one Peter Bjorn & John show moved to Bowery

when is this shit going to end?
i know they have their conditions that say they can do whatever the fuck they want, but this switcheroo shit pisses me off. it's false fucking advertising.

not if they own both venues....plus if the ticket prices & times are the same , whats the difference ? its only a few blocks away...

not if they own both venues....plus if the ticket prices & times are the same , whats the difference ? its only a few blocks away...

There's a big difference when you buy a ticket to see a band you've been dying to see, and they're playing in a space the size of a living room (non-Manhattan homes, obvs). You get pumped. And then all of a sudden your pumpedness turns to poopy because Live Na--er, Bowery Presents, fucks with it and moves it to a regular ol' concert venue. It'll still be great, sure, but it's a different kind of great.

this is gea news- i'm looking forward to going now

this is great news- i'm looking forward to going now

you're looking fwd to going "now"? as in you're more excited now than you were then?

the bowery ballroom is a fine venue. but i would not have bought a ticket if the concert was there. it's bigger, attracts more riff raff, and less comfortable. they did the same shit with the knife. they bumped all us non cmj'ers to the 6pm pussy position. i had no chance to get any sort of buzz on. i wouldn't have bought a ticket to a 6pm show. simple as that.

the same investment entity may own all venues, but to program shows in one venue and change the location of the concert to a different venue that is characteristically and qualititatively different than the former, it is disingenous, bad faith, and false advertising. but such is life. i just wish the folks who ran these live music promotion companies knew that it's not only the bands but the experience of buying tickets, going to shows, having a good time. i don't have a good feeling when i go to a show at a bowery presents venue. i try to avoid it or look for an alternative if a band plays another venue operated by a different company in nyc. so fuck that. anyone want to buy 2 ticket to PBJ at the bowery?

rant over.

I would be upset if a show was moved to Webster Hall, but the Bowery Ballroom? It only holds 500 people, and has a better layout than Mercury Lounge. As long as the show remains 21+, it should be good.

the bowery show is now 18+.

As someone who owns a ticket to the January 30 show, I find it unfair that people who bought a ticket for Monday's show get to see them at the Mercury Lounge while I have to go to the Bowery.

I think I'd feel better if both shows were moved.

whew! The Merc has to be the most garbage venue in the city. Thank God it got moved!

Damn, I don't mind the move, but 18+. I wish all Bowery Ballroom shows were 21+.

Both shows will be fun and it is the music that matters not the venue.

Brooklyn Vegan, citizen journalist, please ask for an explanation on behalf of your readers!

Bowery sounds great though, this isn't that big of a deal. and there are more options for viewing, like the balcony. is it that important to be so close physically to the band? for me, the sound quality takes precedence over the view/intimacy issue.

and to complain about the age thing? do you really think there are that many 18-21 year olds that know and enjoy Peter, Bjorn, and John enough to go to their shows? (and if they did, they'd be pretty cool)

and anyway, it's pop music. it should be fun and riff-raffy. this isn't Jeff Mangum.

Peter, Bjorn, and John put out almost perfect albums, they should be selling out mulitple shows at Bowery. and did you guys notice that they aren't scheduled to perform anywhere else in the states?? it's like, you have awesome coming to your doorstep and you complain cos you "think" you are mildly inconvenienced.

you should be glad BV even told you tickets were on sale.

amen anon 6:43. couldnt have said it better myself.

yeah--as of now these are their only US shows scheduled. and per usual, all NYC folk like to do is bitch. Ever consider the fact that lots of would-be tix buyers just happened to not see the show announcement on time and missed out on tix? They sold out without hitting any print ads or being on the bands website. Many people will be very excited that more tix are now available. And not that any of these people bitching stop for a moment to even consider the musicians themselves, but considering how expensive it has to be for the band to travel over here, since the demand for tix is higher than expected they can now stand to make a bit more $$$ too playing in a bigger venue.

rice: you make some good points, but if you're concerned about money then you should be happy you don't even NEED to run print ads.

[points at people who bought tix to the Jan. 30th show] HA-HA!

these comments are just another testament to the bitchy, spoiled lot in nyc. you're so precious. keep it up.

ummmm PB & Jelly fucking suck anyway... they only have have one good... STRIKE THAT... decent... STRIKE THAT... acceptable song anyway.

Poster at 8:08, shouldn't you go back to jacking off to your Final Fantasy album?

Final WHO?

pussys

How did Final Fantasy get dragged into this? Not that I'm a Final Fantasy fan, I'm just curious.

Thanks to websites like Brooklyn Vegan, there are a lot of people between the ages of 18-21 who are interested in bands like Peter Bjorn and John, and I think it's neat that they are being given an opportunity to see this band play. If you were 20, wouldn't you be bummed out if you weren't able to go see a band you liked play live for the 1st time in the US?

As far as moving it from Mercury to Bowery, I can understand why that would be irritating, but should it really be a dealbreaker? The shows sold much faster than anyone had anticipated. If there are 300 more people who want to go to the show, and can do so without causing too great of a headache to those who already bought tickets, I don't think that's really so bad.

This was not done maliciously. These shows were set up at the last minute (in booking terms, at least), and it was only blind luck that there happened to be an open date at the Bowery on the same night as one of the Mercury shows. If the Bowery had been open the other night, both shows would've been moved. So I can understand why you'd be disappointed by this, but hopefully you can also understand why things happened the way they did.

To anyone put off by this move, I'm sure you'll be able to unload your ticket on craigslist, but I hope you decide to suck it up and go. I wish I could see one of these shows, but I live in Chicago, one of the 500,000 cities in the US that Peter Bjorn and John are NOT playing in this January...

Sam, in your next-to-last paragraph, you seem to be speaking as an insider (with the band or with Bowery Presents). Are you? Also, currently, the Bowery Ballroom's Web site doesn't have anything showing for Jan. 29. Care to tell us who has been booked there for that night?

I'm with PB&J's booking agency (also the Knife's booking agency). I'm actually not sure what they have on the 29th. I also haven't actually been 100% involved in this process (especially as i'm out of the office at the moment).

wait? the knife's booking agency? so they're doing more shows?

Hell, I'm a 16 year old Peter Bjorn & John fan. I'm also a Man Man, Grizzly Bear and Midlake fan and those are also 18+ shows. I think ages get represented wrong these days. It sucks that I'll have to wait a while to see Peter Bjorn & John, I doubt they'll be coming to the US so soon.

Sam the Booking Agent said: "...and it was only blind luck that there happened to be an open date at the Bowery on the same night as one of the Mercury shows."

Then why wasn't the show scheduled for the Bowery in the first place? Don't you people have indicators, do research, analyze markets before you book shows for bands?

I'm happy for PB+J -- this will help them recuperate the costs of coming out to America. But why were they booked for the Merc in the first place? Did your booking agency really have no idea how well it would sell? You must have had some notion of buzz they've been generating (How many top 10 lists have their unreleased-in-the-states album been on? i lost count.)

It's fair to assume that promotion of a show at a smaller venue most likely increased the rate of sale of tickets. Basic supply and demand. People knew there wouldn't be that many tickets available at the Merc, so they jump at them as soon as they are available. Then the fast sellout generates more buzz and the promoters move the show to their other larger house where they can sell more tickets. I know it wasn't "malicious" but it is a disingenuous way of promoting a band because it's ultimately at the ticket buyers expense. It makes me wonder if Karl fucking Rove is your band manager?

And as for ragging on NYCers about being spoiled pussy willows, does this kind of business practice happen in any other city? If it does, I'd like to know, because I'm sure there are other people who feel like they are getting the shaft when it happens. To get pissed off with shit like this is not exclusive to NYC.

Kid, if you're 16 you shouldn't be up at 1:30am on a school night.

moving venues to accomodate demand certainly does happen elsewhere...definitely not just something that happens in NYC it seems. also...while its every bands hope that they will create a buzz the 1st time they come to a place/country for the 1st time there is no prior record of what they've done in a city before. So you can't say "well they sold out 1 night here last time they should do 2 nights here this time". Just because you're on a bunch of top 10 lists that doesn't always equal a ton of tix sales for your gig. We all know plenty of great acts who continue to receive critical praise and still can't attract the audience they should.

We knew the shows would do well, but nobody expected them to sell as quickly as they did. Yes people like the record, but like you said, it's not out int the US, and buzz about them in the US is pretty much exclusively limited to the online world, which makes it difficult to gauge exactly how it will do. Now we know. Their next NYC show will probably be somewhere even bigger.

And yes, shows are moved all the time. It's not just a NYC thing, but since there are more shows of this nature (US exclusives/debuts) and more people excited about them in NYC than in other cities, perhaps it is a bit more common. As far as I know as long as there have been shows played there have been shows moved. And no, Karl Rove is not the band's manager.

what music fan DIDN'T go to shows when they were 16? an aquired taste for good music only comes about when you turn 21??

back when there were venues like wetlands and brownies, kids could go out on school nights and see a good show.

kids will be better off doing there homework on school nights rather than going to shows.

sam, you sound like you have a lot of experience with this. and evne though you didn't work this 100% could you add a little insight here as to why your agency didn't wait to sell tickets to a 2nd show after selling out one night at the Merc once you saw the strong sales?

i realize that as long as there have been shows played there have been shows moved. but a rolling ticket release/show announcement seems to be WAY more common than a venue change, and it seems like a good way to avoid these kinds of flaps and bad vibes especially when there is ANY uncertainty about ticket sales.

"If you were 20, wouldn't you be bummed out if you weren't able to go see a band you liked play live for the 1st time in the US?"

I'm not 20, so it's not my problem.

Back when I was 20 (early '90s) kids were more respectful at concerts. Nowadays, kids are more apt to sit down on the floor in between sets (WTF?) and take pictures with camera phones. I say begone with the riff raff and make all good shows 21+.

I think it's great that one of the shows is now 18+. At least those kids tend to be a bit more excited at the prospect of seeing their favorite band live than some old ponytailed fart.

Why would you actually want an older crowd at the show?

I'm gonna go to both and am just as excited about the Bowery show as the Merc Lge show. The Bowery is a fantastic venue although I suppose a lot of people prefer the 'I was there'ness of a Merc show. Those people suck.

"I'm not 20, so it's not my problem."

That's the spirit!

yeah can someone under 21 here, explain the whole sitting on the floor phenomena?

oh, and why do the youngins always line up an hour before the door, then rush to the stage the second they're let it, only to have no interest whatsoever in the opening acts.

you can literally draw a line at every all ages bowery show that seperates the kids and the drinkers.

yeah seriously, i started seeing that floor shit maybe a year ago. The first time i almost stepped on a bunch of kids because there was this illusion of a great place to stand.

Chris said "Why would you actually want an older crowd at the show?"...

Umm...(1) An older crowd has a lot more money to spend on drinks than an 18 year olds do. (2)With an older crowd you don't have to worry about underage kids trying to get alcohol and the venue getting shut down. (3) An older crowd is gonna make less noise outside the entrance. (4) An older crowd is likely to be more respectful of the premises. (5) An older crowd is less likely to be holding up their cellphones to get videos of the band thus annoying everyone behind them.

These comments are such bullshit. You should really stop stereotyping an age group, sure there's LOTS of teenagers who do stupid and annoying things at shows, but there's also a lot of people over 21 who do the same. No one's innocent.

For me, I go to the concert to see all the bands, not go in the back by the bar and talk during them and then sneak my way up front. The only opening band I've ever been so bored by was Lake Trout a while back and I can't remember a time I've sat inside of the venue. I sit outside of the venue and wait, of course, but that's just to get a good spot and try to experience the show in the best way.

Do you really think 16 year olds that show up at a Peter Bjorn & John show would be obnoxiously taking pictures and sitting on the floor between bands? Maybe an OKGo show, but I completely doubt it for PB&J. All of the all ages shows I've been to for bands like Oxford Collapse, Professor Murder, Love is All, etc., I haven't seen one major problem. In fact it seemed like I was the only one in their teens at the show. So yeah, it's such bullshit that people get so outraged about a fuckin age limit being changed from 21+ to 18+, when I'm sitting here missing bands and legendary performances. Just shut up, be grateful and stop being so snobby.

"I haven't seen one major problem. "

That's because you are still a kid! You haven't been to many shows. Most under 21 shows at Bowery, Irving Plaza and similar venues have those stupid kids that sit on the floor and other stupid stuff.

And please, no more digital cameras at shows. The show is about the moment, not about a blurry picture you can put on flickr.

"And please, no more digital cameras at shows. The show is about the moment, not about a blurry picture you can put on flickr."

true words. the camera phones are the worst.

don't bitch about lowering to 18+ though. i know a few kids who are going to be ecstatic at this.

and i have seen plenty of 21-25 yr. olds holding up cameras/phones at concerts. a lot more than the young ones even.

Haven't been to many shows? I've been to over 100. I've been to my share of venues, not just in NY either. Thanks.

Numbnuts, it was listed on the Mercury Lounge website. Smart people check it out and plan their future to it.

i am in my early 20s and all i have to say is that often times 21+ shows seem to be filled with "hipsters" who are more concerned with being seen at the show and making sure their drinks aren't spilled than watching the show. the fact is that kids are much more likely to be into the music itself. all your complaints about crowds are crap, don't tell me you thought the same way when you were 16, 18 or 20.

Get off the stereotypes. Camera phone "photographers" come in all ages.

So what if people want to get their arse dirty and sit on the floor? If they want to sit in sticky beer, let 'em. Disrespectful, no. Slightly dumb, yes.

A younger crowd typically adds more energy. Could have used some at that horrendous CYHSY 1:30 am gig. Also, people line up outside because they are EXCITED to see the band! Has it been that long since you were that excited about something?

The negative commentators here remind me of people that used a fake ID when they were underage, but are in favor of the drinking age after they are 21.

All shows should be at least 18+. And by the way, I'm older than most of you on here. Just don't stereotype ME when I'm standing there drinking my beer.

Who was the opening act for the merc or bowery show?

the born ruffians opened the bowery show.