Chris Thile at Duke in January

[guitarmando]

Just letting you guys know tickets for the Chris Thile/Edgar Meyer concert at Duke in January are buy one get one free if you get them from Duke. They aren't advertising this sale anywhere though, you have to ask for it. Not sure if anyone was planning on going, but just thought I'd toss that out there :)

[gutterman]

thanks for the info. I am planning on going.

[frtanderson]

That is a great thing that Duke is doing, but if the folks don't know about it - what good is it?

Chris/Edgar are in Midland, Michigan on 12 Jan 2007 at the Midland Center for the Performing Arts - Built with Dow Chemical money - an acoustically outstanding concert venue with only one blocked view seat in the whole place.

I am very disappointed though, to see that tickets are priced at $37.00 a seat. I hate to say it, but I find myself wondering if they'll fill the mezzanine at that prince?[bang] These guys are easily two of the most gifted instrumentalists on their respective instruments working today. Are they trying to secure their retirement nesteggs in one concert tour season or what?

I worked as a sound-reinforcement technician (a mic & cable wrangler) on the 1976 'Long May You Run' tour of the Stills-Young-Band (with occasional venue additions of Crosby & Nash) and over a 10 month schedule they constantly insisted on having the lowest concert ticket prices in each city we set-up in - and let me tell you, preconcert set-up was a 5-guy, 8 hour scramble just to get to sound check.

Contrasting, I worked the Emerson, Lake & Palmer 'Brain Salad Surgery' Tour in '74 and pre-sound check set-up was a 3 guy 2 hour job, and these guys were cammanding high (for the day) concert ticket prices at colleges and other auditoriums, but gave about 10% of the seats to local charities for free.

So Chris and Edgar have how many roadies to cover workmans' comp and payroll taxes for? I'm bett'n they're hump'in their own instruments and the house sound man will set up 3 or 4 Senheizer 421's on booms to get the ambience, plug their wireless personal monitors into the stage mix sub box and when they plug in for a sound check 15 minutes later, he'll have them balanced in another 10 minutes and then they'll be off to dinner and a massage before curtain time.

$37.00 a seat! Chris, working stiffs in one of the most economically depressed states in the nation can't afford to see this concert. They can see the Cherryhomles Family Band in a couple of weeks for $12.50 a seat and take the kids for half price too. A six-man band, the Infamous String Dusters were here last month at $15.00 a seat. Great musicianship and some daring attempts to demonstrate where they hope to be going in the future.

37.00 bucks a seat? Get real.

Peace,
Thomas+

[e-rock2]

I don't know the slightest details of the Michigan show, but sometimes these venues put together shows like this into a concert package for subscribers. I know that was the case the last time they went out in '05 and is the case here in Milwaukee at the Pabst Theater. I have to wonder how much(ticket prices) of this is Chris and Edgar and how much is the venue. I noticed that at the 2 shows that I attended in '05 that the crowd was much older probably due to the packages that these people purchased. The cost per ticket isn't as expensive then. Without these packages, I'm not sure that Chris and Edgar would be playing these venues because these shows do not appeal to your typical Nickel Creek crowd. The packages help boost the attendance.

[frtanderson]

Yes, the concert is one of four in a series - 1/13/07 KeyboardFest 2007 ($6.00) — 1/16/07 Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile ($37.00) — 1/17/07 Quartetto Gelato ($30.00) — 1/28/07 Midland Symphony Chamber Orchestra ($16.00). Subscribers get a 10% percent cut on per seat pricing and guarenteed best seats.

The Midland area is a hotbed of folk and traditional music with Central Michigan University Public Radio's nationally syndicated 'Our Front Front Porch' radio show regularly hosting shows at that venue, incuding over the past two years: Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, The Cherryholmes, The Grascals, Don Rigsby & Midnight Call, King Wilkie, Blue Highway, Pine Mountain Railroad, and more...

Ususal ticket prices in this area run in the $15-25 range.

I'm just a bit disappointed that musicians of the calibre of Chris and Edgar are possibly missing an opportunity to insipre and educate a younger audience who may be attracted to the eclecticism of their repitoire and their ability to communicate the joy of their work and musicianship by high ticket prices that keep the younger crowd at bay.

It is a vicious cycle. Is it the perfomer or the venue who is setting the ticket price? Who knows? Asking the question of either will probably elicit no more than a shrug and a 'talk to the management' response. Each has either to make a living or maintain a facility.

Please excuse my rant, I am probably being too hard on the performers and I do hope they end up with a decent crowd. I won't be there, I refuse to pay such a price. The last show I paid that kind of price for was to see the 'Capitol Steps' at the Regan Auditorium in Wash D.C. -and we all know that a Coke and Coney cost $30 in Wash.

Peace,
Thomas+

[iamblt]

I didn't even know the artists set ticket prices :confused: I thought that would be the venue's and the tour manager's job..

[frtanderson]

iamblt -
At some point the artist and the management company together must decide how much they need to get in order to make it worth turning a wheel (for the road-warriors) or purchasing plane tickets. They always have the lattitude to negotiate to get dates filled.

Sometimes artists who are road-warriors come into central Michigan or even into northern Michigan, and if their management company has any savvy at all, they come understanding that Michigan, being a big penninsula is a dead-end on the way to nowhere if they are driving. So they often will set up a full-price venue for a Thursday or Friday night show and then cast about for a venue in a smaller market area within say, a hundred miles, that is willing to pick up a Saturday show for a substantually reduced price. The artist gets more exposure, a lot of good-will is spread for showing up in a smaller venue where the concert-goers are generally very appreciative of music made while you wait and the artist gets to sell more CDs and posters and tee shirts or whatever, and they get to make another bank deposit or boat payment. Of course in the Bluegrass and Folk world, most of the artists still have day jobs, or are working studio musicians with a schedule to maintain.

Now, if the artist is flying in and out then the tour route is not a problem - they can zig out to Chicago, zag to Atlanta, and hop back to Nashville, or Asheville, or wherever on the redeye and be home for breakfast and see the kids off to school.

Who knows what kind of arrangement Chris and Edgar have. My bet is that they turn it all over to a management company, pick up their eTickets at the airport, are picked up by a venue Rep at the local airport, play the gig and go home and use the computer check the bank account to see what was deposited from the management company within 3-4 days. No sweat.

I think Chris' road warrior days are long gone. I don't say that to be mean, but to be realistic. Road warriors get beat up - it is hard on the body and hard to relax and find any peace of mind or stomach.

The last road tour I did was in 2001 with the sound crew on the Northern leg of the Teen Mania East-West concert series, Boston to Seattle in 14 days with 9 shows, two busses, three semis and every artist on stage, on time, with food, water, and autographing sessions timed to keep the talent out of the crew's way before and after the shows. I was 48 when we started and I felt like I was nearly 60 when I got on a plane in Seattle to fly back to Detroit. I'll never do the road again. And BTW, I just started working with the Bose L1/PS1 and B1 for small room settings 100-500 seat rooms. Set up is fast - real fast, and the sound is outstanding - and best, no need for monitors. I bought 4 complete setups and will pick up several more soon and still be able to deliver it all in a minivan. Awesome!

I'll bet Chris and Edgar have had enough of the road too. I have seen both in concert before and Chris has been personable at the obligatory 'shake & howdy' sessions at set breaks and after shows. He seems like a nice guy. That is why I was concerned about the ticket price at the Midland, MI venue. It is a 240 mile round trip for me to get to concerts at that venue, but I go there 5-6 times a year for various events. Two tickets, gas and dinner would set me back 200 bucks.

Peace,
Thomas

[iamblt]

huh, that's an interesting read. You know your stuff, Thomas :) I always kinda wondered how all that worked out.

[The Keeper]

frtanderson is grossly wrong in guessing that chris is no longer a road warrior . take a look at the schedule... he's going to be gone from home all january and all february and that's before the 80-100 nickel creek shows that will happen this year. if the how to grow a band tours in june or later in the fall around the nickel creek tours, chris will easily do over 150 shows this year. it looks to me like far from flying in a private jet, most of the touring is in a bus with the balance being in a van. i would say that all of the above definitely qualifies him for road warrior status.

and let's face it, since the 70s when you could see top acts for a $4 ticket, ticket prices have gone up!! i mean i was just looking at some of my ticket stubs, and i saw REM at merriweather post pavillion in 89 for $16. That same ticket today would easily be quadruple if not more.

the ticket price examples that i see above include the stringdusters at $15. I checked them on amazon, and i don't even see that they've released their first full length album. Chris has put out what 10+ albums now between nickel creek, mike marshall, and his solo albums? Edgar Meyer has received a macarthur genius grant. surely they demand a higher ticket price than cherryholmes or the stringdusters?

[frtanderson]

Keeper,

I sit reading your post, cross-checking the calendar, and am humbled by your calling me on my rant. I do have great respect for the maturity and care that Chris brings to his performances; may he do so for a long time and gain personal joy from every minute of practice and performance alike.

I repent of my prior concerns for my pocketbook and will sign off without a parting shot, but rather a hope for the future of good music, made while you wait, one take, with an appreciative audience at the foot of every stage.

Peace.

Thomas+