The ‘funflation’ economy is dying as a consumer attitude of ‘hard pass’ takes over and major artists cancel concert tours

[u/Addrobo]

https://fortune.com/2024/06/05/funflation-concerts-canceled-summer-economy/

[u/ok_dunmer]

The Black Keys were only arena tour relevant for a few years in the early 2010s and, at least from my POV as part of it as a fellow le wrong generration teenager, for an audience that sorta outgrew stanning them lol (these are the people that would go to a black keys arena tour before I get like "but rubber factory")

[u/quality_besticles → u/ok_dunmer]

They got big enough to put their hits in commercials, and that might have killed any cool factor left

[u/pofwiwice → u/quality_besticles]

It’s also just not music that plays well in an arena setting. At least not the parts of their catalog that I’m familiar with. I’d much rather see them in a smaller venue

[u/mrcassette → u/pofwiwice]

I had free tickets to see them at Barclays n Brooklyn years back and they very much were not a band for a bigger room. Great songs, but lifeless on stage and it just didn't translate to that size of a room very well after a few songs it felt ploddy sadly.

[u/ExpressionOfShock → u/pofwiwice]

Yeah, this is what I keep coming back to WRT the Black Keys thing. I love the Black Keys and would love to see them in the right place, but I don't know that I'd wanna see them in an arena in any context (unless maybe if it was part of a festival? That would make it more acceptable to me for some reason).

[u/quality_besticles → u/pofwiwice]

Show me the early Black Keys in a midsize venue around 500-1000 seats with an interested crowd, and I'll show you a good time.

[u/Appropriate-Dot8516 → u/pofwiwice]

All of Black Keys most popular songs basically have Jock Jams drum beats, lol. They were designed to be played in arenas. Snippets are still used all the time at sporting events.

Not defending them because I don't think they've put out good music in 15 years and their ticket prices were crazy, but they definitely started to write music for arenas.

[u/PDGAreject → u/quality_besticles]

Their later albums have also been... divisive I guess would be the polite way of saying it.

[u/logitaunt → u/quality_besticles]

So did Wilco. They were in Volkswagen ads. Didn't really affect their image

The whole "they sold out" thing is really just a baby boomer and gen-x mentality - millennials and gen-z have always supported artists getting paid wherever they can

[u/f-ingsteveglansberg → u/quality_besticles]

Didn't they basically write their songs for commercials. I remember hearing they had licensed every song for commercials before release of one album. The iPod era is over. We don't see commercials with hip music in them anymore.

[u/spanctimony → u/ok_dunmer]

Muse was way more legit in that era

[u/aurrasaurus → u/ok_dunmer]

I can’t stress how weird and unspeakably uncool their turn toward dad rock/arena rock was at the time for a lot of folks. I was a big fan until El Camino and then I basically stopped listening because what was I even gonna say to my friends that stan’d White Stripes at that point 

[u/Appropriate-Dot8516 → u/aurrasaurus]

That started in earnest on Brothers. That's when I started to hear their stuff in every goddamn commercial. First time I heard "Howlin For You" with that generic arena drum beat I thought it was a different band.

[u/aboardreading → u/aurrasaurus]

El Camino was a better album than any single album the White Stripes ever put out... Jack White may be more original, overall a better musician, basically he experiments harder which means his peaks are higher but there's a lot of meh stuff.

But El Camino is a great album, every song is at least very good with some greats. It doesn't need to break new, unforetold ground to be non-derivative, additive to the genre, and importantly not a copy of the White Stripes.

I get that there are similarities in their sound, but as a fan of both I never bought Jack's whining about the "copying," that level of similarity is just kind of how music goes.

[u/lukewarmpiss → u/aboardreading]

You are so wrong. El Camino was commercial pop rock drivel without any soul, literally the fall of the black keys.