KC concert tours higher than past

[ignatius]

Touring performers currently booked as tracked by pollstar.com.  KC region gets more of its share compared to other cities even larger than KC, partially due to large summer fests.  Austin wins by far per capita.  Numbers will fluctuate as more events will still be booked over the next month for all markets.

# of touring performers May 23 - June 23 2008

Concert Region   (typically about a 40-60 mile radius for most markets)
Austin 376
Denver/Boulder 374
MSP region 364
KC/Lawrence 305
Detroit/Ann Arbor 302
San Diego region 295
Vegas region 283
Portland region 278
Cleveland 247
Houston region 234
Pittsburgh region 231
St. Louis region 230
Vancouver region 202
Phoenix region 185
Orlando region 156
Indy region 154
Columbus region 150
Tampa region 136
Cincy region 110
Miami <100?

City only
Minneapolis city 212
Denver city 191
KCMO city 169
STL City 163
Detroit City 149
Indy City 104
Lawrence 102

The city of KCMO has really picked up on touring shows compared to previous years thanks to Sprint Center, bigger summer fests and other new venues in city limits booking more acts.

[AllThingsKC]

But where will everybody park?

[ignatius]

If find that people who think KC is boring with not enough to do are boring people themselves.  KC also is about top 10 or so in live theatre performances (about 3rd out of midwest/south).  There seems to be a parallel of those who complain about parking and their level of being a bore themselves.

[bahua]

Austin wins by far per capita.

But the totals say:

Austin 376 - (1,593,565 / 376 = 4246 people per concert)
Denver/Boulder 374 (3,502,891 / 374 = 9366 people per concert)
MSP region 364 (2,464,866 / 364 = 6771 people per concert)
KC/Lawrence 305 (1,947,694 / 305 = 6385 people per concert)

It looks like Austin is doing relatively well, but not appreciably better than anyone else.

[KCPowercat]

"per capita".  Austin is quite a bit smaller than Denver and MSP.

[ignatius]

You have the Denver/MSP populations backwards.  And these concert markets are larger regions than just the metro area, IE, KC includes to Topeka to St. Joe to Warrensburg, so probably about 2.3m-2.4m pops.

Anywho, Austin does have quite a few more touring performers relative to their regional population. I thought maybe Austin region includes San Antonio but it doesn't.  Most of it is due to being a college town of 50K students (UT alone) on top of the SxSW hype.  Though Columbus is also a college town with over 50K students and has nothing like the music scene in Austin.

The KC 'region' also gets a good number of touring performers for its size, though not like Austin.  Am surprised to see KC has more than Houston.  But it could be that most southern cities are lower because they may have their fests in the winter.  Doesn't explain why KC region has more than all Midwest cities except Chicago/MSP.  Maybe the economy here really is that much better.

Note that KCMO and Lawrence city propers make up for nearly 90% of the performers out of the entire region - and those two have more than entire St. Louis region.

BTW, this isn't a fluke.  I had a thread about a year ago that showed KC well above average for touring shows.  KCMO city has picked up even more share of regional shows this year.

[ignatius]

Here's a thread from 2004 for comparison.

http://forum.kcrag.com/index.php?topic=2678.0

[ignatius]

Knuckleheads is booking beaucoup number of shows lately.  They were voted best blues club in US by American Blues Foundation last year.  Looks like they can book most anyone they want above/beyond those just doing club circuits. Over 100 performers booked so far.  Last year, they were only booking a month in advance, maybe up to 20.

http://pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?B ... e=06/16/08


Amy Rigby Sept 9.  Wow, I'm there.

[midtown guy]

If find that people who think KC is boring with not enough to do are boring people themselves.  KC also is about top 10 or so in live theatre performances (about 3rd out of midwest/south).  There seems to be a parallel of those who complain about parking and their level of being a bore themselves.

I completely agree. There are infinitely more things to do in this town than I have the time/$$ to do...

[bahua]

I find it's more that people that think KC is boring are the ones that moved to the area for work, and at the ardent suggestion of their employer and real estate agent, settled in the suburbs. I can't imagine being excited about any town from there. I've talked to countless transplants that say they didn't know any better when they moved to the area, and regret the choice to live where they do. Most of these have moved. Some into town, but most have moved away.

[KCMax]

I find it's more that people that think KC is boring are the ones that moved to the area for work, and at the ardent suggestion of their employer and real estate agent, settled in the suburbs. I can't imagine being excited about any town from there. I've talked to countless transplants that say they didn't know any better when they moved to the area, and regret the choice to live where they do. Most of these have moved. Some into town, but most have moved away.

People that think their city is boring are boring themselves. If you live in any of the Top 50 or so cities in the U.S. there is a lot to do.

[ignatius]

Uptown Theatre seems to be booking a lot less than normal.  Are they becoming a winter venue?

http://pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?B ... UP&PSKey=Y

[ignatius]

BTW, would like to see Grinders/Crossroads venue book more reggae.  Great venue for that vibe.

http://pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?B ... C7&PSKey=Y

[ignatius]

Is Beaumont Club still mostly booked by House of Blues?  They've been adding a lot of shows lately.

http://pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?B ... e=07/03/08

[WSPanic]

Is Beaumont Club still mostly booked by House of Blues?  They've been adding a lot of shows lately.

http://pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?B ... e=07/03/08

I thought Pipeline booked The Beaumont?

[WSPanic]

Uptown Theatre seems to be booking a lot less than normal.  Are they becoming a winter venue?

http://pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?B ... UP&PSKey=Y

It's hotter than hell there in the summer. Although, not sure Pollstar is completely up to date - there's a two night run for Quixotic that's been on their marquee for a while. Not sure if anything else is missing.

[KCLofts]

It's hotter than hell there in the summer.

No doubt.  I was there for the Swell Season show on May 5th and it was hot as hell in there.  I wouldnt want to be in there when it was really hot out.

[chrizow]

tonight's sigur ros show is going to be awesome...

...and hot as hell.

[DaveKCMO]

tonight's sigur ros show is going to be awesome...

...and hot as hell.

i will be there! i saw them in minnie awhile back. awesome show.

[ignatius]

tonight's sigur ros show is going to be awesome...

...and hot as hell.

Iggy was there.  The horn line enters and then dissipates..