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as someone who would fight tooth & nail to put attack & release / brothers era black keys very very high in the rock contribution pantheon in the last 25 years I think I can fairly suggest maybe it’s just that their recent output has been a huge overproduced bummer I have no interest in seeing live

I interviewed booking agents, tour managers, and other experts about the Black Keys debacle and why some high-profile arena tours are struggling to sell tickets right now. New piece for Stereogum:

The Curious Case Of The Underselling Arena Tourswww.stereogum.com It's not just the Black Keys. Why are so many big tours selling poorly?

I also like el Camino, but this latest is just so bland and bad and if I recall they were one of the groups that got very defensive about people who suggested "selling out" should maybe still be a thing after their music over-saturated the market

hell I could even get cautiously on board with turn blue, it was fine enough. I don’t expect nonstop plateau albums. but shit the downward slide is so hard to not hear when you have the whole picture in mind over ten years

Turn Blue really grew on me over time even if it was a step down, but they've just been kind of mediocre since.

"Rock Bands from my college years that haven't lost the juice" uh maybe QotSA? Vampire Weekend's recent had a solid start even if it never went anywhere.

the thing is that most of these bands are still pretty good, they’re just not, like, arena good anymore (and a lot of them never really were)

a black keys ballroom show would probably be fucking lit, but i’m not going to see them at moda

normalize seeing perfectly acceptable bands with 3-4 good albums at county fairs 15 years after their arena era again.

At my freshman orientation in college, there was a concert featuring Biz Markee and Duncan Sheik. Sheik was 27 years old at the time, only 2 years removed from his "big hit," and was already hitting the "free concerts in the middle of nowhere for teenagers" stage of his career.

Yeah, Duncan was always 'okay' but man, you got to see Biz!

Maybe the Goo Goo Dolls are a stretch at “perfectly acceptable” but they put on a fun show at the San Diego County Fair a couple years ago.

Goo Goo Dolls are a totally acceptable band afaik, and a good show is good show.

I paid 20 bucks to see ZZ Top at rinky dink small town heritage fest in the late aughts and it was one of the best shows I have absolutely ever seen

I entirely realize this sounds misanthropic af but I do not want to go see a band I love play music I don’t love around people I do not fit in around who love the current version of the band

i mean, i’m right there with you, i fucking hate arena shows

Small venue shows are the best, hands down. I've seen arena shows and small venue shows, and the arena shows just don't compare to having the band on stage like *right over there*. Depending on the band, sometimes you might even get to meet them after the show.

there’s a band out of ohio called murder by death and as far as I know they’ve never played a show bigger than a few hundred people (I know I’m wrong on this but it’s a generality) and every show I’ve seen has been a “holy shit why are these guys still so under the radar” experience

murder by death are the only band i’m a vinyl completist about and i’ve seen them more than any other non-local / non-friend band. if you ever get the chance to see them at the stanley hotel, pay whatever it costs, it’s worth it.

(also, they’re in kentucky now. they own a pizza shop!)

I’ve told my wife if the cello player is ever into me then our marriage is over, this is a zero risk proposition but I stand by it

I wanted to go this weekend and just got the notification their show was sold out in a small venue here. I've probably seen them 7 or 8 times over the years.

goddamn murder by death are so good

Saw them at the First Unitarian Church basement in Philly in the early 2000s

isn't there some cognitive dissonance in walking away from a concert thinking "holy shit why are these guys still so under the radar" and also not wanting bands you like to go on to play bigger shows?

yeah of course there is, I would like them to be super successful and make heaps of money. I would also like to enjoy them at an intimate level. I don’t have to pick one honestly

I think the question of venue size is also a question of acoustics. Small joints can suck, to be sure, but damn if I’ve been to a single arena concert where I thought the sound was at all decent. You’re there just watching them boogie-woogie and everything else is blown-out

Oh man they're great!

bloomington indiana, but yeah. they're pretty close to my favorite.

indiana is a kind of ohio

Murder By Death does shows every year in January at the Stanley Hotel in Estes, CO. Whole crowd shows up in formal 1920's attire and the band recreates the Jack Torrence ballroom photo from The Shining. It's simply splendid

I distinctly remember more than one Chicago show in the early aughts where they out-performed the very entertaining performers they opened for each and every time.

I just saw this from the Patreon updates and it's so typically this. "Crowds have been really nice and so far so good! Fair warning if you're waiting on tickets, Codfish Hollow only has 20 tickets left. If you haven't been, it's in a barn on a farm in northeast Iowa and is a blast."

I’ve seen them play in barns and it rules.

Saw them.. god.. must have been 2006 or 2007

That band is rad. I saw them in a much bigger room than that in 2005, but it was at a university music festival and it was probably not very full when they played. They are such a good live band.

Dope reference

Saw Kamelot at an absolute dump with like seventy people and it fuckin ruled. Hard to beat.

Omg they are from Ohio?!?!

In Indianapolis there was a terrible nudie bar next door to the club where all the death metal bands played. We drank with many a band in that place. Even took a few out to other places.

I saw Lee Bains + The Glory Fires (my favorite live band) at DC9, a DC venue that holds 250, in 2017. The closer was “Dirt Track” and Lee just unplugged his guitar and ran around the crowd playing and singing the song while we all sang along. It was a blast!

The Black Cat is another great small venue, just a couple blocks from there. Lot of great little venues around the DC area.

LOVE The Black Cat. Excellent sound quality and they’ve got both the upstairs for slightly larger acts and the intimate back room. I moved away from DC last year and the many great live music venues are one of the things I miss most!

There very few artists that I would want to see in a place that holds more than 5000 and even that is stretch. I like my venues small and dingy. With plumbing only a little better than CBGB in 1976. I am a romantic that way.

watched a band last summer at a NYC parks dept concession stand on rockaway beach and it was honestly the best show i've even been to. probably 150 people, maybe 1/2 knew the band, the rest (like me) were just there with friends who did or were just passing by. maybe $10? Great vibe.

One of the best things about Summerfest in Milwaukee is all the little stages where bands you haven’t heard of yet are playing to whatever crowd gathers in front of them. You get to hear so much that is new and different.

i just want to get taken to bands I haven't heard before by people who like them. if I know 'em, the shows gonna be too big and I won't be able to sit.

A Romantic you say? www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqnw...

The Romantics - What I Like About You (Video)www.youtube.com The Romantics' official music video for 'What I Like About You'. Click to listen to The Romantics on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/TheRomsSpotify?IQid=RomanticsWIL As featured on The Romantics: Super Hits. Click to buy the track or album via iTunes: http://smarturl.it/TheRomsSuperHits?IQid=RomanticsWIL Google Play: http://smarturl.it/WILGPlay?IQid=RomanticsWIL Amazon: http://smarturl.it/TheRomsAmazon?IQid=RomanticsWIL More from The Romantics Talking In Your Sleep: https://youtu.be/JmGMzyajA2U One In A Million: https://youtu.be/JGAV8wvYdVI Test Of Time: https://youtu.be/ngIz1M7Lnto More great 80s videos here: http://smarturl.it/Ultimate80?IQid=RomanticsWIL Follow The Romantics Website: http://www.romanticsdetroit.com/ Subscribe to The Romantics on YouTube: http://smarturl.it/TheRomsSub?IQid=RomanticsWIL --------- Lyrics: Hey Uh huh huh Hey Uh huh huh What I like about you You hold me tight Tell me I'm the only one Wanna come over tonight, yeah Keep on whispering in my ear Tell me all the things that I wanna hear 'Cause it's true That's what I like about you What I like about you You really know how to dance When you go up, down, jump around Think about true romance, yeah

That song was guaranteed to bring every female student to the dance floor when I was in college.

Anything larger than a theater I'm out. Having what feels like an intimate show is one of the best things about seeing live bands. Just my opinion though.

The only two bands that should have ever been allowed to play arenas were Bruce/E Street and J Giles. Change my mind.

This is basically the Flaming Lips motto these days

One of the worst shows I ever saw was Guided by Voices at Hard Rock. It was so weird. A bunch of drunk investment banker types who talked the whole time

Yeah when I heard the black keys were playing Oakland coliseum my primary response was “wat”.