Brothers Band.

[Downunder Dolphan]

I am pretty used to it now... infamously Australian singer John Farnham staged his "The Last Time" tour in 2002 which went for about 2-3 years, then he continued to record and do more shows and people got sick of it. It all pretty much became a bit of a bad joke here and gets spoken about whenever another old musician/band does it. Phil Collins aptly named "First Final Farewell Tour" was a bit of a wink and nod at the whole thing, you just know most musos will never ever really retire, especially now...

... if anything there are more old bands coming out of the woodwork and having get of their asses to tour again because there is little money in royalties anymore, and it's been like that for years. The days when a musician could write a massive hit song, sit back and have a fat royalty cheque arrive once a year purely from radio airplay and vinyl/CD sales are pretty much over with.

It completely flipped around since the late 1990s, up until then most of the really big acts could make their big $$$ from sales and use that to subsidize a tour (hence the tickets were so much cheaper back then) - now it's the complete opposite, tickets are horrendously expensive because for many it's the only way to pay the bills. Many can't be bothered going in to record anything new as it's a costly exercise, and if they already have an extensive back catalogue to tour with, why bother?

[Phishfan]

I have to disagree, as I recall musicians always got bigger chunks of the pie from touring. Ticket prices went up because of fees, inflation,  and greed.

[pondwater]

I am pretty used to it now... infamously Australian singer John Farnham staged his "The Last Time" tour in 2002 which went for about 2-3 years, then he continued to record and do more shows and people got sick of it. It all pretty much became a bit of a bad joke here and gets spoken about whenever another old musician/band does it. Phil Collins aptly named "First Final Farewell Tour" was a bit of a wink and nod at the whole thing, you just know most musos will never ever really retire, especially now...

... if anything there are more old bands coming out of the woodwork and having get of their asses to tour again because there is little money in royalties anymore, and it's been like that for years. The days when a musician could write a massive hit song, sit back and have a fat royalty cheque arrive once a year purely from radio airplay and vinyl/CD sales are pretty much over with.

It completely flipped around since the late 1990s, up until then most of the really big acts could make their big $$$ from sales and use that to subsidize a tour (hence the tickets were so much cheaper back then) - now it's the complete opposite, tickets are horrendously expensive because for many it's the only way to pay the bills. Many can't be bothered going in to record anything new as it's a costly exercise, and if they already have an extensive back catalogue to tour with, why bother?

How is it any different from NFL ticket prices. As long as you have suckers that will pay the ridiculous ticket and concession prices they will keep going up. Stop buying the shit and the prices will go down, but that ain't gonna happen. I would like to see the show, but if Motley Crue, Def Leppard, and Poison ain't set for life by now then fuck them in the ass with a big black dildo for their incompetence and putting it off on their fans 

[Downunder Dolphan]

I have to disagree, as I recall musicians always got bigger chunks of the pie from touring. Ticket prices went up because of fees, inflation,  and greed.

That depends on how far back you can remember... for a country like Australia with relatively low attendances and large costs to get here, overseas acts touring here usually lost money but did it for the promotion. I remember bands like Genesis would make a loss during a huge world tour until it was three quarters of the way through, then they would get to break even - many others did the exact same thing back in the 1970s and 1980s. As costs increased some got sponsorship from big corporations (alcohol, etc) to help keep the ticket prices reasonable. Those were the good old days...

Madonna changed the equation big time when she finally got to Australia in 1993 for the Girlie Show Tour - she demanded a flat fee of $1M per show regardless of attendance, the promoters had no choice but passed the cost on and ticket prices literally more than doubled - but people still went, and and the die was then cast. That's where I agree with you on the greed aspect - everything changed from then on, most major performers expected $X million gross per show and bypassed cities they used to play if they didn't get it, and ticket prices skyrocketed for the places they did go to.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I have to disagree, as I recall musicians always got bigger chunks of the pie from touring. Ticket prices went up because of fees, inflation,  and greed.

When I was a kid it was not unusual for the scalped price of a hot act to be 10 - 20x the face value. At some point artists figured out that rather than sell a ticket for $10 have people wait in line for 2 days and then 80% of the tickets getting resold for $200 they could just set the price at $175 and still sell out and scalpers only making $25.

[Phishfan]

I bought scalped tickets to  Farm Aid, Grateful Dead,  and many other hot tickets at face values and with excellent seats. You just had to be patient and understand those expensive tickets sell hours and even days before a show. Let the crowd start making their way in the door and see how quickly those prices come back down.

[Phishfan]

That depends on how far back you can remember... for a country like Australia with relatively low attendances and large costs to get here, overseas acts touring here usually lost money but did it for the promotion. I remember bands like Genesis would make a loss during a huge world tour until it was three quarters of the way through, then they would get to break even - many others did the exact same thing back in the 1970s and 1980s. As costs increased some got sponsorship from big corporations (alcohol, etc) to help keep the ticket prices reasonable. Those were the good old days...

Madonna changed the equation big time when she finally got to Australia in 1993 for the Girlie Show Tour - she demanded a flat fee of $1M per show regardless of attendance, the promoters had no choice but passed the cost on and ticket prices literally more than doubled - but people still went, and and the die was then cast. That's where I agree with you on the greed aspect - everything changed from then on, most major performers expected $X million gross per show and bypassed cities they used to play if they didn't get it, and ticket prices skyrocketed for the places they did go to.

I didn't take into account that we view this from opposite ends of the world. Generally world tours are going to be more expensive for artists. In the U.S. they can clear a lot more because the logistics is much easier.
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-musicians-make-money-2018-10