Mystic Jovi Angel 13's blog: "Bon jovi tour dates"

Bon Jovi: “Selling Out” Without Selling-Out Body: I'm not making decisions with my wallet anymore -Jon Bon Jovi Billboard’s Boxscore was reported on 11/15/07 and found Bon Jovi at the Number-one position. Here are the totals: Bon Jovi Prudential Center-Newark, N.J. Oct. 25-26, 28, 30, Nov. 1, 3-4, 7, 9-10, 2007 Promoter: AEG Live Total Gross: $16,379,070 Attended / Capacity 138,322 / 140,000 Number of Shows/ Number of Sellouts 10 / 0 Prices: $303 to $49.50 Bon Jovi grossed a whopping $16,379,070.00 over ten nights at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Now, on any one's watch, this would be a wild success, however, I think it was a PR nightmare for the band and no matter how much they disguised it, they can't hide the fact that they shot themselves in the foot with these shows. Why was this a PR nightmare? Not one of the shows sold out, even though Jon Bon Jovi says so, with cockiness, on their new DVD. The failure to sell these shows out has NOTHING to do where the shows took place, nothing to do with the band's new album, 'Lost Highway' and it has nothing to do with the band. It has EVERYTHING to do with ticket prices. Here's my take on the whole fiasco. The band was testing waters to see how much of a "super star" band they truly are. "Are we under charging our fans for tickets?" is probably what went through their heads. So they decided to "test" the waters and see how insane their most loyal fans really are. They were probably thinking, "if this takes off, we can charge this much everywhere!" Will they sell as well as the Stones, Madonna or McCartney? However, what shocked me is that the handlers at Bon Jovi Management and AEG did not do their homework. Sure, Madonna, the Stones and McCartney all had tickets in the $250 and $350 price margin...but what they didn't seem to comprehend is that very few people actually buy these seats. In the case of all three of these artists, I could go online the day of the show and often find tenth row tickets for these prices and yet no one appeared to be buying them even leading right up to show time. Many of these pricey seats are "papered" to industry peeps, record company people and reviewers. So where does this leave the casual fan? In the cold. For example, for a fan to attend all ten nights, it would cost them well over $3,000. Now, the band did not perform anything starting or unique over these ten-nights and in truth, I think they came off as a weak stand in the band's career. Another startling aspect that disturbed me was that during the pre-sale tickets were priced between $67.50 and $337.50. All of a sudden when they went on sale, they were priced between $49.50 and $337.50. Now granted, Bon Jovi worked out a deal where all tickets bought during the pre-sale included a digital copy of 'Lost Highway' with the $9.99 price worked in...but $337 minus $10 equals $327. What happened to the other $24? I inquired and never got a response. In short, die-hard fans who bought tickets during the pre-sale paid $34 more than those during the regular sale. Obviously, tickets were not selling well and they decided to drop the ticket price quietly. Why didn't anyone take notice of this? Why didn't the New Jersey newspapers pick up on this and point this out? I think Bon Jovi took their most loyal and hometown fans for a ride and very few in the media have stepped up and asked important questions that needed to be asked. They were given a pass. Why? Oh wait, that's right, because in this day and age, your access and credentials are only as valid and good as your most recent review. You choose to speak the truth and you're blacklisted from reviewing the band or getting free tickets. Here is the worst aspect of this all...the band did NOT need to rape and pillage their hometown fans in order to be profitable. Here is a breakdown of what SHOULD have happened: Based on all articles I read, the planned capacity for these shows was 16,000 (they could not utilize the 19,000 seat capacity because of their stage set up). Why they only chose to report 140,000 is beyond me. This is nothing new in the concert industry as they often disguise poor selling shows with lowering the capacity. My all time favorite was in 2003 when Springsteen put a stadium show on sale in March for Denver. He was playing the football stadium with a capacity well over 50,000 seats. He only sold 26,000 and they reported it in Billboard with a capacity of 30,000. It was laughable when it was reported, but still, it's a common practice in the industry to disguise shows that did not sell up to expectations. OK, now onto the math. Now, in my opinion, these shows should have sold out easily and the key to making this stand legendary was to ensure tickets were impossible to come by. In today's day and age, tickets to almost all arena and stadium shows can be had outside the arena for far below face value. However, if Bon Jovi and AEG had been smart, they would have priced these shows affordably at price ranges of $85, $55 and $35. If they had stuck to these prices, they would have created excitement, fervor and unparalleled NEED for more shows. One thing that every artist who is raising their ticket prices is oblivious to is that you should feel honored that people go to scalpers to want to see you. Is it right? Hell no, but two wrongs don't make a right and when the band begins scalping their tickets (in essence) you've lost the plot. Prince triumphantly sold out TWENTY-ONE shows in London in August and September. How? It’s simple, every ticket was priced at $62.42 (aka 31.21 Pounds). The key to coolness and longevity is to create demand! The day that people stop scalping your tickets is the day you need to worry. I saw online brokers charging $4,000 to seats at these Bon Jovi shows, but please, I highly doubt any of them sold any tickets especially when Bon Jovi was charging $1,000 via Ticketmaster for a "Lost Highway Experience" and these tickets never appeared to have sold out. If I was an artist, I would want as many people to see my show as possible. With the average ticket price for these shows well over $100, they alienated those blue collar workers WHO DEFINE THEIR CORE AUDIENCE. For example, let's say the band has 16,000 seats to sell; Take 8,000 of those seats and charge $85 per ticket. You have a gross of $680,000. Then let's say 4,000 are priced at $55. That gives you a gross of $220,000. Lastly, let's say the remaining seats (4,000) are all nosebleeds or behind the stage, price these at $35 each. You have a gross of $140,000. Add those three totals up and you have $1,040,000. Granted that is $600,000 less than the per show gross they made, but if they had charged these prices, they would have been NO bad press and EVERYONE would have wanted to go. It's like the unattainable girl in high school that every boy wants. Who does she go for? The good guy who she knows is in love with her? No way, she goes for the guy who doesn't express his emotions...she wants a challenge...SHE WANTS WHAT SHE CAN NOT HAVE! It's the same thing with the industry and I have to admit to wanting to see a smaller show that unexpectedly sells out more than one where tickets are plentifully available. Another possible money option I have for Bon Jovi would have involved getting rid of the screens and stupid backdrops on stage to utilize the entire 19,000 seat capacity. I ranted and raved about this a few months back at antiMusic (link is here). Every time an artist does not sell these seats behind the stage that means fewer people who will be exposed to the new music, fewer who will buy merchandise and fewer who will seek out your new album! The more people you play to, the more your records will sell! Let's do the same math for the $85 ticket...for a gross of $680,000. Let's double the number of $55 tickets to 8,000 and this gives a gross of $440,000. Take the remaining 3,000 seats and price them at $35, you have a gross of $105,000. These three price tiers total up to $1,225,000. Multiply this by ten and you come up with $12,250,000. Subtract the total gross from this theoretical figure and the difference is $4,129,070. In short, Bon Jovi sold out their fan base and threw them under a bus for $4 million dollars, or $400,000 per night. Yes, that is a lot of money, but the band doesn't need it! Jon Bon Jovi has been quoted saying "I made my first million by the time I was 25 and my first 100-million by the time I was 35". If you had a business and you were incredibly profitable and had loyal customers, would you triple your prices for the short term easy money? This is exactly what Bon Jovi did and I can't tell you how many fans they alienated in the process. Even worse, let’s say that Bon Jovi made those extra 5,000 seats available with a good view of the stage, chances are they would have spent an average amount of $10 per person on merchandise. That is $50,000 extra per nights and $500,000 extra over the course of ten nights. The more and more you look at cheaper ticket prices, the more it appears that the band will probably make almost as much money in the long run through album sales and merchandise, while maintaining their credibility. All of a sudden, that $4 million gap becomes $3.5 million. Also, it’s no secret that the less a ticket costs, the more inclined one is to buying merchandise. If you really want to be frustrated, in order to make up the $3.5 million all the band had to do was perform three more shows and they would have made more than the ten nights at obscene ticket prices. To really put it in perspective, all it would have involved was 7.5 hours of extra work for the band. That is less than what the average American workers works in one day! This is a band who didn't feel like doing three extra shows, instead it's all about doing as few shows as possible and making the maximum amount of money. Could you imagine telling your boss you want a 200% increase in salary with the caveat that you are going to work fewer hours? How do you think that would go over? Here is what kills me, Bon Jovi fought the hard fights and have found themselves able to fill arenas nationwide. Why not take the Tom Petty and Pearl Jam route and undercut your contemporaries? Make it easy for fans to choose your concert before all others. One of the most amazing things I witnessed was in 2005 when Tom Petty sold-out 30,000 seats here in Chicago. Ironically he had played the Chicago area upwards of a dozen times in the three-years before this show (including a week long stand at a club). How did he not saturate the market? His tickets were cheap and affordable ($25-$65). The other thing that astonished me was that fifty-percent of the audience was under the age of 30. I don’t think I’ve seen more than ten-people under the age of thirty at any Springsteen show in the last few years and I'd say less than 10% of the audience at Bon Jovi is under 30. The youth is the future of the music and concert industry and they’re not in the habit of paying $100 for tickets, let alone nosebleeds. Bon Jovi has more money than God and they’ve survived for a quarter of a century, why not charge less and ensure that the next generation can witness their magic? We all deserve a discount, this is a guy who pays $71 in taxes for a 6 acre piece of prime real estate property for his bee farm. That is less than the service fee his fan club charges for two fan club tickets. They have more money than they could ever dream of spending, why gouge fans for more? Should you price tickets affordably (all under $100) ensuring a sell-out, good word of mouth, a new generation of fans and maximum exposure to your show, OR should you drive up the price, paper the unsold expensive tickets to industry peeps and piss off your most loyal fans leaving such a bad taste in your mouth that it will stay there forever? "We are very aware of ticket prices when we set up a tour," Bon Jovi says. "We don't do a cheap ticket, but we do a very fair ticket price. Forget about the cost of a concert ticket, I'm very aware of the cost of living. I can't dispute what the Stones or Madonna wanna charge, but I know that to take a date to a concert, park the car, get a T-shirt, buy a couple of beers -- that's more than a week's pay for a lot of folks. We charge less and know that 50,000 seats will be sold for Soldier Field. That's just good business." -Jon Bon Jovi Chicago Sun-Times July 21, 2006

Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre - 11/15/07 Set List INTRO LOST HIGHWAY BAD NAME RAISE YOUR HANDS RUNAWAY RADIO SAVED MY LIFE SUMMERTIME WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN' BORN TO BE MY BABY STORY OF MY LIFE WE GOT IT GOIN' ON IT'S MY LIFE BAD MEDICINE W/ SHOUT THESE DAYS - RICHIE VOX (YOU WANT TO) MAKE A MEMORY I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU BED OF ROSES LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME HAVE A NICE DAY FAITH WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME PRAYER ENCORE: HALLELUJAH WANTED I LOVE THIS TOWN TREAT HER RIGHT BON JOVI LOST HIGHWAY WOLD TOUR 2008 BON JOVI LOST HIGHWAY WORLD TOUR 2008 ..> Sat, Nov 17, 2007 7:30 PM Scotiabank Place Kanata - Canada Bon Jovi w/ Hedley SOLD OUT Mon, Nov 19, 2007 7:30 PM John Labatt Centre London - Canada Bon Jovi w/ Hedley SOLD OUT Thu, Dec 6, 2007 7:30 PM Air Canada Centre Toronto - Canada Bon Jovi w/ Hedley SOLD OUT Fri, Dec 7, 2007 7:00 PM Air Canada Centre Toronto - Canada Bon Jovi w/ Hedley SOLD OUT Sun, Dec 9, 2007 7:00 PM MTS Centre Winnipeg, MB - Canada Bon Jovi w/ Hedley C Package Still Available Mon, Dec 10, 2007 7:30 PM PM Credit Union Centre Saskatoon, SK - Canada Bon Jovi w/ Hedley C Package Still Available Wed, Dec 12, 2007 7:30 PM Rexall Place Edmonton, AB - Canada Bon Jovi w/ Hedley SOLD OUT Thu, Dec 13, 2007 7:30 PM Pengrowth Saddledome Calgary, AB - Canada Bon Jovi w/ Hedley SOLD OUT Sat, Dec 15, 2007 7:30 PM General Motors Place Vancouver, BC Bon Jovi w/ Hedley SOLD OUT Sun, Dec 16, 2007 7:30 PM General Motors Place Vancouver, BC Bon Jovi w/ Hedley SOLD OUT Fri, Jan 11, 2008 Nagoya Dome Nagoya, Japan Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Sun, Jan 13, 2008 Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Mon, Jan 14, 2008 Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Wed, Jan 16, 2008 Kyocera Dome Osaka Osaka, Japan Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Sat, Jan 19th, 2008 The Arts Centrre, Sidney Myer Music Bowl Melbourne, Australia Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Mon, Jan 21st, 2008 Acer Arena Sydney, Australia Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Tue, Jan 22nd, 2008 Acer Arena Sydney, Australia Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Fri, Jan 25th, 2008 (Australia Day Eve) Subiaco Oval Perth Australia Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Sun, Jan 27, 2008 AMI Stadium, Christchurch - New Zealand Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available Feb 18, 2008 Qwest Center Omaha, NE Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available Feb 20, 2008 The Palace of Auburn Hills Detroit, MI Bon Jovi Tickets Only Still Available Feb 21, 2008 Bradley Center Milwaukee, WI Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Feb 23, 2008 United Center Chicago, IL Bon Jovi SOLD OUT United Center Chicago, IL Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Feb 28, 2008 Verizon Center Washington, DC Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Mar 02, 2008 Wachovia Center Philadelphia, PA Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Mar 03, 2008 Wachovia Center Philadelphia, PA Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Mar 5, 2008 Quicken Loan Arena Cleveland, OH Bon Jovi Fan Club Tickets On Sale Soon Mar 10, 2008 Air Canada Centre Toronto, ON Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Mar 15, 2008 Mellon Arena Pittsburgh, PA Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available Mar 18, 2008 Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, MN Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Mar 31, 2008 Pepsi Center Denver, CO Bon Jovi PACKAGE B STILL AVAILABLE Apr 02, 2008 HP Pavilion San Jose, CA Bon Jovi Tickets Only Still Available Apr 04, 2008 Honda Center Anaheim, CA Bon Jovi Tickets Only Still Available Apr 05, 2008 Honda Center Anaheim, CA Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Apr 09, 2008 Staples Center Los Angeles, CA Bon Jovi Tickets Only Still Available Apr 11, 2008 Jobing.com Arena Phoenix, AZ Bon Jovi Tickets Only Still Available Apr 14, 2008 American Airlines Center Dallas, TX Bon Jovi Tickets Only Still Available Apr 15, 2008 Ford Center Oklahoma City, OK Bon Jovi PACKAGE B STILL AVAILABLE Apr 20, 2008 Wells Fargo Arena Des Moines, IA Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available Apr 22, 2008 Sprint Center Kansas City Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available Apr 24, 2008 Sommet Center Nashville, TN Bon Jovi Tickets Only Still Available Apr 26, 2008 BankAtlantic Center Ft. Lauderdale, FL Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Apr 27, 2008 St. Pete Times Forum Tampa, FL Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Apr 30, 2008 Philips Arena Atlanta, GA Bon Jovi SOLD OUT May 22, 2008 Veltins Stadium Gelsinkirchen, Germany Bon Jovi VIP TOUR STILL AVAILABLE May 24, 2008 Olympiastadion München, Germany Bon Jovi VIP TOUR STILL AVAILABLE May 25, 2008 Zentralstadion Leipzig, Germany Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available May 28, 2008 HSH Nordbank Arena Hamburg, Germany Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available May 29, 2008 Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion Stuttgart, Germany Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available June 1, 2008 Olympic Stadium Barcelona, Spain Bon Jovi VIP TOUR STILL AVAILABLE June 3, 2008 Commerzbank Arena Frankfurt , Germany Bon Jovi VIP TOUR STILL AVAILABLE June, 4, 2008 Magna Rancho Vienna, Austria Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available June 7, 2008 Punchestown Dublin, Eire Bon Jovi VIP TOUR STILL AVAILABLE June 11, 2008 St Mary's Southhampton, UK Bon Jovi SOLD OUT June 13, 2008 Arena Amsterdam, Holland Bon Jovi SOLD OUT June 14, 2008 King Bauduin Stadium Brussel's Belgium Bon Jovi SOLD OUT June 16, 2008 Olympia Stadium Helsinki, Finland Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available June 18, 2008 Valle Hovin Oslo, Norway Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available June 19, 2008 Giestrup Randers, Denmark Bon Jovi Tickets Now Available June 21, 2008 Hampden Park Glasgow, UK Bon Jovi SOLD OUT June 22, 2008 City Of Manchester Manchester, UK Bon Jovi SOLD OUT June 24, 2008 Ricoh Arena Coventry, UK Bon Jovi SOLD OUT June 25, 2008 Ashton Gate Bristol, UK Bon Jovi SOLD OUT June 27, 2008 Twickenham London, UK Bon Jovi SOLD OUT Thursday, November 15, 2007

Here are Bon Jovi's North American tour dates: Oct. 26, 28, 30, Nov. 1, 3-4, 7, 9-10: Newark, N.J. (Prudential Center) Nov. 14-15: Montreal, Quebec (Bell Centre) Nov. 17: Ottawa, Ontario (Scotiabank Bank Place) Nov. 19: London, Ontario (John Labatt Centre) Dec. 6-7: Toronto (Air Canada Centre) Dec. 9: Winnipeg, Manitoba (MTS Centre) Dec. 10: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Credit Union Centre) Dec. 12: Edmonton, Alberta (Rexall Place) Dec. 13: Calgary, Alberta (Pengrowth Saddledome) Dec. 15-16: Vancouver (GM Place) Feb. 18: Omaha, Neb. (Qwest Center) Feb. 20: Detroit (the Palace of Auburn Hills) Feb. 23-24: Chicago (United Center) Feb. 28: Washington, D.C. (Verizon Center) March 2-3: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center) March 5: Pittsburgh (Mellon Arena) March 10: Toronto (Air Canada Centre) March 18: St. Paul, Minn. (Xcel Energy Center) March 31: Denver (Pepsi Center) April: San Jose, Calif. (HP Pavilion) April 4-5: Anaheim, Calif. (Honda Center) April 8: Phoenix (Jobing.com Arena) April 9: Los Angeles (Staples Center) April 14: Dallas (American Airlines Center) April 15: Oklahoma City (Ford Center) April 20: Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center) April 22: Des Moines, Iowa (Wells Fargo Arena) April 24: Nashville (Sommet Center) April 26: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (BankAtlantic Center) April 27: Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum) April 30: Atlanta (Philips Arena)