A test of tickets on the block

The summer of 2004 in the concert business will be the first real test of Ticketmaster’s in-house auctions of premium tickets. Trying to get in on the action generated by ticket resellers and private parties using EBay to generate the highest bids, the company recently started selling choice seats to many events this way itself.

“It’s one of the hot-button issues,” says Ray Waddell, a Billboard magazine senior writer who covers the concert touring business.

“It truly does determine market value, but also is a bit exclusionary when it gets to a certain level for fans who are already being spanked around by high ticket prices.”

Some suggest that institutional auctions will help set not just the highest prices for shows, but also the lowest.

“If tickets sell for less than face value, maybe this will point to the consumers’ feelings about ticket prices,” says Alex Hodges, executive vice president of House of Blues Concerts, which has been reluctant thus far to get into the auction angle. “They might say, ‘I’ll sit up top, or I’ll sit on the lawn, but I’ll pay a little less.’ ”

On the surface, it doesn’t look as if 2004 would be the best year to test the appeal of this method. After all, few of the broadest-appeal acts will be on the road. There’s no Bruce Springsteen, last year’s U.S. tour champion with a near-record $115.9-million box-office take. No Rolling Stones, who took in a phenomenal $300 million globally in 2003. No Simon & Garfunkel, whose 2003 reunion averaged $136.90 per seat.

But in the concert business, there’s a great deal of optimism after last year’s total of $2.4 billion -- the fourth straight record revenue year. There are still plenty of big names out there, with Madonna’s just-announced tour and a Van Halen reunion, as well as the Beastie Boys, Metallica, Dave Matthews Band and the current package of Beyonce, Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys, mostly at arenas and large amphitheaters.

“There’s nothing really dominating the market, not one tour taking the focus off everyone,” says Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of concert business weekly Pollstar. “Which isn’t bad, really.”

Adds Hodges: “There’s always a concern that one big artist will take a lot of money out of the market. Variety is good.”

Variety is no problem this year, with strengths seen in all genres and demographics among the tours drawing the most interest.

Pop

Madonna is calling her trek the “Re-Invention Tour,” but it’s really about retooling and redemption after the commercial disappointment of her latest album, “American Life,” which has sold just 630,000 copies in the U.S. since its release last April. Opening May 24 at the Forum in Inglewood, the new tour will concentrate on her biggest hits and has dates booked in North America and Europe through Sept. 1. Her 2001 U.S. tour grossed $75 million in 57 dates.

Assuming her injured knee holds up, Britney Spears will continue her “Onyx Hotel” tour into the summer, returning to the Southland for an Aug. 7 stop in Irvine. Others expected to be big draws include Avril Lavigne and Hilary Duff, while the package of “American Idol” stars Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson (at the Arrowhead Pond on Saturday and at Staples Center on April 5) is one of the spring’s biggest successes. Norah Jones is expected to follow a current European tour with U.S. dates.

Rock

Rumors of a Van Halen tour with either Sammy Hagar or David Lee Roth (or both) at the microphone have bubbled since the group fired third singer Gary Cherone in 1998. The group has announced it will tour this year, and while nothing’s official, word is that Hagar will be handling the vocals.

Metallica’s current tour moves to Europe for most of the summer, but will return to the U.S. in August. The biggest hard-rock competition, and the most intriguing package, looks to be Linkin Park’s “Projekt Revolution” teaming with Korn and rapper Snoop Dogg (Sept. 4 at the Hyundai Pavilion), while Ozzfest (July 31 at Hyundai) will lure fans interested in seeing singer Rob Halford rejoin Judas Priest. Incubus is also headlining arenas, with dates Aug. 17 at the Arrowhead Pond and Aug. 18 at the Forum.

Country

Tim McGraw, Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney are headlining separate tours. McGraw comes to the Hyundai Pavilion on July 24, Chesney’s tour hits California in mid-June (though no L.A. area show has been announced) and Keith’s dates are to be scheduled.

Hip-hop

A teaming of Jay-Z and 50 Cent under the “Rock the Mic II” banner is set to start at the end of June. Ludacris and Chingy are also pairing for a tour. The Beastie Boys will make their first tour and album since 1998’s “Hello Nasty,” hitting the road in late June.

Alternative

Perhaps the most buzzed-about alt-rock tour this year is the Pixies reunion, the band’s first shows in more than a decade. A May 1 appearance at Coachella will launch the full-scale venture, but the group won’t do more U.S. shows until the fall, after a European tour.

There have been rumors that the band will be on the Lollapalooza tour, but regardless, that traveling festival is getting a makeover after its 2003 revival proved disappointing at the box office.

Co-founder Marc Geiger is back in partnership with Perry Farrell overseeing Lollapalooza, and says that plans call for two days in each city along its path, the first day topped by established veterans Sonic Youth and Morrissey, the second with Flaming Lips and jam band the String Cheese Incident on board. The idea, he says, is to reconnect with the spirit of the very eclectic English rock festivals that provided the original inspiration for Lollapalooza in the early ‘90s.

Though each is an established headliner, No Doubt and Blink-182 are combining their strengths for a co-billed tour, arriving June 26 at Hyundai.

The Warped Tour has been among the most consistent successes of recent years, with its punk and alternative lineups skewed to a young audience. Its Southland dates this year are July 1 and 2 at Cal State Fullerton and July 7 at Ventura’s Seaside Park with New Found Glory, NOFX and Bad Religion among the acts.

R&B;

The “Ladies First” combo of Beyonce, Elliott and Keys is at the Arrowhead Pond on April 17 and 21. As of now the tour is not scheduled to continue into summer, but look for Usher to announce his tour plans soon.

Veterans

Sting, Bob Dylan (co-billed with Willie Nelson), Eric Clapton and the Eagles will all be on the road, while Fleetwood Mac is resuming its very successful tour of last year. And it wouldn’t be summer without Jimmy Buffett on the road.

Jam bands

The Dave Matthews Band may well be the most reliable touring act in terms of consistent ticket sales year-in and year-out. The group, following Matthews’ solo album and shows with other musicians, is back and will return to the Home Depot Center on Aug. 28 and 29, with Ben Harper and Black Eyed Peas on the bill.