Concert industry lacking 'superstars' this summer, tour promoters worried

Concert promoters aren't too optimistic about the 2014 Summer touring season, although their pessimism might be without merit. Sources for Rolling Stone's short feature on the subject cited one fact when making their worrisome claims: It'll be the first year since 2007 that U2, Madonna and The Rolling Stones will all be off the road. Last year's biggest touring earner, Bon Jovi, will also take a vacation during the summer.

"I gotta be honest with you, I'm not seeing anything that's blowing my mind," said Andy Cirzan, vice president of concerts for Chicago's Jam Productions. "I'm looking at the summer season just kind of scratching my head: 'Where are the cool bands?'"

Don't panic: There are plenty of "cool bands" hitting the road this summer, albeit not ones that necessarily make more than $200 million in a year (such as Bon Jovi). But there are big moneymakers as well: One Direction is aiming to fill baseball stadiums this summer, Nine Inch Nails always sells well (and will probably sell better with Soundgarden in tow), and KISS/Def Leppard won't be hurting. There are rumors however that some big acts, such as Lady Gaga, are struggling to fill arenas (although this may be due to scalpers reselling seats online).

The main "problem" is that many of the biggest earning acts are wrapping up their tours at the end of Spring, where the live music industry is used to stacking the summer season with its biggest shows. Cirque de Soleil's "Michael Jackson: The Immortal" was 2013's second highest earner, and it will wrap its run on June 24. Bruce Springsteen (no. 4 during 2013) will take a break on May 18. George Strait has been one of the biggest ticket movers during 2014 thanks to his farewell tour, but that will come to a close on June 7.

Another problem affecting the concert industry in recent years has been the rise of music festivals, some of which aren't managed by the big name promoters. Outkast has launched a "comeback tour" of sorts, but rather than playing sold-out arenas (as they could), the rap duo is playing 40 music festivals around the country.

Tags

Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, Outkast, KISS, Def Leppard, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, One Direction, George Strait, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson