Low crowds for recent metal tours...

Interesting you post this today. I saw Firewind at Jaxx (Springfield, VA near Washington, DC) just last night. This year and last year the crowd for Firewind was pathetically low. Maybe 40 or 50, and that's pushing it.

Mwahaha Uniting the Powers of Metal win. :lol:
 
Thankfully, I have started to hit a fresh infusion of attendees as those that attended during the glory era of IV-VI just don't come out anymore
There are two main reasons for the lack of draw recently:

1. Fans of the type of bands/genres you describe have gotten older and face a lot more choices/responsibilities than they faced ten years ago. Many have children now that prevent them from getting out.

And this is why I am taking my 7 year old to see Sabaton Sunday Night at the Masquerade.

I'm one of those "fresh infusion attendees", and I am trying to get a "new generation attendee" excited about his first show.

I figure the War-Metallers from Falun should put on a good show... as long as my son doesn't tell mom about all the F-bombs Joakim likes to hurl. It is weird that a band that plays to open air crowds in Europe will be playing in Hell on Sunday, though...
 
So you're a prog snob I take it?

LOL what? Dude, I was referencing to the tour we put together (Intromental) earlier this year... Uniting the Powers of Metal tour, in August? That drew more people than Firewind did at some shows of their current tour.

You made no sense just now. :lol:
 
Then if the older people can't go now-a-days to live shows, breed your children into successful people that like metal. That way they can start early and support the next generation of bands to try and make it :)

Already on it - Fizrider, Jr. is looking forward to your next album, Metal Gargantuan.
 
Buy some earplugs for the both of you that say "I love my wife/mamma" on them!

Show your kid how to train your dragon and tell him that if he listens to a Blind Guardian he one day can fly his own dragon!

YES! I can't tell you how impressed my 5-year old was with White Wizzard's High Speed GTO video. Now he knows you CAN defeat evil witches with the power of metal!
 
And this is why I am taking my 7 year old to see Sabaton Sunday Night at the Masquerade.

That's awesome... as long as you don't just take him to whatever is currently "hot" within the metal scene, but also get him out with you to other shows that deserve the support. \m/
 
How about one enormous reason that I've only seen peripherally mentioned in this thread: SMALL FANBASES == SMALL TURNOUTS.

I think it's safe to say that a certain subset (call it T%) of a band's fans in a city will turn out for a concert, while the rest will stay home for any of the reasons already mentioned in this thread. (you can define "fans" any way you like: people who bought their album, listen to them on the radio, "like" them on Facebook, have a tattoo, etc., but keep it constant). Then the question becomes:

Is the turnout percentage substantially lower for this sub-genre of metal than it is for any other genre of music? For example, if T% of Matisyahu fans go to a Matisyahu concert and (T+3)% of Mastodon fans go to a Mastodon concert, do only (T-20)% of Firewind fans go to a Firewind concert?

If not, if a "normal" percentage of Firewind fans DO got to a Firewind concert, then the question about concert turnout isn't at all interesting, because it's really just asking "why aren't more people fans of Firewind?"

So is there any hard support for a claim that a smaller percentage of fans show up for European melodic metal concerts than other genres? One possibility already raised along those lines is that fans of European melodic metal skew older than fans of other genres, and I can believe that 'T' and fanbase-age have an inverse relationship. But even then, maybe those older people should no longer be included in the roster of "fans" and should be labeled "former fans" instead.

Neil

So because we are older, and sometimes can't make a show as you implied we should no longer be included in the roster of fans is total bullshit.
 
LOL what? Dude, I was referencing to the tour we put together (Intromental) earlier this year... Uniting the Powers of Metal tour, in August?

A tour which, by the way, utterly rocked. Creation's End, Artizan, Widow, and Seven Kingdoms. It was like an oversized appetizer of awesome before the crazy orgy of JustDamn that is ProgPower. This concertgoer felt he MORE than got bang for his buck at that show.
 
A tour which, by the way, utterly rocked. Creation's End, Artizan, Widow, and Seven Kingdoms. It was like an oversized appetizer of awesome before the crazy orgy of JustDamn that is ProgPower. This concertgoer felt he MORE than got bang for his buck at that show.

Thank you so much for the kind words, my friend. I hope that you continue coming to the shows (as well as everyone else) so that we can continue going strong with more awesome tours like that. :)
 
LOL what? Dude, I was referencing to the tour we put together (Intromental) earlier this year... Uniting the Powers of Metal tour, in August? That drew more people than Firewind did at some shows of their current tour.

You made no sense just now. :lol:

OK, your post didn't make any sense to me neither. Now I get it. Thanks. I think! :lol:

I wish I could have seen that show at Jaxx in August, but that was when the better half said she wanted to go on vacation to Pennsylvania...
 
OK, your post didn't make any sense to me neither. Now I get it. Thanks. I think! :lol:

I wish I could have seen that show at Jaxx in August, but that was when the better half said she wanted to go on vacation to Pennsylvania...

:lol: No problem, dude. There will be more opportunities to catch the next UTPoM. ;)
 
Awesome post as usual, until you wrote this. :D If one has to see a band live (and actually see them each time they are in town, right?) to be a fan of the band, then I am a fan of exactly zero bands.

Oh drat! Leave it to you inscrutable humans to read an emotional judgement into a cyborg's math equations where absolutely no judgement was intended! I hoped that anyone who has read my posts around here for years would know that I would *never* stand in judgment over who qualifies as a "fan" or not, because, well, that would be stupid, pointless, and even petty, like deciding who gets to be in my 3rd grade Cool Kids Club. "Tut tut, sorry, you don't go to enough shows, so I'm going to disqualify you as a fan!" C'mon! Do adults actually think and behave like that? Heck, I don't even think being a "fan" is something to be particularly proud of, so even if I declared you a non-fan (which I didn't!) it's more likely that it would be meant as a compliment!

So anyhow, I simply meant that in terms of defining a class of people who can be used to make comparisons in concert turnout across genres, maybe older people who were fans of Firewind 10 years ago should not *all* continue to be included in that class today.

If fewer people start turning up at Justin Bieber concerts 10 years from now, it will be because many of his once-11-year-old fans are now 21, and are no longer Justin Bieber fans (and because he wasn't able to replace them with a new generation of tweens). There is no "once a fan, always a fan" rule that holds for people. Similarly, there are surely 35-year-olds who were big Firewind fans 10 years ago, but have had other distractions in life or music that have removed them from the active rolls of "Firewind fans eligible to be used in cross-genre concert turnout comparisons". And if Firewind hasn't restocked the class with younger fans, that could help explain any low/declining concert attendance.

There are also surely 45-year-olds who are die-hard Firewind addicts, so if you're one of those people, then please take no offense, for I am not excluding you from that class!

Neil
 
I haven't seen anyone mention the economic state of the US, either. I lost my job back in March. I haven't had any luck actually getting a job since then. Well...I actually had one lined up and ready to go, but that fell through for bullshit reasons. But I digress...

Many people are out of a job, or lost their job and got lucky enough to get another, but at lower pay. In my household, Met-Al is the only one bringing in any income right now, and all of it goes directly to necessities. We simply do not have the money to attend shows like we'd like to. We don't have the extra cash to go see Steel Panther, and Al was planning on taking both of us to see Firewind, but I doubt that's going to happen, too. We just don't have the funds like we did when both of us had a job.

And many people are in the same financial situation the two of us are in. It sucks, but until things improve, that will be a deciding factor for many people as well.
 
It sucks not being able to support everyone.

Hmm, this springs me off on another idea. *IF* there has been a decline in attendance at Euro melodic metal shows in recent years (and I'm not convinced that's true), then maybe it can be explained by the increased opportunities to see such shows.

Maybe 10 years ago Euro melodic metal shows were such a rarity, and there was such pent-up demand, that people made an effort to go to ANY show in the genre to "support the scene", even if they weren't particular fans of the band.

In other words, maybe the turnout percentage for Euro melodic metal shows 10 years ago was HIGHER than most other genres, like (T+20)%. But now that the scene seems more established (whether that's true or not), the genre has reverted to the mean (T% turnout), and, like most other genres, people now only go to shows for bands they actually like, not to support some grander ideal.

So it's possible that fans of this sub-genre are at least as dedicated as fans in other genres, but the numbers have declined simply because there was nowhere else to go from abnormal and unsustainable highs.

Neil
 
Seems like a mix of age and economics to me also.

When I was younger, and unmarried, I saw every show that came to town...and this is Albuquerque, so there's not THAT many shows...I saw a whole bunch of stuff that most people here couldn't stand, but that's not the point! I'm more picky now also about who I go out to see (not so much with what I listen to...I just plain love music of all sorts!).

Good Prog/Metal shows are rare here (I didn't know UFO was in El Paso...damn!). My father and I go to what shows we can...we got the German Powermetal trifecta....we were able to go all the way to no-where (past Santa Fe, about and hour outside of Albuquerque) to a small casino to see Gamma Ray and Helloween together with ...maybe 50 of our closest friends, on a weeknight. And we caught Blind Guardian at our go-to Albuquerque theater, Sunshine. Also not a huge crowd.

I finally have a job that I don't think I'm going to lose suddenly like when I was contracting....still am, but funding doesn't go away where I am now! So we can afford to travel all the way to Atlanta to see the awesome that will be ProgPower 13! Everything seems to have aligned just right. I've seen ProgPower going for years and was never even close to being able to go until now.

The age thing...yes it's hard to do a week day show and then come back to work, and I'm in my 40's (and a grandfather already!)....and MY dad comes with me to these because he loves it too! My girls listen to everything, but aren't really metal fans past what's "popular" now....the Avenged Sevenfold's of the world for instance....so maybe I can get my grandson into this music someday (he just turned four!).

So its a perfect storm of reasons/excuses why crowds just aren't there anymore.
 
I have actually been attending more concerts in the past two years. Partly due to my age (eight years older than Glenn) and the age of the bands I enjoy. I am a fan of metal, hard rock and AOR bands dating back to the mid-70’s through today. Many of these bands are now in their mid-fifties and sixties. So there’s no telling how much longer they will be performing, let alone healthy enough to put on a decent show. Some are aging well while others are just embarrassing themselves.

Anyway, money and time are not a hindrance to attending shows. I don’t have kids and make a decent living in a relatively stable (if unexciting) job. I am one of those old PP fans since November 2001 (PP II). So I am one of the older fans that Glenn is referring to. And yet I haven’t stopped attending PP. Granted PP is on the verge of becoming irreverent to me. I don’t care for death vocals beyond a rare sprinkling in the music. But I’ve known for years that my musical tastes are diverging away from the PP bands of today.

However, I still advertise for PP distributing the calling cards … most recently at the Evergrey show in Houston. And I hope the festival continues for many years to come, even if I finally throw in the towel for diminishing returns. Maybe before Glenn ends the show, he should hire an apprentice to carry on the torch. But that’s a tread for another day.

Speaking of Evergrey, the show was relatively well attended considering it was in the middle of the week and included four opening bands. I’d guess 100 people. I deliberately arrived after Blackguard and Power Glove. I’ve seen enough of both bands for a lifetime. Sabaton had a small but enthusiastic crowd which included many younger fans (some under 21). Take note Glenn. Not sure I’d ever buy any of their music due to a very limited palate of songwriting. But they are a fun live band and I have enjoyed seeing them several times. Evergrey put on a good but excessively loud show. Surprisingly they were still selling the special Atlanta T-shirt … but only medium and large sizes remain.

So that’s Dio Discriples last Friday, Evergrey yesterday, Judas Priest on Saturday and Dream Theater at the end of the month. As far as I am concerned, keep them coming. My only regret was UFO played the same night as Dio Disciples. So a choice had to be made.
 
As for me...
1) I don't keep up with local shows. Used to get Ticketmaster updates, but guess what all got left off the list?

2) Sundays are usually my only day off where I can sit on my ass, so I sit on my ass.

3) Dirt makes more money than me, so the last thing I need to do is question the $20 for the ticket +$10 for parking or buy gas or dinner.

If things improve to where things were 4 years ago, I'll go out more. Till then, I'd rather meet up with my friends where I can talk and catch up with them (since I socialize so much) than listen to music where I can't hear a damned thing. I would love to have gone to the Sabaton shows and a few others this year, but the mini-me is busy working, too.