Vedders political partisanship reflected in refusal to tour conservative south

homeratbat wrote:

the just don't sell well in the south if they sold out every venue they would tour there...although i think it is very strange for them to not tour the south in years (a full tour anyway) they should play smaller venues if they can...but it comes down to $$ you wouldnt go to work if you were losing money on the deal and with travel and expenses i bet they end up losing $$ in the south

this is a myth. Just don't play middle of nowhere places like Birmingham, Alabama and what not.

Every show I've ever been to in Texas has been sold out. Every one. They could play one damn date in Dallas and it would sell out. You'd also draw folks from Oklahoma City to that.

slightofjeff wrote:

You're right. Most people get their political opinions from rock stars. Myself, I became conservative because I went to a Ted Nugent show.

Maybe I need Ed to set me straight.

There's a chance here that I am not able to convey my true thoughts in a text based medium. I think you misconstrued what I was saying. Not that people get their political opinions from rock stars as much as people really don't have their own political opinions at all and just do what their parents did before them. Outside influence can sometimes cause a person to look at what these politicians stand for themselves and make informed decisions when choosing a candidate to vote for and not just following family tradition.

I have to admit, I somewhat resent your implication that I am a lemming and would follow Ed off the edge of the flat earth.

Peace

Tackalac wrote:

I think it has more to do with the south sucking in general. He wants to go there as much as everyone else.......not at all.

don't be a tool. read much?


http://www.nysun.com/news/national/us-population-shift-again-favors-south-west


DALLAS — Four Texas metropolitan areas were among the biggest population gainers as Americans continued their trend of moving to the Sun Belt in 2006 and 2007, according to Census Bureau estimates released yesterday.

Dallas-Fort Worth added more than 162,000 residents between July 2006 and July 2007, more than any other metro area. Three other Texas areas — Houston, Austin, and San Antonio — also cracked the top 10.

Atlanta saw the second-largest population jump with just over 151,000 new residents. Phoenix was third with more than 132,000, and was followed by Houston, Riverside, Calif., Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Austin, Las Vegas, and San Antonio. Of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas, 27 were in the South and 20 were in the West. Two were in the Midwest, one — Fayetteville, Ark. — straddles the South and Midwest and none was in the Northeast. Detroit lost more than three times as many people as any other metro area — its population declined more than 27,300. Other areas losing more than 5,000 people were Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Ga., Youngstown, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y.

Experts credit much of the growth in the South to relatively strong local economies and housing prices that are among the most affordable in the U.S.

“People are running away from unaffordable housing, from the economic slowdown,” a state demographer in Texas, Karl Eschbach, said. “I would expect Texas to stay at the top of a slowing game.” According to figures compiled by Mr. Eschbach, 16% of Americans who moved to other states between July 2006 and July 2007 came to Texas, which led the nation for the second straight year in that category.

ashtrayrock wrote:

Why just vedder? He's not the whole band. I think Stone gets a say too!

blame stone...it's all stone's fault

Duh....They were here on early LaPlaooosa tours....and the No Code tour (legendary Charlotte show)....Charlotte again in '00 and '03....And as an actual 'Charlatan' I was at them all. Point is... Charlotte is one of the most conservative large Southern Cities and those shows have all be highlights of those particular tours (check the boots)....Maybe hold a bit more weight in an election year....but not much!

Charger '74 wrote:

Really? Wow. Why are all those people moving here from the north and west, causing our real estate values to balloon and property taxes to skyrocket?

I have 3 immediate neighbors in my neighborhood. One from Wisconsin, one from Ohio, one from California. I'm the only native southerner. In fact, my neighborhood is roughly 60% non-Southerners.

12 kids on my son's baseball team. Of those 12, only two families are native Texans, including mine.

Don't get me wrong though, I think that's great.

pjalive21 wrote:

or maybe...

its the south's refusal to buy tickets, hence why they dont go south much anymore, because of his political banter

i dunno just paying devils advocate here

do people even read the rest of the thread before they post? Or just the first post?

I'm telling you, again, that the idea they can't sell ticket anywhere in the south is a myth. Yes, if you play out of the way places like Birmingham or albuquerque (sorry alabamans and new mexicans) it's going to be hard to sell tickets.

But are you telling me they can't sell out ONE DATE in the largest state on the continent?

They couldn't do Dallas? It's sold out every show I've ever been to there. Bands with shittier ticket-selling problems never play here.

Look, I'm not one of those "play the south" zealots ... I'm more than happy to travel. In fact, I relish it. But to act like they couldn't sell tickets anywhere down here is just being disingenuous.

I know they had to move the New Orleans show to a smaller venue b/c it didn't sell out a big place, and Memphis did not sell out at the Pyramid.


That boggles my mind...I've always fought hand,nail & tooth for my PJ tix. I couldn't fathom a show that didn't sell out. But I suppose they are more popular in certain regions for whatever reasons.

dirty irish 86 wrote:

Vedders political partisanship reflected in refusal to tour conservative south? any believers?

I think his political partisanship is better reflected when in LA he told the story about the vacuum salesman who donated his kidney to a guy who couldn't buy a vacuum because he was saving for a kidney transplant. Then Ed said he gets his vote for man of the year...followed by something like, "well, if Dick Cheney went to the dr. for a routine procedure and someone accidentally gave him the wrong anesthetic or medicine and it killed him...maybe that would beat the vacuum salesman."

I stand by my original comments during VH1 Storytellers that when Ed said, "Fuck 'em" he was referring to the south..

andrew the legend wrote:

They didnt even sell out the fan club allotments there in VA beach and SC.

The bread and butter is the northeast. They could do 50 shows a year from dc to boston and all the tickets would be a hot comodity.

All that being said 3 of my favorite shows ive ever attended where Raliegh and Charlotte in 2003 and VA beach in 2000.

I no longer am doing extended road trips though. I guess ive grown up. But I am doing the dc and 2 philly and 2 NY and will do those shows from here on out.

thats not really a fair statement. it may be true but not fair.

The NE is so densely populated that of course their gonna sell out up there. Tell me, what other band of pj's magnitude has trouble selling out in the northeast?