Saturday, July 10, 2010

Jon Bon Jovi keeps the faith

Here's an article by Sandra Sperounes in the Edmonton Journal, in the lead-up to Bon Jovi's July 15, 2010 show at Commonwealth Stadium:
Jon Bon Jovi sounds a bit bleary-eyed as he sits in a stranger's home, fielding phone calls about his band's upcoming tour across North America.

There's an interesting bit about ticket prices:
Artists are cancelling dates left and right, with Christina Aguilera pulling the plug on her entire tour and Lilith axing as many as 10 shows. (Ticket sales are down by 17 per cent from last year, according to Pollstar magazine.)

Even Bon Jovi isn't safe. Tickets are still available for Thursday's show at Commonwealth Stadium. Prices are now as low as $10. Jon Bon Jovi isn't too worried. Their 12-show run in London netted $18.1 million US, according to Billboard magazine.

"We've been blessed, more than blessed," he says. "Our shows have been up there in the 99 percentile (of ticket sales). Four nights at Giants Stadium, two nights in Toronto, two nights in Chicago, 12 nights in London, it's just beyond our comprehension.

"People with disposable income ... there are so many choices for them to utilize it. I think the A-list entertainer is always going to be OK, but it's going to be harder for the struggling guy, unless he does a festival situation. I'm not quite sure how it's going to go."

Bon Jovi could be contributing to the concert industry's current woes. The band is one of dozens of performers who offer pricey VIP packages to their fans. Then again, you could say those VIP packages allow the band to offer $10 tickets to fans without a lot of disposable income. In a sense, Jon Bon Jovi is as much of a socialist as he is a capitalist.

"If people want to pay X for what they're promised, there's nothing wrong with it," he says. "It's up to the individual. Nobody's stealing anything, nobody's scalping anything. It's all really above board."
Hmmm. Well, that's a creative spin on it (with spin being the operative word, I'm afraid). Read the full article here.

2 comments:

  1. Jon is full of shit...but, I still love him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Didn't see any £10 tickets for London. Just overpriced shit tickets and overpriced good tickets. Plus fees.

    ReplyDelete

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