Sixties rock hero's attempt to shake up concert industry ticketing policies fizzles


Aidin Vaziri

Maybe next time they should use bigger letters
So how did Bob Dylan's great "ticketless" concert experiment go at the Warfield? You know, the one where the 70-year-old rock and roll veteran asked his fans to line up outside the venue for a few hours with $60 cash in hand to get inside -- eschewing extra fees, printer errors and scalper markups?

Just okay!

There was a substantial line outside the Warfield beginning Wednesday at noon -- abetted by the swarming local news vans -- but by the time the show kicked off a little after 8 p.m. the 2,250 capacity room was visibly undersold.

"I think it was not what everybody had hoped for but it was an experiment worth trying," said Goldenvoice Vice President David Lefkowitz. "The attention and buzz we created within the industry made it worth doing. But I think it just proves people are very used of the convenience of sitting at home and buying their tickets on a computer."

By comparison, much pricier tickets for Dylan's concert the night before at the Fox Theater in Oakland sold out within an hour, fees and all.

Lefkowitz thinks a few factors worked against the "ticketless" model, which admitted concert-goers on a first come first served basis.



Aidin Vaziri

Bob Dylan at the Warfield. He kept ignoring my requests for 'Mrs. Robinson.'
"Some people may have been intimidated by the line," he said. "Some people maybe didn't like the idea of leaving home without a ticket; the uncertainty. Most of his fans probably have jobs so to get here before 6 or 7 p.m. was probably a stretch. It was challenging."

The idea came directly from Dylan, maybe as a nod to the old school way of doing things. But in the end it might just make everyone stop complaining about those oh-so-modern convenience charges that sometimes make a ticket cost double its face price.

Would Goldenvoice give the whole thing another shot; maybe with an artist who has a more fervent, foolhardy following?

"I would do it again given the right circumstances," said Lefkowitz. "Yeah, definitely."



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/culture/detail?entry_id=70917#ixzz0xjMHQrum

Nellcote wrote on Aug 26^th, 2010 at 11:41am:

I would agree Nellie. I hardly think it speaks to people's willingness to pay service charges. Plus this writer for the SF Chronicle is a bit of a tool anyway.

DID EVERYBODY GET STONED?

Bob Dylan's 'ticketless' Warfield Theatre show not a sell-out but deemed a success
Thu, Aug 26th 2010 4:56 pm EDT
By Alfred Branch Jr.


Folk-rock legend Bob Dylan, no stranger to experimenting with how tickets are sold to his shows, held a concert at The Warfield Theatre in San Francisco last night, August 25, where fans paid an admission fee at the door, in cash, eschewing advanced ticket sales in an attempt to thwart secondary market ticket sales.

The show in the 2,250-capacity theater did not sell out, according to Joan Rosenberg, director of marketing for The Warfield, but patrons did not complain about spending hours in line before the concert, which cost a flat fee of $60 per person. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the theater was "visibly undersold," but Rosenberg declined to offer specific sales data.

"That's not info that we disclose, but we had a very good crowd," she told TicketNews, adding that she believes sales were adversely affected, in part, due to a lack of heavy advertising and promotion before the concert. After paying the entrance fee, fans were given wristbands and a commemorative ticket as a souvenir.

The move was at once a return to the old-school days of concerts where people waited in line for tickets, but also a potential harbinger for how artists might consider selling tickets to some of their shows in the future. After paying the entrance fee at the box office, fans walked straight into the theater, and those fans could only pay for their own admission. Credit cards were not accepted for the show.

Prior to the concert, media outlets reported that some fans may have been nervous about standing in line for hours with cash, and no guarantee that they would get in. Rosenberg said that the theater paid an undisclosed amount for street performers to entertain the crowd while they waited in line, and in addition, the theater also rented portable toilets. Also, street vendors were in the area selling bottled water and other food and merchandise.

"We were happy with the way it turned out overall," Rosenberg said. "We think it was a worthy endeavor."

Dylan was the first artist to suggest such a system at the theater, she added, but if other artists wanted to do it the theater would do it again. The Warfield is a Ticketmaster venue, but it has not yet held a paperless ticket concert. The two-and-a-half hour show marked Dylan's first concert at The Warfield in more than 20 years.

While identification wasn't necessary to gain admission, fans could not leave after paying their way into the show, and the commemorative ticket was not used, so there was no way for people to resell anything, which completely eliminated the secondary ticket market.

"I think it would be nice to see other artists experiment with this idea," Rosenberg said. "It could help keep prices down for fans."

David Lefkowitz, vice president of concert promotions company Goldenvoice, told KGO-TV that while the move was inconvenient for some fans, people saved on service and convenience fees.

"Part of the reasoning behind this is to avoid ticketing fees and the kind of up-charges that consumers have to face. Obviously, you lose the convenience of sitting at home buying on your computer, but at the same time, it's kind of a first come first serve thing," Lefkowitz said.

Glad you had fun! Even if the double headers with Mellencamp mean shorter shows.


Anyway, some more exciting news from Desolation Row and Isis on the re-releases front :

More Information on Dylan’s 2010 Releases

An article earlier this year, in ISIS # 149, about Bob Dylan’s non-appearance on the 12 May 1963 Ed Sullivan show included reference to Dylan’s performance, two days earlier, at the “1st Annual Folk Festival” at Brandeis University. Around the time ISIS went to press then, there was a rumour that a recording of this performance had been found in the Ralph Gleason archive. Meanwhile, there has been contradictory information as to whether there would be a “collectors’ edition” of the forthcoming Volume 9 in The Bootleg Series. Now it seems that this will happen and the aforementioned Brandeis performance will make up the bonus disc. Here is the track listing as provided earlier this year:

1.      Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance
2.      Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues
3.      Ballad of Hollis Brown
4.      Masters of War
5.      Talkin’ World War III Blues
6.      Bob Dylan’s Dream
7.      Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues

Apparently, the opening song is cut or in some way incomplete, so it will be interesting to hear if this is how it appears on the bonus disc. “Bear Mountain” is the one song that was mentioned in a contemporary review of the concert and it always seemed an odd choice for a 1963 performance. It is now understood that this was in response to a request from the audience and we must assume that this audience member recalled the song from one of Dylan’s previous visits to the Boston area. The whole recording lasts about 40-45 minutes and, before you ask, we have neither got nor heard this recording either.

The current position seems to be that this bonus disc will not be released as an individual item, nor will be available on a widespread basis. Instead, it will be sold as part of a “Bootleg Series Volume 9” package and through just one selected retailer in any one country.  Details are not yet known.

Other news is that there will be a one volume version of “The Complete Mono Recordings”, having a selection of tracks from the 8 albums. At one time, it was thought that this would be a promo-only CD for radio stations but it is now said that it will be available through record retailers.  The thinking seems to be that it will be bought for dads and uncles at Christmas by younger relatives unwilling or unable to afford the price of the full box-set.



My Own Love Song
This film is available on DVD from amazon.fr as below. It has the original English Language version as an option.
http://www.amazon.fr/own-love-song-Annie-Parisse/dp/B003NA7GRO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF...

No sign of this receiving a theatrical release over here, or even DVD release, unless you know to the contrary. Also, does anyone out there have any information about any CD soundtrack release?

YAY!  We are ticketed for Bob's Champaign, IL show (which falls the day before HOMECOMING and the hotels are BOOKED solid!) ROCTOBER 22nd.  Anyone going to be there?

xoxoxo,
Martha

Looks like the Fall tour is complete. 

Meggy, Bob is coming to your backyard Nov 4th.  I would LOVE to see you...............!

Let's ROCK!

xoxoxoxoxoxox,
Marthapril

hey MRD8, off topic yes, but did you have a great time at the neil show in hollywood? saw him in atlanta in may, hoping he would change up the setlist a little for this tour considering the new songs on the record and the new ones left off the record, but oh well. Btw, always jealous of the great shows you post, but all i got is a dell laptop and can't pull flacs outta my compute.   remember you saying neil never comes to fla but i'm glad he did, oynk!

Martha wrote on Sep 26^th, 2010 at 9:29am:



It will be good to see ya Sway Sister

My, how time is flying!

This should be a good show! BOB DYLAN  November 26  at THE BORGATA in AC. Best casino in town!


Ticket Pricing: $125 / $95 / $85
Tickets On Sale 10/08/10  EVENT CENTER
8:00 

Bob's ticket prices for most of the Fall tour are CHEAPER than last year!  We will be hitting 8 shows this go-round.  IL, MI IN, KY, OH!  I cannot wait to see him.

xoxoxoxoxo,
Martha

October 6, 2010 11:29 AM PDT

Bob Dylan's mono recordings, 1962-1967

by Steve Guttenberg (Credit: Columbia Records)



"The Original Mono Recordings" box set features Bob Dylan's first eight albums, available on CD and in their original release format, mono LPs (and on MP3, sans box). The set runs from his first album, "Bob Dylan," released in March 1962, to "John Wesley Harding" from late December 1967. At that time most people listened to Dylan's music over mono AM radios in the car, mono portable radios, or mono home hi-fi systems. Sure, stereo Dylan LPs were simultaneously released with the monos, but it's my best guess that Dylan and his production team listened to the mono mixes in the studio. Besides, mono LPs retailed for $2.98 in the early 1960s, and stereo LPs were a buck more, so most kids bought the mono, even if they had a stereo (that would include me). "John Wesley Harding" was the last mono LP from Dylan; after that all subsequent American releases were stereo only. So unless you have original 1960s-era LPs, chances are you've never heard the mono mixes.

I spoke with reissue producer Steve Berkowitz to get more details about how the transfers were done. He assured me the 96/kHz-24-bit resolution digital masters were made from the original analog master tapes, played on vintage mono tape machines, and that the LPs were cut directly from the analog masters. I was relieved to hear that; most, no, nearly all newly recorded or remastered old analog music that comes out on LP is sourced from digital masters. "The Original Mono Recordings" on LP are pure analog discs, with no digital conversions whatsoever in the mastering process. The LPs were cut here in NYC at Sterling Sound by George Marino, a true master of the record-cutting lathe.

Berkowitz stressed the guiding principle for everyone involved, including engineer Mark Wilder and producer Jeff Rosen, was to make the new LPs sound as close to the first generation American LPs as possible. Berkowitz said, "We went back and forth comparing the new mono LPs and CDs with the original LPs. They were the 'masters' we served to replicate."

The stereo versions of Dylan's music sound fine, but as Berkowitz put it, "Up until the Beatles released "Sgt. Pepper," mono was the real production format, and stereo was an idea to comply with." I'm usually a stereo guy, but I have to admit that the single CD advance copy of "The Best of The Original Mono Recordings" convinced me, at least for Dylan, of the mono mixes' superiority. The differences aren't subtle.

The first three albums, "Bob Dylan," "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan," and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" stereo mixes are the worst "offenders" in that Dylan's vocal is centered, his guitar is all the way over on the right, and harmonica on the left. The mono mixes unite the vocal, guitar and harmonica in the center, and tonally sound richer and more natural. When Dylan started working with larger groups of musicians the mono mixes are no less interesting, and I was shocked by how much better "Like A Rolling Stone," from "Highway 61 Revisited" sounded in mono. The drums, bass and guitar in the mono mix are louder, so it sounds more rock and roll in mono. "Tombstone Blues" told the same story; the stereo versions are much thinner and the stereo separation feels disjointed after you hear the mono. The mono mixes aren't all superior; I prefer the stereo version of "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"; the mono seems a little closed-in and cramped by comparison. All in all, the mono mixes are better, so chances are I'll be putting the stereo versions in retirement.

"The Original Mono Recordings" box sets of 180-gram LPs or CDs are both accompanied by a beautifully illustrated booklet, featuring vintage photographs of Dylan and an essay from my favorite living rock critic, Greil Marcus.

Columbia Records will release Bob Dylan's "The Bootleg Series Volume 9--The Witmark Demos," "Bob Dylan--The Original Mono Recordings," and the single CD "The Best of The Original Mono Recordings" on October 19. Amazon is throwing in (for free) "Bob Dylan: In Concert, Brandeis University, 1963," an extremely rare and newly discovered Bob Dylan live concert CD to customers who preorder "The Bootleg Series Vol. 9" or "The Original Mono Recordings" on CD or vinyl.

Sundazed has offered mono Dylan LPs for years, but I haven't heard them, so I can't comment on which sounds better.

I'll review the other new Dylan release, "The Bootleg Series Volume 9--The Witmark Demos," tomorrow.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-20018581-47.html#ixzz11gKYXSX4

One bloody song from his most recent album of new material - and a comparative throwaway choice at that.

Who does he think he is? The Stones?