Harvey Goldsmith Blog
4th APRIL ‘08.
04.Apr.2008 17:42
I have been travelling a lot since my last blog and I have come to the conclusion that I hate airports, Heathrow is number 1 on the hate list, and Gatwick is not far behind. Out of my 8 trips either my baggage has been lost or there have been extensive delays in or out of London for 6 of my trips. This is not good enough and is starting to make London look like a third world country when flying. Fortunately I have not had the pleasure of Terminal 5. It sounds like it is either too big or there are generally too many flights in and out of Heathrow which the system can not cope with. There is only so much airspace above Heathrow and one wonders how many planes they can handle. The problems of Terminal 5 appear to me to be more than dealing with a new system, it sounds to me as if there is subterfuge afoot.
Our 2009 presentation of Cirque du Soleil will be a new re-vamped production of ‘Quidam’. We are commencing pre-sales of this exceptional show on the 17th April at The Royal Albert Hall. The production was last here in the Cirque tent in Battersea, I am sure it will be fantastic in The Royal Albert Hall.
There are a limited number of tickets left for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at Wembley Arena on the 22nd May, the rest of the UK shows are pretty well sold out.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have re-commenced their tour in the USA to total sell outs and fantastic reviews. We have just released the production seat holds for all UK venues:
Wed 28th May
Manchester, Old Trafford Stadium
Fri 3oth May
London, Emirates Stadium
Sat 31st May
London, Emirates Stadium
Sat 14th June
Cardiff, Millenium Stadium
I think the 2 concerts at the Emirates Stadium will set a new benchmark for entertainment, quality and value in London.
We have taken over the production of The Tower of London Festival with AEG Live and are moving the dates to September as we feel this is a better period. I expect to announce the line up in the next 3 weeks.
‘The Merchants of Bollywood’ musical show is now in its second year and is touring around Europe. It opened in Barcelona to rave reviews and the 7 day run was extended to 3 weeks because of huge demand. The show will travel to South Africa in May followed by an extensive run in Australia. I am finalising plans to bring ‘The Merchants of Bollywood’ back to London for a run commencing 31st October. Watch out for news on this.
My concerns for secondary ticketing and fairness to the ticket buying public has not waned. However it is like moving water up hill, a struggle. The Concert Promoter’s Association are currently in meetings to find a way were all the Promoters in the UK can offer a fairer and better system to the audience. I hope that these meetings come to a successful conclusion.
Since the clocks have changed it has started to become lighter and warmer, let’s hope this bodes well for all of our summer activities.
Harvey Goldsmith
February 21st 2008.
21.Feb.2008 11:34
Thank you to everybody who took the time to reply to my question about ticket touting. The majority of those that responded are against the secondary market, however it does appear that not many of you would boycott it.
In the last month I have been travelling around the world as it is conference and award season. The first industry gathering of the year was Midem in Cannes and this, besides being a market place for record and publishing sales has become a talking shop for issues in the industry. I made my plea on secondary tickets, Paul McGuiness made his case for outlawing piracy. In addition the big telecom companies and manufacturers are looking for more and more ways to enhance their sales of wireless phones.
The second conference that I attended was the CIC in Los Angeles. As with Midem I gave the opening keynote speech. During my speech I asked our live industry to focus on duty of care to the ticket buyers and where are the next superstars. At the end of my week in LA I went to The Grammy’s which from an audience point of view was ‘like watching paint dry’. Unlike The Brits which is always fun the Americans make The Grammy’s far too seriously and it shows. None of the acts seemed to be enjoying themselves and the music was very drab.
I came back to England and attended the TPI Awards which is the only award show in the world that recognises all of those people involved behind the scenes on shows. It is the only time of the year you see roadies, production managers, lighting and sound engineers all dressed up and looking glam. I was delighted to be awarded the editors special contribution award which related to the best show of last year ‘The Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert’, and I readily accepted it on behalf of all the production people who worked on the show to make it such a success.
Jools Holland 2008 tour has gone on sale and is doing really well.
We have just finalised the production for Bruce Springsteen and next week we will be releasing some great seats that were held back pending the sighting of the stage. Please click on the link if you haven’t bought your tickets yet.
Last night I attended the Brit Awards which was great fun, at least we in the UK have a sense of humour. The strangest thing about going to the Brits is that unless you sit in the very front rows you can’t see anything nor do you have the faintest idea about what is going on. Nevertheless everybody around me enjoyed themselves, there were lots of celebs and far too many MP’s at the show. It is the one night when the record companies can forget their woes and have a good time. Getting in and out of Earls Court is still a dog. Its time they moved the Brits to the O2.
If you are interested in what else I do please have a look at our new ignition website www.ignition.co.uk, that is the other side of my life.
Please keep sending in your comments in.
Harvey Goldsmith
16th January ‘08.
16.Jan.2008 18:44
Many of you may will have seen in the media the news attached to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on ‘ticket touting.’ My feelings are that the report was toothless!
I would like to get some feedback from all of you out there who buy tickets to see shows.
1) Are you in support of the secondary ticket market
2) Are you against the secondary ticket market
3) If you are against it would you like to see legislation to outlaw the re-sale of a ticket, providing a fair exchange mechanism is in place.
4) Currently are you buying more than the number of tickets you actually need to sell the balance on the secondary ticket market.
I am committed to continuing the fight to stop this secondary trade. It appears to me that what is currently happening is that a false demand is being created by people who buy surplus tickets than their need to a show purely with a view to profiteering. If you the ticket goers want this system to continue then so be it.
I would like to hear from as many of you as possible to get your views. Equally I would like to hear from those of you who have purchased tickets through this secondary market where the tickets either don’t exist or were not what you thought they were.
We are coming up to the festival season and it is important to understand what you really think.
Please let me know.
Harvey Goldsmith
3 January 2008.
03.Jan.2008 15:38
RE: Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert
Thank you for all of your comments. I thought I should clear up ‘velvet_wall’s’ comments on the 3rd January.
I want to explain what we did at ticket collection for the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute concert.
We were fully aware of those people who decided to sell their tickets before the concert. After a lot of soul searching, internally we decided that rather than have fights and disruption at the ticket collection points on the Sunday and Monday, that unless it was blatantly obvious that the tickets were being touted (we actually confiscated tickets from about 20 people) we agreed to overlook the misdemeanour.
Obviously I did not realise how unscrupulous people would be when the original passcodes were issued. That information has now become very clear and if a similar situation arises it will not be allowed to happen again.
I would like to put this to bed once and for all BUT the principal still remains.
On January 10th the Culture Select Committee will make public their views on ticket touting. This issue will rumble on and on as I genuinely believe that the vast majority of the public support my views.
In the meantime life goes on with lots of exciting shows and events for 2008.
Varekai, Cirque du Soleil’s fabulous new production opens on Tuesday 8th January.
And so we start a new year of concerts, events and battles.
Harvey Goldsmith
30 December.
30.Dec.2007 17:33
Sunday 30 th. December 2007
December was an extremely busy month for us in the office. It was also a very successful month.
The Led Zeppelin concert exceeded all expectation. I hope that for those who were fortunate enough to get tickets it was a worthwhile experience.
I would like to thank everybody from artists to staff who made a supreme effort to make it the most memorable event of the year.
The preliminary figures show that over $3 million dollars has been raised for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, a fantastic result.
For those who wish to purchase merchandise from the show please go to the Ahmet tribute website.
Nine days later Bruce Springsteen breezed into town and tore the O2 apart with a spectacular concert.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be back next summer to play in the best Stadiums in the UK:
28 May Manchester United Stadium
30 and 31st May Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium
14 June Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium
Tickets are selling fast, so don’t wait to see the best touring act in the world.
Jools Holland finished his annual Christmas tour breaking all previous records in sales. He will be back next year with a new show.
On Jan. 8th. We open Cirque du Soleil’s new show Varekai at the Royal Albert Hall. This is the best touring show that they have produced.
Tickets are selling so well that we are going to extend the run to mid Feb. Do get tickets as this is a show not to be missed.
In May Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will be touring the UK performing their new album. This was voted Album Of The Year by the Sunday Times.
Dates are:
Mon 05/05/08
19:30 NIA BirminghamBirmingham, GB
Wed 07/05/08
19:00 Manchester ApolloManchester, Lancashire, GB
Thu 08/05/08
18:30 Cardiff International ArenaCardiff, GB
Thu 22/05/08
19:30 Wembley ArenaMiddlesex, GB
We made a tough decision to try and make the tickets for the Led Zeppelin concert available only to fans and stood our ground in our effort to stop secondary trade in the tickets.
There are arguments for and against secondary ticketing, however I am determined to make a stand on behalf of real music fans to find a fair way for them to obtain tickets at the price that is advertised.
I believe that tickets are a currency, time and dated not a commodity.
Our industry must decide what kind of business we are in. The future of our industry depends on a fair distribution of tickets to those people who have supported their heroes and want to see them live.
We need legislation to help protect those fans from being ripped off.
The biggest problem today is that a large criminal element has gripped this secondary market purely to take advantage of fans with no guarantee of delivery.
Most of the secondary sites who protest their innocence, give no guarantee that when the fans are ripped off, they can be refunded when fraudulent transactions take place.
This problem is growing and is taking away confidence in the market.
I urge Artists and fans alike to stop using these sites. If the practice continues then a ticket will have no controlled value and it will be down to the highest bidder.
This will destroy confidence in the business with frightening consequences.
We also need to have a balance between ticket prices at the top end and those newcomers that we are trying to promote.
Promoters spend a large amount of time budgeting to ensure that the right price is charged to the public. Often artists are deliberately underpriced to ensure that the fans can afford to support their heroes.
The bulk of Artists earnings today stem from performing live. That is why so many artists are on the road.
Balanced ticket pricing is essential to keep this ever growing market flourishing.
The secondary market, which puts nothing back into the Industry, is destroying that balance.
Please let me have your comments whether you agree with my stance on this difficult problem.
I wish all of you a happy, healthy and successful 2008
Harvey.
3 December ‘07.
03.Dec.2007 17:21
I am delighted to announce that BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND are adding more shows in 2008.
(please see shows and events)
Bruce and the band will be returning to play 3 open air shows:
Wednesday 28th May-Manchester United Stadium (Old Trafford)
Friday 30th May – London Emirates Stadium (Arsenal)
Saturday 14th June- Cardiff Millennium Stadium
Tickets go on sale Wednesday 5th December at 9am.
The indoor Tour which started in Europe 10 days ago has had sensational reviews.
Dublin sold out in 3 RDS stadiums in less than 2 hours!
Last week I went to see Jeff Beck and his sensational band play at Ronnie Scott’s.
Jeff is without doubt the guitarist’s guitarist. He played an amazing set and the coup de gras was having Eric Clapton coming on stage to play with Jeff for the encores.
Imagine being in a small room watching the master at work playing with another master and being watched by no less than Jimmy Page, Brian May and Tommy Iommi. What a fantastic night of music!
Jools Holland played 2 great shows at the jam packed Royal Albert Hall over the weekend.
The tour is now on its final leg. If you can get a ticket, this is the best show on the road.
Finally 7 days to go for the Event of the Year. Production rehearsals are at full throttle.
I think you will all be amazed when you see the show.
Harvey Goldsmith
26 November ‘07.
26.Nov.2007 12:50
AHMET ERTEGUN TRIBUTE
We have now filtered through all of those previous winners who could not make the new concert date of December 10th. As a result of this process the final passocode winners have been randomly selected on a first come first served basis, out of the original ballot.
Please note as follows, the box office for collection of tickets will be open from Sunday 9th December from 10am until 6pm and from 10am and on Monday 10th December until the concert starts.
Please note that the concert starts at 7pm and will finish at 11pm.
In addition to the Jubilee line where the last train leaves at 12.19am there is also a boat service that will take you to Westminster Pier under the Millenium Eye if you wish to stay later. This boat service will run until at least 4am.
I have read through most of your comments and my response is very simple. Throughout this process we have tried to satisfy those fans that took the trouble to register on the original ballot. It is going to be a fantastic concert and I hope you will all find that the effort that you have all made is worth it.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have just started their European Tour. We are looking forward to seeing them at the O2 on the 19th December which is the last date of this tour. The reviews have been nothing short of sensational.
Watch out for further news to be announced shortly.
For those of you who like big band music, Jools Holland’s ‘Best of Friends Tour’ is on the road. If you haven’t had a chance to see it, get your tickets now (if there are any left).
Last week Stevie Wonder played at the opening of the new Wonder Room in Selfridges. He played a 30 minute set packed with hits and ‘wowed’ his audience. I hope that Stevie will be back next year for a long awaited tour of Europe.
Harvey Goldsmith
AHMET ERTEGUN TRIBUTE CONCERT POSTPONED UNTIL DECE.
01.Nov.2007 20:05
LED ZEPPELIN GUITARIST JIMMY PAGE FRACTURES FINGER
The Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert, originally scheduled for Monday, November 26th and featuring Led Zeppelin, Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings, Paul Rodgers, Paolo Nutini and Foreigner has been postponed until December 10th due to Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page fracturing his finger.
The injury to Page’s finger, which was sustained this past weekend, will not allow him to play guitar for 3 weeks.
The specialist treating Mr. Page said, “I have examined the fracture to Mr. Page’s finger, and it is my opinion that with proper rest and treatment, he will be ready to resume rehearsing in three weeks time, and thus able to perform on December 10th.”
Jimmy Page added, “I am disappointed that we are forced to postpone the concert by two weeks. However, Led Zeppelin have always set very high standards for ourselves, and we feel that this postponement will enable my injury to properly heal, and permit us to perform at the level that both the band and our fans have always been accustomed to.”
TICKET HOLDERS PLEASE NOTE
ALL Tickets for the November 26th show will be valid for the rescheduled date.
Any customers who are unable to attend the rescheduled concert on the 10th December should apply for a full refund of the ticket purchase prior to midday (UK time) on November 14th 2007.
Any tickets made available as a result of refunds will be offered to ballot winners selected at random from original registrations after the 15th November 2007.
Please refer to www.ahmettribute.com for information on how to obtain a refund and for further information.
Donations to Ahmet Education Fund.
23.Oct.2007 15:39
If you would like to make a donation to the Ahmet Education Fund please visit
www.justgiving.com/ahmetertegun
The money raised will be put towards music scholarships in schools in the U.S.A, Turkey and the U.K, to enable gifted children to reach their highest creative potential.
23 October '07.
23.Oct.2007 09:29
We have now sent out the 2nd batch of winning Led Zeppelin passcodes from the ballot.
To be very clear:
PASSCODES ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE
TICKETS ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE
If you are a lucky winner and you can’t come then please don’t try and sell these to someone else.
I have read most of the correspondence which is going backwards and forwards and I simply say to those who are moaning the most, the ballot was meant for people who wanted to see Led Zeppelin and not for those who want to be in the commodities business.
Finally everyone who has a problem who we have been made aware of has been dealt with.
To the vast majority who have played the game properly I hope you have a great time and really enjoy the show.
