Pop superstar Lady Gaga, who comes to Vancouver tonight to play two near-sell-out shows at Rogers Arena, is a bright light in what has otherwise been a sluggish summer for the concert business.
The priciest seats retailed for up to $190 originally and were on sale on August 20 for up to $575 on Vancouver’s Showtimetickets.com. That’s much more than the $80 the diva charged last December for top price tickets at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, where she played three dates.
Folk rockers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel endured slow sales for tour dates including a gig in Vancouver planned for Rogers Arena earlier this year. The two 69-year-olds then cancelled their tour indefinitely citing Garfunkel’s vocal peresis as the reason.
Promoters of the 2010 Lilith Fair tour announced in July that 10 tour dates scheduled for later this year have been cancelled. Those concerts were set for Salt Lake City, Montreal, Raleigh, Charlotte, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Birmingham, Austin, Houston and Dallas.
Lilith Fair highlights female artists and has struggled to keep top talent onboard this time around. Stars such as Norah Jones and Kelly Clarkson backed out of some tour dates.
Nearly 10,000 people viewed Lilith Fair on Canada Day at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver.
Promoters such as co-founder and Nettwerk Music Group CEO Terry McBride had originally intended for the show to take place in a larger Pitt Meadows venue but listless ticket sales prompted the change.