The Black Keys: blues-rock group part with management after arena tour cancellations; how much were tickets?

Coming off the cancellation of their US arena tour, blues-rock outfit The Black Keys have parted ways from their previous management team due to the ill-fated tour, which allegedly did not sell enough tickets to warrant the artists performing in the spacious venues.

The duo quietly cancelled a number of performances, offering no explanation at the time; however numerous fans speculated that dwindling ticket sales were to blame, sharing posts on social media showing the availability of a number of larger US venues that still had tickets for their shows.

It follows a similar situation that Jennifer Lopez had experienced, where her comeback shows were cut short due to poor ticketing sales combined with less-than-favourable reviews of her album, prompting the New York Times to ask the question if the days of arena concerts are coming to an end.

But the bigger takeaway from that New York Times piece comes with the revelation that after the arena tour issues, The Black Keys had parted ways with their management team - Full Stop Management, who have been involved in organising tours for Eagles, Van Halen, Steely Dan and other legendary rock acts.

The company, spearheaded by former Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff and Steve Moir, gave a statement about the parting of ways stating that it was “completely amicable,” while the band have announced a rescheduling of the tour to smaller venues.

How much were tickets to see The Black Keys on their US arena tour?

Though a visit to Ticketmaster’s US site shows the dates The Black Keys were set to play, ticketing information has been removed due to the widespread cancellations. However, the Internet Archive’s Way Back Machine has brought up the previous pages on the ticketing website.

The average price to see The Black Keys on their arena tour was all above the $100 mark (£78), with tickets starting at $113 (£88)per person, not including booking fees. 

To put that into perspective, a ticket to see Foo Fighters on their UK tour, which is currently in the remit of the reseller market, is around the £95 mark on Ticketmaster, while tickets to see Taylor Swift performing at Wembley Arena as part of her “Era’s” tour originally cost between £58.65 to £194.75 for seated tickets and £110 for standing tickets.

It begs the question - did their previous management think The Black Keys were in the same pantheon as Taylor Swift and Foo Fighters when booking the US arena tour? Or have people grown tired of expensive arena tours that feel a little flat compared to the intimate setting of smaller venues - if they still exist in a few years, of course?