We have a day off in Sparks, Nevada, before rolling into Santa Cruz tomorrow.

I received an email from a fan who did not like that the concert at Boulder Station was “only” 75 minutes long. (((BTW, we played very well and received a standing ovation)))

I get at least one or two emails like that after every show in Las Vegas. Most casinos, with the exception of the Nugget in Sparks/Reno who let us play for 90 minutes, limit performances to 75 minutes (((as do clubs where we do two shows a night))).

It’s pretty simple, really. Casinos want to lure people to gamble. They offer shows at a decent ticket-price and hope that some folks stay to play the slots after the concert. The longer the concert, the less likely it is that people stay in the casino afterward – I am sure this is based on research or experience.

Let’s look at the ticket-price-to-concert-length ratio:

Ticket prices at the Celebrity in Phoenix, where we played a full show, were $45 and $65. Tickets at Boulder Station in Vegas went from $24.50 to $45.50. 120 minutes for $45 = 2.67 minutes per dollar, versus 75 minutes for $24.50 = 3.06 minutes per dollar. Or, if you prefer, the Celebrity charged 37 cents per minute and Boulder Station charged 32 cents.

So, your dollar actually buys you more music at Boulder Station. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Also, if you want to see a band in a small venue, chances are that they will play two shows and the performances will be shorter. That goes more or less for the Blue Note in Manhattan, Anthology in San Diego, One World in Austin &c.