Hagar tonight - Hyundai Pavilion (6/3/06)
Rushgedlife
Hyundai Pavilion in California:
Sammy Hagar & the Wabos - Livin' It Up 2006
Hyundai Pavilion At Glen Helen - Devore, CA
Sat, Jun 3, 2006 04:00 PM
$200.00 VIP Tickets - SOLD OUT
$50.00 Tickets - SOLD OUT
$25.00 Tickets
$15.00 Tickets (General Admission Lawn)
TB
Final attendance: approx 15,000 out of 50,000 available tickets. Not bad but
barely 1/4th of the venue sold.
Based on comments on VH Links, even some of the Hagar faithful think Sammy
has gone overboard with the stupid relentless plugging of his booze. The
gates opened around 3pm, it was a sweltering, smoggy 105 degrees and by
showtime around 7pm, most of the San Bernardino trailer trash were fucked up
from drinking Sammy's shit all afternoon to the point of many people were
vomiting all over seats and each other. I've been to that venue a few times
in the past, notably for VH in '98 and Hagar/Roth in '02 as well as the '83
US Fest before the pavilion was even built and both the area and the crowd
it attracts is really the worst of any place I've ever seen a show.
One very lame thing was that there was a David Lee Roth imitator onstage
with Mike during his first song (Runnin' With The Devil) from a VH cover
band that opened the show(!). How fucking stupid is that? Not to mention
Hagar (and perhaps Mike as well) just can't escape from the fact that the
Roth era music will always overshadow Sammy's tenure in Van Halen, even at
Sammy Hagar solo show!
I had an offer to go to the show and even considered going just to get out
of the house for the night but my wife has been bedridden from surgery and
my son was sick and puking so I couldn't leave 'em for the night, much less
for what sounded like a miserable night in Devore.
T.B.
Rushgedlife
>from a VH cover band that opened
>the show(!)
Just a correction, they didn't open the show.
They were part of the entertainment during the Cabo Wabo Village
pre-show (along with the volleyball, karaoke, etc.).
Before the actual venue even opens.
I read the reviews posted there.
Sounds like a great show. Described in various reviews as: "awesome",
"kick ass", "dead on", "one of the best I have ever seen", "GREAT
NIGHT!!", "sam sounded great", "outstanding", "the best show i have
seen in years!".
Sounds like a terrible venue to see a show at.
I wonder what Ozzfest is like there?
mcquest...@yahoo.com
TB wrote:
> "Rushgedlife" wrote:
by
> showtime around 7pm, most of the San Bernardino trailer trash were fucked up
> from drinking Sammy's shit all afternoon to the point of many people were
> vomiting all over seats and each other.
That is some funny ass shit.
> One very lame thing was that there was a David Lee Roth imitator onstage
> with Mike during his first song (Runnin' With The Devil) from a VH cover
> band that opened the show(!). How fucking stupid is that? Not to mention
> Hagar (and perhaps Mike as well) just can't escape from the fact that the
> Roth era music will always overshadow Sammy's tenure in Van Halen, even at
> Sammy Hagar solo show!
Whoa, not classy at all.
McQ
TB
> TB wrote:
>
>>from a VH cover band that opened
>>the show(!)
>
> Just a correction, they didn't open the show.
> They were part of the entertainment during the Cabo Wabo Village
> pre-show (along with the volleyball, karaoke, etc.).
> Before the actual venue even opens.
Riiiiiiiiiight. So a Roth era Van Halen cover band played in Sammy's "Cabo
Village" as part of the pre-show entertainment before they let people in the
reserved seating area (the lawn was open when the gates opened at 3pm).
> I read the reviews posted there.
> Sounds like a great show. Described in various reviews as: "awesome",
> "kick ass", "dead on", "one of the best I have ever seen", "GREAT
> NIGHT!!", "sam sounded great", "outstanding", "the best show i have
> seen in years!".
I understand Hagar's set was well liked as well as Mike's set was. However,
big, and I'd say BIG negatives mentioned in peoples comments including a guy
who posted a long review on the VHML is that Vic continues to butcher Van
Halen songs, notably "Human's Being" and Finish What You Started. Also, the
only really "deep" cut they played was "Good Enough," other then that, the
Mike/Sammy set was almost like an abreviated 2004 show.
And, in my usual service to provide fair and balanced whining about Sammy to
those who need it on this newsgroup, here's a few amusing quotes about the
show last night from VH Links:
"If any of you guys thought that show was better than an 04 show u saw, u
must have seen a shit ass 04 show. The imitator dlr was gay. no need for
that. Humans being sounded like absolute shit. Tell ya though, even though
ed was off his rocker in 04..i rather see them on a bad night than what i
saw last night. And lauser's snare drum sounds like shit to me."
"I've been to a lot of concerts. A lot. And last night, surely because of
the Cabo festivities since 3 pm, there were more wasted people up front than
I've seen in a long, long time. And I'm not talkin' drunk, buzzed, happy
whoo hoo bombed. I'm talkin' gonzo useless ready to puke pass out worthless
weaving stinking kind of wasted. I dunno if this pre-show tequila fest is a
great idea."
"Yeah, it was bad up front. LOL, and a good majority of 'em were OLD geezers
all blotto wasted....seriously, like lots of baby boomer late forties or 50+
Montrose days ex-70s rockers, puking and slipping in their own vomit, fat
chicks baring their atrociously sagging bosoms to Sam. Sometimes you just
gotta let go of your youth and go for the music, don't ya?"
"I think the most embarassing award goes to those two dorks up on the
ILoveAccess cantina risers, who Sam brought down to stage...the dude dressed
up as a paper mache' blue Cabo Wabo bottle and his wife dressed as a paper
mache' orange bottle of Mikey hot sauce."
Also, here's some photos from the same thread:
http://www.vhlinks.com/vbforums/showthread.php?t=31863&page=6&pp=15
> Sounds like a terrible venue to see a show at.
> I wonder what Ozzfest is like there?
I never bothered to see an Ozzfest show, primarily because they hold it at
that venue every year here in Southern California. Various friends of mine
who've seen a few Ozzfests there all say pretty much the same thing
regarding the smog, heat and utterly Neanderthalic crowd that place
attracts. Like I've said and other people in that VH Links thread also say,
the venue, location and the usual tornado-bait trailer trash crowd are big
reasons why many people are inclined to skip a show there they might
otherwise catch.
T.B.
Tommy Walker
> Final attendance: approx 15,000 out of 50,000 available tickets. Not bad but
> barely 1/4th of the venue sold.
50,000??? Wow. I thought the Hyundai Pavilion held 10,000. It must
have a huge lawn area. And for a Hagar concert, I doubt that 15,000 is
actually the paid attendance.
What a complete embarassment.
> my son was sick and puking so I couldn't leave 'em for the night, much less
Do you think he had some of Sammy's tequila?
TB
>> Final attendance: approx 15,000 out of 50,000 available tickets. Not bad
>> but
>> barely 1/4th of the venue sold.
>
> 50,000??? Wow. I thought the Hyundai Pavilion held 10,000. It must
> have a huge lawn area. And for a Hagar concert, I doubt that 15,000 is
> actually the paid attendance.
>
> What a complete embarassment.
Hyundai (Blockbuster) Pavilion is one of the largest outdoor "sheds" in the
US as far as I know. It does have a huge lawn area but it also is a lot
"wider" then most similar venues I've been too (Irvine Meadows, Pacific
Amphitheater, Hollywood Bowl, Shoreline, etc). It's one place you really
need to be in the first section because anything further back is a long way
from the stage.
From what a friend told me who went, ticket agencies were dumping massive
lots of prime seats the day of the show for below face value. He picked up a
pair in about the 15th row dead center from an agency on Friday for about
$30 total for the pair under whatever the total face value was for the
tickets. I can only imagine what kind of deals someone could get from
scalpers roaming the parking "lot" (actually, it's a field that surrounds
the venue) the day of the show.
Also, I understand a *huge* number of tickets were made available in the
orchestra section for employees and clients of Hyundai dealers (who
obviously have a promo stake in the venue) in Southern CA as part of a free
promotion, many of which went unused leading a lot of empty seats up front
that people further back simply moved up to (and puked on or passed out in)
behind the reportedly lax security's back.
If Hagar made a substantial profit from this show, it had to be from the
booze sales which started at 3pm or so.
>> my son was sick and puking so I couldn't leave 'em for the night, much
>> less
>
> Do you think he had some of Sammy's tequila?
Heh. The li'l spank is strictly a Sprite drinker.
T.B.
stephenj
> "Rushgedlife" wrote:
>
>
>>Sammy Hagar opens his "Livin' It Up 2006" tour tonight at the huge
>>Hyundai Pavilion in California:
>>
>>Sammy Hagar & the Wabos - Livin' It Up 2006
>>Hyundai Pavilion At Glen Helen - Devore, CA
>>Sat, Jun 3, 2006 04:00 PM
>>
>>$200.00 VIP Tickets - SOLD OUT
>>$50.00 Tickets - SOLD OUT
>>$25.00 Tickets
>>$15.00 Tickets (General Admission Lawn)
>
>
> Final attendance: approx 15,000 out of 50,000 available tickets. Not bad but
> barely 1/4th of the venue sold.
15,000 is a good crowd, period.
> I've been to that venue a few times
> in the past, notably for VH in '98
you saw van cherone?
> One very lame thing was that there was a David Lee Roth imitator onstage
> with Mike during his first song (Runnin' With The Devil) from a VH cover
> band that opened the show(!). How fucking stupid is that?
very stupid.
--
"when i visited Aden before collectivization,
all the markets were full of fish product. After
collectivization, the fish immediately disappeared."
- Aleksandr Vassiliev, Soviet KGB official
Tommy Walker
> 15,000 is a good crowd, period.
No doubt that 15,000 is a large group of people to have in a confined
area. But in terms of monetary value, a "good crowd" of 15,000 doesn't
cut it (unless you overcharge for tickets, which Sammy didn't do since
the majority of his tickets were $20).
It costs a lot more money to perform in a large venue. Do you know why
VH didn't perform at MSG in 2004? Because it is highly expensive to
use that venue. In 1998, they tried that venue and performed to half
capacity, thus losing a lot of money. They knew that they would not
even come close to selling out the venue and would lose money trying.
Apparently, the Hyundia Pavilion is even larger than MSG (though
probably not as expensive to use, since it is not as historically
significant). Why Sam's management would pay for such a large venue is
anybody's guess. But they are not going to break even from a crowd of
15,000, period. Especially when most of them paid less than $50.
TB
(snip)
>> I've been to that venue a few times in the past, notably for VH in '98
>
> you saw van cherone?
Yeah, I actually saw them twice that tour.
The first time was the Devore show which was on the 4th of July. Back then,
VH's road manager was on the Van Halen mailing list and Scotty Ross
basically set up a deal that every member of the mailing list got a pair of
free tickets plus passes to meet the band backstage before the shows.
Because the Devore show was the only Southern California date, there was
literally several hundred people that got in on this deal, not to mention
radio contest winners and so on so it was a real cattle call for the
backstage thing. Plus, the free tickets turned out to be in the middle loge
area so I scored a single ticket the day of the show in the 11th row in the
Orchestra section and gave away my free loge tickets to some people hanging
out on the lawn. I also gave away my 2nd meet n' greet pass to some chick
for the hell of it (she about pissed her pants when she figured out she was
really going to meet the band).
The show itself was alright but nothing really remarkable. I thought Alex's
drum solo was incredibly gay with all the triggered jazzy beats n' shit.
Gary handled the songs both previous eras just fine but the way he
physically carried himself on stage was a big negative. Also, this was the
night they didn't play Dance The Night Away/Show Your Love and played
"Dreams" instead (ugh). And as I've mentioned, I really hated the venue.
On a whim, a day before the show I scored a 6th row ticket to the 2nd night
Van Halen played the Hard Rock in Las Vegas at the end of their tour. Much
better show in what is essentially a theater sized venue. Better setlist and
more energy from the band. I had Val and Wolfie sitting behind me (she
remembered me from '97) and the show just had a really fun, intimate vibe
that I hadn't experienced in a VH show since I first saw them back in '77.
T.B.
TB
You are on the money regarding costs of playing large arenas, especially
certain "prestige" arenas like MSG.
It's my guess the Hyundai Pavilion is substantially cheaper to play then
similar (and smaller) outdoor venues in Southern California like Verivon
(Irvine Meadows) or the Hollywood Bowl because it's out in the sticks of San
Bernardino about an hour out of Orange County or Los Angeles/Hollywood. A
lot of big name bands have avoided the place like the plague (Springsteen,
U2, Madonna, Eagles, etc) and the vast majority opf bands they book are
bands like aging metal acts touring as festival packages. Ozzfest is easily
the single biggest highlight they book every year. If a band sells 15,000 at
Hyundai, they probably do a lot better then playing say, Irvine which maxes
out around 21,000 but probably costs a lot to to play at. And if by some
stroke of luck, say, Hagar managed to sell out Hyundai (yeah, right), he'd
have made a nice profit.
T.B.
stephenj
> "stephenj" wrote:
> I had Val and Wolfie sitting behind me (she
> remembered me from '97) and the show just had a really fun, intimate vibe
damn - lucky you. that's impressive.
> that I hadn't experienced in a VH show since I first saw them back in '77.
wow. i didn't see them until 81. i guess there were benefits to living
in socal in the late 70s.
sandman89
Final attendance: approx 15,000 out of 50,000 available tickets. Not bad
but barely 1/4th of the venue sold.
### jesus, a 50k venue is fucking huge. when i saw the stones at soldier
field (where the chicago bears play football) about 10 yrs ago, the
attendance was 55k (for a rock show) and it was packed.
"I am not a tough guy. I'm a tough negotiator. But outside of that, I'm
a patsy."
-Sumner Redstone, CEO of Viacom
sandman89
Hyundai (Blockbuster) Pavilion is one of the largest outdoor "sheds" in
the US as far as I know. It does have a huge lawn area but it also is a
lot "wider" then most similar venues I've been too (Irvine Meadows,
Pacific Amphitheater, Hollywood Bowl, Shoreline, etc).
### how many does irvine hold? 10k? 20k? i've been there for a couple
rhcp shows and the sound was fucking phenominal each time. i was
*extremely* impressed, especially for a fairly large outdoor venue, and
this is from someone who's been to about 300 concerts. i do have to say
that both times i was about 10 rows from the stage, dead center, so they
were great seats. not sure if the sound is as good from the back or from
the lawn.
sandman89
### MSG is a basketball arena, so it must hold 15, maybe 18k, tops, for
a rock show.
anyway, doesn't the promoter usually decide/book the venue? don't they
pay the performer upfront, then pick the venue and set the prices,
accordingly, to ensure they make a profit?
sandman89
I thought Alex's drum solo was incredibly gay with all the triggered
jazzy beats n' shit.
### i actually liked his solo quite a bit. with the horns piped in, it
had a nice latin flavor and was different. i thought it was cool.
Gary handled the songs both previous eras just fine but the way he
physically carried himself on stage was a big negative.
### agreed- he sang all eras great and it was cool to hear a lot more
roth era stuff than sam would ever sing but yeah, his stage presence was
a little too effeminate.
sandman89
MSG is a hockey arena, a basketball arena, a concert arena, a wrestling
arena, a political convention arena, etc. For basketball, it can
accomodate up to 19,673 people. Therefore, it can accomodate even more
for concerts.
### i don't think that's true. most places that house NBA games
generally hold 18-20k for baskeball games but it's a few thousand less
for rock shows, especially when they don't sell seats behind the stage,
which they almost always never do because of the poor/obstructed view. 1
of the very few i can recall that did sell behind the stage was the
stones and those people had to see them off a fucking big screen
monitor.
I doubt a performer gets paid before a show even does well. And
promoters cannot just pick any venue that they want. Promoters choose a
venue and agree to pay the venue for its use, but then the management of
the venue decides whether or not the act should be allowed to use the
venue based on its profitability. For instance, if Bill Gates released
an album and decided he wanted to play MSG, he certainly could afford to
use the venue. However, the managers of MSG would have to agree that his
act would be profitable and actually invite him to use to venue. But
they would not do that, since there would be no chance in hell that Bill
Gates would sell that many tickets.
So just because you can afford to perform at a venue doesn't mean that
the management of a venue will allow you to use it.
### i don't think this is the case- the venue pretty much rents out
their space to any legit customer as long as they pony up the rental
fee. why would a venue turn down money as long as it wasn't something
like a satanic convention or some crazy, controversial shit like that?
even then i'm not so sure some places would take it in as long as
insurance covered any potential problems. money is money and getting
paid is the bottom line. shw me a venue that's turning promoters away
and i'll show ou a venue that's out of business real soon.
if the venue is getting their fee from the promote, there is no
"profitability" issues- it's up to the promoter to set the appropriate
ticket price (at the proper sized venue) to make his money back and then
some.
it's my understanding the promoter pays a(n established) band upfront
and then they base the ticket prices on what they think they can get,
while being able to turn a profit- what venue is appropriate, the demand
for the show, etc.
TB
>
> Hyundai (Blockbuster) Pavilion is one of the largest outdoor "sheds" in
> the US as far as I know. It does have a huge lawn area but it also is a
> lot "wider" then most similar venues I've been too (Irvine Meadows,
> Pacific Amphitheater, Hollywood Bowl, Shoreline, etc).
>
>
> ### how many does irvine hold? 10k? 20k? i've been there for a couple
> rhcp shows and the sound was fucking phenominal each time. i was
> *extremely* impressed, especially for a fairly large outdoor venue, and
> this is from someone who's been to about 300 concerts. i do have to say
> that both times i was about 10 rows from the stage, dead center, so they
> were great seats. not sure if the sound is as good from the back or from
> the lawn.
Irvine holds about 18 - 22 thousand.
I've seen tons of shows there. I think the first concert I saw there was
back in '82 and it was Ozzy right after Randy Rhoads was killed and Brad
Gillis had replaced him (this show was filmed and has been bootled and
officially released as the "Speak of the Devil" home video). The last show I
saw there was almost exactly a year ago (Coldplay - ugh).
As long as you're sitting no further back then the soundboard, and
expecially down in the orchestra section, the sound is indeed steller. Up on
the lawn, especially near the back of the lawn, it's really awful. The only
thing that sucks about the place is the long walk from the front gate to the
actual venue and the parking lot situation which after a show, you have to
deal with getting out through one small 3 lane exit.
I plan on seeing Bauhaus/Nine Inch Nails there next month.
T.B.
TB
(snip)
It's true that in most cases, it's the promoter who assumes the most risk in
booking shows and tours. Over the years, a few people including Scotty Ross
explained it to me that basically, a band or artist has a certain almost
informal "rating" within the concert industry which kind of dictates to
promoters what level or size venues said artist should be booked to play.
A band like say, U2 can be pretty much assured a sellout 95% of any arena
they play even over many multiple nights in the same city. Up until their
'97 "Popmart" tour, they had a high enough rating they were considered safe
bets to be booked for nationwide stadium tours but when that toured did poor
business in many cities, their "rating dropped enough that no promoter ever
since has been willing to book them in stadiums and they've been forced to
play long arena stands to make the same money that playing one show in a
stadium would give them (interestingly, they still do very well in Europe
playing stadiums). The same thing happened with Van Halen over their Summer
'98 tour when they had dismal attendance for the "3" tour. They wound up
playing much smaller venues near the end of that tour because no promoter
would book them in arenas when they wanted to extend the tour a few months
to nab some money to make up for the shortfall from the Summer.
Which leads to the next point, while a promoter does usually shoulder much
of the risk, most bands have to met certain attendance guarantees worked
into the tour contract or the band shares the loss of profit along with the
promoter. Again, certain bands which within the industry are considered safe
bets have more leverage to not only get a promoter to front more or all of
the upfront money to book venues but to also get a higher cut of the
attendance profits.
Again to use U2 as an example, for their 2001 Elevation tour, they had to
share more of the risk and got a somewhat lesser margin with promoters after
the relative failure of the '97 "Popmart" tour, but when the 2001 tour did
so well and their next album was a major hit in 2004, they were able to
command a very high percentage of the attendance profits as well as having
the promoters shoulder the entire Burdon of paying upfront for all tour
costs. For promoters, it was an excellent gamble as the tour sold out every
date in North America within a week of tickets going on sale.
Also, when it comes to ticket prices, that's something the band and
promoter(s) agree upon when first figuring out the tour logistics. Just as a
band like Pearl Jam works to keep ticket prices reasonable, a band like The
Rolling Stones is clearly deciding that there will be $1,000+ tickets. Based
on what the band feels it can get and what potential promoters think is a
good bet is where ticket prices as well as the scope of a tour is where
these descision originate. If a band thinks they can play Arena "X" and
charge "X" amount of dollars per ticket and no promoter will touch them,
well, the band either doesn't tour or lowers their expectations.
Obviously there are aberrations to this formula. Large scale multi band
festivals are often very risky ventures and a classic example is the '83 US
Festival were despite the fact there was so many great bands spread out over
3 days and the "Metal Day (w/VH)" had over 300,000 people, it still lost a
ton of money for the promoter. Smaller up and coming bands that suddenly
have a major hit album are often booked in venues far smaller then they
should be because they still have to "prove" themselves as a reliable, money
making entity.
As Tommy indicates, yeah a venue does have some say in who plays at the
place, but generally, it's up to the promoter as well as the artist. For
someone like Sammy, when he says he needs to be "invited" to play a certain
venue, he's omitting the above factors in the decision making process that
determines where he plays. For someone like Hagar, no one promoter is
booking his entire tour, several, maybe a dozen or more are handling
individual parts of the country and even individual venues.
T.B.
sandman89
Arena seating capacity - 19,522. This doesn't include the extra seats
that they place for concerts.
http://www.thegarden.com/specialevents/general_venue_capacity.html
### never been to MSG but similar places (pro basketball arenas) in
chicago, phx and seattle usually hold a couple grand less for rock shows
than they do for NBA games. like i said, the sections behind the stage
are very rarely sold.
I listened to an interview with Sammy Hagar where he said that he could
not play wherever he wants. He stated that, in fact, he has to be
invited to the venue. If I can find the interview (I'm sure it is
archived on redrocker.com), then I will post the link.
### this makes very little sense. it's a business. they want your money.
how do they know when to "invite" someone? wouldn't someone's tour
schedule dictate when a venue is needed? it's not some kind of secret
society. places like that have all kinds of stupid conventions and all
kinds of shit between rock shows and ball games. since when do you
listen to what sammy has to say, anyway?
That might be true for some bands, but I doubt it's true for smaller
acts like Hagar.
### i stated established artists. hagar is generally considered small
potatoes these days.
sandman89
As long as you're sitting no further back then the soundboard, and
expecially down in the orchestra section, the sound is indeed steller.
Up on the lawn, especially near the back of the lawn, it's really awful.
The only thing that sucks about the place is the long walk from the
front gate to the actual venue and the parking lot situation which after
a show, you have to deal with getting out through one small 3 lane exit.
### i've been very lucky the couple times i've been there and had primo
seats. i wonder why the sound is so damn good in 1 part and so damn bad
on the lawn. weird.
yeah, i totally hear what you're saying about the walk and parking
situation.
sandman89
### all that seems logical and makes sense. that's pretty much how i
figured it worked.
Tommy Walker
[snip]
Sammy is small potatoes these days? Somebody better inform
Rushgedlife.
Anyways, the main point is that Sammy's concert at the Hyundai Pavilion
was a failure, both financially and, from the looks of it,
artistically. With 1/4th of the venue sold, I am almost certain that
promoters have lost money on this one.
Whether or not Sammy is paid up front, promoters will have to be idiots
if they are to book Sammy in this venue again.
sandman89
Anyways, the main point is that Sammy's concert at the Hyundai Pavilion
was a failure, both financially and, from the looks of it, artistically.
With 1/4th of the venue sold, I am almost certain that promoters have
lost money on this one.
### who gives a fuck? it's solo hagar. not many people care. just like
not many people care about solo roth. VH or bust.