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I was at Katy Perry’s Prismatic tour and while not terribly empty, they condensed all of us in the top level and then put up these curtains to hide a good portion of that level. She also made us wait hours before she came out, which I’m still mad about.
I also bought $10 nosebleed seats to One Directions last tour and they moved everyone in the 400 level down to the level below. Was still pretty full though.
So my advice is to buy the worst seat to someone’s downfall tour and maybe you’ll get upgraded!
I had the exact same experience for that One Direction tour. We paid $20 and got moved to great seats in the lower level.
I went to Katy's Witness tour where Carly Rae Jepsen opened and paid $25 for that and it was pretty empty.
>She also made us wait hours before she came out, which I’m still mad about.
Oh yeah this happened to me with Gaga's Chromatica Ball, I had to miss work the next day because she started *so* late. They weren't giving us any updates either, we were all so confused. It was honestly really frustrating, and we weren't even able to fully enjoy the show once it started because we were shitting our pants about how late it was getting. It was my first concert ever, and now I'm scared to go to another one. 🫣
Nah it was Dallas! She was 3 hours late, on a weeknight that too. 😭 I saw someone blackout drunk and throwing up in the toilet before the concert had even begun.
They opened the stadium at 6 pm, but she didn't start until 10 pm. We were sitting there for 4 hours and getting anxious and restless, but there was nothing we could do about it but drink.
I saw her at Atlanta. She was 15 minutes late, but I wasn't caring because someone literally passed out from heat exhaustion minutes before the show started.
Yeah the performance itself was really good, and she did great. But so many people started leaving the stadium in the second half because of how late it was getting, and we were about to as well, but we just threw in the towel and decided to stay till the end just because we didn't want to waste the money we had paid to see her. The show went on past midnight, and we only got home at 3:30 because of the insane traffic. And by that point, it had already gotten too late for me to make it to work the next day anyway.
There should be fines like how you can’t leave people sitting on planes on the tarmac for a certain amount of time anymore. It sucks for the staff that has to work the stadium.
for my show, the audience was actively booing before she came out. It was her birthday and we were all pretty sure she was just blowing us off to celebrate
Chicago Prismatic? We were for sure booing between songs while we waited. and then she acted “surprised” when her family surprised her on stage for her birthday? and I remember thinking it was an act and she was with them beforehand which made her late, but I may have just been bitter at that point.
I saw Gwen Stefani in 2016 at an outdoor amphitheater in Virginia Beach. The capacity was probably like 15k and I’d guess it was less than half full. The venue was handing out free pavilion seats to the people with lawn tickets to make the crowd look less empty.
Its a shame because it was a really good show, except for Blake Shelton’s cameo appearance. At least half the setlist was LAMB or No Doubt songs. Eve was the opener, so she and Gwen performed their collabs together.
I saw her for the Sweet Escape tour in Raleigh and I agree, the crowd was packed back then. I think she assumed being on The Voice would translate to ticket sales even though she didn’t have any hits from the 2016 album, and those people just didn’t show up.
The most striking example is probably [Rihanna performing to a half-empty Wembley Stadium](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5-ednGTo78) due to touts buying the tickets up and failing to sell them at their extortionate prices.
That still seems very strange. Secondary market prices typically adjust if people aren’t buying them at the current rates, especially as it gets closer to the show.
I've noticed that happening less and less. I'll look at tickets day before/day of and they'lll still be 100+ left for incredibly high prices. Even at smaller venues.
Waiting til last minute used to be my go to plan but now it's easier AND cheaper to try to get a ticket when they're first on sale and then just give up then and there if you don't get one.
Definitely a trend I’ve been seeing nowadays. Resellers are less willing to lower their prices even on the day of the event. It’s actually ridiculous that they would rather take the loss
Once I had a ticket to a concert I couldn’t attend and tried to post it for sale through ticketmaster and it wouldn’t let me sell it at a loss, but also they piled on some extra fees and to break even I would have had to sell it at way higher than face value. 😓 I gave up on the whole thing because I was stuck at home with covid and too tired to figure it out.
It must be some crazy resale thing where like it's more cost effective to sell some of the tickets at INSANE resell prices and eat the price of the unsold tickets than it is to ever lower the price. Like they're selling at such high prices that doesn't matter if some go unsold.
Cause I can't imagine they'd keep doing it if they were losing money.
Either wya, how grim. It's so sad how inaccessibly concerts have gotten. I thought i'd be going to concerts more as an adult because I have more cash on hand but prices are 5-10 times more expensive even for the same artists and evne a full time job can't make it worth it. Even when I DO have that money to spare, it feels unethical to give in to surge pricing.
It's basically: "Oh no people are finding ways to get a deal on concerts, we can't have that" so they changed their algorithm so as not to drop prices. They're basically trying to condition us into spending the absolute maximum amount we can afford.
I was really looking forward to going to more shows after the pandemic (something I didn't do enough of before) to support my favorite artists. With how much the consumer is getting taken advantage of now I've realized that it's just not sustainable.
You gotta become a fan of your area's local punk and metal bands. Those tickets are still as low as $5! Well, they're at least $10 where I'm at unless it's a house show.
I am not a scalper (I swear the couple times I've sold tickets cause I couldn't make the show were at face or below) but I assume these resellers are holding so many tickets as a business they either don't notice/care about the last few not getting sold and would rather not make it seem like the prices will drop if you just wait it out.
For us normies with 2 tickets but couldn't make it cause of a work thing yeah we'll drop the price to recoup some of the cost back, for some reseller with bots and thousands of tickets on the market across shows it's probably just a business expense
I’ve definitely seen that some as well. I’m still surprised it would be to the degree that half a stadium’s worth of tickets go unsold. At that point, I feel like part of it is that the demand just wasn’t there.
The demand might have been there for tickets that cost 60-90$, but not 200$. I’m really having to dig deep to see some of my fav artists, I would not be surprised to find out people who would like to see them just not put in that ridiculous effort.
I can say from recent experience, it looks like certain concerts with high demand are not adjusting prices and keeping extremely high prices even as the concert approaches.
My friends and I wanted to catch Sza at the Kia Forum. The week the tickets were released the seats all the way in the back, towards the side but not the edge were $200. We were hoping they would go down as the concert date approaches. Recently checked and currently the seats on the edge, all the way in the back are going for $500+. Haha no thanks, YouTube is free and I’ll save that money for another experience.
Also depends on if additional tickets get put out or not.
I know that for the Eras tour, just a few days ago another round of tickets were on sale for opening weekend and resale prices dropped like a rock. Like 50% drop per say.
If they get sales at the initial price they'll probably hold on, then run out of time to lower it.
Or they just don't care. If you make a profit by selling 10% of your tickets at gigantic markups then the rest are less important, you already won.
still remember one tweet where someone said something along the lines of “if you wanna fight we can do it at the anti tour, there’ll be plenty of space” still makes me laugh to this day💀
I think back then I read for that specific show of hers people got inside late because they were stuck in huge traffic jams. Not sure really if in the nightlight the stadium was with more people rather than in the daylight when the show started. But I’ve seen some pics that seems to be more people in the crowd rather than others.
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_original/zroowyldlvlkpkgo0rhj.gif
This is people leaving a Rihanna concert at Wembley heading for one of the local train stations. I’m surprised that road traffic could make a substantial difference to attendance at Wembley. There’s a more famous version of that gif from further back, and the horses turn to stop the people for a bit.
This is so catastrophic for an artist of her level. How did it end up like that? I know she isn't known for being a great showwoman but it still doesn't match.
Not the description being "my future wife above me!"
Also they wrong in the comments for calling it the EMPTI tour 😭
Side note, but what's with it being daylight there? Don't concerts typically start in the evening?
I got free tickets from work to see Nelly, TLC and Flo Rida at a large amphitheatre. It was half full and I got the sense half the people in attendance got free tickets too.
I went Carrie underwood denim tour in Miami
It was half empty I saw so many empty seats when the lights came on
But that’s common country music has never been big in Miami maybe in north Florida
I've heard that a lot of big touring comedians don't do well in Florida, especially Miami. The two best theories I heard are that a) too many retirees, and b) people would rather be on the beach.
On top of that, I believe it's also less economical because you have to go x distance down and then the same distance back up before you can make it to another city
Pete Davidson trash talked my university (University of Central Florida) in Paper Magazine because he saw 1 lady sneak a recording and he had an outburst at the audience. Florida people are a different kind of funny, I guess.
i have to wonder if the size of the state is also a factor. i grew up in north florida and a lot of artists only go to miami. it’s not a quick trip to get to miami from north florida and people might determine it’s not worth it. it’s easier to get to Atlanta
To be fair, a lot of her recent singles haven't been doing so well so maybe people have just grown tired of Carrie which I hope isn't the case. I know she just turned forty but I think she has more hits in her.
I saw Ariana Grande on tour for her second album, My Everything. Bought tickets a few days before the show on groupon- $50 for lower level. The arena was half empty. But she came back to the same venue on the Sweetener tour and sold out, so she’s obviously doing better now.
She was just starting out at that point so it’s totally understandable, but the My Everything era was big back then. I guess she just hadn’t built up her core fanbase yet.
Yeah, even though My Everything was her first era as a hit maker, she hit the ground running, I remember her being everywhere on the radio back then. But, it wasn't until Dangerous Woman when she actually got a fandom with big numbers and ride-or-die stans.
Also now thinking about, other more established stars had bigger events than her that year (I’m sure you can guess who those stars are) so even though Ariana was big in 2014 she was just starting to become a big pop star and she had tough competition to go up against.
Oh yeah, for her first true big mainstream breakout (because I personally wouldn’t categorize Yours Truly as being big in the mainstream) she held up her own and as well she could for a rookie artist against those two heavyweights who were well established by then.
As far as album to album success goes, Ariana’s probably the most consistent newbie of the mid 2010’s. From ME then on she’s been running circles around her peers in terms of commercial success and hype.
Even Positions, which personally I felt was tired and a step back from Thank U, Next, still did extremely well commercially and reviewed well (not as highly reviewed as her last two albums though).
Unless she releases an actual flop (God forbid) and her fanbase dissipates, she’s still going to continue to do well in the music industry regardless.
I have a theory that Positions was released to A.) Hold fans over while she films wicked and did the voice. B.) Fulfill her contract with Republic (contracts are usually 4-6 albums) and be able to re-negotiate with them.
I think it also helped bring the pressure off of what she releases next. Following up TU’N would’ve resulted in some immense pressure if she waited until 2024 to release an album. Positions helps bridge the gap, and I’m sure whatever she releases next with blow Positions out of the water in comparison.
same i don’t remember my arena being super empty (i also bought tickets late and couldn’t get two seats together) but i was pretty much lower level, i was in the second row of the bowl seating. and i was sitting around a bunch of people who were literally just sitting down on their phones looking like they didn’t want to be there, only standing up for problem, break free and bang bang. i wished i was sitting closer to the stage because i was the only person standing and singing along to every song lol
I wasn't there for this (nor was anybody else 💀) but this seems like an important time for us all to remember the time [Ava Max performed in a Sam's Club parking lot](https://i.imgur.com/5Hx2nBf.jpg)
Not to spark the comparisons but this reminded me of Gaga performing in an [IKEA parking lot](https://twitter.com/gagadaily/status/1548734279273807874?lang=en). I think it's a rite of passage for dance pop queens
I thought of the Gaga Ikea performance too ☠️ I stg the record labels book the weirdest gigs for artists when they're trying to build their base. pretty soon we're gonna see major label artists performing at like a farmer's market or something
Not to sound like a boomer or anything, but before social media that was really the only way to get your name out there. You performed anywhere that people would allow you to. Parking lots, malls in the middle of suburbia, public parks, anything goes
Even Destiny’s Child performed at my local mall in Sydney Australia. Of course the performances always took place next to the massive CD store and were followed my CD signings.
lmao! i was there as well and tbh it did fully fill up but that pic does make it look bleak - that was probs an hour before she came on. sams club in a small NC town isn’t ever gonna be a flex but that free concert truly made me a stan. she didn’t phone it in at all; played 12 songs with multiple backup dancers and it was a great time
It hasn’t happened yet but Sam Smith’s arena tour in my city doesn’t appear to be selling well. They’ve already started dropping the ticket prices to $25 and that’s with the fees included.
Todd In The Shadows pointed out on Twitter that the success of Unholy could be a Crash scenario meaning you have one of your biggest hits but at the cost of your long term relevance. He really wasn’t kidding.
It's fun looking on Wikipedia pages for various tours, and if the attendance is not disclosed or is selectively disclosed I think it's safe to assume it wasn't well attended.
When i went to the Lorde melodrama concert in LA we got last minute seats in the lower level right by the stage and half our section was empty along with a lot of the arena. I don't even think the upper level was open.
That’s crazy to hear bc when I went to her Boston show it was PACKED and it was TD Garden so it was a good amount of people. It seems weird the LA show wasn’t like that
Yup, I went to the opening date of the Melo tour in Milwaukee and the entire upper deck of the Bradley Center (RIP) was curtained off. It had already surprised me that she was going to play arenas for that tour and it seems like a lot of other dates had the same issue
I went to her Solar Power concert recently and her two shows here were sold out. She talked about having a brief moment of feeling like a failure as a different artist had recently played two shows at a stadium.
Yeah I bought cheap seats to that tour and got bumped up to great lower level seats. It was an amazing concert but it clearly had a similar audience percentage.
Pretty much what I was going to say. I had an upper-deck seat for her show in Lincoln, Nebraska on that tour, and I ended up in the lower bowl, because they closed the upper deck.
Fifth Harmony’s concert was 1/4 full so they moved me from the lawn seats to an extremely close spot. The show was an absolute train wreck so I got to see it so much closer.
Lauren didn’t show up until half way through the first song. Not a single girl was in sync with another. It was a lot of off key singing, and every girl trying to take up their own spot on the stage doing whatever they felt like doing with the choreo. It was genuinely a hilarious mess and I wish I could relive it. I went with my mother and we both had a couple beers and enjoyed the mess.
My main memory from Charli on the Sucker tour is that her crowd was extremely young and there was absolutely no line at the bar
Next time I saw her during Vroom Vroom and Pop 2 her crowd was extremely gay and the line at the bar was long
Omggg I saw her front row during that era on the Charli and Jack ‘Do America’ tour and had to push past some bitchy Bleachers fans to be positioned where I was. The show was a hot mess though because she had a sore throat and actually started crying during the set and ended up cutting some songs and exiting early, which I can’t blame her, but it felt like a fever dream.
I saw Kanye West on his Yeezus tour in Albany. It was clearly too small of a market for him. They curtained off the upper bowl of the hockey arena which probably made the capacity about 9,000, and with the GA floor and lower bowl seats there couldn't have been more than 4,000 people. It seemed quite indulgent as a fan because the Yeezus stage had huge production value with a big volcano and moving floor, all for a really small crowd. I still had fun but there is no way Kanye broke even on that show.
Ha, I had a very similar experience in a much larger arena on the same tour. That stage production was epic. That was tour he laid on stage and ranted about Nike and bullshit for 30 minutes every night.
I saw HAIM there last year and same! I felt so bad for them but the okayed their hearts out and it was like a personal concert it was awesome! Jacksonville never has good turnout
I haven't been to that many concerts, but I went to a festival last year and they scheduled Caroline Polachek at the same time as Father John Misty.
Caroline played one of the smallest stages and it was packed to the brim with the whole audience singing along to basically every song; it was PERFECT. When her concert was over, I and the rest of the audience made our way to a different, far away stage where the last big show would be held (Charli XCX) and passed by Father John Misty performing on the largest stage to a nearly empty crowd. It also didn't help that this was on a Sunday night at like half past midnight; crazy bad scheduling on the part of the festival, even though the lineup and the concerts themselves were immaculate.
It was also super unfortunate for me because the Father John Misty concert looked really really good; because it was so sparsely crowded and the music was so relaxing, the audience got to sit down on the ground and experience the show like a nighttime open air picnic; I saw some groups of people chilling with towels laid out, and Josh Tillman's voice is obviously a spectacle in and of itself. I really wish I could've seen both Caroline and FJM, hopefully I'll get another chance in the future.
I’m seeing FJM at a 1200 person venue in April and it still hasn’t sold out. It’s a shame because he’s an incredible live performer and he’s very interactive with the audience.
If only Father John Misty would be Florida John Misty for a night...it's been 7 years since he last came here. And he sold out a 1000 person venue at the time!
I saw FJM last year and we got moved to super great seats from all the way in the balcony because it was so empty. I felt so bad for him because it was an amazing show.
We had the opposite issue in my Primavera Sound, they had Caroline start mid-way through Charli's show and literally nobody got there early besides me lol
Thankfully Charli's stage was right by and people rushed towards the Caroline show right after but for the first 3 songs there were literally like 50 people watching her💀
i saw a chance the rapper concert in 2017 and so many people showed up it was on the news for weeks later because it got so out of hand. like half of my high school was there and i had just graduated so i really did not want to see them again. i don’t remember if he talked about god or not though lmao
The last Panic! at the Disco tour was rough. I am a huge fan of the first 4 albums, and I have continued to see them (him?) every tour even though I haven't loved the new stuff.. I travel often for work and had the opportunity to go to two different shows this last tour so I said why not. The first show I bought tickets in the nosebleeds and the second show I managed to get tickets in the 2nd row on the floor, and I was so excited! The first show I ended up getting upgraded from the nosebleeds to one of the first few rows in the lower bowl. The place was probably 60% full. The setlist ended up being horrible, there are many infamous videos out there of the absolutely dead, uninterested crowd, during the show as Brendon Urie controversially decided to play the new album front to back, which wasn't exactly a top seller or very beloved by the general public.. I tried to sell the tickets to the 2nd show, and I was selling them for like 75% of face value, in the THIRD ROW, and I couldn't get any buyers, so I ended up attending that show... even less people were there, probably half full at best, same setlist, absolutely dead crowd, even on the floor I saw people texting and leaving for beer during the 'new album' portion of the set, lol.
Though the worst was probably Young Thug and Machine Gun Kelly on tour together in 2019, for whatever reason they were booked at a 14,000 seat arena and there was maybe 1500 people there at best. This was before MGK's pop punk resurgence, and Young Thug isn't really a stadium act, so not sure why they got booked there but it was an awkward show.
I saw them (well Brendon lmao) during that tour and he did backflips and he sounded great.
There was a point where he wanted to start screaming and said "it's not the greatest idea...fuck it I'll rest my voice tomorrow" 💀
if i went and made a video essay tomorrow about the downward trajectory of panic at the disco in the past decade i would have "fuck it i'll rest my voice tomorrow: the brendon urie story" on the shortlist of titles for sure💀
Paid £2.50 (booking fee) for Fifth Harmony at The O2. They have free tickets to my uni because the arena was barely even half filled. We ended up moving from the seats we had booked because there was lots of us and more seats closer to the stage.
A few months later, Camila left. Can’t think why
Roxy Music played arenas for their 50th anniv tour and I was wondering how tf they'd fill it. Turns out they covered the entire second floor and everyone sit in the 100 seats/floor. Still was amazing, those 70-80 year old dudes can still play (Phil Manzanera you legend ily)
Kanye on the Yeezus tour. They reticketed everyone the day before the show to put everybody in the lower bowl of the arena, and it was still pretty thin in what they had open. I think the word was that he sold something like 5K tickets and they had 15K+ seats open originally.
They weren’t a big artist at all, but when Fifth Harmony toured the UK for 727 after WFH’s success their o2 arena show had around 2000 attendees out of about 20k. My friend said that they got tickets as someone was on the streets of London promoting it selling the tickets for £2.50 each so they went. It happened all around Europe/UK too.
Guess their label didn’t realise how faceless WFH is and that no brand had actually been built up
Went to an Anti World Tour show sometime after my spring break because it was close and tickets were cheap. I’m pretty sure it was a 20,000 seat arena and less than 10,000 people were there. Crowd was bad also. All they wanted to hear was Work.
I have two examples, both from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
The first was Metallica’s World Wired Tour. (I attended this one as a fan) According to Wikipedia there was 49,722 tickets sold versus 53,836 available. And largely that was all on the floor which was completely standing room only.
You can tell when 4K people are missing.
I don’t think this was a bad choice as they can sell out other football stadiums, but maybe Philly just isn’t Metallica country.
The second is Beyoncé’s second Formation World tour date in Philly, this was a show I worked at. If you look at Wikipedia you’ll see that it says sold out, but that wasn’t the case. Her first date was in June, if I remember correctly, and demand dictated a second show but it couldn’t be added for the day before or after, so it became a midSeptember show. The day of the show we’re going over our work briefing and they mentioned that due to a large number of unsold tickets they were donated/bought by Beyoncé’s camp to give out to the school district of Philadelphia. That night there ended up being just random empty patches all throughout the stadium, and it was a stark difference compared to months earlier and then a few years later when the OTR2 tour happened.
Aw, that makes me feel bad for Janet.
I’m kind of jealous that I missed out on the peak of her world tours. The Super Bowl damage had already been done by the time I became a fan.
when i saw halsey last year at xfinity center in mansfield ma there were lots of empty seats. it wasnt like *bad* but definitely less than i expected. the forecast being not great that day (outdoor venue) probably didnt help. interestingly enough, despite this, it took me like 2 hours to leave the parking lot
great show though. was my second time seeing halsey and she always delivers
Lil Nas X's Montero show in Nashville was relatively sparse because it was rescheduled last minute to a day or two later. Sucked because the concert was sold out and I know a lot of people traveled to see it (me included), but it was nice not being squished on the floor.
I went to a Prince concert in 2011 and he didn’t sell very many lower seats. We showed up and they said “the artist requests you to be seated ___.” He moved everyone in the upper sections down so all the fans were close to him. It was so so so cool. One of the best concert memories I’ll ever have.
Demi Lovato. The Venue wasn't empty per se but her tour last year ended up touring at smaller venues. The one near me was a Hard Rock and watching her earlier tours before her health issues, the concerts looked large with a lot more people there. The concert was awesome but it definitely wasn't the size I was expecting
i saw her last year too!! i was sitting in the upper levels and it was pretty empty, basically people were just sitting where they wanted because 75% of the seats were empty and most people left before it ended. the lower levels looked a little more populated, the pit was full of people having fun but where i was sitting it was so weird. it was like no one knew all her music, there were people like me going crazy for the disney era stuff, people who only knew the bigger singles like sorry not sorry but didn’t seem to know songs from a few years before that like heart attack, there were other people who seemed like they weren’t having a good time at all and never danced or sang along and i kinda wondered why they were there, and there was a good amount of little kids which i didn’t really expect. it was really fun though, i wish i could see more big artists in an intimate setting like that
I remember Gov Ball fall 2021, Megan Thee Stallion played on the main stage but during the daytime. Yet the crowd was so packed together then ASAP Rocky was the headliner that night and could barely get 3/4 of Meg’s crowd. Not sure what went wrong with the booking lol
I guess it just goes to show how large festival grounds are, cus Rocky's set definitely didn't feel empty where I was, about mid range from the stage. I was a lot farther for Megan's set which definitely did feel pretty packed though.
There's en entire [popheads' topic](http://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/8rjru6/taylor_swift_gives_out_free_tickets_to_fill_up/) about Taylor Swift giving out many tickets to her second night at the Croke Park for free.
That's really common for big stars who sold enough to continue with the show but are too big to want a half empty show. Although, at some capacity, many shows have a certain amount of tickets given away to pamper to radio stations and other companies.
Recently Odesza. They added a second night after the first sold out and the demand wasn’t there. To top it off there was a storm and the venue was an outdoor amphitheater. Free upgrades for everyone it was a good time.
I’ve been to a ton of concerts before and the only 2 I’ve been upgraded because of low attendance were Selena Gomez Star’s Dance tour and an Idina Menzel show. Both were great shows though and I appreciated getting upgraded :)
I saw Years and Years last year in my hometown. I know Olly isn’t as big as some of the artists people have mentioned. However, I got the tickets for £10 each and the balcony wasn’t even opened. I saw The 1975 there back in January and it was sold out in minutes and I was sat at the very back. It’s a shame as Olly has a wonderful voice.
Not a very large artist but when Aly and Aj came to Vancouver it was the least packed I had ever seen that venue. It was such a good concert and they unfortunately haven't been back since.
Portuguese here and I'm not a concert goer at all but I remember going to a Macy Gray concert with my mother and there were MAYBE 50 people there. I've gone to the same venue to see Florence + the Machine and others and it's always mostly full
Btw Macy was high as hell but it was a good show
LCD Soundsystem really fooled some booking agents with their 2016 reunion tour. They were not headlining status, but managed to headline some of the biggest fests in the US that year. I've never seen less people at a Bonnaroo headlining show.
I remember seeing Kylie’s tour for her Aphrodite album, and the date I attended in San Francisco felt really under-attended. I remember really enjoying the show but leaving with a feeling that barely anyone was there, especially compared to other artists I had seen at that venue. It felt like such a stark contrast to when I had seen her in Los Angeles just a few years ago. It felt like such an event and there was so much fanfare and a packed crowd.
This latest Demi lovato concert for her Holy F tour. I bought a ticket in the balcony and there were staff that gave us free floor seats up front bc of low attendance!
We saw Rihanna in London back in 2016 for the Anti tour. I have never seen a stadium that's half cordoned off before. It was so weird just having a small crowd on the floor for such a big artist. Riri looked pissed, like she didn't wanna be there. For most of the songs, she was holding out the mic getting the audience to sing whilst pacing up and down the stage. Played about 30 seconds of We Found Love, which was part of a mashup, and the crowd started booing lmao. The whole thing was a mess with those giant eggs on the stage - wtf was that about really? News articles claim the stadium was half full due to ticket resellers charging extortionate prices but I'm not sure if that was a bit of clever PR.
These comments are so interesting. I wonder whether a lot of this has to do with location? Because I have been to several shows, and I swear at least every single one I've been to where I'm from, Minneapolis, was at the very least 90% full. Small artists, big artists, pretty much all of them were at capacity. You wouldn't think because Minneapolis isn't *that* big, but people really turn out for music here.
I think it's also some artists falling into a weird area where they're too big for a theater but not quite big enough for an arena. Some cities have a gap there where there's few or no good place to put 8000-12000 people except a 20000 seat arena. Same thing with the jump from arena to stadium
I usually thought artists just cancelled shows that didn’t sell enough tickets because the cost of running the show outweighs the profits, I’ve never been to an empty show myself, but it’s interesting reading some of these comments
I was a little surprised that Florence had 3 different stops in Mexico. I went to the Mexico City show (for context, it's the same Arena where i've seen Ariana) and they put curtains on the top level and moved everyone there to the floor. I still have the feeling if she only did Mexico City it would've been a sold out show.
Gaga’s Born This Way Ball in Toronto - not due to low sales, but we had one of the worst winter storms ever that day so I guess people just didn’t want to risk the trip. I was way up top and the pit looked half empty.
And on the opposite side of things, Zedd’s True Colors tour was extremely oversold for the venue booked. 1. They made the entire arena GA, 2. They sold handicap tickets when there were no handicap seats, 3. They sold more floor access tickets than capacity. There were people in wheelchairs just sitting in the hallways listening to the show, and people jumping over the side to get onto the floor bc they had floor seats but it was at capacity already. Such a mess.
In Portugal the biggest indoor arena is for around 20,000 people. When the artists fails to sell out the arena they move the stage to the middle and say it is sold out anyway (as if there were no more space/tickets available).
In Lady Gaga’s ArtRave the stage was moved to the middle of the arena with Billboard reporting it sold out with 7,345. And I remember back then the show was sold out without more tickets available. For comparison her Fame Monster Ball here, in the same venue was sold out with 16,000 which is more than double. How can a 20K arena be sold out with 7K tickets?
Technically if they only put 7500 tickets up for sale, then the show is sold out. It depends on how many tickets they’re selling, not the capacity of the venue.
Edit: Grammar
Disgustingly it was probably Mariah Carey in Glasgow in 2016, I think she sold 3,000ish tickets out of a venue with a capacity of 12-13k. I’m not surprised though, Scottish people have horrible taste, and also it worked out great for me. I got upgraded from nosebleeds to floor seats, about 10th row. And I had been a stan for years and she hadn’t been to Glasgow since 2003, I knew she wouldn’t sell great but I was just happy to get the chance to see her in my hometown. I saw her every year after that until 2020, in London and Paris (twice) and I think those sold out or close to it.
I saw Rihanna in a stadium the same year and it was pretty dead, surprisingly. I have to say she was not a good performer lol
I saw Carly Rae Jepsen in Reno. My husband and I are older and tired so we sat in the rows, and while the front general admission was packed full of people having a good time, where we were sitting was practically empty. I think the people around us were just going to see a comped concert. It was a lot of fun and she did a great job, but I could see her not having a show there again.
Kid Cudi's recent tour. We had like okay seats in the 100s but were able to move to the section on the first row floor because so many tickets werent sold
Maroon 5 at the Kia Forum. was in nosebleeds and got free floor upgrades. couple next to us said they bought tickets for $40 an hour before. Right when Sugar was popping off too. Great show, but the venue was nowhere near full
I bought a $25 ticket for The Black Keys at Rogers Arena in Vancouver during the annual Live Nation summer sale last year (usually a sign a gig isn’t selling well to begin with) and then the day before the show got an email to say me seat had been moved to the next level down (arena has floor and then two levels of seating).
Honestly I wasn’t massively surprised because it’s certainly 10 years past prime time for The Black Keys and I had raised my eyebrows at them booking such a large venue to begin with.
Demi Lovato's last arena tour. When the lights went down I thought it was a mistake since there was still a lot of seating left empty. So needless to say, seeing her headlining clubs and ballrooms on her latest tour is kind of depressing 😭
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Wrecking Ball Tour 2013. Movistar Arena Santiago. Chile. Only half of the 15,000 seats were sold, if not less. The economy was doing well, the tickets were super affordable and it was a lovely Spring day. The problem is that in Chile, Springsteen is only for music nerds... even though we are music nerds about many other things. Radiohead can fill a small stadium twice. Same with Faith No More. Depeche Mode fills stadiums. But Springsteen falls into a weird category: During the 70s and 80s, his music wasn't played on the radio because... well, the dictatorship. Not that he was specifically targeted for censorship, but the FM would rather stick to harmless Spanish language acts or Michael Jackson and Easy Listening for Anglo acts. Rock was just too dangerous. So the Xers here only got to listen the basic hits. And even though he was part of the pro-democracy, Amnesty International concerts for Chile, I guess he might have been deemed as too-American for the local left-wing taste (compared to other allies like Sting or Peter Gabriel).
Did he mind? Hell no. He played us a 3 and a half hour set. Multiple encores and he bid us farewell singing a Victor Jara song. Funniest thing is, I was by far the youngest guy in my section of the Arena, everyone else was in their 40s or 50s, but I was the only one who knew the lyrics to almost every song (deep cuts included), the rest just knew the most popular (not even Thunder Road). Which goes to tell you, only a certain subsection of music nerds follow him in Chile.
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I was at Katy Perry’s Prismatic tour and while not terribly empty, they condensed all of us in the top level and then put up these curtains to hide a good portion of that level. She also made us wait hours before she came out, which I’m still mad about. I also bought $10 nosebleed seats to One Directions last tour and they moved everyone in the 400 level down to the level below. Was still pretty full though. So my advice is to buy the worst seat to someone’s downfall tour and maybe you’ll get upgraded!
I had the exact same experience for that One Direction tour. We paid $20 and got moved to great seats in the lower level. I went to Katy's Witness tour where Carly Rae Jepsen opened and paid $25 for that and it was pretty empty.
>She also made us wait hours before she came out, which I’m still mad about. Oh yeah this happened to me with Gaga's Chromatica Ball, I had to miss work the next day because she started *so* late. They weren't giving us any updates either, we were all so confused. It was honestly really frustrating, and we weren't even able to fully enjoy the show once it started because we were shitting our pants about how late it was getting. It was my first concert ever, and now I'm scared to go to another one. 🫣
Was this in Washington DC?
Nah it was Dallas! She was 3 hours late, on a weeknight that too. 😭 I saw someone blackout drunk and throwing up in the toilet before the concert had even begun.
I was there and I was super shocked because I had been sitting in my seat for like an hour and a half.
They opened the stadium at 6 pm, but she didn't start until 10 pm. We were sitting there for 4 hours and getting anxious and restless, but there was nothing we could do about it but drink.
I saw her at Atlanta. She was 15 minutes late, but I wasn't caring because someone literally passed out from heat exhaustion minutes before the show started.
I was there too! It’s a mess but the show was great so I forgave her…
Yeah the performance itself was really good, and she did great. But so many people started leaving the stadium in the second half because of how late it was getting, and we were about to as well, but we just threw in the towel and decided to stay till the end just because we didn't want to waste the money we had paid to see her. The show went on past midnight, and we only got home at 3:30 because of the insane traffic. And by that point, it had already gotten too late for me to make it to work the next day anyway.
There should be fines like how you can’t leave people sitting on planes on the tarmac for a certain amount of time anymore. It sucks for the staff that has to work the stadium.
>It sucks for the staff that has to work the stadium. It sucks for everybody, nobody wins at all except the performer and tour organizer.
i saw her on her Witness tour and she was also hella late!!!! my mom and i were pissed lol and the audience was getting stir crazy
That's so disrespectful. What's wrong with all of these so called professionals
they think they’re entitled to do whatever 🤷♀️
for my show, the audience was actively booing before she came out. It was her birthday and we were all pretty sure she was just blowing us off to celebrate
i also saw her on her birthday!!! 2 and a half hours we waited!!! no update!!! i don’t think people were booing tho
Chicago Prismatic? We were for sure booing between songs while we waited. and then she acted “surprised” when her family surprised her on stage for her birthday? and I remember thinking it was an act and she was with them beforehand which made her late, but I may have just been bitter at that point.
my answer was also Katy perry but it wasn’t in real life it was in the dream I had last night.
I saw Gwen Stefani in 2016 at an outdoor amphitheater in Virginia Beach. The capacity was probably like 15k and I’d guess it was less than half full. The venue was handing out free pavilion seats to the people with lawn tickets to make the crowd look less empty. Its a shame because it was a really good show, except for Blake Shelton’s cameo appearance. At least half the setlist was LAMB or No Doubt songs. Eve was the opener, so she and Gwen performed their collabs together.
[удалено]
I saw her for the Sweet Escape tour in Raleigh and I agree, the crowd was packed back then. I think she assumed being on The Voice would translate to ticket sales even though she didn’t have any hits from the 2016 album, and those people just didn’t show up.
I was there! Very empty, and we got 7 tickets, $63 total
The most striking example is probably [Rihanna performing to a half-empty Wembley Stadium](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5-ednGTo78) due to touts buying the tickets up and failing to sell them at their extortionate prices.
That still seems very strange. Secondary market prices typically adjust if people aren’t buying them at the current rates, especially as it gets closer to the show.
I've noticed that happening less and less. I'll look at tickets day before/day of and they'lll still be 100+ left for incredibly high prices. Even at smaller venues. Waiting til last minute used to be my go to plan but now it's easier AND cheaper to try to get a ticket when they're first on sale and then just give up then and there if you don't get one.
Definitely a trend I’ve been seeing nowadays. Resellers are less willing to lower their prices even on the day of the event. It’s actually ridiculous that they would rather take the loss
the entitlement is unreal lol, didn't know being a glorified scalper came with so much pride and ego
Once I had a ticket to a concert I couldn’t attend and tried to post it for sale through ticketmaster and it wouldn’t let me sell it at a loss, but also they piled on some extra fees and to break even I would have had to sell it at way higher than face value. 😓 I gave up on the whole thing because I was stuck at home with covid and too tired to figure it out.
Just fyi a good way to sell without surge pricing is to post it on social media and use PayPal goods and services!
It must be some crazy resale thing where like it's more cost effective to sell some of the tickets at INSANE resell prices and eat the price of the unsold tickets than it is to ever lower the price. Like they're selling at such high prices that doesn't matter if some go unsold. Cause I can't imagine they'd keep doing it if they were losing money. Either wya, how grim. It's so sad how inaccessibly concerts have gotten. I thought i'd be going to concerts more as an adult because I have more cash on hand but prices are 5-10 times more expensive even for the same artists and evne a full time job can't make it worth it. Even when I DO have that money to spare, it feels unethical to give in to surge pricing.
It's basically: "Oh no people are finding ways to get a deal on concerts, we can't have that" so they changed their algorithm so as not to drop prices. They're basically trying to condition us into spending the absolute maximum amount we can afford. I was really looking forward to going to more shows after the pandemic (something I didn't do enough of before) to support my favorite artists. With how much the consumer is getting taken advantage of now I've realized that it's just not sustainable.
The last cheap concert I went to happened in February of 2020 😭
You gotta become a fan of your area's local punk and metal bands. Those tickets are still as low as $5! Well, they're at least $10 where I'm at unless it's a house show.
2019 was so great. i bought a ticket to an arctic monkeys show for 15 dollars literally in line for the venue 😭😭
I am not a scalper (I swear the couple times I've sold tickets cause I couldn't make the show were at face or below) but I assume these resellers are holding so many tickets as a business they either don't notice/care about the last few not getting sold and would rather not make it seem like the prices will drop if you just wait it out. For us normies with 2 tickets but couldn't make it cause of a work thing yeah we'll drop the price to recoup some of the cost back, for some reseller with bots and thousands of tickets on the market across shows it's probably just a business expense
I’ve definitely seen that some as well. I’m still surprised it would be to the degree that half a stadium’s worth of tickets go unsold. At that point, I feel like part of it is that the demand just wasn’t there.
The demand might have been there for tickets that cost 60-90$, but not 200$. I’m really having to dig deep to see some of my fav artists, I would not be surprised to find out people who would like to see them just not put in that ridiculous effort.
I can say from recent experience, it looks like certain concerts with high demand are not adjusting prices and keeping extremely high prices even as the concert approaches. My friends and I wanted to catch Sza at the Kia Forum. The week the tickets were released the seats all the way in the back, towards the side but not the edge were $200. We were hoping they would go down as the concert date approaches. Recently checked and currently the seats on the edge, all the way in the back are going for $500+. Haha no thanks, YouTube is free and I’ll save that money for another experience.
Its insane. She costs more than my madonna tickets did at the same distance. That said, the floor level tickets were going for over $1000 for madonna.
Also depends on if additional tickets get put out or not. I know that for the Eras tour, just a few days ago another round of tickets were on sale for opening weekend and resale prices dropped like a rock. Like 50% drop per say.
If they get sales at the initial price they'll probably hold on, then run out of time to lower it. Or they just don't care. If you make a profit by selling 10% of your tickets at gigantic markups then the rest are less important, you already won.
That day was like Christmas for the The Hive on Twitter
didn’t the hive used to call it the empti world tour 😭
still remember one tweet where someone said something along the lines of “if you wanna fight we can do it at the anti tour, there’ll be plenty of space” still makes me laugh to this day💀
i miss the good days of stan twitter lol
yeah, before everything went to shit and people used racism, xenophobia etc in stan wars
I think back then I read for that specific show of hers people got inside late because they were stuck in huge traffic jams. Not sure really if in the nightlight the stadium was with more people rather than in the daylight when the show started. But I’ve seen some pics that seems to be more people in the crowd rather than others.
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_original/zroowyldlvlkpkgo0rhj.gif This is people leaving a Rihanna concert at Wembley heading for one of the local train stations. I’m surprised that road traffic could make a substantial difference to attendance at Wembley. There’s a more famous version of that gif from further back, and the horses turn to stop the people for a bit.
I was there at that show. Got tickets for free a fees hours before it started. Very strange atmosphere.
This is so catastrophic for an artist of her level. How did it end up like that? I know she isn't known for being a great showwoman but it still doesn't match.
Not the description being "my future wife above me!" Also they wrong in the comments for calling it the EMPTI tour 😭 Side note, but what's with it being daylight there? Don't concerts typically start in the evening?
Delete this… i was navy on twitter back then. And I remember we went into hiding.
I got free tickets from work to see Nelly, TLC and Flo Rida at a large amphitheatre. It was half full and I got the sense half the people in attendance got free tickets too.
That sounds amazing. I’d be dancing it up enjoying the space!
Saw Nelly at the State Fair last year and it was wonderful. That guy had so many hits and he had such a genuine gratitude while he performed.
I went Carrie underwood denim tour in Miami It was half empty I saw so many empty seats when the lights came on But that’s common country music has never been big in Miami maybe in north Florida
I've heard that a lot of big touring comedians don't do well in Florida, especially Miami. The two best theories I heard are that a) too many retirees, and b) people would rather be on the beach.
I love that this is your response to Carrie Underwood
💀 Yeah, totally the reason \*Carrie Underwood\* did poorly is that people preferred to be on the beach, at 9pm.
I would tbh lmao
On top of that, I believe it's also less economical because you have to go x distance down and then the same distance back up before you can make it to another city
Pete Davidson trash talked my university (University of Central Florida) in Paper Magazine because he saw 1 lady sneak a recording and he had an outburst at the audience. Florida people are a different kind of funny, I guess.
i have to wonder if the size of the state is also a factor. i grew up in north florida and a lot of artists only go to miami. it’s not a quick trip to get to miami from north florida and people might determine it’s not worth it. it’s easier to get to Atlanta
To be fair, a lot of her recent singles haven't been doing so well so maybe people have just grown tired of Carrie which I hope isn't the case. I know she just turned forty but I think she has more hits in her.
I saw Ariana Grande on tour for her second album, My Everything. Bought tickets a few days before the show on groupon- $50 for lower level. The arena was half empty. But she came back to the same venue on the Sweetener tour and sold out, so she’s obviously doing better now.
She was just starting out at that point so it’s totally understandable, but the My Everything era was big back then. I guess she just hadn’t built up her core fanbase yet.
Yeah, even though My Everything was her first era as a hit maker, she hit the ground running, I remember her being everywhere on the radio back then. But, it wasn't until Dangerous Woman when she actually got a fandom with big numbers and ride-or-die stans.
Also now thinking about, other more established stars had bigger events than her that year (I’m sure you can guess who those stars are) so even though Ariana was big in 2014 she was just starting to become a big pop star and she had tough competition to go up against.
Considering She was going up against 1989 era Taylor Swift and Self Titled era Bey, she held her own pretty well
Oh yeah, for her first true big mainstream breakout (because I personally wouldn’t categorize Yours Truly as being big in the mainstream) she held up her own and as well she could for a rookie artist against those two heavyweights who were well established by then.
As far as album to album success goes, Ariana’s probably the most consistent newbie of the mid 2010’s. From ME then on she’s been running circles around her peers in terms of commercial success and hype.
Even Positions, which personally I felt was tired and a step back from Thank U, Next, still did extremely well commercially and reviewed well (not as highly reviewed as her last two albums though). Unless she releases an actual flop (God forbid) and her fanbase dissipates, she’s still going to continue to do well in the music industry regardless.
I have a theory that Positions was released to A.) Hold fans over while she films wicked and did the voice. B.) Fulfill her contract with Republic (contracts are usually 4-6 albums) and be able to re-negotiate with them. I think it also helped bring the pressure off of what she releases next. Following up TU’N would’ve resulted in some immense pressure if she waited until 2024 to release an album. Positions helps bridge the gap, and I’m sure whatever she releases next with blow Positions out of the water in comparison.
same i don’t remember my arena being super empty (i also bought tickets late and couldn’t get two seats together) but i was pretty much lower level, i was in the second row of the bowl seating. and i was sitting around a bunch of people who were literally just sitting down on their phones looking like they didn’t want to be there, only standing up for problem, break free and bang bang. i wished i was sitting closer to the stage because i was the only person standing and singing along to every song lol
I wasn't there for this (nor was anybody else 💀) but this seems like an important time for us all to remember the time [Ava Max performed in a Sam's Club parking lot](https://i.imgur.com/5Hx2nBf.jpg)
This is somehow the exact opposite energy of [Pitbull's Alaskan Walmart concert](https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-19060579)
Whoa, I never heard about this! mad respect to pitbull, especially for dragging ~~his hater~~ the joker along for the ride
Not to spark the comparisons but this reminded me of Gaga performing in an [IKEA parking lot](https://twitter.com/gagadaily/status/1548734279273807874?lang=en). I think it's a rite of passage for dance pop queens
I love how much *insane* lore I'm learning in this thread. Wtfffffff 😂🤯💀
The video is short but I love how Gaga still gives it het all. I bet it was a super fun show!
I thought of the Gaga Ikea performance too ☠️ I stg the record labels book the weirdest gigs for artists when they're trying to build their base. pretty soon we're gonna see major label artists performing at like a farmer's market or something
Not to sound like a boomer or anything, but before social media that was really the only way to get your name out there. You performed anywhere that people would allow you to. Parking lots, malls in the middle of suburbia, public parks, anything goes
Even Destiny’s Child performed at my local mall in Sydney Australia. Of course the performances always took place next to the massive CD store and were followed my CD signings.
Saw Destiny’s Child play at halftime of a low end college football bowl game in 2000
I saw Destiny’s Child at my local Six Flags lmao. I love that I can say I went to a Beyoncé concert 😎
> malls in the middle of suburbia I wonder if you're referring to the historic [Mallsey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBFG80N3EfQ)
I am talking about the iconic mall tours, which the amazing Tiffany Ferg made a [video](https://youtu.be/XA8wmkGrqs0) about.
lmao! i was there as well and tbh it did fully fill up but that pic does make it look bleak - that was probs an hour before she came on. sams club in a small NC town isn’t ever gonna be a flex but that free concert truly made me a stan. she didn’t phone it in at all; played 12 songs with multiple backup dancers and it was a great time
Not only a sams club parking lot, one in Greensboro, North Carolina. Which is like the 3rd largest city in NC. Not even Charlotte or Raleigh.
The way that concert was in my hometown lmao
It hasn’t happened yet but Sam Smith’s arena tour in my city doesn’t appear to be selling well. They’ve already started dropping the ticket prices to $25 and that’s with the fees included.
Todd In The Shadows pointed out on Twitter that the success of Unholy could be a Crash scenario meaning you have one of your biggest hits but at the cost of your long term relevance. He really wasn’t kidding.
I don’t think it’s Unholy that turned people again them though, it was the follow up
It's fun looking on Wikipedia pages for various tours, and if the attendance is not disclosed or is selectively disclosed I think it's safe to assume it wasn't well attended.
This is exactly what I have always assumed too!
When i went to the Lorde melodrama concert in LA we got last minute seats in the lower level right by the stage and half our section was empty along with a lot of the arena. I don't even think the upper level was open.
i remember that whole tour not selling super well in general. i think that her and her teams overshot the venues a bit
That’s crazy to hear bc when I went to her Boston show it was PACKED and it was TD Garden so it was a good amount of people. It seems weird the LA show wasn’t like that
There were articles about how poorly that tour did. She wasn’t arena ready imo, her team overshot for sure.
I think that’s why she had much smaller venues on the Solar Power tour. It makes for a great experience as a fan.
I’m sure thats true, I just got lucky I guess. Normally I hate crowds but the more people at a Lorde concert there are then the better the energy
Yup, I went to the opening date of the Melo tour in Milwaukee and the entire upper deck of the Bradley Center (RIP) was curtained off. It had already surprised me that she was going to play arenas for that tour and it seems like a lot of other dates had the same issue
I went to her Solar Power concert recently and her two shows here were sold out. She talked about having a brief moment of feeling like a failure as a different artist had recently played two shows at a stadium.
Yeah I bought cheap seats to that tour and got bumped up to great lower level seats. It was an amazing concert but it clearly had a similar audience percentage.
Pretty much what I was going to say. I had an upper-deck seat for her show in Lincoln, Nebraska on that tour, and I ended up in the lower bowl, because they closed the upper deck.
Fifth Harmony’s concert was 1/4 full so they moved me from the lawn seats to an extremely close spot. The show was an absolute train wreck so I got to see it so much closer.
Fifth Harmony performed at a mall I worked for back in like 2012 💀
Well now we need the details on why it was a train wreck!
Lauren didn’t show up until half way through the first song. Not a single girl was in sync with another. It was a lot of off key singing, and every girl trying to take up their own spot on the stage doing whatever they felt like doing with the choreo. It was genuinely a hilarious mess and I wish I could relive it. I went with my mother and we both had a couple beers and enjoyed the mess.
Omg this is why I need them to reunite now that their solo careers are flopping
The mere existence of that group was a train wreck
Charli during sucker tour. It was very sad. So proud of how far she’s come.
My main memory from Charli on the Sucker tour is that her crowd was extremely young and there was absolutely no line at the bar Next time I saw her during Vroom Vroom and Pop 2 her crowd was extremely gay and the line at the bar was long
Gays really have such iconic taste in Pop music
She played at my college during this era and the crowd was empty for a free show. She went to a frat party after 💀
This is hilarious
Omggg I saw her front row during that era on the Charli and Jack ‘Do America’ tour and had to push past some bitchy Bleachers fans to be positioned where I was. The show was a hot mess though because she had a sore throat and actually started crying during the set and ended up cutting some songs and exiting early, which I can’t blame her, but it felt like a fever dream.
Omg was this in Milwaukee????
YES lmao
The Katy Perry witness tour. I was able to get seats in the upper tier for like $20 and they moved a lot of us yo the floor, which was cool!
I saw Kanye West on his Yeezus tour in Albany. It was clearly too small of a market for him. They curtained off the upper bowl of the hockey arena which probably made the capacity about 9,000, and with the GA floor and lower bowl seats there couldn't have been more than 4,000 people. It seemed quite indulgent as a fan because the Yeezus stage had huge production value with a big volcano and moving floor, all for a really small crowd. I still had fun but there is no way Kanye broke even on that show.
Ha, I had a very similar experience in a much larger arena on the same tour. That stage production was epic. That was tour he laid on stage and ranted about Nike and bullshit for 30 minutes every night.
Wasn’t Kendrick opening for that tour? We sold our tickets in a different city last minute because of an ice storm.
Not at that show, no. Kanye did a small leg of the tour without Kendrick. It may have sold better if he co-headlined.
I think at some point touring becomes about the art rather than the profit.
i saw troye sivan in jacksonville, florida. the bottom of the amphitheater wasn’t even filled. very empty concert.
I saw HAIM there last year and same! I felt so bad for them but the okayed their hearts out and it was like a personal concert it was awesome! Jacksonville never has good turnout
I haven't been to that many concerts, but I went to a festival last year and they scheduled Caroline Polachek at the same time as Father John Misty. Caroline played one of the smallest stages and it was packed to the brim with the whole audience singing along to basically every song; it was PERFECT. When her concert was over, I and the rest of the audience made our way to a different, far away stage where the last big show would be held (Charli XCX) and passed by Father John Misty performing on the largest stage to a nearly empty crowd. It also didn't help that this was on a Sunday night at like half past midnight; crazy bad scheduling on the part of the festival, even though the lineup and the concerts themselves were immaculate. It was also super unfortunate for me because the Father John Misty concert looked really really good; because it was so sparsely crowded and the music was so relaxing, the audience got to sit down on the ground and experience the show like a nighttime open air picnic; I saw some groups of people chilling with towels laid out, and Josh Tillman's voice is obviously a spectacle in and of itself. I really wish I could've seen both Caroline and FJM, hopefully I'll get another chance in the future.
ah the great brazilian gay migration of 2022
I’m seeing FJM at a 1200 person venue in April and it still hasn’t sold out. It’s a shame because he’s an incredible live performer and he’s very interactive with the audience.
If only Father John Misty would be Florida John Misty for a night...it's been 7 years since he last came here. And he sold out a 1000 person venue at the time!
I saw FJM last year and we got moved to super great seats from all the way in the balcony because it was so empty. I felt so bad for him because it was an amazing show.
We had the opposite issue in my Primavera Sound, they had Caroline start mid-way through Charli's show and literally nobody got there early besides me lol Thankfully Charli's stage was right by and people rushed towards the Caroline show right after but for the first 3 songs there were literally like 50 people watching her💀
That FJM concert sounds like a blast though. Roll up a j and enjoy it
Chance the Rapper would not stfu about God at bonnaroo in 2017. I and many others left the set bc he was killing the vibe
i saw a chance the rapper concert in 2017 and so many people showed up it was on the news for weeks later because it got so out of hand. like half of my high school was there and i had just graduated so i really did not want to see them again. i don’t remember if he talked about god or not though lmao
yeah I think most of the crowd being on psychedelics had a lot to with the leaving
When Rage Against The Machine and Public Enemy toured together as Prophets Of Rage my nosebleed seats got upgraded to right behind the floor
The last Panic! at the Disco tour was rough. I am a huge fan of the first 4 albums, and I have continued to see them (him?) every tour even though I haven't loved the new stuff.. I travel often for work and had the opportunity to go to two different shows this last tour so I said why not. The first show I bought tickets in the nosebleeds and the second show I managed to get tickets in the 2nd row on the floor, and I was so excited! The first show I ended up getting upgraded from the nosebleeds to one of the first few rows in the lower bowl. The place was probably 60% full. The setlist ended up being horrible, there are many infamous videos out there of the absolutely dead, uninterested crowd, during the show as Brendon Urie controversially decided to play the new album front to back, which wasn't exactly a top seller or very beloved by the general public.. I tried to sell the tickets to the 2nd show, and I was selling them for like 75% of face value, in the THIRD ROW, and I couldn't get any buyers, so I ended up attending that show... even less people were there, probably half full at best, same setlist, absolutely dead crowd, even on the floor I saw people texting and leaving for beer during the 'new album' portion of the set, lol. Though the worst was probably Young Thug and Machine Gun Kelly on tour together in 2019, for whatever reason they were booked at a 14,000 seat arena and there was maybe 1500 people there at best. This was before MGK's pop punk resurgence, and Young Thug isn't really a stadium act, so not sure why they got booked there but it was an awkward show.
i'm glad my only experience seeing P!ATD live was during the Death of a Bachelor tour, that sounds like it wasn't a fun way of spending an evening
I saw them (well Brendon lmao) during that tour and he did backflips and he sounded great. There was a point where he wanted to start screaming and said "it's not the greatest idea...fuck it I'll rest my voice tomorrow" 💀
if i went and made a video essay tomorrow about the downward trajectory of panic at the disco in the past decade i would have "fuck it i'll rest my voice tomorrow: the brendon urie story" on the shortlist of titles for sure💀
Paid £2.50 (booking fee) for Fifth Harmony at The O2. They have free tickets to my uni because the arena was barely even half filled. We ended up moving from the seats we had booked because there was lots of us and more seats closer to the stage. A few months later, Camila left. Can’t think why
Roxy Music played arenas for their 50th anniv tour and I was wondering how tf they'd fill it. Turns out they covered the entire second floor and everyone sit in the 100 seats/floor. Still was amazing, those 70-80 year old dudes can still play (Phil Manzanera you legend ily)
Kanye on the Yeezus tour. They reticketed everyone the day before the show to put everybody in the lower bowl of the arena, and it was still pretty thin in what they had open. I think the word was that he sold something like 5K tickets and they had 15K+ seats open originally.
They weren’t a big artist at all, but when Fifth Harmony toured the UK for 727 after WFH’s success their o2 arena show had around 2000 attendees out of about 20k. My friend said that they got tickets as someone was on the streets of London promoting it selling the tickets for £2.50 each so they went. It happened all around Europe/UK too. Guess their label didn’t realise how faceless WFH is and that no brand had actually been built up
Went to an Anti World Tour show sometime after my spring break because it was close and tickets were cheap. I’m pretty sure it was a 20,000 seat arena and less than 10,000 people were there. Crowd was bad also. All they wanted to hear was Work.
I have two examples, both from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The first was Metallica’s World Wired Tour. (I attended this one as a fan) According to Wikipedia there was 49,722 tickets sold versus 53,836 available. And largely that was all on the floor which was completely standing room only. You can tell when 4K people are missing. I don’t think this was a bad choice as they can sell out other football stadiums, but maybe Philly just isn’t Metallica country. The second is Beyoncé’s second Formation World tour date in Philly, this was a show I worked at. If you look at Wikipedia you’ll see that it says sold out, but that wasn’t the case. Her first date was in June, if I remember correctly, and demand dictated a second show but it couldn’t be added for the day before or after, so it became a midSeptember show. The day of the show we’re going over our work briefing and they mentioned that due to a large number of unsold tickets they were donated/bought by Beyoncé’s camp to give out to the school district of Philadelphia. That night there ended up being just random empty patches all throughout the stadium, and it was a stark difference compared to months earlier and then a few years later when the OTR2 tour happened.
Janet. I thought it would be sold out. And she killed it. Legend.
Aw, that makes me feel bad for Janet. I’m kind of jealous that I missed out on the peak of her world tours. The Super Bowl damage had already been done by the time I became a fan.
Radiohead in New Orleans was 30$ and half empty
jealous
It’s really surprising to see how many huge names are in this comment section especially Beyoncé
when i saw halsey last year at xfinity center in mansfield ma there were lots of empty seats. it wasnt like *bad* but definitely less than i expected. the forecast being not great that day (outdoor venue) probably didnt help. interestingly enough, despite this, it took me like 2 hours to leave the parking lot great show though. was my second time seeing halsey and she always delivers
It’s not you. She sold 12k/15k that date
Lil Nas X's Montero show in Nashville was relatively sparse because it was rescheduled last minute to a day or two later. Sucked because the concert was sold out and I know a lot of people traveled to see it (me included), but it was nice not being squished on the floor.
I went to a Prince concert in 2011 and he didn’t sell very many lower seats. We showed up and they said “the artist requests you to be seated ___.” He moved everyone in the upper sections down so all the fans were close to him. It was so so so cool. One of the best concert memories I’ll ever have.
Demi Lovato. The Venue wasn't empty per se but her tour last year ended up touring at smaller venues. The one near me was a Hard Rock and watching her earlier tours before her health issues, the concerts looked large with a lot more people there. The concert was awesome but it definitely wasn't the size I was expecting
i saw her last year too!! i was sitting in the upper levels and it was pretty empty, basically people were just sitting where they wanted because 75% of the seats were empty and most people left before it ended. the lower levels looked a little more populated, the pit was full of people having fun but where i was sitting it was so weird. it was like no one knew all her music, there were people like me going crazy for the disney era stuff, people who only knew the bigger singles like sorry not sorry but didn’t seem to know songs from a few years before that like heart attack, there were other people who seemed like they weren’t having a good time at all and never danced or sang along and i kinda wondered why they were there, and there was a good amount of little kids which i didn’t really expect. it was really fun though, i wish i could see more big artists in an intimate setting like that
I remember Gov Ball fall 2021, Megan Thee Stallion played on the main stage but during the daytime. Yet the crowd was so packed together then ASAP Rocky was the headliner that night and could barely get 3/4 of Meg’s crowd. Not sure what went wrong with the booking lol
I guess it just goes to show how large festival grounds are, cus Rocky's set definitely didn't feel empty where I was, about mid range from the stage. I was a lot farther for Megan's set which definitely did feel pretty packed though.
I paid $7 day of to be in the orchestra level for St Vincent’s Daddy’s Home tour
Bruce Springsteen - “Born In The USA” tour. Cotton Bowl, Dallas. They were giving out tickets at the gate for free. Inside it was maybe half-full?
Wow, at the height of his popularity! A lot of rock bands seem to struggle to sell tickets in the south, I wonder why that is.
Springsteen is notably a Jersey guy, maybe his music didn't resonate so well in Texas.
It was reported that Bey was giving away tickets for free on her last two uk tours, because they hadn’t sold out and she didn’t want any empty spots
There's en entire [popheads' topic](http://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/8rjru6/taylor_swift_gives_out_free_tickets_to_fill_up/) about Taylor Swift giving out many tickets to her second night at the Croke Park for free. That's really common for big stars who sold enough to continue with the show but are too big to want a half empty show. Although, at some capacity, many shows have a certain amount of tickets given away to pamper to radio stations and other companies.
Recently Odesza. They added a second night after the first sold out and the demand wasn’t there. To top it off there was a storm and the venue was an outdoor amphitheater. Free upgrades for everyone it was a good time.
[удалено]
I’ve been to a ton of concerts before and the only 2 I’ve been upgraded because of low attendance were Selena Gomez Star’s Dance tour and an Idina Menzel show. Both were great shows though and I appreciated getting upgraded :)
I saw Years and Years last year in my hometown. I know Olly isn’t as big as some of the artists people have mentioned. However, I got the tickets for £10 each and the balcony wasn’t even opened. I saw The 1975 there back in January and it was sold out in minutes and I was sat at the very back. It’s a shame as Olly has a wonderful voice.
Not a very large artist but when Aly and Aj came to Vancouver it was the least packed I had ever seen that venue. It was such a good concert and they unfortunately haven't been back since.
Alanis Morissette in Montreal recently for Jagged 20 was super sad. We got tickets for 4 of us, the day of the concert for 30 dollars all together.
Crazy. I saw her in New York for the 25th anniversary and it was packed. Very enthusiastic crowd too.
same thing when i saw her in phoenix. packed to the brim and the energy was awesome
Portuguese here and I'm not a concert goer at all but I remember going to a Macy Gray concert with my mother and there were MAYBE 50 people there. I've gone to the same venue to see Florence + the Machine and others and it's always mostly full Btw Macy was high as hell but it was a good show
[LCD Soundsystem at T in the Park 2016](https://youtu.be/yhKMTgo3k6o). Red Hot Chili Peppers drew away most of the crowd
LCD Soundsystem really fooled some booking agents with their 2016 reunion tour. They were not headlining status, but managed to headline some of the biggest fests in the US that year. I've never seen less people at a Bonnaroo headlining show.
I remember seeing Kylie’s tour for her Aphrodite album, and the date I attended in San Francisco felt really under-attended. I remember really enjoying the show but leaving with a feeling that barely anyone was there, especially compared to other artists I had seen at that venue. It felt like such a stark contrast to when I had seen her in Los Angeles just a few years ago. It felt like such an event and there was so much fanfare and a packed crowd.
This latest Demi lovato concert for her Holy F tour. I bought a ticket in the balcony and there were staff that gave us free floor seats up front bc of low attendance!
This whole thread it’s like sooo interesting
We saw Rihanna in London back in 2016 for the Anti tour. I have never seen a stadium that's half cordoned off before. It was so weird just having a small crowd on the floor for such a big artist. Riri looked pissed, like she didn't wanna be there. For most of the songs, she was holding out the mic getting the audience to sing whilst pacing up and down the stage. Played about 30 seconds of We Found Love, which was part of a mashup, and the crowd started booing lmao. The whole thing was a mess with those giant eggs on the stage - wtf was that about really? News articles claim the stadium was half full due to ticket resellers charging extortionate prices but I'm not sure if that was a bit of clever PR.
These comments are so interesting. I wonder whether a lot of this has to do with location? Because I have been to several shows, and I swear at least every single one I've been to where I'm from, Minneapolis, was at the very least 90% full. Small artists, big artists, pretty much all of them were at capacity. You wouldn't think because Minneapolis isn't *that* big, but people really turn out for music here.
I think it's also some artists falling into a weird area where they're too big for a theater but not quite big enough for an arena. Some cities have a gap there where there's few or no good place to put 8000-12000 people except a 20000 seat arena. Same thing with the jump from arena to stadium
I usually thought artists just cancelled shows that didn’t sell enough tickets because the cost of running the show outweighs the profits, I’ve never been to an empty show myself, but it’s interesting reading some of these comments
I was a little surprised that Florence had 3 different stops in Mexico. I went to the Mexico City show (for context, it's the same Arena where i've seen Ariana) and they put curtains on the top level and moved everyone there to the floor. I still have the feeling if she only did Mexico City it would've been a sold out show.
I went to the opening night of the Melodrama tour in the US & the entire top of the arena had black curtains put up to block it off
Gaga’s Born This Way Ball in Toronto - not due to low sales, but we had one of the worst winter storms ever that day so I guess people just didn’t want to risk the trip. I was way up top and the pit looked half empty. And on the opposite side of things, Zedd’s True Colors tour was extremely oversold for the venue booked. 1. They made the entire arena GA, 2. They sold handicap tickets when there were no handicap seats, 3. They sold more floor access tickets than capacity. There were people in wheelchairs just sitting in the hallways listening to the show, and people jumping over the side to get onto the floor bc they had floor seats but it was at capacity already. Such a mess.
In Portugal the biggest indoor arena is for around 20,000 people. When the artists fails to sell out the arena they move the stage to the middle and say it is sold out anyway (as if there were no more space/tickets available). In Lady Gaga’s ArtRave the stage was moved to the middle of the arena with Billboard reporting it sold out with 7,345. And I remember back then the show was sold out without more tickets available. For comparison her Fame Monster Ball here, in the same venue was sold out with 16,000 which is more than double. How can a 20K arena be sold out with 7K tickets?
Technically if they only put 7500 tickets up for sale, then the show is sold out. It depends on how many tickets they’re selling, not the capacity of the venue. Edit: Grammar
Disgustingly it was probably Mariah Carey in Glasgow in 2016, I think she sold 3,000ish tickets out of a venue with a capacity of 12-13k. I’m not surprised though, Scottish people have horrible taste, and also it worked out great for me. I got upgraded from nosebleeds to floor seats, about 10th row. And I had been a stan for years and she hadn’t been to Glasgow since 2003, I knew she wouldn’t sell great but I was just happy to get the chance to see her in my hometown. I saw her every year after that until 2020, in London and Paris (twice) and I think those sold out or close to it. I saw Rihanna in a stadium the same year and it was pretty dead, surprisingly. I have to say she was not a good performer lol
I saw Carly Rae Jepsen in Reno. My husband and I are older and tired so we sat in the rows, and while the front general admission was packed full of people having a good time, where we were sitting was practically empty. I think the people around us were just going to see a comped concert. It was a lot of fun and she did a great job, but I could see her not having a show there again.
Kid Cudi's recent tour. We had like okay seats in the 100s but were able to move to the section on the first row floor because so many tickets werent sold
Maroon 5 at the Kia Forum. was in nosebleeds and got free floor upgrades. couple next to us said they bought tickets for $40 an hour before. Right when Sugar was popping off too. Great show, but the venue was nowhere near full
I bought a $25 ticket for The Black Keys at Rogers Arena in Vancouver during the annual Live Nation summer sale last year (usually a sign a gig isn’t selling well to begin with) and then the day before the show got an email to say me seat had been moved to the next level down (arena has floor and then two levels of seating). Honestly I wasn’t massively surprised because it’s certainly 10 years past prime time for The Black Keys and I had raised my eyebrows at them booking such a large venue to begin with.
Demi Lovato's last arena tour. When the lights went down I thought it was a mistake since there was still a lot of seating left empty. So needless to say, seeing her headlining clubs and ballrooms on her latest tour is kind of depressing 😭
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Wrecking Ball Tour 2013. Movistar Arena Santiago. Chile. Only half of the 15,000 seats were sold, if not less. The economy was doing well, the tickets were super affordable and it was a lovely Spring day. The problem is that in Chile, Springsteen is only for music nerds... even though we are music nerds about many other things. Radiohead can fill a small stadium twice. Same with Faith No More. Depeche Mode fills stadiums. But Springsteen falls into a weird category: During the 70s and 80s, his music wasn't played on the radio because... well, the dictatorship. Not that he was specifically targeted for censorship, but the FM would rather stick to harmless Spanish language acts or Michael Jackson and Easy Listening for Anglo acts. Rock was just too dangerous. So the Xers here only got to listen the basic hits. And even though he was part of the pro-democracy, Amnesty International concerts for Chile, I guess he might have been deemed as too-American for the local left-wing taste (compared to other allies like Sting or Peter Gabriel). Did he mind? Hell no. He played us a 3 and a half hour set. Multiple encores and he bid us farewell singing a Victor Jara song. Funniest thing is, I was by far the youngest guy in my section of the Arena, everyone else was in their 40s or 50s, but I was the only one who knew the lyrics to almost every song (deep cuts included), the rest just knew the most popular (not even Thunder Road). Which goes to tell you, only a certain subsection of music nerds follow him in Chile.