Behind stage seating vs "In the round"

jason_94

So, it seems on this tour and several in the past, and at several different venues, that the sections behind the stage are sold when tickets go on sale.

If this is going to continue to be what happens ( and I am not complaining or saying this is wrong), I wonder why PJ has not done a tour "In the round". Is there a specific reason out there or is it a band preference?

It seems that an "In the round" show would also be a great experience and would also open up several more "quality" seats. It would also allow for a more spread out, and possibly safer, GA if that is what the band is concerned about.

This was just a thought I had and I thought I would see what all of you thought as well.

JB128716

I've wondered the same exact thing.

I blame Stone.

jason_94

Anyone else have any ideas on this? :?

Truth Machine

I don't know the difference between the two?

jason_94

Truth Machine wrote:

I don't know the difference between the two?

Traditional "behind the stage seating" is what they are currently doing. The stage is set up at one end of an arena with the entire floor in front of the stage. The venue then sells the few sections of the lower & upper bowl that are located on the end of the arena behind the stage set up.

"In the round" is when the stage is set up in the center of the floor right in the middle of the arena. Then, the "center ice" sections on both sides of the arena are facing the round stage.

I'm not sure if I described that very well. I'll see if I can find some pictures to post.

Better Dan

Here are some examples of "in the round." The seating chart doesn't represent the actual example at the concert below, but they are both the same concept.

jason_94

Better Dan wrote:

Here are some examples of "in the round." The seating chart doesn't represent the actual example at the concert below, but they are both the same concept.

Thanks for doing the leg-work on getting the pics for me! :thumbup:

iamloco724

i think less tickets would be available for in the round due to space, i could be wrong though

Truth Machine

Ok, gotcha. I had always heard in the round referred to as center stage.

ldent42

Better Dan wrote:

Here are some examples of "in the round." The seating chart doesn't represent the actual example at the concert below, but they are both the same concept.

That looks like a nightmare. And I'm not the claustrophobic type.

I have zero idea how backstage anything works so cut me some slack if i'm completely wrong on this - but with the current 'end stage' setup that they do wouldn't there be like a 'safe place' behind the stage, perhaps with an exit cordoned off? How would that work in the "round" set up? it would have be under the stage and then through the venue floor to the basement, no?

dimitrispearljam

Better Dan wrote:

Here are some examples of "in the round." The seating chart doesn't represent the actual example at the concert below, but they are both the same concept.

....seniority and which seat is better.....epic bitching will comes if this happens!!fun times!

KV4053

I've been to a few in the round concerts and it's a lot more show than music. PJ, IMO, is more about the using than show

jason_94

dimitrispearljam wrote:

Better Dan wrote:

Here are some examples of "in the round." The seating chart doesn't represent the actual example at the concert below, but they are both the same concept.

....seniority and which seat is better.....epic bitching will comes if this happens!!fun times!

That is true.

But look at how many good seats there are and no one is on the "opposite" end of the arena of the stage. The furthest people back are only half as far as they would be with an end stage set up.

I saw the Beastie Boys in the round years ago at the CSU Convocation Center in Cleveland and it was really cool. Granted, I was on the rail but it was still good. I had friends in the lower level and they said it was absolutely fantastic.

Spoony C

One thing with "in the round" shows is that, typically, they have to come up with some way for the band to face all audience members at least part of the night. That might mean having vocal mics on all four sides of the stage, so Eddie/Stone/Jeff can go to whichever side they feel like at a given time. That might mean a slowly (almost imperceptibly) rotating stage, so Matt's drum kit faces all sides throughout the night. I saw Metallica in the round in 2004, and it was a combo of the two: there were two microphones on each side of the square outer stage, so Hetfield, Hammett and Trujillo could line up anywhere to play and sing; the inner part of the stage was a round turntable with Ulrich's drum kit at the outer edge, and he moved slowly around the arena through the concert--maybe a little more than a full rotation in a two-hour show.

It worked pretty well for them, but I'm not sure PJ's dynamic allows for that much movement away from their amps and each guy's "homebase" section of the stage. Plus, you'd have both Matt and Boom at stationary posts that would be tough to negotiate, unless you did the slow rotation. I think end-stage with clear angles from behind, and occasional attention to the folks behind the stage probably works better for them. (I saw Springsteen this way on last year's tour, and was totally happy with it.)

EBowie

The "in the round" setup looks cool but I think it would raise more logistical concerns than the band and crew want to take on---especially at this point after years of running the end stage setup as a well-oiled machine.

Zod

iamloco724 wrote:

i think less tickets would be available for in the round due to space, i could be wrong though

I've seen the last two metallica tours which have been "in the round" The stage takes up a huge portion of the floor, but they still want to tell floor tickets.

When you have a front stage setup, the back of the floor is usually empty. If you get peopled out or want more space you can simply drift backwards until you find some.

The "in the round" wasn't like that. There really was no empty space. It was like they sold just as my floor tickets, but the stage took up an extra 40% of the space.... Not to mention the band keeps changing the direction at which they play too, so if you're on the floor, 75% on the concert is watching them play to the side or the opposite side as you.

I'm not a big fan of in the round

Torontonian

It's cause the band is traditional and don't care about becoming U2 or Beyonce.

I am glad they keep it old skool and whatever makes them the most comfortable.

BTW, I was in London and even though the nest above and hanging light bulbs are cool, I kept thinking "I wonder if they really approved this or just said, we'll mix it up a bit this time."?

It's all about their music for me. Could care less what they do for stage setup etc as long as it does not make them feel weird and not be themselves.

Dead Man Walking

It also looks like it would sound terrible....

iamloco724

Dead Man Walking wrote:

It also looks like it would sound terrible....

sound was never issue at the metallica shows ive been too

Spoony C

Torontonian wrote:

It's cause the band is traditional and don't care about becoming U2 or Beyonce.

I am glad they keep it old skool and whatever makes them the most comfortable.

BTW, I was in London and even though the nest above and hanging light bulbs are cool, I kept thinking "I wonder if they really approved this or just said, we'll mix it up a bit this time."?

It's all about their music for me. Could care less what they do for stage setup etc as long as it does not make them feel weird and not be themselves.

I agree that I like their old-school ways, though their reluctance to add video close-ups for arena shows (until London, though that may have been a one-off rig, as a practice run for the video crew they would need at Wrigley; guess we'll see in the fall) has always seemed a bit too low-fi to me, given how far (and high, given how steeply they build arenas in downtown neighborhoods to fit them into the city blocks) many of the seats in arenas can be.

But I think it would be interesting to see PJ tackle the visual side of touring a little more aggressively. They've always exercised very interesting control over the other visuals (album packaging, posters, apparel), and their use of the "wing" screens at Made In America last year was very cool in a pop-art kind of way. For those that haven't seen footage, the stage had tall video screens immediately on either side of the stage for artist close-ups all weekend, but there was an additional bit of structure on each side that spread out like feathered wings. On Saturday, only Jay-Z used the light/video/color capabilities of the "wing" screens, and it seemed like they were there only for him, but on Sunday night, Pearl Jam used them as well, putting color patterns and other abstract imagery on them, while only using the regular screens for the band close-ups. I think that kind of mod/psychedelic visual would be right up their alley, if they wanted to play with it. It wouldn't have to be a U2/Stones-like pyrotechnic extravaganza; they could ease into it with just some artwork and animation by folks they're friendly with or admire.

I did like that they played with the video format during the Wrigley show, mixing black-and-white, color, multiple frames, and the psychedelic color effects--the intense blue-black color scheme distorting to the point of abstraction, as well as the "LSD trails" blur effects they used. The only thing I couldn't figure was the one song where the left side of each screen was black-and-white and the right side was color, splitting the images of the band members down the middle; if that scheme was purposeful, it didn't make sense, and looked more like a technical difficulty.

jason_94

Spoony C wrote:

One thing with "in the round" shows is that, typically, they have to come up with some way for the band to face all audience members at least part of the night. That might mean having vocal mics on all four sides of the stage, so Eddie/Stone/Jeff can go to whichever side they feel like at a given time. That might mean a slowly (almost imperceptibly) rotating stage, so Matt's drum kit faces all sides throughout the night. I saw Metallica in the round in 2004, and it was a combo of the two: there were two microphones on each side of the square outer stage, so Hetfield, Hammett and Trujillo could line up anywhere to play and sing; the inner part of the stage was a round turntable with Ulrich's drum kit at the outer edge, and he moved slowly around the arena through the concert--maybe a little more than a full rotation in a two-hour show.

It worked pretty well for them, but I'm not sure PJ's dynamic allows for that much movement away from their amps and each guy's "homebase" section of the stage. Plus, you'd have both Matt and Boom at stationary posts that would be tough to negotiate, unless you did the slow rotation. I think end-stage with clear angles from behind, and occasional attention to the folks behind the stage probably works better for them. (I saw Springsteen this way on last year's tour, and was totally happy with it.)

Good points about the mics and the "homebase" areas. I never really knew how that that actually worked. I've seen it work with other artist and you even mentioned Metallica. But each artist/band is different and like you said, it just might not work for PJ.

If PJ could make it work, technically and with the right equipment & set up, I still think it might be a pretty cool way to see them. Even if it's only for 1 tour or so.

JB128716

http://youtu.be/0UIB9Y4OFPs

The ultimate in the round video.

Everyone now... Pour some sugar on me....

EquallyWorthless

The Sound for an in the round show isnt as good. It's more about spectacle.