Jon Anderson- Band Geeks Tour

[Paulrus]

There's sort of another thread about this, but I thought I'd re-start it under a more specific title that will hopefully serve as a clearing house for info and reviews.

Official info here: https://richiecastellano.com/jonyesepic/

The dates so far are:

Friday, April 14, 2023 The Space – Westbury, NY
Sunday, April 16, 2023 NJPAC – Newark, NJ
Friday, April 21, 2023 The Palladium – NYC
Sunday, April 23, 2023 Santander Arena – Reading, PA
Friday, April 28, 2023 Scottish Rite – Collingswood, NJ
Saturday, April 29, 2023 Scottish Rite – Collingswood, NJ
Wednesday, May 03, 2023 Capital One Hall – Tysons Corner, VA
Saturday, May 06, 2023 Lyric – Baltimore, MD
Tuesday, May 09, 2023 Family Arena – St. Charles, MO
Friday, May 12, 2023 Arcada Theatre – St. Charles, IL
Saturday, May 13, 2023 Des Plaines Theatre – Des Plaines, IL
Tuesday, May 16, 2023 Riviera Theatre – North Tonawanda, NY

My question is: does anyone have reliable info about the tour continuing westward? Or is this going to be a "If things go well maybe we can add more cities across North America" situation?

[moecurlythanu]

^ He needs to call that "The Boomerang Tour."

[chalkpie]

I was thinking about seeing this.....then I got lazy. The end.

[nycsteve]

Im going on 4-14 in Westbury. Looking forward to it

[battema]

Im going on 4-14 in Westbury. Looking forward to it

Genuine question, how much did your tickets cost? Ballpark, doesn't need to be exact.

Over the weekend I was talking to my friends who mentioned they were seeing tickets > $500 for both Anderson and Hackett. Which sounds absolutely absurd to me, and I suspect is more down to the TM dynamic pricing and them trying to get tickets immediately upon the start of the presale (i.e. duking it out with the 'bots). So I'm just looking for confirmation on my suspicions...thanks!

[bondegezou]

My question is: does anyone have reliable info about the tour continuing westward? Or is this going to be a "If things go well maybe we can add more cities across North America" situation?

Nothing's confirmed, but Castellano has said they'd like to do more dates. In February, Anderson said, "we're going to be touring [...] then probably later in the year, the West Coast, but very much later, like December, January [2024] or something like that."

[SteveSly]

Genuine question, how much did your tickets cost? Ballpark, doesn't need to be exact.

Over the weekend I was talking to my friends who mentioned they were seeing tickets > $500 for both Anderson and Hackett. Which sounds absolutely absurd to me, and I suspect is more down to the TM dynamic pricing and them trying to get tickets immediately upon the start of the presale (i.e. duking it out with the 'bots). So I'm just looking for confirmation on my suspicions...thanks!

Are you sure your freind was not on a re-sale ticket site? They are getting more and more sneaky at making themselves look like legit ticketmaster sites. I a lot of people who have been fooled by this and ended up paying way over retail for tickets. I have seen both Hackett and Anderson within the last few years and both were reasonably priced.

[battema]

Are you sure your freind was not on a re-sale ticket site? They are getting more and more sneaky at making themselves look like legit ticketmaster sites. I a lot of people who have been fooled by this and ended up paying way over retail for tickets. I have seen both Hackett and Anderson within the last few years and both were reasonably priced.

I thought the same thing, Steve...I'm pretty sure they were on legit sites. And like you, I've not seen mention of prices anywhere near as absurd for either Anderson or Hackett. My assumption has been that it was the whole dynamic pricing thing going haywire. So yeah, I was just curious

[SteveSly]

I thought the same thing, Steve...I'm pretty sure they were on legit sites. And like you, I've not seen mention of prices anywhere near as absurd for either Anderson or Hackett. My assumption has been that it was the whole dynamic pricing thing going haywire. So yeah, I was just curious

Just for the heck of it I looked up Jon Anderson on Ticketmaster. The Virgina show for example ranges from $39 to $129 at the top.

I looked up Hackett for Durham NC. Price range from $46.40 to $199.50 depending on the seats.

It seems like I am always seeing people post about outrageous prices lately, but often they are looking at re-sale tickets. If you just google a venue or artist the algorithm will often take you to re-sale ticket sites made to look like legit Ticketmaster or other sites. I buy tickets all the time, so know the difference, but for many people who don't buy tickets often it is easy for them to get fooled into thinking the higher prices are legit ticket prices. I would bet money that your friends were on an aftermarket ticket site.

[rich]

Genuine question, how much did your tickets cost? Ballpark, doesn't need to be exact.

Over the weekend I was talking to my friends who mentioned they were seeing tickets > $500 for both Anderson and Hackett. Which sounds absolutely absurd to me, and I suspect is more down to the TM dynamic pricing and them trying to get tickets immediately upon the start of the presale (i.e. duking it out with the 'bots). So I'm just looking for confirmation on my suspicions...thanks!

That has to be from a broker. Hackett's top tickets in Monterey were right at $100 with the "convenience" charge. Same with SF right around $100 unless you were gullible enough to buy the few "platinum" tickets they were offering for $200ish... Anything beyond that has to be a broker or the "Ticketbastard resale market"

[battema]

That has to be from a broker. Hackett's top tickets in Monterey were right at $100 with the "convenience" charge. Same with SF right around $100 unless you were gullible enough to buy the few "platinum" tickets they were offering for $200ish... Anything beyond that has to be a broker or the "Ticketbastard resale market"

Perhaps so, I assumed my friends were more savvy than that. For full transparency, the prices they quoted to me on Saturday was $700 for Hackett and $900 for Anderson. Neither one of those sounded even remotely rational to me.

[moecurlythanu]

I agree with Steve. First thing I thought of.

[Paulrus]

Nothing's confirmed, but Castellano has said they'd like to do more dates. In February, Anderson said, "we're going to be touring [...] then probably later in the year, the West Coast, but very much later, like December, January [2024] or something like that."

Thanks, Henry. Since Jon lives out west I'm going to gamble that they'll bring the tour this way. I don't care when, just as long I can see a show without having to fly across the country!

[Dan Roth]

I thought the same thing, Steve...I'm pretty sure they were on legit sites. And like you, I've not seen mention of prices anywhere near as absurd for either Anderson or Hackett. My assumption has been that it was the whole dynamic pricing thing going haywire. So yeah, I was just curious

For what its worth, the closer Hackett tickets at Collingswood, where I am going, are going anywhere from $210 to the pit ticket price of $495. These are legit Ticketmaster prices (some of these are still available right now). I secured a $69.50 ticket because I was ok with Row M.

[nycsteve]

Genuine question, how much did your tickets cost? Ballpark, doesn't need to be exact.

Over the weekend I was talking to my friends who mentioned they were seeing tickets > $500 for both Anderson and Hackett. Which sounds absolutely absurd to me, and I suspect is more down to the TM dynamic pricing and them trying to get tickets immediately upon the start of the presale (i.e. duking it out with the 'bots). So I'm just looking for confirmation on my suspicions...thanks!

Around 70ish. Best seats around 120. I actually had to call the box office for assistance , I couldn't reach the Ticketfucker site on reseller sites. BTW I think Ticketfucker has a cut of some reseller sites. TFer with Live Nation have the ticket market locked up. Westbury can no longer sell from their box office per Live Nation contract . Its a monopoly and we are getting fucked. After this debacle , it's going to take something unbelievably special to get me to buy another ticket handled by these thieves. Sorry about all the cursing , but LN is a bunch of fucking scumbags. Sorry.....

[Splicer]

Around 70ish. Best seats around 120. I actually had to call the box office for assistance , I couldn't reach the Ticketfucker site on reseller sites. BTW I think Ticketfucker has a cut of some reseller sites. TFer with Live Nation have the ticket market locked up. Westbury can no longer sell from their box office per Live Nation contract . Its a monopoly and we are getting fucked. After this debacle , it's going to take something unbelievably special to get me to buy another ticket handled by these thieves. Sorry about all the cursing , but LN is a bunch of fucking scumbags. Sorry.....

Your anger and language are justified. Paying these prices to watch paint-by-numbers playing is not my idea of money well spent.

[rich]

Perhaps so, I assumed my friends were more savvy than that. For full transparency, the prices they quoted to me on Saturday was $700 for Hackett and $900 for Anderson. Neither one of those sounded even remotely rational to me.

I love Jon and Steve but $700/$900 per ticket is crazy. I'm not sure I'd pay that for anyone... well, never say never I guess. Getting back to the Ticketmaster site, that site is really deceiving. They mix in standard (face value tickets) with resale tickets, Platinum tickets and the credit card promotional tickets. You can turn on a filter on their site to only show the face value tickets but sadly many people don't know that so they buy the premium priced tickets.

[battema]

I love Jon and Steve but $700/$900 per ticket is crazy. I'm not sure I'd pay that for anyone... well, never say never I guess. Getting back to the Ticketmaster site, that site is really deceiving. They mix in standard (face value tickets) with resale tickets, Platinum tickets and the credit card promotional tickets. You can turn on a filter on their site to only show the face value tickets but sadly many people don't know that so they buy the premium priced tickets.

Yeah, those prices just didn't feel realistic to me. I'm glad the reality is much much more reasonable for folks who plan to go

I don't go out of my way to see shows processed via Ticketmaster, but they've got such a chokehold on the live venue biz (thanks so much LiveNation) that often there's no choice. I favor smaller venues and smaller bands though, so the fees are still annoying but not as ridiculously over the top.

[Top Cat]

I favor smaller venues and smaller bands though, so the fees are still annoying but not as ridiculously over the top.

As I get older, and the ticket prices are becoming increasingly out of our budget, I feel the same way.
It's like we've gone full circle from the early days of concert going in the early 70s to being able to see quality music in smaller venues.
I remember seeing Peter Gabriel at Royal Oak Music Theater outside Detroit, which I think seats around 1500.
Saw Steve Hackett, Yes and Jon's solo tour at the Capitol Theater in Clearwater, Fl...all smaller venues.
And most recently, ProgJect last year in Largo, Fl which I think sold out with 750 seats.
We were able to purchase direct from the venue, no hassle, so middleman, and we were about 8 rows from the stage.(one of our most fun concerts in a very very long time).

[Rufus]

New UK date added at Shepherds Bush Empire as the other date sold out. I'm a happy camper as I was late to the party and missed out on the first date. Also a date in Dublin.

[Dan Roth]

Whoever came up with the awkward name "Yes Epics & Classics" for this grouping and tour had a point. The below video is all over Facebook as well - used for various theaters - and for those fans who don't follow all of this closely like many of us do, I see comments on the videos like "Where's Rick Wakeman?", "Where's Steve Howe?". The video is super ambiguous -even using the phrase "Progressive Pioneers". I am not coming out and saying that "hey, this ad is trying to make people think THIS is Yes", but it steers less-informed folks down that route.

[Man In The Mountain]

Whoever came up with the awkward name "Yes Epics & Classics" for this grouping and tour had a point. The below video is all over Facebook as well - used for various theaters - and for those fans who don't follow all of this closely like many of us do, I see comments on the videos like "Where's Rick Wakeman?", "Where's Steve Howe?". The video is super ambiguous -even using the phrase "Progressive Pioneers". I am not coming out and saying that "hey, this ad is trying to make people think THIS is Yes", but it steers less-informed folks down that route.

He must have hired Ian Anderson's marketing guy. It definitely says "YES" in a large logo, with "Epics & Classics" underneath. Following graphic arts rules, that makes the band name "YES" and is featuring Jon Anderson. It also sounds like the "Band Geeks" are special guests. If you can even make out that name.

It should be "Jon Anderson & BAND GEEKS - Play YES Epics & Classics."

[Paulrus]

He must have hired Ian Anderson's marketing guy.

I detect the hand of Brian Lane.

That said, I gather Steve is OK with Jon doing this kind of thing. I mean, if it leads to audients going out and buying old Yes albums that's more money in Steve's pocket too.

[bondegezou]

I detect the hand of Brian Lane.

That said, I gather Steve is OK with Jon doing this kind of thing. I mean, if it leads to audients going out and buying old Yes albums that's more money in Steve's pocket too.

I don't think Brian Lane is working with Anderson any more, not since ARW, though he may be with Wakeman.

I don't know people's precise feelings. I would guess that Howe and Yes management might blanch at some of the marketing coming from Anderson's team, but they appear to have made the decision that, at least, it's not worth involving lawyers over stuff like this. They seem to have a live and let live policy. It may also be that the convoluted rights situation means that Anderson has some protection over his use of the "Yes" name, as appeared to be the case that allowed "Yes fr ARW" to take on that name.

[Geoff O'Donoghue]

It may also be that the convoluted rights situation means that Anderson has some protection over his use of the "Yes" name, as appeared to be the case that allowed "Yes fr ARW" to take on that name.

I noticed recently that Yes-ARW's Live At The Apollo is one of the live albums available on the yesofficial YouTube channel.