Recommendations of the Editorial team
U2 did it a few years ago, and Harry Styles could soon take it to the extreme: tours with several concerts in selected cities. In the case of the busy singer, there are rumors of up to eight gigs in the Olympic Stadium. That would be a new record.
However, this top performance may be more pleasing to the musician (who doesn’t have to travel to too many cities) and his tour management (which saves on transport and personnel costs) than to the visitors to his performances. Because if this trend, which has recently been observed with numerous acts, continues, then it will hardly be possible for many people to go to a concert on their own doorstep.
Sure, this is only a small group of top sellers in the music world who can serve an XXL audience in a very short time. With Harry Styles, that would theoretically be over 600,000 people in a few days. But the most popular artists in particular ensure that many fans have to drive hundreds of kilometers to see their favorites.
Pop culture needs a broad impact
The residency logic, which, like Adele’s, even creates its own locations created just for the event, may have economic reasons. But it is also unfair and antisocial. Anyone who is mobile, earns well and has flexible schedules is welcome to come. If you don’t get tickets or book hotel rooms in time, you have to stay away.
But there are other good reasons why this live phenomenon is a nuisance. Entire regions are losing connection to a lively pop culture, mega-events are concentrated in a few cities, which have to contend with multiple bookings and alternative dates for several events.
The spontaneous concert experience also loses its appeal because everything usually has to be planned in order to be able to take part. Furthermore, this development marks the end of chance encounters at concerts. The audience is almost curated like a festival line-up. Afterwards, almost no one can say that they somehow “got into” it. Such spontaneous experiences are often the ones we remember for the longest time.
As much as the fans may be happy that Radiohead are playing four different set lists on four evenings in Berlin, in the end we are once again witnessing the unstoppable development of music into a brand that, beyond artistic value, only knows efficiency: maximum capacity utilization, minimum logistical effort, maximum profit per location.
Concerts are becoming more and more events
A concert in your own city or in a neighboring area also promises to become part of your biographical topography. The experience becomes a personal heirloom that is happy to be shared. Should only collective memories now count and the location should actually not matter?
We come to you because your presence matters – that’s basically the positive feeling fans associate with tour stops in their backyard. Now it’s more like: If it’s really important to you, come to us.
