Pearl Jam Should Take The Twenty One Pilots Touring Idea

Matts3221

So not a fan of Twenty One Pilots but has anyone seen there touring scheduled ? Major cities , 4 nights each city in venues that got from small to large.

For example in Boston they are playing 4 nights.

1st Night - Paradise Rock Club -933 Capacity

2nd Night - House Of Blues - 2200 Capacity

3rd Night - Agganis Arena - 7200 Capacity

4th Night - TD Garden - 17,500 Capacity

I know that tickets would still be hard to get and next to impossible for the smaller venues but I just love the idea of a band doing four nights in the same city , I bet less road burn out as you get to spend a span of days not traveling. Just thought it was a cool idea.

Zod

I feel like this is unlikely with PJ.. lol.   The band that likes to make their tours somewhat efficient, and how to play in front of as many fans as possible with the least amount of dates.

I don't think it matters if they stay in the same city for 4 shows, which given the bands age, could be up to 8 nights (spacing them out to not blow Ed's voice).  They're still away form home for those 8 nights.  

Hey guys, instead of touring 30 dates over 2 months this year, we're going to get you to do 120 dates over 8 months!

yah, that not's PJ

mcgruff10

PJ is one of that greatest live bands ever that doesn’t really tour. :(

mkay0

Seems like a waste of resources moving them all over town for basically no reason. Why not just post up at the major arena for multiple shows? 

NewJPage

Stones have been doing a similar format for a few decades. Smallest venue I've been able to see them in held 23k

F Me In The Brain

21 Pilots, guys in their early 30s

Pearl Jam, guys in their 50s.  (Some early, some late...hell, Boom is 68!)

We would certainly love to see more of them playing live but it feels that ship sailed long ago.

hihobibo

mkay0 said:

Seems like a waste of resources moving them all over town for basically no reason. Why not just post up at the major arena for multiple shows? 

Twenty One Pilots are just 2 guys. Not sure if they use a full band to tour with.

JH6056

That is a really cool idea, but it overwhelmingly favors those who either already live in big cities or who have the cash and time to travel to big cities.  As someone who has always lived in big cities, but has fan friends in all sorts of smaller cities, towns & villages, it is a horrible idea for bands who value getting in front of as many DIFFERENT fans as possible.  For bands who value being as accessible as possible, although of course there are always limits to accessibility no matter how they do it.

So using their time and energy to give a chance at a live show to as many as geographically possible, without burning themselves out or making it too much of a "job" so it's harder to bring the real energy, use those dates as strategically as possible. 

On PJ being one of the greatest live bands ever that doesn't really tour, that's true too, but we gotta look at their contemporaries: who else who was that huge in '92 STILL has the same members (drummer situation aside ) , STILL makes great music,  and STILL is a force to be reckoned with live?

Sanity and well-being is huge, plus of course work=life balance, and it just means things change.  I am still pinching myself from Seattle 2 and Fenway 2 in 2018, the power of those shows.  

To me the beautiful gift is: PJ is one of the greatest live bands ever and we are super lucky they are still intact at all, still touring at all, still great at all.  It hurts to get to see them so little compared to more recent bands who tour a lot, but that PJ fans today have a hope of seeing a great PJ show AT ALL is a huge freakin' miracle.  I'm grateful for what we do get.

Merkin Baller

F Me In The Brain said:

21 Pilots, guys in their early 30s

Pearl Jam, guys in their 50s.  (Some early, some late...hell, Boom is 68!)

We would certainly love to see more of them playing live but it feels that ship sailed long ago.

I think this is the sad reality. 

Poncier

Stones did similar back in 2002 on the Licks Tour in major cities, did 3 different sized venues, theater, arena and stadium.
In Boston they played The Orpheum Theater, the Garden and Gillette Stadium.
Orpheum tix were the most sought after tix locally in decades. If you were lucky enough (I was) to score a pair through Ticketmaster, in an effort to thwart scalping you had to register who your guest was ahead of time, then on show day both had to show up, get ID checked, get wristbanded and get tix. Couldn't gain entry to show if wristband not in tact. Had folks offering huge money for tix and wristbands.

Can you imagine the demand for Pearl Jam at the Paradise? Even if it were 10C only and restricted to lottery entry for Mass or New England residents, the demand would be so much greater than supply. Then all the travelers would be looking to be somebody's plus one or for some way to game the system. It would be crazy.

Matts3221

mcgruff10 said:

PJ is one of that greatest live bands ever that doesn’t really tour. :(

I am well aware this would never happen but one can dream right? I should have also put in subject line ( Never Going To Happen ).

Just saw how they were doing this tour and we all talk about how great it would be to see PJ in a small venue.

Perhaps if this was 2000 - 2003.

Or at least give your hometown some love and do this in Seattle. ( I live in the Boston area so even if I could not go still think it would be cool for their hometown )

drakeheuer14

It’s a great idea and I am looking forward to seeing Twenty One Pilots at the wonderful Tabernacle in Atlanta. Going to be fantastic. (Not to mention how reasonable prices were for a small venue.) 

As cool as it would be for PJ, we will never see it. If we did, it would only be in Seattle I would guess. Maybe NYC. 

Weston1283

Twenty One Pilots are awesome, incredible and all of the other synonyms.  In a world of new music that is too similar without any meaning, they’ve found a way to stand out.  

The touring model is awesome for them, but I don’t know if it would translate well for a band like PJ

Gibson

Sounds like a great idea...until you can't get into 3 of the 4 shows and get mad about why they didn't just play the Garden x4.

mcgruff10

Matts3221 said:

mcgruff10 said:

PJ is one of that greatest live bands ever that doesn’t really tour. :(

I am well aware this would never happen but one can dream right? I should have also put in subject line ( Never Going To Happen ).

Just saw how they were doing this tour and we all talk about how great it would be to see PJ in a small venue.

Perhaps if this was 2000 - 2003.

Or at least give your hometown some love and do this in Seattle. ( I live in the Boston area so even if I could not go still think it would be cool for their hometown )

I think it would be amazing if they did something like this but they are the most boring band ever when it comes to tour dates.  I was lucky enough to see them in a small club in 2003.  

Tim Simmons

This also seems particularly cruel to the crew

JH6056

PJ is playing the Apollo, and some of us were lucky to see them at the Vic and the Showbox, but clearly those were each one-offs, not part of a tour of playing theaters.  But once in awhile... I guess it can still happen.

hihobibo

JH6056 said:

PJ is playing the Apollo, and some of us were lucky to see them at the Vic and the Showbox, but clearly those were each one-offs, not part of a tour of playing theaters.  But once in awhile... I guess it can still happen.

They also did the Third Man surprise show.

Lost In Ohio

Zod said:

I feel like this is unlikely with PJ.. lol.   The band that likes to make their tours somewhat efficient, and how to play in front of as many fans as possible with the least amount of dates.

I don't think it matters if they stay in the same city for 4 shows, which given the bands age, could be up to 8 nights (spacing them out to not blow Ed's voice).  They're still away form home for those 8 nights.  

Hey guys, instead of touring 30 dates over 2 months this year, we're going to get you to do 120 dates over 8 months!

yah, that not's PJ

If they announced a fuckton of dates all over the world in one announcement, it'd definitely lessen demand. People from Europe and South America would be far less likely to buy North America tickets.

"Why should I travel from Barcelona to the USA when I can spend that money in Europe?"

mcgruff10

JH6056 said:

PJ is playing the Apollo, and some of us were lucky to see them at the Vic and the Showbox, but clearly those were each one-offs, not part of a tour of playing theaters.  But once in awhile... I guess it can still happen.

House of Blues 2003 was part of the tour.  That show was fire!

Lost In Ohio

And yeah, I agree. It seems cruel on the TØP crew to have to set up/tear down for 3-4 different shows in the same city.

I do like how Pearl Jam did two shows at MSG, but for fans who were shut out, they did one "bonus show" in New Jersey.

Say Pearl Jam did:
 "Two shows in a major city. Limit one show per 10C member.' -- I think they did this in 2016, right? You could only get one of MSG or Philly...or was it one per city?

But here's the catch:
If you got shut out of MSG or Philly, you could get first crack at a nearby city like Newark or State College.

If you got shut out of Boston, you could get first crack at Hartford.

Now what would be really cool is that the setlists were designed so that the "tier two cities" like Hartford or Newark got songs that wouldn't be played at Boston or MSG. "Hey, we know this city isn't as glamorous, but we'll throw you a few bones in the show."

We've had a terrible combination of things happening:
1) Fans being allowed as many shows as possible.
2) The band going to fewer shows.
3) Tour announcements coming separately.
4) People have lots of money they save just for the band.

One or two of these things happening and it's not a huge deal. All four happen and people seem to forget: "Hey! There's a new album. Even though they're touring on the other side of the planet, I *NEED* tickets. I can't wait 2-3 months for a tour announcement closer to me."

F Me In The Brain

Lost In Ohio said:

And yeah, I agree. It seems cruel on the TØP crew to have to set up/tear down for 3-4 different shows in the same city.

I do like how Pearl Jam did two shows at MSG, but for fans who were shut out, they did one "bonus show" in New Jersey.

Say Pearl Jam did:
 "Two shows in a major city. Limit one show per 10C member.' -- I think they did this in 2016, right? You could only get one of MSG or Philly...or was it one per city?

But here's the catch:
If you got shut out of MSG or Philly, you could get first crack at a nearby city like Newark or State College.

If you got shut out of Boston, you could get first crack at Hartford.

Now what would be really cool is that the setlists were designed so that the "tier two cities" like Hartford or Newark got songs that wouldn't be played at Boston or MSG. "Hey, we know this city isn't as glamorous, but we'll throw you a few bones in the show."

We've had a terrible combination of things happening:
1) Fans being allowed as many shows as possible.
2) The band going to fewer shows.
3) Tour announcements coming separately.
4) People have lots of money they save just for the band.

One or two of these things happening and it's not a huge deal. All four happen and people seem to forget: "Hey! There's a new album. Even though they're touring on the other side of the planet, I *NEED* tickets. I can't wait 2-3 months for a tour announcement closer to me."

I have been one of the people saying that I think they can play 2 shows or 22 shows, up to them...but I do wish they would consider the traveling fan thing, a bit more.  By this I mean announcing where they intend to tour, well in advance.  Does not need to be dates or even cities...could just be.. "in 2022 we intend to go to Europe, Australia, and do the US Makeup Shows"

In the past they might announce a small US tour and then later announce they would play other areas of the US. 

If you want to see your favorite band, why would you wait 2-3 months if you have no idea if they are going to announce anything closer to you?

I am sure they have a reason why they do not do this but it sorta does make things tough.  2020 is an example....I booked for MSG and Baltimore but held off from west coast or anything else, because there were rumors they would be playing back east again later in the year. 

Why should it be a rumor, why would they not share that intent?

Luckily we do have some folks who seem pretty well connected to leak a bit to us. 

I'm happy if I get to see them in 2022 at some point.  Hope they continue enjoying the live shows together and at least do a small handful per year until they can't play any longer. 

igotid88

"Pearl Jam should do something I'm going to complain about when it happens."

tdawe

This is not that far off from the model that Pearl Jam has been moving towards, except it’s just two nights in stadiums instead of four nights in different venues. 

The Hold Steady has been doing the same thing, albeit on a much smaller scale, for five years. They did a four-night run in Brooklyn in 2016 and realized that, instead of traditional touring, they should just post up for multi-night weekend runs in a handful of cities per year. It’s easier on them, the ticket sales are steadier, but Craig Finn also justifies it from the fan’s perspective (I’m paraphrasing from memory): “our fans are older now, they have jobs and kids. So if we do a tour and come to your city, it’s going to be on a Tuesday night, you’ll be coming right from work and going back to work in the morning, you’ll need to be home by a certain time to get the babysitter. You’ll have a good time, but it won’t be a great time. But if we say ‘meet us in this city on this weekend’, and you get some friends together and make a whole weekend trip out of it…you’re going to have a great fucking time.”

I personally love traveling for shows, but I realize it doesn’t work for everyone (also full disclosure: I live in the NYC area so I’m not hurting for shows in my own backyard). But whether you like it or not, I believe PJ is going to continue heading in that direction: fewer, bigger shows that fans will travel to. If you want to see Pearl Jam from now on, you might have to go to them instead of waiting for them to come to you. 

CantKeepmedown

It's an incredibly cool, unique way to do things. And I tip my cap to 21 Pilots for doing it. That being said, MAYBE this is something PJ would have considered in the Yield/Binaural days.  But I doubt it.  

Now, they can play two nights in a stadium and sell 3X as many tickets. 

I still think good things are in our future.  Even if we have to wait another year.  

JeBurkhardt

tdawe said:

This is not that far off from the model that Pearl Jam has been moving towards, except it’s just two nights in stadiums instead of four nights in different venues. 

The Hold Steady has been doing the same thing, albeit on a much smaller scale, for five years. They did a four-night run in Brooklyn in 2016 and realized that, instead of traditional touring, they should just post up for multi-night weekend runs in a handful of cities per year. It’s easier on them, the ticket sales are steadier, but Craig Finn also justifies it from the fan’s perspective (I’m paraphrasing from memory): “our fans are older now, they have jobs and kids. So if we do a tour and come to your city, it’s going to be on a Tuesday night, you’ll be coming right from work and going back to work in the morning, you’ll need to be home by a certain time to get the babysitter. You’ll have a good time, but it won’t be a great time. But if we say ‘meet us in this city on this weekend’, and you get some friends together and make a whole weekend trip out of it…you’re going to have a great fucking time.”

I personally love traveling for shows, but I realize it doesn’t work for everyone (also full disclosure: I live in the NYC area so I’m not hurting for shows in my own backyard). But whether you like it or not, I believe PJ is going to continue heading in that direction: fewer, bigger shows that fans will travel to. If you want to see Pearl Jam from now on, you might have to go to them instead of waiting for them to come to you. 

He has a good point about mid week concerts, but I also have to factor in the time to get back and forth to the concert. Most touring acts don't come close to where I live. We live 2.5 hours from St Louis, 2.5 hours from Indy, 2.5 hours from Louisville and 4 hours from Chicago. Going to mid week shows is just not feasible on a regular basis.