<p>Have the concerts always been to canned music? That seems unfortunate to me. What are the ticket prices?</p>
<p>It’s not unusual for concerts to be to tracks. Hip hop acts very often do, as do a number of dance acts. Electronica is by its nature a bunch of tracks and the audiences don’t mind.</p>
<p>Tix may vary. They’re pretty expensive. I’d rather not say. </p>
<p>I don’t think they sell a ton of shirts at the shows. I’d rather not say the numbers I was told. </p>
<p>We felt bad they didn’t have an Alex shirt, especially since Sam and Alex are not only friends but will be living together. They’re handling this very well. </p>
<p>Every other year of the AI tour they have had a band. The first night of this tour fans were shocked that they had to pay high ticket prices to not even have the backing of a band . I’m not sure of the prices, but they are not cheap.</p>
<p>Thanks, abasket. That’s too bad that they appear to be cheaping out this year. I saw on one of the evening entertainment news shows tonight that Dexter and the producers ‘agreed to end their contractual relationship’ and that apparently there is no health issue as he already has other upcoming gigs booked.</p>
<p>I had heard that speculation - very odd. </p>
<p>While the set up may not be as “grand” as years past, the opportunity to go on tour, meet and make many new fans , get great experience - is great for these new artists.</p>
<p>I never went to any other AI stuff. It doesn’t surprise me they reduce costs; the show isn’t as popular as it was and some people claim it may lose money because costs rose so much: new set, paying removed producers, judges and Seacrest pay. </p>
<p>I believe that by contract they use CAA for additional bookings. </p>
<p>I’m going to an American Idol concert this summer. This one has a real band:</p>
<p><a href=“Queen + Adam Lambert live at iHeartRadio theatre, Los Angeles HD (16th June, 2014) - YouTube”>Queen + Adam Lambert live at iHeartRadio theatre, Los Angeles HD (16th June, 2014) - YouTube;
<p>IDad, that will be legit!!</p>
<p>This is just part of the slow death spiral of Idol. Over the last few years they’ve canceled some concerts altogether because sales were poor and booked many concerts into smaller venues. Cheaping out on the music is a new low, however. I actually attended one of the early concerts (can’t recall which year that was), but now my interest in the show has plummeted, and the talent is too mediocre to justify buying a ticket. I don’t even watch the actual shows, but look at the performances–just the ones that interest me–on a handy website that posts them a few hours after the show ends. All good things must come to an end. Idol hasn’t been good for quite a while. </p>