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London Wembley Stadium Concerts 2009

malcolmyoung91
Member #9,754

Num Posts: 79
Country: Australia


It's great to hear that AC/DC are playing at the new Wembley Stadium in a few months. I took a look at the Wembley Stadium entry on wikipedia, so see its capacity for rock concerts amongst other things. It mentions 75,000-90,000 seated plus 15,000 standing. So I assume the AC/DC show, which is listed at Sold Out, will get around the 100,000 mark. I was then a bit shocked to see many other artists playing multiple shows there later this year - eg Take That 4 shows (1-5 July), Oasis 3 shows (9-12 July), even Coldplay are playing 2 shows (18-19 Sep). Now I know AC/DC are playing 2 shows at the O2 arena in April - however, this only fits 15,000-20,000 apparently. So, really I'm a bit surprised, especially given the band's increased popularlty with the Black Ice album and US tour so far, that the bands that I've mentioned would play to 2 or 3 times as many people live in London later this year compared with the DC. Is it a case of they are playing one concert but could easily sell out another 1 or 2 Wembley's? If that's the case, then why wouldn't extra shows be added?
sapator
Member #210

Num Posts: 1,619
Country: Greece


You're forgetting that AC/DC are touring the world.And England is most certainly NOT the center of the world.
malcolmyoung91
Member #9,754

Num Posts: 79
Country: Australia


Well, no, I was not forgetting that they are touring the world - what a ridiculous thing to assert. Well done mate. To be honest, down here in Australia, we're fairly well looked after. In '88, the band played 19 concerts in 5 different cities. In '91, they played 13 shows in the same 5 cities. In '96, they played 13 in 7 different cities, and in 2001, they played 13 in 7 cities again. On the last 2 world tours, the band also played in much smaller cities (eg Darwin) that have a population as few as 100,000. To put that into context, that's an average of 15 concerts over the past 4 world tours, for a nation of 20 million people. So that would be like, say, the USA, with its 300m population, having 225 concerts on an average world tour. So, you're alluding to some kind of centre of the world, (and I assume this is referring to an AC/DC world tour kind of thing), I know where I'd consider it to be. And it sure ain't Greece!
sapator
Member #210

Num Posts: 1,619
Country: Greece


WTF? Are you nuts? I'm talking about England and you're telling me of Australia?! Australia is almost as big as Europe you know. Ops my mistake, i thought Greece was considered the center of civilization.But then again we have mr Malcolm here that is pissed off because they don't play 20 times in England (and he is from Australia) that knows it all.Better consider that the language you speak comes from Greek and Roman. I'm guessing your "91" means you are 17?
malcolmyoung91
Member #9,754

Num Posts: 79
Country: Australia


Why start with all the personal insults?? I thought that we were all huge AC/DC fans here? 91 has nothing to do with my age. You're right mentioning that Australia is almost as big as Europe - except that we only have 3% of the population. I'm not here to argue the centre of civilisation, nor ancient European history, nor the origins of the English language. I think my answer (mentioning Australian tours) was about as relevant as your initial response. In a sense, it was written to demonstrate that AC/DC (at least on the last 4 world tours) on their Australian legs have always added more and more dates to the same city, in order to FULLY satisfy demand. If that meant, say, playing 7 nights at the Melbourne National Tennis Centre, then that's what they repeatedly did. If you could re-read my initial posting, you'll see that all I was asking, was why they will only be playing just the one show at Wembley Stadium, when the other artists I mentioned are playing 2, 3 or 4 shows there later this year. So, the main motive behind the posting, is "are these other artists really so significantly more popular than AC/DC, at least in a live sense?". All I really expected was someone confirming or denying that is the case. I considered that your answer that "England is not the centre of the world" doesn't have anything to do with what I originally wrote.
sapator
Member #210

Num Posts: 1,619
Country: Greece


Ye,sorry got carried away. Anyway, apart from the country stuff. At the question.Does England deserve more dates? The answer will personally be, no.When Black Ice will only stay a week on UK top charts and start dropping fast while other Countries will have it for months up there (Greece too) then why should England get more dates and not Germany,Sweden,Belgium etc? England is getting what it deserves.Pop artists :) And of course i have nothing against English AC/DC fans.I want to be clear on this one. C.U.
viper
Member #1,472

Num Posts: 176
Country: US


Check out this map of Wembley Stadium regarding seating for the Oasis concerts: http://www.getmein.com/DynamicImages/LayoutMaps/L_201.png It looks like a full third of the seated sections (behind the stage) were not sold. I would be surprised if the total attendance for one concert there is near 75,000. It's like Giants Stadium here in New Jersey. I've gone to see many concerts there but while the seating for sporting events is 80,000, the seating for Concerts is 55,000 (and thats with the seating on the field).
Mammoth
Member #1,300

Num Posts: 441
Country: Switzerland


It's just about time constraints for an aging band. You need to give the chance to as many fans around the globe to see them live.
malcolmyoung91
Member #9,754

Num Posts: 79
Country: Australia


Cheers for those contributions. Yeah I agree the aging band thing is fairly significant. I wonder how the lads are feeling (physically) after each show. It can't be easy. So for that reason, perhaps the band will embark on its first and only ever stadium tour of Australia, and I'm tipping November/December this year. Rather than play the 8,000 - 15,000 indoor arenas, they might just play 1 outdoor concert in the 5 main capital cities. And also for that reason, I wouldn't believe anyone if they told me AC/DC will have another world tour after this one. They now release an album and tour behind it every 5-8 years. Brian alone will be in his late 60's in another 5-8 years. I just can't see it happening. Perhaps I'll be proved wrong. As for the OAKA stadium concert, great that they're finally playing a show in Greece. Perhaps it's a case of "better late than never". I take it the show has sold out, or close to?
sapator
Member #210

Num Posts: 1,619
Country: Greece


Not very close to be a sold out. Greek rockers are very few but we manage to keep them(AC/DC) on the charts for months. Eventually people that will combine their vacations with an AC/DC tour will make the sold out in a couple of months. I think the tickets sold by now are 35-40000 out of 65000.


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