Monday, December 3, 2018

This is just stupid . . . until I thought with my Wallet

Initially, I thought it was really stupid to announce that My Morning Jacket is playing 3 concerts in August 2019. Their first concert is 8 months from today (243 days) and I thought, "Why is this being announced now when it is so far away?" The email I received with the following information seemed premature:

MY MORNING JACKET UNVEIL A LIMITED RUN OF 2019 SUMMER DATES

3X GRAMMY® AWARD-NOMINATED BAND ANNOUNCE
HEADLINE SHOWS AT HISTORIC U.S. VENUES

EXCLUSIVE DATES INCLUDE RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE ON AUGUST 2 AND 3
AND FOREST HILLS STADIUM ON AUGUST 10

ONLY PLANNED SHOWS FOR THE BAND IN 2019

PRE-SALES BEGIN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4

"[One of the '50 greatest live acts right now'], they're the quintessential 21st century rock & roll psychedelic band, fusing decades ofrock history into exploratory jams and anthems." [Rolling Stone magazine]

My Morning Jacket has unveiled a very limited and exclusive run of dates for summer 2019. The acclaimed American rock band has announced not-to-be-missed headline performances that will include songs from their voluminous catalog at two historic venues: Morrison, CO's legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre on August 2 and 3 and Queens, NY's Forest Hills Stadium on August 10. These are the only planned live dates by the band in 2019.

Fan club ad VIP pre-sales begin Tuesday, December 4at 10 am local; AMEX pre-sales run from Wednesday, December 5 at 10 am local; local pre-sales follow on Thursday, December 6 from 10 am local. All remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, December 7 at 10 am local. For complete details, please visit www.mymorningjacket.com/events.
MY MORNING JACKET
2019 SUMMER DATES
AUGUST
2 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
3 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
10 - Queens, NY - Forest Hills Stadium

But then I thought, "Wait. Summer is a great time to catch concerts by bands!" In my recent history, there was Metallica / Avenged Sevenfold / Volbeat in Newton, Iowa, followed by going with Alex to Chicago Open Air for their 3 day festival, where we saw KISS, Rob Zombie, Lamb of God, Seether, Megadeth, Metal Church, Ozzy, Stone Sour, Korn, Anthrax, Hell Yeah, Slayer, (I could hear Slayer playing on the second stage, but couldn't see them because I didn't want to give up my good spot I had acquired for seeing Ozzy Osbourne, who was the next band to play on the main stage), and many more. Then, in summer 2018, I went to Des Moines in July 2018 to see Shinedown / Godsmack, which was followed by seeing Papa Roach / Chevelle in August 2018 in Des Moines. My point is that summer is a great time to catch live music.

The other side of the awesomeness of seeing concerts is that it does cost money. When I realized that, I realized that one of the likely reasons My Morning Jacket has announced these shows so early is that they know fans want to see concerts in the summer and if they put their dates out for public knowledge this early, there's a chance that My Morning Jacket will get their fans to (basically) commit to seeing their concert, thus snatching up guaranteed revenue. Sure, their fans may certainly go see other concerts during the summer, but by announcing their dates ahead of time, budget-conscious fans can choose where they want to spend their money. That may be why the Memphis in May festival has announced, per http://www.memphisinmay.org/engage/blog/2019-beale-street-music-festival-passes-on-sale, "Just in time for the holidays, Memphis in May announces that 2019 Beale Street Music Festival 3-Day Passes are on sale NOW" and goes on to say, "Although the 2019 lineup will not be announced until February, Festival organizers are offering a limited number of 3-day passes at the deeply discounted price of only $115 during the pre-sale." Again, this is the Memphis in May trying to grab some concert budgets.

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