mreddie

Member
Oct 26, 2017
45,110
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/...ncel-upcoming-north-american-tour-1235028034/

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The Black Keys have canceled the upcoming North American leg of their International Players Tour, with dates for the jaunt abruptly erased without explanation from the band's social media pages and official website.

On Friday, fans noticed that the Ticketmaster listing for the International Players Tour's North American arena shows — which was set to begin September 17 in Tulsa, Oklahoma and run through November 12 in Detroit — listed all of the shows as canceled.

Venues' individual listings for the concerts — including a September 18 gig at Austin's Moody Center and an October 30 show at New York's Madison Square Garden — also updated the pages to acknowledge that the shows had been canceled and that fans would automatically receive refunds. "Unfortunately, the Event Organizer has had to cancel this event," the Moody Center's listing noted.

The Black Keys' official website has also scrubbed all of the band's upcoming tour dates except for a single one-off show, a July 6 gig at Chicago's NASCAR Street Race.

The duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, who just completed a European leg in support of their new album Ohio Players, have not issued a statement regarding the cancelations. A rep for the band did not respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment at press time.

The cancellation does not appear to be health-related, as the Black Keys just performed on the season finale of The Voice earlier this week.


View: https://x.com/scottheisel/status/1794381805820506280

Their tour was under Live Nation and tickets started at 100 bucks, the same Live Nation is now under DOJ investigation.
 

Wishbone Ash

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 29, 2017
4,041
Michigan
Not sure about that pricing specifically for the Black Keys but it does seem egregious. I really hope Ticketmaster and Live Nation get fucking wrecked.
 

Dest

Has seen more 10s than EA ever will
Coward
Jun 4, 2018
14,338
Work
The Black Keys are fine but whoever was thinking they were gonna be filling out those massive venues was fuckin' on one.
 

The Driver

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,589
These dudes are def past their prime and should be in theaters at best but this is just as much as on TM absolutely awful "dynamic pricing" which has gone completely off the rails post pandemic.

Any arena show these days is gonna be $80+ just to get in the door of the venue, and boy is it a mistake to be one of the first in trying to grab tickets cuz time and time again the initial ticket push is price gouged for any seat worth a damn. The only way to make it work is to wait close to the show for the ticket prices to automatically fall from TM/ scalpers trying to offload excess supply before too many people start looking and the prices creeps back up again.

More than anything else I hope this DOJ case against TM leads to EU style protection from this kind of markup cuz it's such bullshit that Ticketmaster has basically become the scalper now.
 

CloseTalker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,010
These dudes are def past their prime and should be in theaters at best but this is just as much as on TM absolutely awful "dynamic pricing" which has gone completely off the rails post pandemic.

Any arena show these days is gonna be $80+ just to get in the door of the venue, and boy is it a mistake to be one of the first in trying to grab tickets cuz time and time again the initial ticket push is price gouged for any seat worth a damn. The only way to make it work is to wait close to the show for the ticket prices to automatically fall from TM/ scalpers trying to offload excess supply before too many people start looking and the prices creeps back up again.

More than anything else I hope this DOJ case against TM leads to EU style protection from this kind of markup cuz it's such bullshit that Ticketmaster has basically become the scalper now.

I learned this the hard way recently. I don't go to very many concerts, at least apparently not ones big enough for Ticketmaster to be selling the tickets. But there was a band I really wanted to see so I got tix right away, great seats. Then as the show got closer and closer I noticed that it hadn't sold out yet, and the tickets were becoming way cheaper than what I paid. I was so pissed lol
 

Ernest

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,713
So.Cal.
Saw them once at an 800-capacity venue, not long before they got big. I think their tour after that they played arenas, and I'm like, they're fine for the average club, but their music does not suit a larger venue at all.
 

Mariachi507

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,435
Saw them once at an 800-capacity venue, not long before they got big. I think their tour after that they played arenas, and I'm like, they're fine for the average club, but their music does not suit a larger venue at all.

Saw them on the Turn Blue tour before their hiatus and they were just lethargic. They were much better at a festival I saw them after El Camino hit.
 

Duncan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,134
As someone who actually likes The Black Keys, you would think they would have a level of self awareness of how much social relevance they really have.

Cause man, that bums me out.
 

The Driver

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,589
I learned this the hard way recently. I don't go to very many concerts, at least apparently not ones big enough for Ticketmaster to be selling the tickets. But there was a band I really wanted to see so I got tix right away, great seats. Then as the show got closer and closer I noticed that it hadn't sold out yet, and the tickets were becoming way cheaper than what I paid. I was so pissed lol

Yeah I'm curious to see the endgame of this, it's a pretty common complaint I see of people being burned for buying tickets early only for them to drop for half the price if not more.

By waiting until the week of the Bad Bunny show I was able to snag tickets for about what I paid for his last tour ($260 with fees) vs the initial onsale for this tour, which was $900+..

I imagine more people are gonna wise up and begin to wait it out and TM will deploy some kind of new scheme to keep prices inflated even if demand is "low" from few actual higher priced ticket sales until they are legally forced to otherwise. These mega corps don't care they are all squeezing the last few drops of disposable income of the average American, least of all the one with a monopoly on live music lol.
 

Chippewa Barr

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Member
Aug 8, 2020
4,235
lol damn, can't imagine having a career like that and one day you're deemed irrelevant lol gotta sting
 

gdt

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,659
Yeah I'm curious to see the endgame of this, it's a pretty common complaint I see of people being burned for buying tickets early only for them to drop for half the price if not more.

By waiting until the week of the Bad Bunny show I was able to snag tickets for about what I paid for his last tour ($260 with fees) vs the initial onsale for this tour, which was $900+..

I imagine more people are gonna wise up and begin to wait it out and TM will deploy some kind of new scheme to keep prices inflated even if demand is "low" from few actual higher priced ticket sales until they are legally forced to otherwise. These mega corps don't care they are all squeezing the last few drops of disposable income of the average American, least of all the one with a monopoly on live music lol.
Bruh. You are killing me lol.

I used to go to concerts all the time, but I haven't been in years. Bought tickets to see Future and Metro in Philly, $200 for "good seats". I was miffed a bit. I bought them soon as they went on sale. I just checked, same price as day 1 so far...
 

Mathieran

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,948
That's such a crazy price. I'm going to see one of my favorite bands in a couple at a small concert venue and I think it was like 30 bucks after all the taxes and fees and what not. It wasn't through Ticketmaster though, otherwise it would have been like 50 or more knowing them.
 

alr1ght

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,188
I have 3 shows booked for the summer and they don't add up to more than $100 total 💀

I really don't see the appeal in these arena shows.
 

pestul

Member
Oct 25, 2017
694
Shits just way too expensive. Seeing a couple of concerts this year and they're like $1000 for four tickets combined. At least one is a multi day music festival.

Also, the latest Black Keys album is awful, so that probably doesn't help them fill arenas.
 

chaobreaker

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,630
How much of this is just people getting sick of ticketmaster/live nation price gouging or just this band falling off?
 

hiredhand

Member
Feb 6, 2019
3,209
The ridiculous part isn't even $100 for nosebleed tickets, it's that the pit was $300+ at least on some arenas.

Thank god it isn't that crazy in Europe yet. I have pit tickets for Coldplay and Springsteen for the summer. Even combined they are less than $300 and they are obviously much bigger acts than The Black Keys. For $300, I would be expecting a 3-day festival with strong headliners.
 

JimD

Member
Aug 17, 2018
3,605
How much of this is just people getting sick of ticketmaster/live nation price gouging or just this band falling off?

The pricing structure isn't unusual. It's ridiculous, but generally they know their fan base is older and more wealthy so they charge these high tickets prices and get away with it enough to have a full tour (even if it leads to venues that are never full). Most other bands are smart enough to tour with multiple acts from the same era, so you can sell it almost the same way festivals do. Honestly, I'd be happy if this was people finally pushing back against ticket prices, but my guess is the band's management just fucked up and underestimated the demand.
 

Snagret

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,899
I'm sure it doesn't help that I haven't heard anybody even say the name black keys in over a decade.
 

Kusagari

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,889
How much of this is just people getting sick of ticketmaster/live nation price gouging or just this band falling off?

If it was an act people wanted to see they would pay the prices. Black Keys haven't been relevant in years.

People are paying hundreds/thousands of dollars for Taylor Swift/Olivia Rodrigo tickets.
 
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Richietto

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,446
North Carolina
they definitely aren't as popular as they once were, but ticket prices means people can't just decide to spontaneously see a show like in the past. Ticketmaster needs to be crushed.
 

Doggg

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Nov 17, 2017
14,718
I vaguely remember hearing a new single of theirs not too long ago on the radio... like, once. It was basically like, yep, that sure is another Black Keys song. Clearly, they're not exactly selling like hotcakes.
 

Ouroboros

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,450
United States
They would need to play el Camino in full for me to go at that price. I'm not a fan of much else of theirs after that album

Coincidentally I had no second guesses paying ~200 to see the Killers in Vegas later this year. 20 years of Hot Fuss, babyyyyy.
 

Blader

Member
Oct 27, 2017
26,770
Arena ticket pricing has gotten absurd the last couple years. "$100 just to get in the door" way undersells it; getting on the floor or on the lower bowl is often now priced at $300-500. Just insane shit. To say nothing of the fact that Black Keys were way past the point of relevancy for trying to get away with this, they're also some of the more egregious examples of ticket price creep I've experienced. Saw them in 2014 in an arena, on the floor, $70 ticket. Saw them again 3 years later, same arena, this time balcony seats — for $125!

They would need to play el Camino in full for me to go at that price. I'm not a fan of much else of theirs after that album

Coincidentally I had no second guesses paying ~200 to see the Killers in Vegas later this year. 20 years of Hot Fuss, babyyyyy.
You'd be in luck, their sets are pretty heavy on El Camino lol. I've seen them twice — in 2014 on the Turn Blue tour and 2017 for the Let's Rock tour. Both shows were basically identical sets and had way more El Camino than either of the new albums they were ostensibly promoting

Any arena show these days is gonna be $80+ just to get in the door of the venue, and boy is it a mistake to be one of the first in trying to grab tickets cuz time and time again the initial ticket push is price gouged for any seat worth a damn. The only way to make it work is to wait close to the show for the ticket prices to automatically fall from TM/ scalpers trying to offload excess supply before too many people start looking and the prices creeps back up again.
That really depends on the act. If it's someone really popular, like Billie Eilish, they'll sell out right off the bat and the scalped tickets remain high right up to the moment of the show (speaking of, I bought resale Billie tickets on her last tour literally the night before the show, and they were like $300 each lol). Some acts are also making it harder to resell/transfer tickets, which is theoretically nice for discouraging Stubhub scalpers, but that means if they sell out before you can get a ticket, you're screwed
 

Nappuccino

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
13,327
I saw The black keys in like 2006 in a hole in the wall bar. It was amazing. That's how all their shows should be. Sorry, I don't make the rules.
 

Parthenios

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
13,683
Is $100 a lot for a concert ticket? I don't attend a lot of shows so my only exposure is what my wife paid for Eras Tour tickets, but in that context $100 may as well be free.
 

Bulby

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,199
Berlin
I hate arena shows on principle. But the Black Keys in an arena sounds like a mediocre time. Not because of them. But they are a club/theatre band. That's where their energy translates
 

Nappuccino

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
13,327
Is $100 a lot for a concert ticket? I don't attend a lot of shows so my only exposure is what my wife paid for Eras Tour tickets, but in that context $100 may as well be free.
I'm not sure about arena shows, but most of the bands I've seen in the last few years are 20-30ish bucks. I don't go for the big radio acts, though. PUP, Murder by Death, and Godspeed You Black Emperor were all about that price per ticket.