Here is a recent recording for those who wonder what the latest band sounded like. This is “Snakecharmer” from Dallas on August 5th, as always recorded straight off the board by Alan. There was a new fourth verse unison by Jon and Stephen, alternating between 3/4 and 4/4. Michael Chavez did the dumbek solo.
The last concert of our 2009 Summer tour. Local lighting crew works the par cans. Lighting pipes sway. People walk around. Stephen Duros starts soundcheck.
Here are a few images from the Lensic performance in June, captured by Colleen Hayes. Colleen had never shot a live performance before and did a wonderful job. From left to right: Robby Rothschild, Stephen Duros, me, Jon Gagan and Michael Chavez. Nice to have good pics from that performance, which is in my top-ten of most enjoyable concerts. I will upload a bunch more to Flickr later.
Here are a few images from the Lensic performance in June, captured by Colleen Hayes. From left to right: Robby Rothschild, Stephen Duros, OL, Jon Gagan and Michael Chavez.
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.
