i dont think the pub. in cleveland was all that bad, there were write ups in the paper, WNCX promoted the show constently,tv had prime time spots for the concert and i even saw the queen north american tour promo during the superbowl pre-game....
to be honest, i heard more about this show than the coldplay concert a few nights earlier.
you know, maybe if the band would show more interest in its fans , like the fans show for the band, a do a quick meet and greet, offer backstage passes through radio contest and VIP packages (i hear the cookies and backstage tours that were givin on some VIP packages were totally worth the $1000.00 that was paid for them) , do something at the R+R HOF, radio interviews ect, maybe than there would be more interest if the fans have a chance to meet them for 5 min to tell them "than you for 30 years of memories while getting a scribble on their $25.00 tour book"
everyone says..it wont happen, they are icons, but there are bands that promote themselves to their fans in a personal way with a handshake and a picture almost everytime they come to cleveland, be it the darkness, bon jovi, poison, or even more on queens icon level..alice cooper.
how hard is it to give a few fans 5 min of something to remember.
but this is a band who cares enough about its fans that for 20+ plus years of european conventions and 5-6 years of USA conventions, they managed to only grace its fans with a short video presentation "thank you for comming, enjoy yourselves, and sorry we couldnt make it,we have been so busy from 1993-2005, but thank you for 30+ plus years of solid dedication"...well, THANK YOU Queen for 20+ years of video greetings(well, atleast Jackey can tell the band members that we had a good time celebrating THEM during the convention dedicated to them"
even a money hungry band like KISS will manage to give its fans a "personal touch" during their conventions, tossing out a few has been members to its hungry fans.
maybe its not all the PR teams fault promoting the band...maybe the band should promote themselves to their fans better
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[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]wegotit wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Mr. Scully wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Do the Americans have to be spoon fed? The European tour was sold out before the tour was even announced. It's not really about promotion (which indeed IS bad), it's mainly about fans. If a 15-million city can't find 10000 Queen fans, then Queen should tour somewhere else!
Queen should tour Europe, Japan or South America. Not USA. In USA they will earn much more money than anywhere else (high ticket prices, a lot of sold merchandise) - but anywhere else they will have packed halls with loyal fans who will dance and enjoy every minute of the gig instead of sitting on a fat ass, eating pop corn and drinking cola.[/QUOTE]
Martin you are more than right!
and THIS was also the reason why Queen did not tour the States in 1984, 1985 or 1986 when a certain Freddie Mercury was still around!
[/QUOTE]
Totally agree with you !
Queen should tour Europe, Japan or South America. Not USA. In USA they will earn much more money than anywhere else (high ticket prices, a lot of sold merchandise) - but anywhere else they will have packed halls with loyal fans who will dance and enjoy every minute of the gig instead of sitting on a fat ass, eating pop corn and drinking cola.[/QUOTE]
Martin you are more than right!
and THIS was also the reason why Queen did not tour the States in 1984, 1985 or 1986 when a certain Freddie Mercury was still around!
[/QUOTE]
Totally agree with you !
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Ducksoup wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]wegotit wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Mr. Scully wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Do the Americans have to be spoon fed? The European tour was sold out before the tour was even announced. It's not really about promotion (which indeed IS bad), it's mainly about fans. If a 15-million city can't find 10000 Queen fans, then Queen should tour somewhere else!
Queen should tour Europe, Japan or South America. Not USA. In USA they will earn much more money than anywhere else (high ticket prices, a lot of sold merchandise) - but anywhere else they will have packed halls with loyal fans who will dance and enjoy every minute of the gig instead of sitting on a fat ass, eating pop corn and drinking cola.[/QUOTE]
Martin you are more than right!
and THIS was also the reason why Queen did not tour the States in 1984, 1985 or 1986 when a certain Freddie Mercury was still around!
[/QUOTE]
Totally agree with you ![/QUOTE]
The only problem with this approach is that you are blaming the American city for the fact that Queen has been invisible for roughly a quarter of a century. Queen's last meaningful work in the US was The Game. It's no exaggeration to say that, for a lot of North American's, Queen ended with Hot Space. Their Capitol albums were ignored, they didn't tour, Innuendo gave them a little spark then Freddie died. So it's hard to blame American and Canadian audiences for not supporting a band that may not have been worthy of any support.
Queen should tour Europe, Japan or South America. Not USA. In USA they will earn much more money than anywhere else (high ticket prices, a lot of sold merchandise) - but anywhere else they will have packed halls with loyal fans who will dance and enjoy every minute of the gig instead of sitting on a fat ass, eating pop corn and drinking cola.[/QUOTE]
Martin you are more than right!
and THIS was also the reason why Queen did not tour the States in 1984, 1985 or 1986 when a certain Freddie Mercury was still around!
[/QUOTE]
Totally agree with you ![/QUOTE]
The only problem with this approach is that you are blaming the American city for the fact that Queen has been invisible for roughly a quarter of a century. Queen's last meaningful work in the US was The Game. It's no exaggeration to say that, for a lot of North American's, Queen ended with Hot Space. Their Capitol albums were ignored, they didn't tour, Innuendo gave them a little spark then Freddie died. So it's hard to blame American and Canadian audiences for not supporting a band that may not have been worthy of any support.
I think there's some overreaction here on the fans part and diffeent views on what measures success.
Brian and Roger have frequently said they don't need the money so they don't really need to care about how big their cut of mechandise is.
They aren't U2 and they don't have a message to get across so they don't need to worry about as many people as possible getting to see them.
The Band have negotiated a fixed fee for the tour - they get it even if no-one turns up.
As you can tell from their faces at the moment they're doing it because it's a BLAST. If it stops being fun they'll do something else like sit at home and count the money they already have.
If you don't like watching a band play to a half full venue don't come to any of the pubs I frequent. :)
Neil
Brian and Roger have frequently said they don't need the money so they don't really need to care about how big their cut of mechandise is.
They aren't U2 and they don't have a message to get across so they don't need to worry about as many people as possible getting to see them.
The Band have negotiated a fixed fee for the tour - they get it even if no-one turns up.
As you can tell from their faces at the moment they're doing it because it's a BLAST. If it stops being fun they'll do something else like sit at home and count the money they already have.
If you don't like watching a band play to a half full venue don't come to any of the pubs I frequent. :)
Neil
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Gecko wrote: [/QUOTENAME]there are bands that promote themselves to their fans in a personal way with a handshake and a picture almost everytime they come to cleveland, be it the darkness, bon jovi, poison, or even more on queens icon level..alice cooper.
how hard is it to give a few fans 5 min of something to remember.
maybe its not all the PR teams fault promoting the band...maybe the band should promote themselves to their fans better[/QUOTE]
How can you say this when Brian has been writing almost every day on his website and answering thousands of letters? I think the meet and greet thing works when you are not as popular but when you get to a certain level it becomes a nightmare. When they first became popular in the 70's they had a few dangerous situations with fans grabbing at Freddie's clothing and jewelry. I think it was similar to what the Beatles experienced. After that they were more careful and perhaps that has now become a habit. John's avoidance of all crowds now must be a clue to you about how much they have had to endure in the past.
how hard is it to give a few fans 5 min of something to remember.
maybe its not all the PR teams fault promoting the band...maybe the band should promote themselves to their fans better[/QUOTE]
How can you say this when Brian has been writing almost every day on his website and answering thousands of letters? I think the meet and greet thing works when you are not as popular but when you get to a certain level it becomes a nightmare. When they first became popular in the 70's they had a few dangerous situations with fans grabbing at Freddie's clothing and jewelry. I think it was similar to what the Beatles experienced. After that they were more careful and perhaps that has now become a habit. John's avoidance of all crowds now must be a clue to you about how much they have had to endure in the past.
Think of this: on the current US tour, there's a lot of word of mouth as well as scant promotion by such a sorry record label as Hollywood. Queen were still under the WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic) banner at the time of the last tour in 1982, Elektra was still their label. They did a lot of promotion for that tour, if people recall. However, when they went to Capitol Records, there wasn't a US tour, though being the home of the Beatles for so long, that label would have done a major assault on the US for a supporting tour (Radio Ga Ga and I Want To Break Free were the big singles off the album). Witness the nice treatment for the picture sleeves on the 45s!
Now, if Hollywood would have adapted the same strategy (with emphasis on Queen's return to the stage, even though with a different lead singer), you would have seen more seats sold, more radio station giveaways, maybe an in-store appearance or two at Tower Records in major US cities. We can always wonder why Hollywood didn't consider Q + PR a major event. My God, Queen used to sell out stadiums. They could have done so again, but due to lack of a good publicist, we didn't see that, and that makes me wonder!!
Now, if Hollywood would have adapted the same strategy (with emphasis on Queen's return to the stage, even though with a different lead singer), you would have seen more seats sold, more radio station giveaways, maybe an in-store appearance or two at Tower Records in major US cities. We can always wonder why Hollywood didn't consider Q + PR a major event. My God, Queen used to sell out stadiums. They could have done so again, but due to lack of a good publicist, we didn't see that, and that makes me wonder!!
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Donna13 wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Gecko wrote: [/QUOTENAME]there are bands that promote themselves to their fans in a personal way with a handshake and a picture almost everytime they come to cleveland, be it the darkness, bon jovi, poison, or even more on queens icon level..alice cooper.
how hard is it to give a few fans 5 min of something to remember.
maybe its not all the PR teams fault promoting the band...maybe the band should promote themselves to their fans better[/QUOTE]
How can you say this when Brian has been writing almost every day on his website and answering thousands of letters? I think the meet and greet thing works when you are not as popular but when you get to a certain level it becomes a nightmare. When they first became popular in the 70's they had a few dangerous situations with fans grabbing at Freddie's clothing and jewelry. I think it was similar to what the Beatles experienced. After that they were more careful and perhaps that has now become a habit. John's avoidance of all crowds now must be a clue to you about how much they have had to endure in the past.[/QUOTE]
Brian answers letters that praise him - and that's a big difference. I must have sent him 10 letters in the past 5 years and got 1 reply - when I sent him a photo on which he looked good.
Truth is that Queen are totally ignoring any critical voices. They're hidden in their nutshell, praising themselves. Not a chance for a meet'n'greet. Very little chance for a reply (Brian only). Shitty CD and DVD re-re-re-releases (who cares about fans?). Fan club that is virtually dead. Expensive amateur-looking merchandise. Etc.
I can compare to Deep Purple - who are currently probably as big as Queen. My friend is a fan of DP. He emailed a band member for a backstage pass - he got it. He emailed another member for a signed photo - got it. Incredible. Meet'n'greet? Of course, after every concert. Etc. etc.
I don't complain - I love Queen because they still rock and I absolutely love the current tour (if we don't count the constant setlist). But Queen have a lot to improve - but they don't care. The good days are over.
how hard is it to give a few fans 5 min of something to remember.
maybe its not all the PR teams fault promoting the band...maybe the band should promote themselves to their fans better[/QUOTE]
How can you say this when Brian has been writing almost every day on his website and answering thousands of letters? I think the meet and greet thing works when you are not as popular but when you get to a certain level it becomes a nightmare. When they first became popular in the 70's they had a few dangerous situations with fans grabbing at Freddie's clothing and jewelry. I think it was similar to what the Beatles experienced. After that they were more careful and perhaps that has now become a habit. John's avoidance of all crowds now must be a clue to you about how much they have had to endure in the past.[/QUOTE]
Brian answers letters that praise him - and that's a big difference. I must have sent him 10 letters in the past 5 years and got 1 reply - when I sent him a photo on which he looked good.
Truth is that Queen are totally ignoring any critical voices. They're hidden in their nutshell, praising themselves. Not a chance for a meet'n'greet. Very little chance for a reply (Brian only). Shitty CD and DVD re-re-re-releases (who cares about fans?). Fan club that is virtually dead. Expensive amateur-looking merchandise. Etc.
I can compare to Deep Purple - who are currently probably as big as Queen. My friend is a fan of DP. He emailed a band member for a backstage pass - he got it. He emailed another member for a signed photo - got it. Incredible. Meet'n'greet? Of course, after every concert. Etc. etc.
I don't complain - I love Queen because they still rock and I absolutely love the current tour (if we don't count the constant setlist). But Queen have a lot to improve - but they don't care. The good days are over.
The fan club thing bothers me too. It's hard to believe that a band as HUGE as Queen has a fan club that is barely clinging to life.
I can't say anything negative about the soapbox, though. I think it's awesome that you can email Brian directly..or somewhat directly. I got my first reply regarding a picture while we where on the trip, and although it was short and sweet, I loved knowing that Brian actually saw the pics we took.
I can't say anything negative about the soapbox, though. I think it's awesome that you can email Brian directly..or somewhat directly. I got my first reply regarding a picture while we where on the trip, and although it was short and sweet, I loved knowing that Brian actually saw the pics we took.
"...but Queen have a lot to improve - but they don't care. The good days are over."
Amen Mr. Scully. Brian is particularly thin skinned about any criticism. If he gets a review that praises them, great. If not, the critic knows nothing. I once sent him a question if whether any criticism is valid, no reply. I remember how hurt Brian was at the time of Starfleet when Eric Clapton said that neither Eddie Van Halen or Brian knew anything about how to play the blues. Yet he savaged the second album of Paul Butterfield Blues Band in an interview for Guitar for the Practicing Musician as the same time. Selective hearing, same way he "heard" that people thought that there were tapes used for FBG on the current tour. He answered that with an assertive "no." Yet if he heard that, he surely had to have heard about the use of pre-recorded rhythm tracks for TATDOOL. He sure didn't answer them.
Amen Mr. Scully. Brian is particularly thin skinned about any criticism. If he gets a review that praises them, great. If not, the critic knows nothing. I once sent him a question if whether any criticism is valid, no reply. I remember how hurt Brian was at the time of Starfleet when Eric Clapton said that neither Eddie Van Halen or Brian knew anything about how to play the blues. Yet he savaged the second album of Paul Butterfield Blues Band in an interview for Guitar for the Practicing Musician as the same time. Selective hearing, same way he "heard" that people thought that there were tapes used for FBG on the current tour. He answered that with an assertive "no." Yet if he heard that, he surely had to have heard about the use of pre-recorded rhythm tracks for TATDOOL. He sure didn't answer them.