Saturday, July 02, 2011

In honor of today's U2 concert in Nashville

Hear the crickets?
Oh, what could have been if the Titans had been in a giving-back-to-Nashville kind of mood about tonight's big event last year:

It was a golden opportunity for the Tennessee Titans to demonstrate that they can return money to Metro Nashville coffers and have the positive PR of hosting one of the great international pop bands. But instead they denied a request by U2 to play at LP Field next July. According to the Tennessean, LP field would have afforded 28,000 more seats than Vanderbilt Stadium (where the concert will happen), which could have translated to that many more sales taxes for the city.
Vanderbilt's gain.
But each U2 ticket for an LP Field concert would have included a $2 user fee, which would have gone to fund stadium maintenance and upgrades. This loss needs to be thrown back in the Titans face when they come demanding upgrades in the future, which you can bet they will.


LP Field needs to be used every time it can be so that it can pay for itself.

6 comments:

  1. I'm listening to the concert right now from my couch.

    All I had to do was open my living room window.

    It's too bad Vanderbilt sold WRVU. I could probably be enjoying a simulcast right now if the university had not sold out to the powers that be.

    (How much you wanna bet a bunch of Vandy and WPLN board members were sitting together at the last Swan Ball?)

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  2. Mike you are a major buzz kill. Vandy was perfect place for the concert. I was there and it was a great show. The Titans give Nashville plenty of national and global exposure that you really can't put a price tag on. Also, U2 last played Nashville 30 years ago and guess where the concert was... Vanderbilt. For the record they are a Rock and Roll Band not a Pop Band.

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  3. For the record they are post-punk alternative rock with roots influences. The later U2 was also influenced by electronica (see their album, "Pop"), and I believe that they were at one point nominated for "Best Pop Instrumental."

    Nonetheless, insofar as they have written singles designed to chart and appeal to popular tastes, it is not an error to refer to them as a pop band. Unless, one is some kind of fundamentalist or positivist about otherwise slippery and flexible musical categories. "Rock and roll" itself is not a hard and fast or univocal category.

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  4. I can read wiki as well. The first sentence. "U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin" But Mike I know you are always right so whatever you say is going to be right.

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  5. Anonymous,

    I think Mike was talking nuts and bolts. Cash money. Bud Adams and the NFL were given an incredible deal when it comes to non-Titan use of the field.

    I agree with Mike.

    Turning down U2? I don't get it.

    As far as the debate on what kind of music U2 plays?

    Who cares?

    Go see Pat McLaughlin when he plays at Douglas Corner.

    His band is the best ticket in Nashville, no matter who is playing.

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