Manowar U.S. tour dates

[SF Metal Man]

I said I was done, but I have to say I'm curious about something. If Manowar is considered a failure for only drawing 800 and that it is blamed on being a cost prohibitive ticket, what does that say about other tour packages at the same venue with a lower ticket price and a similar draw. The crowds at the Kreator/ Accept, Accept/Sabaton, and Symphony X/Iced Earth shows were all probably about the same as Manowar, and all of those shows were in the $30-40 range. Were those concerts cost prohibitive too?

 

[dcowboys311]

How many bands get to be labeled "the best"?

Seeing how Metal is made up of dozens subgenres and literally almost 100,000 bands (check Metal Archives if you don't believe me), more than 5 or 6. Even at .1% you're still looking at 100 bands.

 

[General Zod]

Yeah but Manowar sold more records than those 3 bands combined and couldn't outdraw them, which is what I was getting at.

True. However, I think you have to consider a couple factors. One, Amon Amarth draws a fairly young crowd, as they've gotten a whole lot of play on MTV in recent years. Consequently, their audience is more typical of the demographic that concert promoters would hope to draw from. Finally, when you look at record sales, I think you have to factor in when Manowar sold those records (in the US it was during the 80s) and where they sold their records (I have to imagine their sales are distorted by their unbalanced international popularity).

Anywho, the point is that in fact, you could soundly make the argument that Manowar's fees are prohibitive, because you would think a band that big could do better crowds, but they can barely get 1,000 people.

Agreed. It's the most basic question of business; supply and demand. Could they have sold 1,400 tickets had the price been $50? Perhaps.

Overkill sells out Best Buy Theater in NyC. That's a 2,500 seat venue.

Overkill is more strongly associated with the NYC than Manowar, Overkill always has strong supporting acts, and Overkill has more consistently put out albums and cultivated this market. Finally, let's not forget, there's been a bit of a Thrash revival happening.

 

[dcowboys311]

NY is hometurf for Manowar here as well. They played Long Island in 2012, certainly not NYC which is already weird for a NY band. That screams "no NYC promoter wants to risk a $100 Manowar ticket" here.

I don't know anything about the concert scene in NY but that Manowar show in Long Island was actually a two-night run. Dunno how the individual nights did but that tells you something right there.

 

[AeonicSlumber]

Overkill is more strongly associated with the NYC than Manowar, Overkill always has strong supporting acts, and Overkill has more consistently put out albums and cultivated this market. Finally, let's not forget, there's been a bit of a Thrash revival happening.

haha the JERSEY guys are more NY than the New York guys. TYPICAL JERSEY FAKER TRYING TO PRETEND HES 'ONE OF US'.

 

[General Zod]

haha the JERSEY guys are more NY than the New York guys.

LOL. My point was merely that Overkill has spent a lot more time cultivating the NY market than Manowar.

TYPICAL JERSEY FAKER TRYING TO PRETEND HES 'ONE OF US'.

You'll never catch me trying to pass myself off as a New Yorker. I wouldn't live there for love or money.

 

[1000 Faces]

Steppenwolf and Overkill have sold over 25 million records each...

Wait wait wait...Overkill has sold over 25 million albums? I...don't believe that. Like, at all.

 

[Harvester]

Wait wait wait...Overkill has sold over 25 million albums? I...don't believe that. Like, at all.

That's worldwide.

 

[1000 Faces]

That's worldwide.

That still seems awfully high for a band that rarely charted anywhere prior to their two most recent albums and have never come close to receiving any kind of certification, as best I can gather. That would mean that they've sold like 1.5 million copies of each album they've released, which seems like a lot to me. If it's true, that's great, but just glancing at the sales figures and chart positions on Wikipedia (I know, but it's right there and fairly thoroughly sourced), I'm not seeing 25 million.

 

[AngraRULES]

That still seems awfully high for a band that rarely charted anywhere prior to their two most recent albums and have never come close to receiving any kind of certification, as best I can gather. That would mean that they've sold like 1.5 million copies of each album they've released, which seems like a lot to me. If it's true, that's great, but just glancing at the sales figures and chart positions on Wikipedia (I know, but it's right there and fairly thoroughly sourced), I'm not seeing 25 million.

Wikipedia also mentions the fact they sold over 25 million records worldwide, with source from an interview, I believe. Not that it shows numbers, but it's right there for you to see.

 

[1000 Faces]

Wikipedia also mentions the fact they sold over 25 million records worldwide, with source from an interview, I believe. Not that it shows numbers, but it's right there for you to see.

Yeah, I saw that. Like I said, I don't know, but to me, the factual statistics (chart positions, etc.) don't seem to add up to 25 million. That's an awful lot of albums.

 

[TENTH DREAMER DECEIVER]

Manowar bargain of the day.

Louder Than Hell (1996). Original Geffen 1996 release bought sealed for $5 at HMV

I mind buying this cd 18 years ago but it skipped. So, I exchanged it for the Pantera live cd. The teenage clerk at the time derisively snorted when he saw the Manowar logo on the cd.

 

[Jasonic]

Louder Than Hell (1996). Original Geffen 1996 release bought sealed for $5 at HMV

Might be my 2nd or 3rd fav of theirs!

As for overkill selling 25 million world wide???

While I like them as much as the next guy I do find this very hard to believe.
I am pretty sure every Atlantic release of theirs has made it to the cutout bins over the years (just as most Savatage and Testament has as well).

 

[AeonicSlumber]

Not sure if I buy it either, they've never even charted in any non US countries outside Germany, and the wiki page that mentions the 25 mil figure also says they were at less than a mil in the US before Soundscan, which is when record sales were at their peak. While the global market can be big, in many ways it's also a lot smaller than America's market because there are only a few European countries with CD buying populations. In countries like Sweden and Finland where people do buy a decent amount of metal, it only takes about 3-500 sales to get in the charts. GAS and BeNeLux aren't too far off either.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Manowar bargain of the day.

Louder Than Hell (1996). Original Geffen 1996 release bought sealed for $5 at HMV

My favorite Manowar album.

 

[OrionSon]

I remember there was a debate on the Metal Archives forums about the Overkill 25 million statistic. General consensus seemed to doubt it. That puts Overkill over Slayer's sales. 5 times what Helloween sold, as well. I think 5-10 million seems a little more reasonable, unless we can get a more reliable source than that one interview.

 

[General Zod]

Ratt's estimated sales are 18 million. There's no way Overkill sold more records than Ratt.

 

[General Zod]

Manowar has just announced a New Jersey date; Saturday November 22nd at Starland. Apparently they will be playing Kings of Metal in its glorious entirety. I can only assume AngraRULES will be there, completely lubed up and in his official Kingdom of Steel loin cloth.

 

[Jasonic]

Well, not exactly in its entirety... At least not the original version.

 

[General Zod]

Well, not exactly in its entirety... At least not the original version.

True. But close enough.