World of Weird Al Yankovic

Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm the example of a 'good fan going bad'. But, I admit, I was really disappointed last night. But, I don't feel that going to 27 shows in a tour entitles you to always have a meet. I always hope for one, and am let down if it's not received. But, I don't expect a guranteed one from Al. I'm glad that he does what he does.

Sorry I missed you Kevbo. I did get to meet uwvark, and it was nice to get to see the tattoo in person again, although it wasn't as good as when Al and Suzanne were looking at it at Pitt.

Did anybody happen to get a headcount for the ticket sales that night? It looks to me that the stage & backstage took up 1/2 the arena, and what seats there were wer only 1/2 full. Surprising, I though Al would sell out the place.

It seems I'm always coming upon these types of articles, but the "Vindicator" in Youngstown reported yesterday that the summer quarter brought in record losses for the Chevrolet Centre, and Al's show was unfortunately one of the three specifically singled out as generating disappointing ticket sales. Because of all this, the center has also broken ties with Global Entertainment, the venue-management company that also runs the Santa Ana Star Center in Albuquerque.

I'm certainly not going to bad-mouth this venue, since they bent over backwards helping and promoting the Rock Hall campaign, but even at the concert I was grumbling to others that the place was simply too big for an Al show.

Hmmm... 5700 seats in Ohio does seem a little ambitious.

The Vindicator has a very long track record with trying to influence the local business leaders and economy, and unfortunately one of the top staffers (I can't get into it here) for the Vindy is losing a ton of money in investments in other entertainment venues in Youngstown, and looks forward to the day the Chevy Centre closes. Sorry for the local politic diversion...

its a sports arena mostly

Stu Pidasso @ Dec 1 2007, 11:33 PM wrote: The Vindicator has a very long track record with trying to influence the local business leaders and economy, and unfortunately one of the top staffers (I can't get into it here) for the Vindy is losing a ton of money in investments in other entertainment venues in Youngstown, and looks forward to the day the Chevy Centre closes. Sorry for the local politic diversion...

Well, that sort of story behind the story is very illuminating. It just seems like a properly publicized Weird Al concert in an appropriate-sized venue would be a very difficult thing to lose money on.

I mean, this was the SOL tour, where some venues booked Al TWICE, several months apart. Very different from Poodle Hat, where I think some of the concerts i went to weren't publicized at all, hardly, and one of the Oregon concerts had to be moved into a smaller venue (of course, it also got moved indoors, which was nice for us in the audience)