I realize most of us have presale tickets...but has anyone seen Ticketmaster's interactive seat map for Toronto? It's going to be a bit thin up top.
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that's a really cool map.
have to make use of that going forward
NWOntario Wrote:I realize most of us have presale tickets...but has anyone seen Ticketmaster's interactive seat map for Toronto? It's going to be a bit thin up top.
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Sales for Winnipeg and Brandon have been brutal. I think Brandon is going to be half full. I can't figure out what's up with the Winnipeg show though. For World Container, the show was at basically the exact same time of the year and drew 11,000 people. Has The Hip's popularity decreased that much in the past six years that they'll get around 8,000 this time around? Personally, I think a lot of that has to do with how many times they've played here and how little radio supports their newer material. I think a lot of casuals have a "we've seen them once or twice before" attitude. I also think the free concert at The Forks here in 2000 and then playing four shows in 2009 satisfied a lot of people are are sitting out this time. Winnipeg is a weird place for ticket sales though. When Pearl Jam came here in 2005 it sold out the day tickets went on sale, 16,000 people. In 2011 there were 12,000 and the two records that came out since then arguably added to PJ's popularity with casual listeners.
Back to The Hip. It's funny looking at their itinerary for the Henhouse tour in 1996. Three shows in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and a couple places all got two shows. They weren't just the biggest Canadian band in Canada, but the (one of) the biggest bands in Canada. I guess The Hip haven't really had a commercial, mainstream "comeback" like PJ did with their last two records so they've slowly been getting less and less records sales and fans to shows.
Rye Wrote:NWOntario Wrote:I realize most of us have presale tickets...but has anyone seen Ticketmaster's interactive seat map for Toronto? It's going to be a bit thin up top.
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Sales for Winnipeg and Brandon have been brutal. I think Brandon is going to be half full. I can't figure out what's up with the Winnipeg show though. For World Container, the show was at basically the exact same time of the year and drew 11,000 people. Has The Hip's popularity decreased that much in the past six years that they'll get around 8,000 this time around? Personally, I think a lot of that has to do with how many times they've played here and how little radio supports their newer material. I think a lot of casuals have a "we've seen them once or twice before" attitude. I also think the free concert at The Forks here in 2000 and then playing four shows in 2009 satisfied a lot of people are are sitting out this time. Winnipeg is a weird place for ticket sales though. When Pearl Jam came here in 2005 it sold out the day tickets went on sale, 16,000 people. In 2011 there were 12,000 and the two records that came out since then arguably added to PJ's popularity with casual listeners.
Back to The Hip. It's funny looking at their itinerary for the Henhouse tour in 1996. Three shows in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and a couple places all got two shows. They weren't just the biggest Canadian band in Canada, but the (one of) the biggest bands in Canada. I guess The Hip haven't really had a commercial, mainstream "comeback" like PJ did with their last two records so they've slowly been getting less and less records sales and fans to shows.
Pearl Jam also has people like me following them around on tour. The Hip don't have that same sort of audience; lots of us have seen them plenty of times (I think tomorrow's #24 for me), but Pearl Jam literally has hundreds if not thousands of people seeing them multiple times each tour. That puts a huge dent in a venue's seating, especially for major cities; in Toronto in 2009, for instance, the 100 and 200 level of the Molson Amphitheatre all went to fan club members, and the remaining seats sold out the second the show went up on Ticketmaster. Beyond that, they're one of the most popular rock bands in the world.
Backspacer was surprisingly popular, and "The Fixer" is probably the band's biggest hit since "Better Man".
For the Hip, I think the explanation for this tour's slow sales--if they are, in fact, slow--is simply cost. Upper deck seats at the ACC for $86 a pop? For a band that any casual fan's had plenty of opportunity to see by now? That seems unreasonable to me. I'm paying $110 for a front row seat to Red Deer. That's a lot; that essentially means I'm only seeing one show this tour, whereas in previous years I'd have seen multiple shows at lower ticket prices. Anyway! I'm still expecting fireworks (heh) tomorrow. I just prefer seeing bands in sold-out venues.
NWOntario Wrote:Rye Wrote:NWOntario Wrote:I realize most of us have presale tickets...but has anyone seen Ticketmaster's interactive seat map for Toronto? It's going to be a bit thin up top.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/1000494C7D805559?artistid=736328&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=60&tm_link=search_msg-0_1000494C7D805559">http://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/100049 ... 4C7D805559</a><!-- m -->
Sales for Winnipeg and Brandon have been brutal. I think Brandon is going to be half full. I can't figure out what's up with the Winnipeg show though. For World Container, the show was at basically the exact same time of the year and drew 11,000 people. Has The Hip's popularity decreased that much in the past six years that they'll get around 8,000 this time around? Personally, I think a lot of that has to do with how many times they've played here and how little radio supports their newer material. I think a lot of casuals have a "we've seen them once or twice before" attitude. I also think the free concert at The Forks here in 2000 and then playing four shows in 2009 satisfied a lot of people are are sitting out this time. Winnipeg is a weird place for ticket sales though. When Pearl Jam came here in 2005 it sold out the day tickets went on sale, 16,000 people. In 2011 there were 12,000 and the two records that came out since then arguably added to PJ's popularity with casual listeners.
Back to The Hip. It's funny looking at their itinerary for the Henhouse tour in 1996. Three shows in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and a couple places all got two shows. They weren't just the biggest Canadian band in Canada, but the (one of) the biggest bands in Canada. I guess The Hip haven't really had a commercial, mainstream "comeback" like PJ did with their last two records so they've slowly been getting less and less records sales and fans to shows.
Pearl Jam also has people like me following them around on tour. The Hip don't have that same sort of audience; lots of us have seen them plenty of times (I think tomorrow's #24 for me), but Pearl Jam literally has hundreds if not thousands of people seeing them multiple times each tour. That puts a huge dent in a venue's seating, especially for major cities; in Toronto in 2009, for instance, the 100 and 200 level of the Molson Amphitheatre all went to fan club members, and the remaining seats sold out the second the show went up on Ticketmaster. Beyond that, they're one of the most popular rock bands in the world. Backspacer was surprisingly popular, and "The Fixer" is probably the band's biggest hit since "Better Man".
For the Hip, I think the explanation for this tour's slow sales--if they are, in fact, slow--is simply cost. Upper deck seats at the ACC for $86 a pop? For a band that any casual fan's had plenty of opportunity to see by now? That seems unreasonable to me. I'm paying $110 for a front row seat to Red Deer. That's a lot; that essentially means I'm only seeing one show this tour, whereas in previous years I'd have seen multiple shows at lower ticket prices. Anyway! I'm still expecting fireworks (heh) tomorrow. I just prefer seeing bands in sold-out venues.
I agree with the price point comment and that it's a better atmosphere in a full venue. PJ however charges the same price for all their tickets. so price in the uppers are probably $70 or $75 nowadays, but so are front row seats. I'm just surprised in this country how The Hip's popularity has declined in the past ten years whereas PJ's popularity in North America has at the very least stabilized.
The two Hip shows in the next week will be my 14th and 15th and I've seen PJ 36 times, they are obviously with those numbers my two favourite bands. I feel like The Hip could have had a similar Grateful Dead-like following but it seems like they'd rather cater their show to casual fans than the diehards.
Perhaps the ticket price has to do with the limited number of dates.
Rye Wrote:I agree with the price point comment and that it's a better atmosphere in a full venue. PJ however charges the same price for all their tickets. so price in the uppers are probably $70 or $75 nowadays, but so are front row seats. I'm just surprised in this country how The Hip's popularity has declined in the past ten years whereas PJ's popularity in North America has at the very least stabilized.
The two Hip shows in the next week will be my 14th and 15th and I've seen PJ 36 times, they are obviously with those numbers my two favourite bands. I feel like The Hip could have had a similar Grateful Dead-like following but it seems like they'd rather cater their show to casual fans than the diehards.
What was the Hip's last bona fide hit? "In View"? You could almost argue that their last big hit was "My Music at Work"; that doesn't diminish what they've released in the intervening years (I will argue until I'm blue in the face that
World Container is a top-three all-time Hip album), but between that, higher ticket prices, and the fact that most casual fans have seen them by now, I think it's pretty easy to explain slow sales. Ultimately, I care less about a full venue if I'm so close I can't see the seats behind me--front row in Red Deer, baby!
This is my 24th Hip show; I'm stuck at 32 for Pearl Jam, although apparently there's an announcement coming later today involving Chicago (so Wrigley?!!!).
If anyone's interested I'll be live tweeting tonight's Red Deer setlist, venue 3G permitting. I'm at @snjohns.
NWOntario Wrote:If anyone's interested I'll be live tweeting tonight's Red Deer setlist, venue 3G permitting. I'm at @snjohns.
Just followed you. Thanks for doing this!
Rye Wrote:NWOntario Wrote:If anyone's interested I'll be live tweeting tonight's Red Deer setlist, venue 3G permitting. I'm at @snjohns.
Just followed you. Thanks for doing this!
No worries. Thanks for following along!
NWOntario Wrote:For the Hip, I think the explanation for this tour's slow sales--if they are, in fact, slow--is simply cost. Upper deck seats at the ACC for $86 a pop? For a band that any casual fan's had plenty of opportunity to see by now? That seems unreasonable to me. I'm paying $110 for a front row seat to Red Deer. That's a lot; that essentially means I'm only seeing one show this tour, whereas in previous years I'd have seen multiple shows at lower ticket prices. Anyway! I'm still expecting fireworks (heh) tomorrow. I just prefer seeing bands in sold-out venues.
Just paid $163 for a pair of Ten Club tickets for the show in London ON this summer.
I'll be live tweeting the setlist for tonight's show in Edmonton. @jrkerr
What time have the Hip been starting on this tour? My wife has to work until 6:00 and we have a 1.5 hour drive to the Guelph show. Hoping that we can catch some of the Arkells and that we will be there in plenty of time for the hip.
jay420 Wrote:What time have the Hip been starting on this tour? My wife has to work until 6:00 and we have a 1.5 hour drive to the Guelph show. Hoping that we can catch some of the Arkells and that we will be there in plenty of time for the hip.
In regina, Arkells were roughly 7:55pm - 8:35pm ... Hip were on at 9 on the dot.