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WP's popularity is devoted but spotty. I had never heard of them til 2001 when I moved from Orlando to New Orleans. I was literally unloading their guitars from an airplane when I first heard of them. They do big runs in New Orleans and also often play Jazzfest. It's not so much that they are popular in The Big Easy as that New Orleans is a destination concert for Panic fans in the southeast.
SCI might be a bigger draw now. That might be a supply and demand situation as they don't play as many shows these days.
Regardless of their popularity, I feel that they are a great band and I try to see them as often as I can.
Oh yeah, and AF is way bigger than Panic... at this point in time.
WSP are bigger than Laggy thinks but smaller than Jess thinks.
Widespread Panic selling more tickets than Arcade Fire since 1995....
This has nothing to do with what I said. Also, I'm pretty sure after your "Arcade Fire can't headline" crusade you have lost all credibility on this subject.
By the way I enjoyed WSP in 08 and the only reason I left before WSP this year was my tent disintegrated on Friday and I didn't want to sleep in the car another night
This is the first message board I've ever been on, the only reason I joined is because I love Bonnaroo and wanted to read and talk about it all year long.
yeah 2008's set was kinda meh so I did not stay but from what i heard...it was very good this year
I'm surprised to see that this seems to be the general consensus on this board because I actually liked their show in '08, but this year was kind of a snoozefest for me.
Arcade Fire has been on the cover of Times. Sold 156k copies of The Suburbs in it's first week. Won Album of the Year. Has headlined almost every major festival in the world. Arcade Fire goes on World Tours. They don't play the same venues to the same crowd every tour. Panic couldn't pull off a world tour if they wanted to. The Surburbs also debuted number 1 on the European charts. I doubt Panic has ever charted significantly high on the European chart. Just because Panic is popular in the south doesn't mean than are more popular in general. Also Red Rocks is Panic's biggest shows of the year. It seats 9500 people and those 9500 people are the same people who have been to all of Panics shows already that year. It's not like 9500 different people show up each night. Arcade Fire sold out Madison Square Garden for 3 nights which as know is significantly larger than Red Rocks
^^this. All of it.
Is this even up for discussion at this point? 4-5 years ago you might have had a point, but there's absolutely no comparison in terms of popularity now. Widespread are big in the South and big among the jam band niche. But can you picture them headlining Coachella or Lollapalooza or any other festival of that size? Arcade Fire are massive on a global scale now - as in, Album of the Year, cover of Rolling Stone, bring out David Bowie for a few songs kind of massive. And while it's not an absolute indicator, Arcade Fire has over a million fans on Facebook; Widespread has under 250,000. So yes, I would say that Arcade Fire is far bigger than Widespread at this point in time.
Post by RadioSpirit on Jul 10, 2011 12:29:21 GMT -5
Arcade Fire played Verizon in Atlanta which is 12,000 capacity. So that's definitely more than 4,000 tickets available. Granted, they didn't fill up the Lawn, but I doubt the Lawn being unfilled made an 8,000-person difference.
Are you guys seriously rehashing the Arcade Fire debate after they just headlined Bonnaroo and in October will have headlined all four of the biggest festivals in the United States?
Post by RadioSpirit on Jul 10, 2011 13:06:59 GMT -5
Also:
Gexa Energy Pavilion, Dallas, TX: >20,000 Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands, TX: 17,000 Comercia Theatre, Phoenix, AZ: 5,500 Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO: ~20,000 Starlight Theatre, Kansas City, MO: 8,000 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL: 7,000 (3 Nights) Orpheum Theatre, Memphis, TN: 2,500 Pepsi Coliseum, Indianapolis, IN: 8,200 UCCU Center, Orem, UT: 8,500 The Shrine Auditorium, LA: 6,300 (2 Nights) The Greek Theatre, LA: 5,900 (2 Nights) (That's a 4-Night LA Run, with a show in Big Surr in the middle, and another LA show later in the tour) Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR: 13,000 KeyArena, Seattle, WA: 16,600 Roy Wilkins, St. Paul, MN: 5,000 Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA: 14,000 Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA: 5,000 Madison Square Gardens, NY: 20,000 (2 Nights) Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD: 19,000 The Ryman, Nashville, TN: 2,300 Verizon Wireless, Atlanta, GA: 12,000
There were venues in Texas, Colorado, and Virginia that I couldn't find info on. So Arcade Fire averages between 8,000-20,000. Plus a few shows where they play smaller venues (Nashville, Boston, St. Paul, Memphis, Phoenix)
Post by Laggy.RETURNS on Jul 10, 2011 13:24:55 GMT -5
I know... I never even meant to bring AF into it. I just wanted to understand why a band I'd never heard of before bonnaroo 08 and can't even fill a small theatre down here is a repeat headliner.
Post by RadioSpirit on Jul 10, 2011 13:29:58 GMT -5
Widespread Panic:
Asheville Civic Center, Asheville, NC: 7,600 The Fox Theatre, Oakland, CA: 2,800 (2 Nights) The Rail Event Center, Salt Lake City, UT: Does not appear to have a website. WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, WV: 14,000 Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA: 5,000 Radio City Music Hall, NY: 6,000 Superpages.com Center, Dallas, TX: 20,000 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD: 19,000 Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA: 20,000 Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilion, Gilford, NH: 6,500 Verizon Theatre, Grand Prairie, TX: 6,300 United Palace Theatre, NY: 3,300 (2 Nights)
I'm already back to 2007 with WP, surely they've toured more than this recently, but maybe setlist.fm isn't good with Jam bands.
They're all over the place though. Average of 6,000-8,000? But proof that they can occasionally play large (~20,000) venues.
Two venues I couldn't find info on, but included bands also playing that venue: Ives Concert Park, Dansbury, CT: Guster/Ra Ra Riot The National, Richmond, VA: Dave Matthews Tribute Band
Gexa Energy Pavilion, Dallas, TX: >20,000 Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands, TX: 17,000 Comercia Theatre, Phoenix, AZ: 5,500 Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO: ~20,000 Starlight Theatre, Kansas City, MO: 8,000 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL: 7,000 (3 Nights) Orpheum Theatre, Memphis, TN: 2,500 Pepsi Coliseum, Indianapolis, IN: 8,200 UCCU Center, Orem, UT: 8,500 The Shrine Auditorium, LA: 6,300 (2 Nights) The Greek Theatre, LA: 5,900 (2 Nights) (That's a 4-Night LA Run, with a show in Big Surr in the middle, and another LA show later in the tour) Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR: 13,000 KeyArena, Seattle, WA: 16,600 Roy Wilkins, St. Paul, MN: 5,000 Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA: 14,000 Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA: 5,000 Madison Square Gardens, NY: 20,000 (2 Nights) Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD: 19,000 The Ryman, Nashville, TN: 2,300 Verizon Wireless, Atlanta, GA: 12,000
There were venues in Texas, Colorado, and Virginia that I couldn't find info on. So Arcade Fire averages between 8,000-20,000. Plus a few shows where they play smaller venues (Nashville, Boston, St. Paul, Memphis, Phoenix)
Why is it they play such smaller venues only in TN?
And to answer you original question. With bonnaroo having it's roots in the jam scene and them keeping those roots alive with Sunday headliners, Panic is worthy of headlining. They have headlined almost every jam oriented festival and are one of the top jam bands around. Like most have said they have a dedicated following and that following goes to festivals. Capps said in a interview that they started bonnaroo as a jam oriented fest bc the jam band crowd wants to and is willing to camp out for 3 or 4 days at a music festival.
Cause Jess made the comment that Widespread has sold more tickets since 1995 and then it kind of spiraled out of control.
Also you can't really look at where someone plays. I saw Panic in Raleigh at Walnut Creek like 2 years ago. It seats 20,000 but they didn't even fill the pit after they let everyone from the lawn into the pit.
Post by coanbread751 on Jul 10, 2011 16:28:29 GMT -5
I think that WSP is a fantastic band. I would argue that they continue to gain more and more street cred amongst the hipsters because of their Bonnaroo/Lollapalooza/Forecastle type sets. The jam scene is weird. Panic can play at Louisville Palace or go down the road to Lexington and play Rupp Arena. They can also announce a special show and sell out anywhere in America. I think they are worthy of headlining. I can understand why people get upset that they continue to repeat the same band over and over...but at least with WSP you can be certain that it is going to be one booty-shaking, hell of a show.
And just for your info Cap'n jack...WSP did headline Lollapalooza in 2005 I believe
Post by nodepression on Jul 10, 2011 17:30:58 GMT -5
Laggy it could just be because artists sometimes play smaller venues as a treat to the fans/preference for city. Which may explain why Arcade Fire played a smaller venue in Nashville/Memphis.
Why is it they play such smaller venues only in TN?
Nashville doesn't have many large venues anymore. Closed down Starwood Amphitheatre many years ago, which was the largest outdoor venue around. Riverfront Park rarely has events anymore, and Bridgestone Arena is just an awful place to hear music. WSP was going to play Riverfront Park a couple years ago but got moved the day before due to weather (it didn't even end up raining). So this year they did a 3 night run at the Ryman which is the coolest spot in Nashville, but doesn't have alot of seats. Everywhere else is too small to host a big name band.
As for the debate, who the hell cares? You're not gonna convince me that WSP is somehow inferior to Arcade Fire, and I won't be able to convince Arcade Fire fans that Neon Bible is pure indie rock garbage. Would Arcade Fire have been a big enough name for Bonnaroo before The Suburbs? Probably not. They are huge right now and I have become a big fan, but to say they are gonna be this popular 20 years from now is a big leap. Both shows were great, and that's all that matters. I'd be down with either of them headlining next year
And to CPK, please stop with the album sales and grammy award argument. Celine Dion has more records sold, sold out more venues, has several grammys and an album of the year too. So I guess she's better than Arcade Fire, right?
