Re: Toronto

[thewho rocks <leb905@yahoo.com>]

Assuming the news about Toronto is true:  Likely the problem is in what
they can charge for tickets and how that's going to translate back to
pounds sterling.  

I gather from the comments on the Lifehouse Chronicles that Canadians
aren't used to paying the prices for music (in real terms) that US and
UK listers are.  The exchange rate is roughly an indicator of how
prosperous one economy is compared to another.  The US economy has been
booming in recent years and many folks are feeling like they can pay
the prices on this tour, but they expect to be paid at a similar rate.

So likely the tour will be paying US/UK prices for transporting the
people and equipment there and back, and only getting the Canadian rate
in return, which is what?  About a third less?  And that's assuming
they charge the same ticket rates ($35-$150) in Canada.  Plus, the UK
is something of an island economy, where the operating costs tend to be
higher in general.

Although some folks predicted this would be a tough season for touring
in the US, it seems to be working out okay so far, and it may turn out
to be an A-one excellent opportunity for TED to make some money.  One
reason is that the US economy has been so great for a while.  Students
are still poor, of course, but folks with good jobs (and stock
investments) CAN afford to pay fairly exorbitant prices for tickets. 
The economy is slowing and next year things may be different, but for
now they're still okay. 

It appears that TED are looking at the financial aspects very closely
on this tour.  It's obviously organized to cut costs and make money
(for retirement or other projects or whatever).  They don't have a big
record company behind them paying for the promotion and etc. so they're
paying most of the costs themselves.  The benefit is that we get the
tour, and anyone is welcome to travel in order to share in the
experience.  

I don't think we can complain too much about TED making money right
now.  They've not taken up gouging as a general philosophy.  Recently
they've shown a strong tendency to do those charity benefits and to use
what they get from one project to cover costs on another.  They do need
to feel secure enough to make an up-front investment in these projects
themselves.  They can't do that (and have any control of how it's done)
if they're destitute.  However, if anybody up there in Canada (or
wherever) has some nice connections, I imagine they might be open to a
charity benefit while they're in the general area.


LB


> I have always been under the impression that Pete loves Toronto....
> Granted, the exchange rate is horrendous, but I can't truly believe
> that that would be an issue....I wonder what happened?


>A very sad development indeed. If the future of rock n roll is that 
>bands can only afford touring in one country (however big that country
may be), would be tragical to most of the world. However, most band do
tour most parts of Earth, so why not the Who? Is their show so much
more expensive? Or do the indivdual members demand so much money that
they can't tour?

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