OooglySo I'm feeling all Rip Van Winkle here as I woke up and fucking Justice is headlining Madison Square Garden as part of some MySpace tour (whose line-up looks like Ed Banger label roster + Diplo but whatever). Justice! Justice who has literally three certified Harvey Wallbangers - four, if you can talk yourself into "Genesis" - and a buncha tracks that sounds mostly like a phonograph playing Ride the Lightning at half speed submerged in a bathtub full of gin. Now they are set to play The World's Most Highly Self-Regarding Arena, a place with 20,000 seats to fill on a bill who's other major draw is Diplo.
I looked at the rest of the tour, at least those dates Ticketmaster is handling, and see two ballrooms, the Palladium in Dallas and the Paradise in Boston. Now maybe there's some mistake here - I could buy The Theater at Madison Square Garden for Justice, Diplo et al. After all, that's where Air and Franz Ferdinand played when they headlined "the Garden." But those acts have shifted over a million units in America; Justice, according to yesterday's Billboard story, has moved 39,000 of †, meaning that more than half the people who bought the record in America would have to show up to sell the place out (granted there are other acts on the bill, illegal downloading, et cetera). Even Daft Punk, who presumably have more fans, have sold more records, hadn't toured America since forever, and came packing a fucking ill video pyramid played Coney Island's KeySpan Park, a venue with about half the Garden's capacity. Hell, while we're at it, even the Knicks can't sell out MSG anymore.
I'm guessing that LiveNation (promoting the show) and MySpace are on the hook here and that Justice is getting a decent guarantee no matter how the show sells. But still, who made this decision? I see that this is the second MySpace package tour, and that last year's emo-centric model was headlined by Say Anything and, uh, Hellogoodbye - I'm assuming a) that nobody had the balls to put that in the Garden and b) emo being just so gosh darned "of the moment" that at least Say Anything is out-SoundScanning Justice (and given the record-moving dent that DJ Mehdi and Chromeo have made, perhaps the entire lineup put together). Hey, if this show sells out, I'll eat my words, and possibly my hat as well. But as for all those kids out there eBaying the pre-sale password, just take my advice and save yourself the $5.
I looked at the rest of the tour, at least those dates Ticketmaster is handling, and see two ballrooms, the Palladium in Dallas and the Paradise in Boston. Now maybe there's some mistake here - I could buy The Theater at Madison Square Garden for Justice, Diplo et al. After all, that's where Air and Franz Ferdinand played when they headlined "the Garden." But those acts have shifted over a million units in America; Justice, according to yesterday's Billboard story, has moved 39,000 of †, meaning that more than half the people who bought the record in America would have to show up to sell the place out (granted there are other acts on the bill, illegal downloading, et cetera). Even Daft Punk, who presumably have more fans, have sold more records, hadn't toured America since forever, and came packing a fucking ill video pyramid played Coney Island's KeySpan Park, a venue with about half the Garden's capacity. Hell, while we're at it, even the Knicks can't sell out MSG anymore.
I'm guessing that LiveNation (promoting the show) and MySpace are on the hook here and that Justice is getting a decent guarantee no matter how the show sells. But still, who made this decision? I see that this is the second MySpace package tour, and that last year's emo-centric model was headlined by Say Anything and, uh, Hellogoodbye - I'm assuming a) that nobody had the balls to put that in the Garden and b) emo being just so gosh darned "of the moment" that at least Say Anything is out-SoundScanning Justice (and given the record-moving dent that DJ Mehdi and Chromeo have made, perhaps the entire lineup put together). Hey, if this show sells out, I'll eat my words, and possibly my hat as well. But as for all those kids out there eBaying the pre-sale password, just take my advice and save yourself the $5.
