jff

Yeah, that's why Wikipedia sucks.

 

I did a *very* quick tabulation and came up with a figure of 1,130,332 total attendees in North America. The Stones probably do that in a couple of weeks, a month tops.

Nice work adding it up. Yeah, the Stones are way ahead of everyone else. That Brazil show was a million or more, Altamont was 300,000 or so. Thaose two shows alone are more than most successful bands will ever play for. Throw in the decades of stadium tours and there's no contest.

Here are the attendance numbers for the Beatles US tours (not sure how legit this is):

http://www.rarebeatles.com/photopg7/photopg7.htm#1964

Edit: Accorsing to that site, they were playing some stadium shows in '64, but it wasn't until '65 that stadiums became the norm.

'65-66, technically (they played the first "stadium" show in rock history at Shea Stadium in August 1965 ... I found a figure of 55,600 for attendance at that show).

Oops, thanks for the correction (edit: nevermind, you're incorrect...see my next post).

From a BBC article from last year:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4757664.stm

"...Earlier this month, more than one million fans saw the Rolling Stones play a free concert in Brazi..".

I don't think anyone is going to top the Stones.

OK, that's probably not true -- shows weren't quite as big back then, I'm guessing.

Actually, the Beatles played a bunch of stadium shows in the US from '64 to '66, so those are big numbers. Paul is a good contender, though the Stones probably win this contest.

Paul McCartney probably comes really close.

I was skeptical when I read that, but apparently he's done a lot of tours since the early '70s. Add in a shitload of people he played for with the Beatles, and you might be right about Paul coming close to the Stones. Here's a site that lists Paul's tours since '72 (I couldn't find a comparable site for the Stones):

http://www.mcbeatle.de/macca/tour/index.html

Grateful Dead was my first guess, but they played mostly theater shows up until sometime in the '80s.

I just hate stadium shows. Nothing they can do really, lots of people will want to see them, and a stadium is the only way.

The only stadium show I've ever been to was Paul McCartney. It was in the Georgia Dome. Actually, now that I think of it I saw the Stones there, too. We had decent seats for Paul, so it was fine, but we were so far away from the Stones (despite buying the second most expensive seats) that there was a significant time delay between Charlie Watts hitting his snare drum and us hearing it.

I figure the Police are going to play the biggest venues possible since they are very unlikely to tour again. Andy Summers will be 65 this year, so he probably isn't going to be interested in the whirlwind mega-tour after this one.

Edit: Damn, I saw Pink Floyd in a stadium, too. That was in Clemson, SC. I had forgoten all about that. That was one of the least fun concert experiences I've ever had. What a boring town.

You'd do it if you were them.

They will play "Message in a Bottle" for sure. No doubt in my mind.

Hopefully.

Did the Police ever win a Grammy? If so, you can figure out what they're likely to play. If Synchronicity won, they'll play "Every Breath You Take". If Ghost in the Machine won, they'll play "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic".

Roxanne is a good guess since it's their 30th anniversary and that was the first thing they released that was successful.

I can think of a lot of songs I'd rather hear. But I can also think of a lot of songs I hope they don't do.

Believe is a good album, but I consider Cry a great album (even though I usually skip over their version of "Masters of War"). Both are available here:

http://www.indiejazz.com/

I wish this group would come to Atlanta. Thanks for the review and photos.

Is there such a thing as flat-wound strings for acoustic guitars? If so, they might be worth trying.

thanks. what would i need if i was trying to get a nice warm sound like jeff?

You'd need a good soundman, for one thing.

Eventually your tv will be controlled by your computer. Netflix is just trying to stay ahead of the curve.

Word Wars= very good doc on group of scrabble tournament players...really enjoyable if you dig scrabble

I was going to suggest Word Wars, too. That's a really good documentary. Kind of like Spellbound, but better since underachieving adults are far more interesting than overachieving children.

"Jeff's Note -- 1980 plus 22 years equals 2002. You do the math, people. "

Led Zeppelin reunited in 1985 for Live Aid, and again in 1988 for the Atlantic Records 40th Birthday. 22 years would be 2010, not 2002.

There are photos (and dorky captions) from the show on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website (you might have to register to see them):

http://www.ajc.com/

Or he got one of his old ones refinished.

Highly unlikely. I think I saw a photo of him playing a white one with the Nels Cline Singers. I've also seen the red one. I suspect he bought a few guitars now that, for the first time in his adult life, he's making some decent money.

There's a youtube video of EVH presenting his new guitar and amp at last week's NAMM show (music instrument convention). He seemed pretty whacked out when he was speaking, but his playing was still solid.

I saw Roth on one of those third-rate late night shows (carson daley, maybe?) a couple years ago. he played "Mean Streets" and sounded pretty good. He was still able to pull off the roundhouse karate kick, too.

well, if it was illegal, the challenge would be to keep it that way. i don't see that as an issue that would go away. it would just take on a different form.

Maybe. I still don't thimk most politicians give a crap one way or the other about the issues they speak so loudly about.

"Words of Love" made me a loyal fan.

so you see the elections like the jerry lewis telethon.

no. i believe jerry lewis sincerely wants to find a cure. I do not believe politicians who claim they'll make abortion illegal, for instance, actually want abortions to be illegal. if they were illegal, the politicians would lose a very powerful campaign issue.

it does get a bit old hearing every politician (regardless of party) spout off their to-do list each campaign and most of them have the same things on the list no matter what year it is. it's like groundhog day. can't someone get some shit done? seriously.

Then they wouldn't have any promises left to make, and would therefore not be able to "rally their base".

This album will sell a million copies...

 

LouieB

What's that, like 3 album sold for every concert they've played since AGIB came out? I'd say that's do-able.

The art of singing someone else's song can't be diminished. It is an art form in and of itself.

LouieB

I agree with that, but I'll add that it's also an education. You learn what makes a song work (or not work) by doing covers, and you incorporate those lessons into your original music.

Probably everyone who ever wrote a great song went through that process.

He juggles making mediocre rock music and being a tequila salesman quite well.

Anyone can juggle two things.