Two things:

I spoke Sunday with good a friend who knows a big whig at Live Nation.  That person says Live Nation was asked to do the Stones tour at the prices we all saw when the shows went on sale.  Right off the bat, Live Nation said, "no thanks, we don't want to sell those prices, it's not right, and it may not even work."  Then, after the offer was initially turned down, the Stones' people CALLED BACK and rather confrontationally demanded to know: "are you sure you're going to turn down the Rolling Stones?"  Sort of daring them to say no.  The Live nation guy (my friend's friend) said he called his boss, ran the situation by him and the boss said 'stand your ground.'  So Live Nation called the Stones back and pretty much said "go fuck yourself, we're not doing this."  That's where AEG came in, and took the deal LN turned down. That story from a very reliable source.

One more thing: today I had to deal with the Stones' publicist for work, and she was a bitch of the highest order.

anyways - Oakland show was solid.

Poplar wrote on May 7^th, 2013 at 4:38pm:


After reaping what it's sowed by overpaying bands to play its' sheds and running the concert industry into the ground, Live Nation is trying to move in the other direction with all in pricing and the reverse fire sale where they sell the worst seats for lower prices right away instead of after going unsold for 2 months.

Unfortunately the Rolling Stones aren't too concerned with burning out the concert industry unlike Live Nation who owns hundreds of venues around the world and has a vested interest in finding a way to hold what's left of a dwindling audience.

And tell your friend to tell the big whig to bring back the Club Passport!

It killed me when I heard this.
But with the guy passing on the story - the hurt was mutual.

Its funny seeing Keith repeating again (in the Rolling Stone interview) the nonsense that the band chose to go with a lower offer.

Interesting spin, Keith. You TOOK the lower offer from AEG because Dainty/Branson, Live Nation etc told you to stuff the band's original demands.

As if the Stones (or anyone) are going to tun down, say, $90 million in favour of $80 million.

They didn't HAVE to slash prices, they WANTED to:

http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_8mfo98ms#!id=0_8mfo98ms

   

Mick Jagger has recently shown more proof of just exactly how out of touch he is with Stones fans and the world in general.  There was a brief moment when the band announced their headlining gig at Glastonbury, and Mick asked fans what they would like to hear.   Careful what you ask for, right?
It turns out that Mick got more than he bargained for-or is it he is just in denial.  he was shocked by the amount of feedback he received via twitter, and what fans wanted to hear.  No-it actually is not duets with teen pop stars, but more substantial stuff from the Stones 50 years worth of tunes.
Jagger was actually shocked that fans did not want to hear “Satisfaction” or “You can’t Always Get What You Want” for the umpteenth millionth time.  he said that

”With Twitter you get so much more feedback…but the kind of people who tweet about songs are not your general fan. Not everyone wants obscure songs.  Otherwise, you’ll get everyone else saying. ‘I brought my girlfriend along, and she wants Honky Tonk Women, not the whole of ‘Their Satanic Majesties…’, thanks’.”

Doubtful anyone would want to hear all of ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’ and what the hell does he mean by the term general fan?. Why is it shocking that people would like to hear songs that they rarely get to hear live?  He actually seems amazed that the fans may be a bit tired of the standard roll out the same tired hits setlist that the band have been using for the last 25 years.  If you don’t believe us, just check some of the current setlists the Stones are playing out on the road now. Oh, you may get an odd tune thrown in here and there, but overall, it is the exact same tired stuff they have been flogging for decades. You’ll definitely get “Satisfaction” but don’t hold your breath for “Silver Train”
Proof positive that the Stones are so far gone that they themselves are afraid to actually dig deep into the vast history and actually play songs that would make people smile with disbelief and make actually seeing them live a true event rather than a Vegas style show by numbers.



http://www.intlmusicsnobs.com/post/51153609151/jagger-shocked-by-fans-wanting-to...

Actually impressed the writer pulled out "Silver Train"

Wheres the songs played list from this tour. They have to of played over 50 songs by now