The Tickets Are Flying Out The Machines

Every day seems to bring another tour announcement. 2023 may be a year of recession, but that is not stopping the concert business.

The mega-priced concerts are selling historic numbers, with Taylor Swift leading the way. The gross from her 2023 concerts will be jaw dropping!

Bruce Springsteen went big for ’23, too.

The festivals are everywhere. The Gulf Coast Jam just sold out for the first time in its 12-year history. Morgan Wallen, who just announced a 2023 world tour, might be getting credit for that.

Kenny Chesney is going out to places he hasn’t played lately. Saw Jo Dee Messina on the artist list for the TidalWave Music Festival in Atlantic City. That Cole Swindell song stirred the pot for her. That coin toss song just keeps on giving.

Luke Bryan’s dance card is full for 2023. The Vegas residency and some festivals, and add “American Idol” to that and he has another very booked year. Luke has talked about slowing down, but no signs of that in ’23.

Jason Aldean, Wallen and many others are not tipping their hands just yet. Luke Combs is playing multiple stadium shows. And I’m sure the concert bookers are having to dodge these, huge money-sucking events. Combs is at the top of his game with Wallen on his six. Both will have very lucrative years.

Carrie Underwood’s got another half of her tour to do, and Garth Brooks is sold out for his Caesar’s Palace debut.

Garth’s room has 4,100 seats. That’s 96 bucks apiece, multiply by 27 shows. That equals $393,000 per show, not counting merchandise. Ten million and change total. Big money, but not Garth money. He must have a reason.

Six thousand verified ticket buyers were left with no tickets. Garth is letting them buy first when he goes back for the residency’s just-extended run in 2024.

You can’t get bigger than stadiums, so you go back to where you started … smaller.

Those Vegas shows are always good. Seeing Garth or Luke Bryan or anyone in Vegas is a wonderful experience. Usually comfortable seats, and the sound can’t be beat. If you can stay away from the craps tables, you will be all smiles.

Driving down Nashville’s Lower Broadway is still mind blowing. There is no other street like that in America, not even New Orleans’ Bourbon Street. Rumors buzz about crimes of all kinds in the downtown, but the crowds roll on. The Garth building and Eric Church’s Chief’s building are works in progress. What will that crazy place be like when they go online?

Garth wrote a letter to the powers that be asking them to approve the new, two billion dollar domed stadium in Nashville. Meanwhile, a broken main water pipe recently flooded Bridgestone Arena. Months worth of damage, but they are back up and open for business.

As we enter the Christmas season, things are wrapping up for 2022 with full-blown work for 2023 well underway. The trick is to hold the economy together and somehow dodge these roving health concerns. 2022, post-Covid, was strong for Music City USA.