Steely Dan Is Touring And I'm Here For It

I discovered by accident last night that Steely Dan and Steve Winwood are touring together this summer. The bands will make a stop in Cincinnati. I have to say, for fans of classic rock, the summer of 2020 is looking to be awesome for shows. Pre-sale starts Monday and I'm getting my tickets then.

Ticketmaster is the absolute worst. I've always hated Ticketmaster because of their insane fees and inflated prices but I swear the act of just trying to buy concert tickets is a nightmare now. It took me an hour to get my Motley Crue tickets earlier this week during the pre-sale for the Cincinnati show. The virtual waiting room is ridiculous and then I was in a continuous loop of proving "I'm not a bot." I had to send a verification text to my cell phone three different times. And there was a four ticket limit and I needed five so I had to do the process twice and of course the seat next to the other four was available but when I went to buy it Ticketmaster said it was "gone." Luckily I got a seat in the row right in front of the main group, so it's fine. But a limit of four is too few, especially when bots and resellers are just buying everything up anyway. Within 10 minutes, the market was flooded with up-priced tickets. Ticketmaster calls these "verified resale" tickets. It's all so maddening. I don't think I'll have the same long wait for Steely Dan on Monday but who knows. You would think in the era of buying everything in ten seconds with one touch, securing concert tickets would be less frustrating. Sadly that is not the case.

Just announced: Steely Dan + Steve Winwood 2020 Tour! For tickets and more info visit: https://t.co/W5SONgCTdW pic.twitter.com/VjWBa03cPF

— Steve Winwood (@SteveWinwood) January 15, 2020

Steely Dan & Steve Winwood Tour

June 2 – Portland, OR @ Veterans Memorial Coliseum
June 4 – Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
June 6 – Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion
June 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
June 9 – Chula Vista, CA @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
June 11 – Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-Chin Pavilion
June 13 – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena
June 14 – Woodlands, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June 17 – Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
June 19 – Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre
June 20 – Memphis, TN @ TBA
June 23 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
June 24 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
June 26 – Tinley Park, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
June 28 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
June 30 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
July 1 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
July 3 – Syracuse, NY @ St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater
July 5 – Wantagh, NY @ Jones Beach Theater
July 7 & 8 – Vienna, VA @ Wolf Trap
July 10 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 11 – Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

Comments

[Him]

I just missed seeing Steely Dan before Becker passed. Another lost opportunity. I remember wearing out their greatest hits album after I got it from Columbia House on a lark. I thought: "What the crazy hell is this?!?!" That led me to other albums. Never a fanboy, but always an admirer of their thing.

Love Winwood's voice. I found out about him during his 80's period. I am sure that isn't his best period. But I always thought "Valerie" was a great song, synth and all.

And you are certainly right, Allyson: Ticketmaster is a burden to anyone wanting to see an established band. Thing is, they cornered the market and they are here to stay, unless another corp. decides to swallow up all the means of production: venues, ticketing, etc. And that is not likely to happen (recall I posted about this months ago). The closest thing to them is AEG. So we have no choice if we want to see an act that is under their thumb.

[Shawn]

@Him not a big fan myself but I have a great respect for the Skunk - That guy is a genius. He was a close friend of my CO on the Shiloh CG 67 he visited the ship several times. His work with missile defense is well known. I think he was an old college roommate of my CO.

On another note Reeling in the Years is my favorite song by Steely Dan what a solo and the lyrics are amazing.

[GNR]

I used to wake up to get in line to our Ticketmaster counter, which was inside a Dayton's department store to score premium tickets. People with push button phones no longer have the patience for this.

The software tries to keep out "bots", yet there are scores more 3rd party tickets to premium events than ever. So is it really working ?

Also, LiveNation/Ticketmaster just had it's like 9th year straight of record growth and revenue. That's revenue that comes from US. For what ? I don't even get printed tickets as a memento anymore to some shows. F*ckers !

That 10.8 billion they made in revenue last year came mostly from people just wanting to see a band and instead of paying a scalper, they got scalped by Ticketmaster.

[GNR]

And to continue - I read a couple articles once that Amazon was going to take them on. I feel like that is about the only company on the magnitude they are on that could. Sign up for Prime get no processing fees on your concert tickets ?!?! Sign me up !

[JCD]

I went to buy Foreigner/Kansas/Europe presale tickets yesterday morning (Thur.), the price for 2 lawn seats was $60, not bad. With the taxes and fees....$100. Europe is a band that I've never been able to see live so I'd be going only to see them really. Foreigner and Kansas are essentially tribute bands now and I've seen them both in this form, they do sound good but pales after seeing Lou Gramm And Steve Walsh a bit after their heyday but still great. I digress, the only way to stop the Ticketmaster gouging is to stop buying tickets or count on the rise of a worthy competitor. I like the Amazon angle that "GNR" brought up. I've cut way back on my concert attendance in the last few years but most of us aren't willing to do this. On a side note, at least until recently you could purchase tickets at the box office without most fees but that is quickly disappearing. Ticketmaster and Live Nation....it's time for a revolution.

[Him]

Agreed, Amazon is likely the only corp. that has the scale . . . to scale up and challenge the monolith. Then again, that is just feeding the same problem with a different spoon. But I would certainly try another option if it was provided (given that the "supporting smaller ticket vendors" rant I made a few weeks ago really only works for regional shows and non-legacy or 'hot' acts). And I hear you GNR. I had to pay $2.50 for the benefit of real tickets for the DLR show in March. All things considered, it was worth it (as was going to the box office to purchase my tickets to ELO last summer). I realize tickets don't matter much to a lot of people these days. But I still like to have them!

Shawn, I only recently found out about Baxter's defense/missile work. Amazing stuff. And very cool story. It would also be cool if he was touring with SD or even the Doobie Brothers. Some of the clips I have seen of him are incredible.

[Gogmagog]

What will it take to get a federal law to require that the posted ticket price must include all fees and surcharges? I bought tickets to a hockey game a while back, and $55 tickets magically turned into $80.

[Him]

I guess there is still magic in this world, Gogmagog! I kid. But I totally get your point.

Here is another wonderful piece of magic: you purchase a room in Vegas, and all of the sudden 20 or more shows up on your bill for resort fees. What next? Parking too? Oh wait.