With concerts postponed, music fans wait with tickets in hand - West Fargo Pioneer
With concerts postponed, music fans wait with tickets in hand - West Fargo Pioneer |
| With concerts postponed, music fans wait with tickets in hand - West Fargo Pioneer Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:00 AM PDT That was before the coronavirus outbreak turned the world upside down and with it brought the concert industry to a screeching halt. John's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour" was one of five major concerts planned this spring or summer at the Fargodome that have now been postponed. The industrywide freeze on concerts has left fans across the country not only having their plans pulled out from under them, but many are now left holding tickets and not knowing when the shows will happen — and, in some cases, unable to get their money back. If the shows were canceled, ticket holders would get a refund, but since most of the concerts planned are postponed, getting money back is more of a process. "What's important to know is that all of the shows aren't the same promoter," says Rob Sobolik, general manager at the Fargodome.   For example, it was announced in late April that Elton John's tour, promoted by AEG Presents, would be postponed and new dates would be announced later. Fans were urged to keep their tickets, which would be honored for the new dates. On June 3, a statement was released that, while the tour hadn't been rescheduled yet, ticket purchasers would have one month to get a refund, or they'd have to keep their tickets. "I fully understand the hardships many are feeling during these unprecedented times and we are providing a 30-day window for refunds starting Wednesday, June 3rd for those in need," John said in the statement. In May, the Maroon 5 show scheduled for Aug. 8 and the Guns N' Roses show scheduled for Aug. 23 were both postponed. Those tours are both presented by Live Nation, whose policy is to wait until the new dates are announced to offer refunds. However, if new dates aren't announced within 60 days of the postponement being announced, a 30-day window allowing refunds will open. Live Nation also is behind the Cher concert at the Fargodome, originally scheduled for April 11. The new date, Sept. 26, was announced on May 1, kicking off a 30-day window for refunds that has already passed. The MercyMe concert scheduled for April 5 was pushed back to Nov. 15 in mid-March. That show's promoters are the Christian radio station Life 97.9 and Thrivent Financial, and refunds are available at the point of purchase. "We're just asking for patience," Sobolik says, who says he's heard a range of responses from ticket holders, from understanding to angry. "I tend to be a control freak and you can't control much. It's a challenge to wrap my head around this," he says. Area fans may have to wait another year to see Randy Owen and Alabama after the band postponed its June 6 show at Bluestem Amphitheater. Forum file photo Fargo promoter Jade Presents, which books shows at Moorhead's Bluestem Amphitheater and the Fargo Theatre and Sanctuary Events Center, among other spaces, in Fargo, has also seen many of its scheduled shows postponed due to the coronavirus, like the Alabama concert at Bluestem scheduled for June 6. Announcing that the rescheduled date would likely be in early summer of 2021, the company last week took the novel approach of offering refunds in the form of Jade Presents gift cards at 110 percent of the ticket price for the postponed Alabama concert. The gift cards could be used for other Jade Presents events. Fargo Brewing Co., which includes Jade Presents founder Jade Nielsen as a part-owner, is also throwing in a free pint. Ticket holders could also exchange tickets for admission to other Jade Presents shows. The company had announced a similar approach when two shows scheduled for Fargo Brewing, 311 and Ben Harper, were canceled in mid-May. By June 2, about 60 percent of those with tickets took the gift card option over cash back. Nielsen sees the arrangement as a way for concertgoers to help support the concerts they want to see. "We're investing in this community in a lot of ways and I feel like it's done in return," he says. "What we do improves the lifestyle and entertainment opportunities in this community. We've added to that and others have as well. It's an investment on our part and on the patron's part... It's kind of touched me in a way that so many people believe what we do." He knows people might ask why Jade Presents can't just refund all of the tickets. The answer, he says, is that money is going to keeping his staff employed, making payments on their office space and other operational costs, especially with no income in three months. "For us, we are a small business," Nielsen says. "We want to be here tomorrow. If we could refund all of 2020 and start over, I don't think we'd be here tomorrow." |
| In The 2020 Mid-Year Trenches: Success Stories In A Tough Year - Pollstar Posted: 29 Jun 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Dave Simpson/WireImageElton Johnperforms at Mt Smart Stadium on Feb. 16, 2020, in Auckland, New Zealand.It's a $1.1 billion year so far among the Top 100 Tours presented in Pollstar's annual Mid-Year recap, from just four months of business rather than six – because, of course, of the mid-March, pandemic-prompted shutdown of live entertainment. Overall box office results industry-wide present the picture of a live business severely affected by a global health crisis, but, even amidst the turmoil, success stories still rise to the top. And there's no greater success story than Elton John's mighty "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, ranked No. 1 at the mid-point of 2020. His gross sits at $87.1 million with 664,749 tickets sold at 38 performances during the Mid-Year time period (Nov. 21, 2019-May 20, 2020). Adding those results to the previous box office counts accumulated since the tour began, his multiple-year swan song on the road has produced $347.3 million in gross earnings from 2.6 million sold tickets. He entered 2020 in the midst of his tour's jaunt through Australia and New Zealand – the only stretch Down Under since the tour kicked off in the fall of 2018. And the box office impact has been impressive from the start. Even with a September launch, the farewell tour still ranked among the Top 50 tours of 2018 but, as 2019 progressed, it was never outside the top six in any chart rankings, whether determined by gross or ticket sales. In last year's Mid-Year feature, he had the highest-grossing tour, and when the Year-End arrived, he was No. 2 in both the worldwide and North American tallies based on gross. Only Pink had a higher box office take globally in 2019, and that was only by $3 million. And in North America, The Rolling Stones' "No Filter" tour produced the only cumulative gross higher than the Elton John tour. Pollstar 2020 Mid-Year His 2020 No. 1 ranking is based exclusively on box office revenue from Oceania. The 14-week run included dates at both stadiums and arenas as well as various wineries in both Australia and New Zealand. Of the 21 venues, 10 of them hosted two shows and eight had a single performance. Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena was the only venue with four concerts: a mid-December engagement that moved 51,556 tickets for a $7.9 million gross. Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena and the Brisbane Entertainment Centre both staged three of his concerts. The "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour was always destined to be historically significant at the box office. When announced, it was booked in multiple years with potential gross earnings estimated to surpass one-half-billion dollars. Grosses in that range also mean a chance to land among the most successful tours of all time – perhaps as high as the fifth-highest-grossing trek ever, if not higher. Elton John could be headed toward that his tory-making finale if the postponed dates are able to be rescheduled and performed.  Brian Rasic / WireImageCeline Dion Dion is No. 2 on Pollstar's Mid-Year Top 100 Tours, with $71.2 million grossed from 408,407 tickets sold.Looking beyond Elton John's AEG-produced tour is another AEG trek in the Top 100 Tours: Celine Dion's "Courage" world tour (No. 2) that began in Canada in September. She performed in North American markets through March 8 before the tour was postponed. For this Mid-Year accounting, 33 of her concerts fall in the eligibility time frame, totaling $71.2 million from a sold count of 408,407. That is 63% of the shows that have occurred. So far, the entire tour's gross reaches $103.8 million since debuting at Quebec's Vidéotron Centre on Sept. 18. The tickets number 646,346 since kick-off with 52 shows already in the books. Post Malone makes his mark among the Top 100 Tours, landing at No. 5 with $38.8 million in sales from his "Runaway" tour that, like Dion's, began in September. With 22 shows that played earlier this year counted for Mid-Year, his box office earnings are based on the sale of 286,350 tickets. The bulk of his 2020 concerts were able to be completed before the shut-down with only a handful either postponed or canceled. The overall tallies for the tour since launch show a total gross of $95.4 million from 762,000 tickets at 57 shows. A glance at gross averages show a jump from his last trek, "Beerbongs & Bentleys" (2018-19) that averaged $970,000 per show to $1.7 million per show for "Runaway." Eagles hits the No. 6 slot on the strength of 10 shows at four arenas set in February and March, the only ones from the legendary band's "Hotel California" tour that were completed before pandemic postponements. State Farm Arena in Atlanta hosted three concerts, grossing $8.9 million, and New York City's Madison Square Garden logged a $10.7 million gross from three shows. Then, the band played two nights at both American Airlines Center in Dallas and Toyota Center in Houston. Overall grosses from the four arenas totaled $33.6 million from 129,632 tickets. Mid-Year Worldwide Ticket Sales
 Suzanne Cordeiro / AFP / Getty ImagesPost Malone Malone is No. 5 on the year to date, with 22 shows moving 286,350 tickets and nearly $40 million grossed. Among the leaders of genres not represented in the Top 10, the highest-grossing country artist is "King of Country" George Strait (No. 12) with a sales total of $24.3 million from nine concerts at arenas in Las Vegas; Fort Worth, Texas; Wichita, Kan.; and Kansas City, Mo. Next on the chart at No. 13 is the highest-ranked Latin artist in the Top 100, Aventura with a $24.1 million total from six U.S. arenas on the bachata group's "Inmortal" tour. Christian recording artist TobyMac's "Hits Deep" tour comes in at No. 52 with $5.4 million in sales. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from "eltonjohntour" - Google News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
Comments
Post a Comment