| PhoenixRising 04.03.2006 07:59 |
Below is a link to a concert review from the show on March 3rd at American Airlines Arena in Miami. The Arena's website lists seating capacity for major concerts at up to 20,000. Last night's Queen-Paul Rodgers show drew approximately 8,000 fans. ***The following link contains some of the song ontents of last night's set, and is definitely a spoiler for those who do not wish to know ahead of time of the surprises unveiled at the first U.S. show!!!*** link |
| The Stealer 04.03.2006 08:10 |
Thanks. I see this as a positive review. Sounds like the boys did a fine job. I agree with the freshness comments |
| Freddiettt 04.03.2006 08:44 |
8,000 sounds like a guess to me. |
| YourValentine 04.03.2006 08:52 |
Thank you for posting this review, it's not bad, really. Only 8000 people is a little disappointing for the band, let's hope that not all shows are selling only half of the seats. |
| stateside fan 04.03.2006 10:15 |
the attendance was 9710 of 14,602 available.the 20,000 figure is a total seat figure not a concert capcity. |
| Gr8 King Rat 04.03.2006 10:44 |
2/3 full...not bad. |
| Penetration_Guru 04.03.2006 16:57 |
Seems pretty poor to me actually. |
| iron eagle 04.03.2006 20:03 |
there is also a big latin festival going on ,i was told ,that historically keeps attendance at other events down... |
| stateside fan 04.03.2006 21:31 |
the National promoter totally misread the market here.Miami is a terrible place to kick off a tour.Also i think Pieter had it right in saying maybe in some of these towns a mid-range venue would have worked better.I thought they had momentum here but sadly went to Japan.once the tour gets to the northeast the media will create a buzz.is anyone worried about Paul's voice tanking with dates so close? |
| Doniphan 04.03.2006 21:59 |
Note that the review is from the Sun-Sentinel, a newspaper from Ft. Lauderdale, north of Miami. Local Miami press has almost ignored the concert. I could only find a note about this concert in The Miami Herald in the page where all the concerts of the weeks are listed. I come from a Latin American town and live now in Miami. I thought that living in USA I was gonna be able to enjoy rock more than in my own country. The truth is that to be able to enjoy rock music I should travel to Ft. Lauderdale, Sunrise or West Palm Beach. Miami is famous for its beaches and tropical life. Its a huge city with a wonderful market for latin rythms but Rock bands do good avoiding this place. Too bad for me :-( |
| Queen fan since 74 04.03.2006 22:23 |
Low attendance ... well, remember that Freddie isn't there! |
| stateside fan 04.03.2006 23:04 |
Doniphan..very well articulated.thanks for insight |
| westpak 05.03.2006 00:54 |
Doniphan wrote: Note that the review is from the Sun-Sentinel, a newspaper from Ft. Lauderdale, north of Miami. Local Miami press has almost ignored the concert. I could only find a note about this concert in The Miami Herald in the page where all the concerts of the weeks are listed. I come from a Latin American town and live now in Miami. I thought that living in USA I was gonna be able to enjoy rock more than in my own country. The truth is that to be able to enjoy rock music I should travel to Ft. Lauderdale, Sunrise or West Palm Beach. Miami is famous for its beaches and tropical life. Its a huge city with a wonderful market for latin rythms but Rock bands do good avoiding this place. Too bad for me :-(I agree, I moved to West Palm from Miami and have gone to more concerts, I was surprised to see that the concert was at that arena, usually most concerts are at the hockey arena in Sunrise (Ft Lauderdale) or at the Ampatheater up here in WPB where we usually get some awesome concerts and have seen Sting/The Who/Linkin Park/Korn/Rod Stewart/Kiss... and in Surise Van Halen/U2 The promoters really screwed up picking Miami. |
| NOTWMEDDLE 05.03.2006 03:24 |
I wished I attended. I am saving for David Gilmour in Chicago or LA. I am going to a ticket broker. The reason the show sold out was that the ticket agents bought all of the tickets. |
| YourValentine 05.03.2006 04:30 |
"the attendance was 9710 of 14,602 available" I agree with the guru, this is underachieving to say the least. In Europe a hall of that size would sell out any day. The reasons that are listed here (Latin festival, wrong city etc) cannot conceal the fact that Queen plus Paul Rodgers do not sell 15 000 tickets in a major city. That is very disappointing. On the bright side, it's the hardcore fans who come, so the atmosphere should be great. Plus - there are a couple of hundreds Europeans who travel the States to see the concerts:) |
| Jazzy 05.03.2006 06:37 |
Here some more reviews: link link oh, and by the way, you guys shouldn't fuss about the setlist. You better appreciate that they play on American soil. Enjoy the shows. |
| Regor 05.03.2006 07:02 |
Jazzy wrote: Here some more reviews: link link oh, and by the way, you guys shouldn't fuss about the setlist. You better appreciate that they play on American soil. Enjoy the shows.That is so damn true ! Being german I may be the false person to respond, but as Queen's US-career is an interesting topic for most of us fans, I feel free to do so anyway. I went to the stadium in cologne, where 27.600 people attended the show. The stadium has a capacity of about 45.000. That attendence was a let-down for some afterwards, and I just could not understand. Because the show was a blast, with Paul Rodgers being quoted by a fan talking to him afterwards "that was the best so far". I know it is an old and never-ending discussion on this board, but 9710 out of 14000 is - considering what has been stated about Miami and the musical taste of the people there - really good. We should be happy that the guys are out there again, and a 2/3-sellout of 50 % of a band, that struggled in the US for the last 24 years (!!!) and has lost it's main focus, is great. And the reviews are really stunning ! Rock on !!! |
| YourValentine 05.03.2006 08:41 |
I think Roger and Brian would not agree, Regor -they want to sell out. If they have to tour to half empty venues- this is hurting the egos, therefore I wish them full houses. From the audience point of view the main point is that the concerts go ahead. But from last year I have to say that I liked it better in packed halls (Brixton, Munich, Frankfurt) than in the half empty stadium in Cologne, it just was another atmosphere. |
| Regor 05.03.2006 09:21 |
Good point, YV. Especially Roger I think is keen on having the concerts sold out, being the archetypical Rockstar guy. I often thought 2 times Kölnarena rather than one show at the stadium would have been great as well. But the concert was fantastic anyway. I think we as fans should not be too dissapointed if venues are not completely sold out, especially in the US. As long as the vibe and atmosphere is great, thats all that matters. One of the best gigs I've ever been to was The Cross in Bonn '88. There were about 50 people there... ;-) But I see what you mean. Let's just hope the tour will be great fun for everyone involved and attending. |
| Daz85 05.03.2006 10:25 |
Check this article out... it shows the attendance figures for some major rock bands in the US: link As you can see, even these guys are only getting half-full attendances too. In the US its well known that the figures have been dwindling for a while. Just be greatful they are playing there at all... as for the setlist, of course I'd like to see more variety, but then again it's not as if most of us here are actually AT the shows... or are some people just thinking about bootlegs?!! |
| Mr. Scully 05.03.2006 10:40 |
The Cologne concert was the worst for me. Not in terms of the band's performance but because the stadium was half empty. I'll rather watch a gig in a club packed with 1000 people than in a half-empty stadium with capacity of 50000. |
| YourValentine 05.03.2006 11:43 |
Yes, I feel totally the same, Martin. "As you can see, even these guys are only getting half-full attendances too. Just be greatful they are playing there at all..... as for the setlist, of course I'd like to see more variety, but then again it's not as if most of us here are actually AT the shows... or are some people just thinking about bootlegs?!!" But the people who post here are grateful enough, they bought the tickets for the tour:) That does not mean they are not allowed to have an opinion, does it? Also, if the tour does not sell well, there is not much chance of another one. I am convinced that Brian and Roger (don't know about PR) only do it because they enjoy it. If they want more money, they can go on producing that musical and releasing more material from the back catalogue. But they want the feedback of an audience because they are performing artists who want to play in front of a cheering crowd and if the crowd is not there, there is a zero chance they will do it again. Last year's tour got bigger and bigger because people bought tickets like mad. As to the set lists, we can have an opinion, can't we? Even if it's not for some bootlegs that have not yet been recorded:) I think it's a pity they dropped IWIA and I think it was good to drop AKOM. I also understand why they dropped IWTBF which is a safe bank in Europe but remember the controversial video in the USA. I'll definitely continue to voice my opinion although I have no chance to be there. |
| lingerielarry 05.03.2006 15:13 |
Some other things to take into consideration; I was able to freely (once I was inside) take pictures with my 35 MM camara (no flash). Some of the best seats will be at the end of the catwalk if the arena has one. Many of the tunes were sung at the end of the walk! Bohem was amazing even if you've seen the DVD this was so much better live! Did anyone mention that there was no intermission? !! 2 1/2 hours of ROCK The fans lit-up there cellphones to get them back out on stage for the encore! |
| stateside fan 05.03.2006 16:02 |
Scully if you need real attendance figures for your awesome site email me.John |
| Regor 06.03.2006 04:31 |
Mr. Scully wrote: The Cologne concert was the worst for me. Not in terms of the band's performance but because the stadium was half empty. I'll rather watch a gig in a club packed with 1000 people than in a half-empty stadium with capacity of 50000.Capacity 50.000 is for football games only. Phil Collins sold out with 42500 people. So Queen sold 64 %. But that's nitpicking ;-). I know it looked a bit empty, especially on the rear grandstands. I did not attend any indoor show, but I am sure they were really intense and different. The cologne stadium-show is special for me, as I never ever expected to ever own a ticket with Queen written on it. And on the field the atmosphere was great, people were having a party. From what I've seen, the grandstands needed a lot more time to get into it, but AKOM and Radio Gaga made them all stand up. I could only go to this show, so this is really a wonderful memory for me. Back to topic: the US-tour seems to sell quite well after all, Jacksonville was again 75-80% full. And the crowd seems to have been far more enthusiastic that Miami. The new song maybe a good sign for a further collaboration between the three of them, despite the fact that Paul used to be a bit reserved about the whole thing. And so I hope the story continues. Including a concert in the packed Kölnarena... ;-))) |
| Jjeroen 06.03.2006 08:00 |
It's just that they again do not realy deliver what they promise. In Europe they promised a 'rolling' setlist, as in that the setlist would be different every night. This never was the case - we only got two or three songs in the entire tour! By promising a 'rolling' setlist, you set expectations with fans. If the band does not live up to those expectations they raise themselves, the biggest fans are to ones that are most dissappointed. Now, in the States, AGAIN they promised a rolling setllist. They even were VERY specific: more 70's material (they delivered NONE so far!) and more, different Paul Rodgers songs (not delivered). Yes, we got the new song, which is fantastic! Yes, we got Dragon Attack (which is a great addition, but NOT a 'seventies song' and I =personally= never liked it ;-)!) Dropping IWTBF and Magic is logical because US just doesn't like of even know the songs. (And I totally am happy with it too - never liked IWTBF and Magic, I felt, never was the best 'fit' for Paul's voice. Dropping IWIA is beyond me... And a disappointment! It's a rocker the US MUST like and one of my personal favourites. Then there are a couple of expectations that are still unanswered: -Under Pressure (rehearsed and even played a couple of times and sounded GREAT!) -Sleeping On the Sidewalk (rehearsed, could go down well even without PR singing it, AND it is a seventies song from an album that was big in the US, so audiences know it) -Now I'm Here (rehearsed already in Europe - but maybe the song does not 'work' with this band. Hopefully an addition later on, cause this would answer the expectation that Roger lay upon us by promising stuff from 'the first three albums'). The tour is now two nights ahead - and of course they want to get warmed up first and thus maybe choose the 'safe' way... But they better do change something before the tour hits New York, or else the fans will feel a bit dissappointed again. No-one is realy complaining, I think - we are just a bit worried to be disappointed again. Honestly, I am sure: if they promised us a non-changing setlist with just the general crowdpleasers and then delivered what they have been delivering so far, you would have heard a LOT less complaints from our side. --- And on the other subject of attendance: I will ALWAYS prefer a small gig in favor of a stadium show - no matter the artist. Though, to Martin and Barb,; you just had bad luck with your seats in Koln... Because the venue is so big, the distance is just TOO big to feel the show. You could have felt the show if the distance between you and the band had been packed with a wild crowd... Unfortunately that crowd wasn't there. I have to say, up front the atmosphere was awesome and I still, truly feel Koln as the greatest day of 'my' tour - both because of the performance AND the atmosphere. |
| goinback 06.03.2006 16:06 |
Lindsay Lohan ever performed Under Pressure the other night...that's one of Queen's Top 10 most well-known songs in the US so I don't understand why that's dropped. I think they're too scared to do a rolling setlist though...if I were them I'd want people to rave about how good the show was rather than get tons of bad reviews. Their setlists are always so well constructed and when you change one song (especially to something obscure) it can throw the whole thing off.... |