Challenging Times

The live event promotion and production industry is challenging in the current economic climate.  Several international concert events have been scaled back in size, postponed, or completely cancelled in recent months.  The recent postponement of the Rolling Stones 50thAnniversary reunion tour is an example of the changing climate in live music concert touring.  Although the reasons cited were the health of some of the members of the band, other rumors have surfaced that lack of interest in US and European markets may have been a contributing factor. 

Some positive sign that some recovery is occurring in the music segment was the recent success of the production of The Coachella Music Festival in California.  According to Lily Angelle of tgdaily.com, one trend that was apparent, in addition to a fantastic hologram performance, was the joining of movie celebrities at this year’s event. Jack White made an appearance at this year’s festival and announced his partnership with Disney to compose the soundtrack to The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer.  The movie is a remake of the 1949 film of the same name and is scheduled to open in US markets in May 2013.

In more regional terms and on the sporting events front, several challenges abound.  As a local Tampa Bay Rays MLB fan I have to be concerned at the live attendance I’ve witnessed at the home games.  Although the Rays are currently tied for first place in the AL East Division their home attendance seems very light.  Because my schedule has not allowed I have not had the opportunity to see a home game yet this year but plan on doing so in June.  I’ll let you know how that goes.  It looks as though the Tampa Bay Rays are not the only professional sports team struggling to bring attendance.  The Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL have also had challenging times filling seats last season.  The recent change in ownership of the Jacksonville team may breathe a breath of fresh air into one of the newer NFL franchises.