I have a Duran Duran scrapbook. This scrapbook isn’t filled with magazine clips but with documents from my touring experiences. I wanted to have it all to refer back to. Thus, when thinking about how Duran has been doing tour date releases and presales, I referred back to the actual documents! (Do you think it is obvious that I have a history degree and worked in museums and archives?!) Now, the first tour that I could go back and look at is the 2005 Spring US Astronaut Tour. I wasn’t able to participate in any of the 2003 reunion shows as I was finishing up my action research project for my master’s degree. Then, the band didn’t really tour in 2004. Yes, they played a few random dates here in the States but it wasn’t a tour. Thus, the first one I know anything about is that Astronaut tour.
The Spring 2005 Astronaut tour was announced on December 5, 2004. On that date, they posted 40 dates that began on February 8th, a full 2 month before. My first presale took place on December 8th, 3 days after the shows were announced. They did end up adding at least one date after that announcement and after those presales as they added Milwaukee in January. That presale happened on January 27th for a shows that was taking place on March 19th. The next tour was for that summer of 2005. In this case, at least one show was announced before the rest and that show was Dayton. Those tickets went on sale on May 7th but DDM did not sell regular tickets, just VIP tickets. The rest of that summer tour was announced on April 29, 2005, for a tour that began in July. The presales took place on or around May 17th. The next tour here was in the fall of 2006. The first date that was released and it was released by itself was for the Voodoo Festival at the end of October and was announced May 8th with a presale that day. Later, they added a few dates like the one I went to in Chicago before Voodoo. Those shows were announced in early September with a presale on the 13th.
2007 saw the fan only show in New York City on June 17th. That show was announced on May 2nd. For that show, there was a lottery that lasted until May 6th so people who were interested would put in a request.
Then, the tickets were purchased on May 13th. Of course, 2007 also saw the Broadway run again in New York City from November 1-12. A press release about this run was posted on September 27th. I don’t honestly know when the presale was because I was not planning on going. Thus, I didn’t participate but later bought tickets from someone to go. Later in 2007, Duran did a few shows around Christmas. I don’t have information for that tour, despite going to a show in Chicago. The band did a larger tour in 2008. For that tour, they announced all of the dates at the same time. The presales were in mid-March for a tour that was at the end of April. They also played a small tour again at the end of 2008. Those shows were announced in a press release on October 3 and they released all of them all at once. Presales took place on or around the 8th. 2009 saw a few dates during the summer. In this case, they informed us fans about the show in Orange County, California, before the rest on April 6th. The presale for that show was on April 7th. Later on April 27th, they added more dates. Those presales were on or around April 28th. All of those shows were taking place in July.
2011 saw two tours of the States. The first one was in the Spring and announced on February 27th, which included most of the dates, which began April 2nd. They added at least one how later. The first round of presales was March 2nd. The fall tour was, as I’m sure we all remember, by using social networking on August 2nd. Presales were on or around August 11th. That said, the date for Atlanta was announced much, much earlier. Let’s summarize my archives:
Spring 2005:
Announced almost all dates December 5, 2004
Presales began December 8, 2004
Shows began February 8, 2005
Summer 2005:
Announced one show in early-mid April
Announced rest of shows on April 29th
Presales mid-May
Shows in July
Fall 2006:
Announced Voodoo Fest May 8th
Presale for Voodoo same day
Announced other shows in early September
Presale on September 13th
Shows at end of October
Fan Show 2007:
Announced May 2nd
Lottery until May 6th
Show June 17th
Broadway Run 2007:
Announced September 27th
Presale information unknown
Shows November 1-12th
Christmas Shows 2007:
Information unknown
Spring 2008:
Announced March for all shows
Presales in mid-March
Shows began at the end of April
December 2008:
Shows announced all at once on October 3rd
Presales on October 8th
Shows start on December 1st
Summer 2009:
Orange County announced on April 6th
Presale on April 7th
Rest of dates announced on April 27th
Presales began on April 28th
Shows in July
Spring 2011:
Most shows announced on February 27th
Presales on March 2nd
Shows began April 2nd
Fall 2011:
Announced through social networking on August 2nd
Presales around August 11th
Shows begin at end of September
What do we learn from doing this? Generally, they do announce most or all of a tour at the same time, but there has been many exceptions from 2006 on. Tours are generally announced 6 weeks to 2 months before it takes place. Presales can begin as quickly as a day or two after to a week or so after an official press release. Now, that we have looked at what is traditionally done, how is Duran right now in terms of a summer 2012 tour of the US?
Do we know all of the dates yet? Absolutely not. Based on this information and when the tour actually starts, we may not know until June. I don’t know about you but that sounds horribly painful. If we do get the dates before that, we should appreciate that because it truly isn’t common. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out the rest of the dates in a huge chunk with all of most of the dates listed. Then, we will have to be prepared for presales as they could happen very quickly. Comparing the historical pattern to right now, Duran seems to be pretty typical. Of course, the real question is: Is that good enough? I guess that is for each of us to decide for ourselves. I can only speak for myself, though, when I say that I would really like them to break out of these patterns and announce the rest of these shows sooner rather than later!!! It would send a message to the fans that they really do care about what we want and need in order to not only be happy Duranies but to best support the band!!
-A
My “Archive” from the Broadway run says they announced on 9/27 at 10:07am, presale started the 28th at 11am. So, 24 hours and 53 minutes to decide. I ended up going, but my husband thought I was insane! It was a great show, but man, I am tired of the quick turn arounds on ticket purchases…
Amanda,
there is something I ask myself. We all talk about DD because this is OUR band. But what do others bands do? Is the DD management realy that bad or is it just the way it goes in show business? Just asking if you or anybody else have an idea about that.
Pat
Thanks for filling that one in for me! -A
Patrick, not ALL bands, but other bands – of which I can gladly give names – do tend to post what they're planning. Just tonight Curt Smith of Tears for Fears posted some info about the dates they're planning in Asia. NONE of which are confirmed, but he gave them just to give fans some sort of idea of what they're planning. Def Leppard, Poison, Aerosmith, Rick Springfield (and probably lots more I'm forgetting)…these are other bands that I either follow or have followed over the years, and in each case, they've given fans a decent heads-up as to what they're hoping to do on a tour. They always follow up their announcements with “Nothing is confirmed yet, but we wanted to give you guys planning time. Keep watching this space!” Then on the other hand, there's bands like U2…or even The Killers, who don't tell fans anything. I think it must largely depend on the management, but I think it also really depends on the bands as well. Some are just friendlier to their fans, but to be fair, maybe their fans aren't as overwhelming as we are. I really don't know the answer. -R
I think I'm done trying to get a meet and greet. Great seats were ok but I've done my last three as VIP and those proved to be underwhelming at best and sometimes a nightmare. I think my next one will be nosebleeders if I canget the bitter taste out of my mouth.dbelle
How come your last VIP were underwhelming? What happened?
-A
When they are announcing these dates may have to do with the venues themselves. Perhaps these two venues want to start selling tickets as soon as possible after the dates can be confirmed between the band and the venue.
I absolutely agree that this could be because of the venues and when they want to announce and sell tickets. Nonetheless, it is annoying for those of us who want to make plans. 🙂
-A
I totally agree…and I have no doubt that the venues certainly push the envelope when it comes to wanting to announce tours and things. That's a VERY fair statement, and I don't want to seem as though we're not taking that into account. It just makes it very difficult to plan.
One thing though that my darling husband reminded me of this weekend – in fact he used my own words against me – this isn't about saving lives. It's a rock band. While it's annoying not to have all of the information available before making decisions about shows, it's not life or death.
Point taken. I wonder if this means he's going to stop answering 3am cell phone calls….because his job isn't about saving lives either. 😉 -R