Where will the new big-venue stars come from?

B.B. King comes to Starlight Theater on Aug. 17

Some of the upcoming concerts booked at the large music venues in Kansas City look like a list of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or bands on the playlist of a classic-rock radio station.

Tonight, Crosby, Stills & Nash perform at Starlight Theatre. Next weekend, B.B. King performs at Starlight and Willie Nelson performs at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Next month, Starlight has booked Boston with Starship and Night Ranger and then Hall & Oates. Beyond that, the Sprint Center has booked the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band; the Uptown Theater has booked Bryan Adams and the band Kansas; and Livestrong Sporting Park has booked Journey with Pat Benatar and Loverboy.

All that follows a string of shows earlier this year by performers such as Barry Manilow, REO Speedwagon with Styx and Ted Nugent, Jimmy Buffett, Chicago with the Doobie Brothers, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, Glen Campbell, Aretha Franklin, Buddy Guy, James Taylor and Def Leppard with Poison and Lita Ford.

Madonna comes to the Sprint Center this fall.

Cricket Wireless Amphitheater, formerly Sandstone, has three more shows booked this year. One is a “theatrical tribute” to Motley Crue, AC/DC, Kiss and Poison.

The live-music world is being carried by the elder statesmen and women and music of yore, especially at the larger venues. The industry is aware of it; it just isn’t sure what to do about it.

“I’ve been in the industry longer than I like to admit,” said Brenda Tinnen, general manager and senior vice president of Sprint Center/AEG Kansas City. “As far as I can recall, it has been a topic: Who is going to replace our vintage or heritage acts. And how do we develop new talent? That’s been on the industry conference agendas for a long time.”

“I’ve been saying for 15 years that the amphitheaters have been filled with mostly ’70s acts, and that’s going to come home to roost sooner or later,” said Brett Mosiman of Pipeline Productions, which runs the Wakarusa Music Festival and books bands at Crossroads KC, among other venues. “Over the past 10 years, that still hasn’t changed.”

The list of the top grossing tours of 2011 confirms that much of the music that sells tickets is the older music. U2 topped the list with its stadium tour, which sold out all of its 44 shows. After that, the rock bands and performers on the list are Bon Jovi, Roger Waters, the Eagles, Journey and Iron Maiden. Neil Diamond also made the list at No. 22 for a 20-show tour that averaged 12,000 fans per night and grossed more than $31 million.

Things haven’t changed much this year. The latest list of the 20 highest-grossing tours in the first half of 2012 from Pollstar, the live-music industry’s online magazine, shows that country is boss, and classic rock still sells. Among the rock acts on the list: Waters, Iron Maiden, the Beach Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers and John Mellencamp. The lone appearance by a new-millennial band: the Black Keys at No. 15. Coldplay, which has been around since the late 1990s, was No. 2 on the list.

Tinnen said the industry still relies on its heritage acts because many of them remain viable.

“They were the soundtrack of our lives, those great artists who quite honestly invented rock and roll,” she said. “So we don’t want to let them go. But also they continue to do well when they travel.”

The problem is no one seems to be coming up from behind to take the torch.

“There are up-and-coming artists out there,” she said. “But they all break a lot different today than they did in the past. The industry’s economic model has changed so much. There’s less play on the radio. And the recording industry itself has changed so much.”

Those changes are good news for bands trying to live outside the old model of the recording industry, in which big labels controlled distribution and had all the power. Now, bands and performers have many outlets at their disposal through which they can generate a buzz and leap-frog some of the steps that used to be fundamental in developing and nurturing a following. One viral YouTube video or song placement in a commercial can propel a band into a theater show in a year or less.

But Mosiman sees the virtues of the digital revolution as part of the reason the system isn’t producing arena-size acts. Thirty years ago bands like R.E.M. would graduate from holes-in-the-wall to bars like the Bottleneck in Lawrence to rooms like Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan., and then to Kemper Arena. They’d play cities of all sizes. But the process would take five years or more, which is a lifetime these days.

“As fast as (popularity) develops, it can unravel,” he said. “Things happen so instantaneously it’s almost bad. It doesn’t give the fans in most markets a chance to see the bands. The hot new bands don’t play Wichita or Springfield or Little Rock because they get so hot so fast they have to go to Denver, Minneapolis and Chicago and play 2,000-seat theaters their first or second tour.

“The legs can get cut out from under you if you’re not careful because you blow up so quickly without playing in front of enough people.”

If there’s an exception to the trend it seems to be in country music, which replenishes its stable of stars. Both those lists of top-grossing tours include several young country acts, some of whom weren’t on the charts five to 10 years ago: Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church.

Aldean opened for Rascal Flatts in October 2007 at the Sprint Center’s first-ever country show. In March, Aldean headlined his own show and set a Sprint Center record for attendance, breaking the record set by George Strait.

“Country music is different,” Tinnen said. “They have lower ticket prices, which means fans can come more often for less of an investment instead of paying big bucks to see an artist one more time. They also develop talent and showcase more talent as opening acts so fans have seen an act a few times before they headline.”

One of those is Eric Church, who played the Kansas City Live stage in the Power & Light District in July 2010 and opened for several other headliners, including Lambert at the Independence Events Center in November 2010. In September, Church headlines at the Sprint Center. Ticket sales for that show, Tinnen said, are “very strong.”

“Country is still primarily radio-driven, and the other genres aren’t,” Mosiman said. “And it does a better job of connecting its artists to their fans so it does sustain careers a little better. But look at the names of all those popular, early (2000s) artists. Most are pariahs when it comes to booking.”

A look at best-selling country artists of 2001-02 shows that some have stuck around, like Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and George Strait. But many others have fallen out of the light: Jo Dee Messina, Brooks & Dunn, LeAnn Rimes, Darryl Worley, Lonestar, Trick Pony, Diamond Rio, Montgomery Gentry, Emerson Drive.

“It’s bizarre,” Mosiman said. “If you had four or five hits 10 years ago you’re still not worth 500 tickets, even in country. You can do great on the free-show circuit or the state-fair tours, but that’s it. It’s all about what’s on the radio right then.”

Tinnen said the way people buy recorded music is affecting fans’ allegiance to the performers and how or whether they invest in a live performance.

“In my day I would buy the entire album, sometimes just for that one song that was a hit, but hear the rest of the album and really learn to appreciate the artist beyond one song,” she said. “Now, you can go and buy one or two tunes from Chris Brown or Rihanna or Big Time Rush and not invest in the rest of the music. It changes the way people listen to music and the way they spend their time seeing new artists.”

“You’re not going to reach the headliner level of the ’70s artist because that was built in a time when radio was supreme and there was no Internet,” Mosiman said. “You can go on forever: Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, the Eagles, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Springsteen. They can sell 20,000 tickets because they had 20-year careers. You’re not going to see that anymore.”

Steve Poltz, a songwriter who once toured and collaborated with Jewel when she was filling amphitheaters, told The Star recently: “The glory days of music when people were making money hand-over-fist — I don’t think we’ll see those days again. I don’t think we’ll have those huge, superstar bands, unless someone breaks quick on YouTube and is quickly forgotten about. … The acts like Neil Young — who will that be 30 years from now?”

Jeff Fortier, president and promoter with Mammoth Productions, said among teens and 20-somethings, music has a different place than it did in the ’60s and ‘70s. It has become more disposable and peripheral.

“We have a generation that is into video games as much as it is music,” he said. “Music means something to them, but it’s something very different than it was 40 years ago.”

If there are solutions to filling arenas and amphitheaters over the next 20 years, they probably involve the packaging of talent. Mosiman said some amphitheaters have taken to booking multiday festivals to draw younger audiences. He cited the Sound Town festival, which will be Aug. 19 and 20 at the Somerset Amphitheater in Somerset, Wis., as one example. More than two dozen bands are on the bill, including Flaming Lips, the New Pornographers and Devotchka. A week later the venue will host Summer Set, a three-day festival.

“That’s where music is going, not necessarily festivals but the ensemble lineup,” he said. “Young people like to be in crowds of ten to twenty thousand. The only way to do that is with a dozen bands.”

Tinnen said the packaging of bands is becoming the case even with some of the older acts as a way to draw from different fan bases.

“We’ve had Def Leppard here a few times, once with Poison (and Lita Ford), once with Heart, once with Poison and Cheap Trick,” she said. “It can be a really fun experience.”

Young phenoms such as Justin Bieber, One Direction, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry notwithstanding, there is still a generation of bands and performers out there younger than the heritage acts who can draw arena-size crowds: Metallica, Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Kid Rock, Pearl Jam.

“And don’t forget Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye West, Drake,” Fortier said. “The list is longer than you think. I think there will always be acts at that level, there will always be a place for those venues.”

But Mosiman sees a dynamic that challenges that notion. Bands plateau quicker these days, he said, citing a band like Death Cab for Cutie, which recently played before about 1,800 fans at Crossroads KC.

“Some bands will have 20-year careers, like Flaming Lips, Wilco, Primus and Ween,” he said. “But in mid-major markets like Kansas City, two to four thousand (fans per show) is where bands like the Fray or Train top out. Death Cab used to be a big deal; now are they over? The Fray was a big deal. Are they over? And in a year or two is anybody going to care about Gotye or Bon Iver? I don’t know. The hot young bands will be bright but brief spots. It’s been proven.”

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[Eric]

Aldean opened for Rascal Flatts in October 2007 at the Sprint Center’s first-ever country show.

- Not counting the 9 country shows by Garth Brooks that opened the place, right?

[Aldean]

Uh, the Rascal Flatts show Tim mentioned was in fact the first country show at Sprint Center, exactly like Tim mentioned. What is your question exactly?

[Tim Finn]

no. those came later
elton john opened the sprint center

[Eric]

I was thinking that the Garth Brooks were the first. Mea Culpa.

[Huh]

Rascal Flatts are country?

[Mothra]

Marketing crap music to children for a short term buck is the problem. The big money (but short term) acts like Jonas and Britney and Miley and Spice Girls and now Bieber... may make them money but they are all in it for the short run. They make tons of money and are gone.

If the stupid execs are REALLY worried about this issuue then they should stop whoring out out for short term money "wiggles/Jonas/Miley" type of acts and start "investing" in long term REAL artist.

[Clint]

The first country show was Miranda Lambert for Sprint employees only..if you are keeping score.

[Geordan]

Maybe it's over-simplification, but I think that some bands who can fill the Midland, hell, even the Uptown, could fill the Sprint Center if they cut their ticket price by half. Having said that, the way that the record industry is run these days, most bands are releasing their own records and don't have the PR or even the old tried & true mediums (radio stations that will take a chance, Music video stations that actually include MUSIC, etc.) to take them in the Platinum stratosphere anymore. Also, I am personally saddened by the fact that DJs and Electronic now outsell many actual live acts. I find that ridiculous and sad. But as for the statement, "The problem is no one seems to be coming up from behind to take the torch," well, I just don't believe that.

[Computer]

Bassnectar will save the whole industry, all by himself, using only an Ipad to play (stored) music and control the lights, and dont worry he keep up his schtick of moving his arms and body around as if he is really doing something special. Something special just for you, and your ecstasy.

[Computer]

Yeah, Bassnectar is soooo awesome and talented he will save the industry. Here is your future, complete with him selling political ads in front of his videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eA7Qu7Lz2g

[rolex watches]

Fresh phenoms for example Justin Bieber, One particular Route, Lover Gaga in addition to Katy Perry notion about how serious, you can find nonetheless any era regarding bands and artists in addition to musicians and singers around newer approach history acts nobody can pull arena-size locations: Metallica, Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Baby Rock and roll, Pearl Quickly pull.

[Steve J]

There is hope for the future, the Black Keys have moved up to arenas.

[Ellen K.]

Garth Brooks was November 2007, after the Rascall Flatts show. (Easy to find the dates via a Google search.)

[Ellen K.]

I can't help thinking, so what? Why should I care whether or not the big venues can be filled? I like live music in a more intimate setting.

[Art]

amen to ellen k's comments

[KC Jones]

"Pollstar, the live-music industry’s online magazine, shows that country is boss, and classic rock still sells. Among the rock acts on the list: Waters, Iron Maiden, the Beach Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers and John Mellencamp."

Which one of these bands, is not like the others?

I'll give you a hint. They peaked about 1992 (some would say 1989).

[Steve J]

Hey, lay off the Red Hot Chili Peppers, they still make solid records that sell.

[LiveMusicFan]

Was he dogging on the Chili Peppers or all of the others? I thought that it was all of the others since they all peaked before the Chili Peppers got famous.

[913KCKKID]

Ditto to Ellen K. It's amazing that with all the improvements in sound reinforcement technology that shows at big indoor venues like SC sound like hammered shit. Some of the best sounding shows I've been to were at Memorial Hall, Kemper and The Lone Star.

[Nike Free Run]

Own young boy crazy, despise Kunlun, laughing Luliang; wear the sword for several years, this will test the edge. Pretentious is not desirable, but should not sell ourselves short.

[Kurt]

Saw on Billboard that Roger Water's The Wall tour that started on September 15, 2010 has grossed 377.9 million and drew 3.3 million with 192 shows. RW is around 67-68 years old and to do a long tour is amazing.

I'm thinking that we're coming to an end of an era of arena and stadium acts. There's not a lot of new acts to draw arena size crowds now. I'll admit that there's Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, One Direction and some others that are drawing big crowds now but, not a new generation of acts to fill the void now.

[Ralph Ralph]

If the big venues are over, can we PLEASE get the Grand Emporium back ?!?!

Best venue ever in KC ... turned it into a fern bar and killed it without ceremony.

[Green]

Ellen had a great point and I couldn't agree more, rarely do I see something at Sprint that I enjoy. Even Radiohead, one of my favorite bands, I couldn't have been more out of it at that show. Pearl Jam and Tool would the same for me, great music on stage but no connection. Roger Waters pulled me into the show, Foo Fighters did as well, but that might have more to do with being close to the stage and of course that one little Beatle, he rocked that place. I suppose there will always be that new pop star and an old pop star that will fill the seats. Nice to see Black Keys with the success of playing to larger crowds but think back just a few years and they were playing that Texas bluesy goodness in our backyard. If times get bad for the arena shows you will most likely see the festivals move inside. Maybe the big ones will break off and do a arena tour. A couple have already started branching out the brand with concert cruises and foreign country festivals. I hope the good stuff stays small and the Uptown, Midland and Crossroads continue to be the place to see great music with a reasonable size crowd.

[Green]

Geordan if it makes you feel better your mother and father were saddened when you were listening to rock and roll.

[Geordan]

Yo, Green, that was uncalled for......Besides, my mother turned me onto The Beatles and Elton John when I was a kid, beginning my lifelong love affair with Rock & Roll, which was way better than the hardcore Country my father blared at home. I was just stating that more and more young people would rather see laptop-slinging non-musicians making these days than actual musicians. I do indeed find that sad. But why bring my parents into it? Not cool......

[Green]

Haha, are you crying, just kidding, Geordan the point was, each generation has their music and it's the best and all other types of music that follow suck. Parents and children do this over and over again. Give a little respect to those laptop-slinging non-musicians, although I would argue, they are musicians. They just make things different than others. I get it, it's that old argument, painters did the same thing back in the day, they blew off photographers and claimed it was not art, well time proved it was art and can be very good art. Come on, it's just music, cheer up, I have a documentary you should check out, it's called RE:GENERATION.

[Mac]

Yeah Green! Why are you being so mean, how dare y... ah hell... I cant even joke about it... Green is too good of a guy... if anyone here ever thinks he is being too rough on you 1)you either deserve it or 2)he is kidding.

Green you're a good guy, thumbs up bro.

[chaussures supra]

Je ne suis pas un grand lecteur en ligne pour être honnête, mais vos sites vraiment sympa, keep it up! Je vais aller de l'avant et mettre en signet votre site pour y revenir plus tard. Tous les trucs best.pretty précieuse, dans l'ensemble je pense que c'est digne d'un signet, grâce

[Adidas Bounce]

This is a great inspiring article. I am pretty much pleased with your good work. You put really very helpful information. Keep it up.

[Geordan]

No, Green, I'm gonna pass on that documentary, as well as your argument that DJ's are "musicians." We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one. Cool??

[KC Jones]

I'm sorry, but when Skrillex leaves his laptop in a cab and then has to cancel shows because of it, also claiming that his "new album" has been lost as well... I really can't feel sorry for the guy. If your entire livelihood is based on a hard drive, probably should have that backed up to the cloud at the very least. Guess the kids that were going to the cancelled shows will just have to put on their headphones and have a silent rave in the park instead.

P.S. - the Chili Peppers might make records that sell, but I don't know if I'd go so far as to call them "solid".

[Facts]

DJs ARE NOT musicians.

Only idiots do not back up lap tops.

The RHCP are a solid band, they paid their dues and are still going.

NBC is the worst broadcaster in the history of the Olympic.

[Green]

Did that really happen to Skrillex, if so, that is hilarious, what a fool, where is your backup! As far as the music debate, dj's craft music, maybe it's more of an editing process, but there is a lot that goes into it, it's easy to trash, now that said, I will still take a strat on a marshall stack any day over the computer and pretty lights.

ps ... chili peppers need to pick it up, they are close to being cut off

[K]

In 1965 while introducing the song 'Help' John Lennon said, "Next song we'd like to sing...is our latest record...or our latest electronic noise depending on whose side you're on..."
Link: http://youtu.be/Wikymu0FX5w?t=5m26s

So I find it kinda funny certain people these days are actually entertained by... electronic noise.
Perhaps I'm just too much of a fan of melodies, harmonies, lyrics and live instruments to embrace a lot of DJ 'music'.
However, to each your own.
I do get little kick out of certain tunes by Fatboy Slim and the like.

[Matt]

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are horrible.

[KC Jones]

If anyone has never seen the music video for "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim, do yourself a favor and go to youtube and watch it now!!! Best music video ever? Perhaps.

Oh and I guess I was wrong about the cab thing, here's what really happened...

"Skrillex (ex-From First To Last frontman Sonny Moore) had two laptops stolen from his hotel in Milan, Italy, last month—one of which contained all of his music files including a new album. He posted, "Just gonna set it strait. I had 2 laptops and both of my hard drives stolen out of my hotel in Milan Italy last month. On those laptops and drives were all the project files of Skrillex. All gone now. Also I had a new album that is now gone too. I spent a week pulling my hair out but now im just focussing on the future and re making my album."

Skrillex recently collaborated with Korn on a new song called "Get Up.""

[onthemark]

I have heard the Fatboy Slim song 'Praise You' and like it. However, I had no idea it was made by a DJ!

P.S. Get the damn spambots off this blog!

[whiner]

wh... wh.... whaaaaaa.... the Red Hot Chili Peppers are horrible, whaaaaa... whaaaa...... make them stop mommy.... they are so horrible.

[DJ Kick IT]

If more DJs created songs like this one then I would be a fan of more DJs (not saying that I (would ever) agree with otm... just sayin ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X_1o3Qw4KM

great song.

[Matt]

Did I make fun of your favorite shitty band DT?

[awwww]

wh... whh... whhhhhiney matty boy, always whhhhhaaaaa whhhhhining... poor wittle matty girl... awwww, always so buttt hurt.

[Matt]

Good one. I've got no respectable comeback for that one. I've been bested by a superior intellect.

[NEW]

"Best venue ever in KC ... turned it into a fern bar and killed it without ceremony."

Guess you missed that last weekend Ralph (Memorial Day 2004). It was anything but unceremonious. It was positively killer. But I digress. You are totally correct about what Stu Solomon did to that place. And that was after he said he was going to keep booking the same acts and just add some newer acts. Yeah right. Oh well, it was certainly Franks's gain. Good for him.

But surely you were happy with the new bathrooms, no?

[Matt]

I saw one show at the Grand Emporium over a decade ago and I don't really remember much about it. What's the backstory behind the venue you're referring to NEW?

[Alex]

Th bathrooms at the GE were fine, they had running water, and the ticket prices were usually only 8-10, not the 30-50-120 at your favorite dump.

I saw many many many shows at the GE, it was a good room, and for the record I MADE SURE to go down on that very last night and shake Roger's hand and tell him "thank you" for what he had done for us for so many years.

AND I SAY AGAIN-
THANK YOU ROGER FOR ALL THOSE
YEARS OF PROMOTING GREAT SHOWS...

So many great shows.... like how many times did we see Dick Dale walk out the GE's door, on to Main street, during his show, playing his guitar?? and.....
ah glory days.

[NEW]

Well Matt, I've only lived in the area since 2001 so there are others out here who are more knowledgable about the matter than I am. But the Grand Emporium (GE) was arguably one of the greatest blues clubs in the US. Sure it was a dive but that was part of what made it great.

In 2004, owner Roger Nabor annoucned he was getting out of the business and sold the place to Stu Solomon who owned such live music friendly venues as The Beaumont and Karma (among others). They closed the place for 4 months, saying that when they reopened, they would have the same great music as the old GE and add addtional acts as well.

Well, when it reopened in the Fall of 2004, I am not sure whether it was the marble bars and walls (which always makes for great acoustics!) or the DJ scene in the back room, but it was painfully obvious that new GE had no intentions of maintaining it's status as the formidable live music venue that it once was.

[Oscar]

and then/now is was/is dead.

[Bruce Springsteen]

Music means something to them, but it’s something very different than it was 40 years ago.

[onthemark]

Ramblin' Jack Elliott at Knuckleheads on Thursday night. Skid Row will be there on Friday night.

Talk about your diverse shows!Anybody going?

[Phil]

Bruce Springsteen, YOU SUCK!!

I have been waiting for you to post here, so I could tell you that.