Doppler, A Roadies View

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Ozzfest 07....FREE

I just read this article on Pollstar. It seems that Ozzfest will be going on the road again this year. The interesting thing is tickets will be free. Yep, a free concert tour.

It's an interesting concept. They will definitely fill the seats. How will this tour cover it's cost? Corporate sponsors will be everywhere on this thing. Also Live Nation will be promoting all dates, the venues have not been announced yet. Of course these will be Live Nation owned which means a percentage of the concession and vending revenues will go in their pockets as always. I wonder how much a bottle of water or a hamburger will be this year.

The bands will not be getting paid. Ok well I wonder what "name" groups will be willing to play for free. Sure there will be younger bands will to do it for exposure. Just don't plan on a band like Judas Priest or Slipknot to play for free.

Distribution of tickets has not been announce yet either. I think you will still need a credit card to get them and don't be surprised if you pay a service and handling fee. They will need to set a limit on the number of tickets to each person. The other possibility is a lottery type system.

Here is the article

Free Ozzfest
Updated 11:46 PST Tue, Feb 06 2007
Ozzy Osbourne and wife/manager Sharon Osbourne held a press conference at the Concert Industry Consortium February 5 that was promised to be historic, and was.
Osbourne dispelled rumors that he was retiring and announced the first free festival tour in the history of the U.S.
"Ozzy's been touring for 30 odd years and he's done very well, and just wanted to give something back," Sharon said.
The tour starts in San Bernardino July 7 and will continue through 25 cities including San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Charlotte, Atlanta, West Plam Beach and Nashville. A final confirmed list of cities and dates is forthcoming.
How this will work logistically is unclear, but it will be a ticketed event and is a Live Nation tour.
"For the last few years,ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours," Sharon said. "We certainly want everybody to make money, however we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year."
The bands will not be paid. This gives artists an opportunity to get exposure by playing in front of thousands of Ozzfest fans, Sharon said. The artists will have the opportunity to secure other gigs during the tour.
A lineup is expected within two weeks.

Joe Reinartz / Pollstar

Labels: Concert, Live, Music, Tours