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GREAT WOOD I BELIEVE HOLDS CLOSE TO 30,000 , DON'T FORGET WITH BASEBALL STADIUMS THE STAGE IS IN THE OUT FIELD AND MOST STADIUMS HAVE BLEACHERS AND THEY DON'T PUT SEATS ON THE INFIELD. LIKE FENWAY. SO WHAT THE STADIUM HOLDS FOR A SHOW IS USUALLY LESS THAN STADIUM CAPACITY. I KNOW THEY HAVE SEATS ON THE OUTFIELD. BUT USUALLY IT'S NOT THE CAPACITY IN WHAT THE LOOSE FROM BLOCKED OFF AREAS. FOOTBALL STADIUMS ARE DIFFERENT THEY WILL PUT AS MANY SEATS ON THE FIELD AS THEY CAN FIT

Lightning Bolt wrote:

weirdo0521 wrote:

phrankbama wrote:I think there is a lot of speculation going on here. If you look at the shows that have officially been annouced, I don't see one stadium on the list. So who is to say that Jimmy is only going to do stadiums this year?

You are right...when a promoter says "stadium" they are usually referring to football stadiums......there have been many rumors of Gilette, so we will see..the funny thing is some of these baseball stadiums that he is going to play hold around the same as some of the regular outdoor venues

I know that Coors Amphitheatre in SD doesn't hold 35-40,000 phans.
Neither does Irvine Meadows. I'm betting that Great Woods or Tinley Park doesn't either
Philly and Pittsburgh's shows look to be going on sale real soon, so I'm thinking...
if it's gonna be downtown at Petco Park ....

PARTY IN THE SUN ON THE TOP LEVEL OF THE PARKING STRUCTURE!!!

Alpine Valley holds 35,00.....Tinley Park is around 25k... PNC is 35k for a baseball game so probably around 30k... Not that big a difference in audience size

I don't know the why's and wherefor's of all the venue changes, or whether or not this might be the last hurrah..... But I do know this... I went to the Fenway shows last year. They were cool, because they were unique, but Fenway Park was WAY less than optimum for a concert unless you were one of the lucky few to be in the front section on the field.

It saddens me to see many of this year's shows shifted to stadiums..... One venue shift a year, a Fenway or a Wrigley, cool. A tour made up of mainly stadiums? And with climbing ticket prices? I don't like it, and not sure how many I'll get to.... Seems like an era has ended....

As a 14 time veteran of Great Woods, it "only" holds 20,000 Parrotheads!

bgsherris wrote:

RinglingRingling wrote: I am thinking it is more along the line of JBFins offered as an explanation. "Go out, one last huge tour, play as many stadiums as you can for top dollar, then bag it."

Sadly enough, I think you've hit it right on the head.

I just wish Jimmy had the fairness and common sense to end his touring career with the same audience that "brung him." In other words, those who have been loyal for decades...not just those who have discovered him these last few years now that he has become "trendy."

Trust me folks, after this coming summer of stadium tours, we are going to be pining for those wonderful Great Woods, Montessori, All For The Sea type concerts where you could actually see him with the naked eye instead of on a 150 foot wide video screen.

B.

Gotta get my two cents in.

I have been a Jimmy Buffett fan and parrothead for only about 3 years. Yes, a newbie! But after seeing Jimmy in the Jacksonville Arena(only holds 14,500)and seeing how he feeds off the rejoicing of the audience, I don't think he is ready to call it quits. He has said numerous times that "when it stops being fun" and If he ever had to start using a teleprompter, then he would stop touring. He is still having too much fun. Sure he has had success with books and the new album. Sure he has picked up many new fans. But he knows it is not in the books or the albums, but in the live shows.

And what is this that I am constantly reading that Jimmy owes his fans anything. Sure you guys who have been around since the late 60's has supported him with your time. But to say he doen't need to perform in stadiums? He does because of supply and demand. He is a very smart businessman. Sure the concerts sell at in 10 - 15 minutes. Jacksonville did. Many of the local fans could not get tickets because so many of the out of state fans are jealous of our nice weather (snow in NC north today and tonight). It was still near 70 today here. We welcome you guys here, but if Jimmy was to play Jacksonville next year, I would hope for the Altell Stadium. He could fill it.

Just had to get my two cents in. Just don't see Jimmy quitting this year.

phrankbama wrote:I think there is a lot of speculation going on here. If you look at the shows that have officially been annouced, I don't see one stadium on the list. So who is to say that Jimmy is only going to do stadiums this year?

That is laughable....2 shows in Philly's baseball stadium (tickets already on sale), plus Gilette and Wrigley....and PNC Park is just about a sure thing.

What is "announced" means little....apparently, tickets for the Philly shows will go on sale before they are officially "announced."

Anyone who has been to a stadium show vs an ampitheatre show knows the difference. If I pay for lawn tix at Starlake, I know that I am paying less money, will be further from the stage, but will be in a general party atmosphere where you can dance and move around...that offsets being so close and is worth the cheaper price.

A "cheap" ticket at a stadium has none of the same benefits, but the same drawbacks.

I've never been a fan of any stadium shows......... The sound is usually blah and if ya don't have good seats, it $ucks more................. There is nothing better than smaller venues & theatre shows............

I'm not really a fan of the idea of stadium shows. I will miss the lawn in Camden very much. But I also don't mind paying $46 for 400 level at Citizen's Bank. I love my seats there for baseball and I'm sure it won't be bad for Buffett. You also have to look at ticket prices for other top acts that play stadiums, hell the Stones charged $75 for the top of the Vet last time they played. Honestly, this isn't even going to be a "Stadium Tour" it's going to be a Ballpark Tour. The only stadium I've really heard talk of is Gillette. Jimmy LOVES baseball. I don't think he's totally abandoning the venues he is used to playing but after Fenway teams starting thinking about having him play there as well, particularly the Cubs after Buffett broke the curse in Boston . Personally I do not think size of the venue is the issue. Most of the ballparks he is rumored to be playing are only slightly larger than the ampitheaters he normally plays in the areas. I believe that he is just a baseball fan taking advantage of the oppertunity to be one of if not the only musical act to play these parks.

It is too bad Steve Huntington won't have the balls or the brains to ask JB why he decided on these venues when/if he does a pre-concert interview.

bgsherris wrote:I just wish Jimmy had the fairness and common sense to end his touring career with the same audience that "brung him." In other words, those who have been loyal for decades...not just those who have discovered him these last few years now that he has become "trendy."

I couldn't disagree more. Jimmy never called me up and said "Help me out by buying my albums, going to my concerts, eating at my restaurants, buying my books and buying my merchandise." It was something I chose to do because:
1. I wanted to;
2. I could;
3. It was a lot of fun;
4. I got to meet a lot of great people from all over the country and a JB concert was sometimes the only chance we had to see each other;
5. I get to see Heather (come on, I had to throw that one in there)
6. and did I already say "I wanted to"?

Jimmy Buffett could retire tomorrow and he wouldn't owe me a thing, he's already given me more than enough.

jbfins wrote:It is too bad Steve Huntington won't have the balls or the brains to ask JB why he decided on these venues when/if he does a pre-concert interview.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Jimmy Steve H's boss? Who the hell would be stupid enough to put his boss on the spot in front of a worldwide audience? Steve has the brains NOT to do such a stupid thing....

Can you imagine this? Jimmy visits a Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant. The manager steps out into the dining room and yells across to JB, "Hey boss! How come we don't serve sushi here? I mean, is there a REASON we don't serve sushi??" How long do you think that manager would have his job?

You don't put your boss on the spot in front of an audience.... Besides, maybe Jimmy told Steve that topic was out of bounds, don't go there..... Or maybe Steve asked in private, got an answer in private, and was told not to make it public....

At any rate, calling into question Steve's manhood and/or brainpower because he doesn't nail his boss to the wall is just ignorant.......

i think he is doing the stadiums to cut back on travel. plus, he knows his fans will travel.doing a couple of stadium shows equals almost 4 amphitheatre shows.with great woods it could be other shows are scheduled there already.most summer tours have been scheduled.we still don't know what buffett's tour schedule is. we can all speculate what it is. a football stadium won't be as bad as a baseball stadium for shows.

but where in new york will he play?? i'll even paint baselines in my backyard if he'll be more comfy..

I love stadium shows because the tickets are normally priced cheap, if they are expensive then it sucks but I can live with high priced tickets if the bill is loaded with good bands.

Stadium shows also make it possible for everyone to get to the show without scalpers because the scum dont have enough resources to nearly buy the place out before the tickets go onsale like they can with basketball arenas.

and finally Why the Steve bashing I like the guy, even if he's a little dull sometimes.

Touch O Parrotdise wrote:but where in new york will he play?? i'll even paint baselines in my backyard if he'll be more comfy..

Giant stadium or shea stadium. both have parking. yankee stadium would be a parking nightmare, if he plays new york.maybe jones beach because he lives there.

I was one of those who whined incessantly last year about no Great Woods shows and Fenway sucks, blah, blah, blah...and then went to see him at Fenway anyway. We ate and drank at the Tiki Room for 9 hours before the show, had a great time and knew that we'd be back at Great Woods for Labor Day 2005.

Not so fast, I guess. Compared to a lot of you, I'm still a newbie. 15 shows from 1996-2004, mostly at Great Woods. The Labor Day weekend shows for me and so many others became an annual right of passage. The official end of summer blowout with 19,900 of our closest friends.

I guess we're lucky that Jimmy hasn't left us high and dry in Mass. He'll probably be at Gillette on July 4th which I know some PH's would kill for. However, for those of us who have grown older, but not up year after year at Great Woods, there is definitely a feeling of sadness if in fact the door is closing on the amphitheaters.

Since I started this topic I guess I should put my 2 cents worth in.

You have to look at all the new stadiums (both baseball & football) that have been built in the last 5 years and remember that a lot of these are owned or controlled by the owners and having concerts there is just another way for them to make money. Even though the teams want it the promotors are only going to book a concert in a 50,000 seat place with a "Sure Thing". Every year Jimmy Buffett is a "Sure Thing" to sell out all his shows so what has probably happened is the promotors are pushing this and are offering up a great deal to him to play these places.

This isn't like the package country shows that have been around for a few years or like back in the old days when you would have multi headliners and the show lasted all day this is 1 band playing for about 3 hours. The last few years there were not a lot bands out there where a promotor would take that big of a risk and other than the Stones, Springsteen, or the Dave Matthews Band I don't know any other bands that could pull it off alone but Jimmy Buffett.

I think this has been something that was bound to happen sooner or later and to tell you the truth I surprised the promotors didn't talk him into it 3 or 4 years ago.

And just for the record on anyone complaining about size. DMB dates came out today and I was looking at the capacity of Alpine Valley. 40,000!!!!!!!!! That is more than any of these stadium shows will hold except Gilette.

SchoolGirlHeart wrote: Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Jimmy Steve H's boss? Who the hell would be stupid enough to put his boss on the spot in front of a worldwide audience? Steve has the brains NOT to do such a stupid thing....

Speaking from past experience, it is NOT good to do something like that.