Concert Power Barometer

Many apologies for the long absence in posts, been terribly busy and on a dry spell. Finally decided to put fingertips to keyboard and post about concerts.

Yeah it's been pretty barren lately on the live music front, with the only recent concerts being the Pussycat Dolls show 2 weeks ago, and a Lady Gaga showcase last weekend. Compared to the feverish months of March and April, it's been really bare.

And the news that SingFest this year has been postponed adds further gloom. By the look of things, SingFest might not happen this year, due largely to the lack of sponsorship in the current economic climate. But the official word is that it's been "postponed", so let's see.

Just when things were about to get dire, there came news that August might not be that bad after all. Nine Inch Nails has already been confirmed for 10th August at Fort Canning Park, and just this week, it was announced that Lady Gaga will return for a full-length concert on 12th August.

And the latest news is that another British band will be heading our way on 13th August - Keane, who have never been here before and they released their third studio album last year.

And there's also confirmation that Michael Learns To Rock will be back for a concert on 4th September as well. Add to that Il Divo on 21st September, plus Backstreet Boys, Chaka Khan and Youssou N'Dour for the F1 Grand Prix from 25th to 27th September, suddenly there's some activity and excitement.

Out of these acts, there's only one that I'm really keen to watch, and that's Keane on 13th August. Or at least, this is the only one that I would pay money for.

Having said that, I began to wonder which are the surefire acts that are confirmed to sell out if they were to hold a concert in Singapore. And not just sell out, but how quickly and at what capacity.

I know there's the Big Mac Indicator which compares inflation rates across countries, where the price of a Big Mac burger in each country is converted to US dollars to judge which country has the highest inflation. So I'm devising a Concert Power Barometer to see which artist has the strongest pulling power to their live shows.

Note that this is not a Star Power meter, which would measure an artist's overall appeal, which includes album/single sales, radio chart success, number of news article mentions, magazine cover appearances etc. I'm just interested to find out who has the biggest ability to sell out shows in Singapore today.

And to narrow down the list a bit, let's just consider artists who have never performed a full live show in Singapore before, or which their last concert in Singapore was more than 10 years ago. The reasoning behind the second rule is to measure the artist's staying power in the fickle music business, whether they are still as hot as they once were 10 years ago.

This Barometer is based on a few factors:

- Total number of tickets I expect the artist to be capable of selling out

- How quickly the artist takes to sell out that amount

- Most probable venue, based on the stage setup and logistics required for their gigs

- Atmosphere most suitable for the artist, based on the type of show the artist normally puts up

- Not considering whether Singapore is the only stop in Southeast Asia, thus eliminating overseas fans who fly in specially for the concert

- Most probable top ticket price based on booking fees, and yet still sell out

- The ranking is determined by a delicate balance of bigger turnout vs how quickly it takes to sell out vs top ticket price

CONCERT POWER BAROMETER

1. Madonna

Turnout: 35,000

Venue: National Stadium

How Fast: 2 days

Top Ticket: $400

2. U2

Turnout: 35,000

Venue: National Stadium

How Fast: 3 days

Top Ticket: $375

3. Justin Timberlake

Turnout: 20,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium, 2 nights

How Fast: 2 days

Top Ticket: $300

4. Britney Spears

Turnout: 20,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium, 2 nights

How Fast: 4 days

Top Ticket: $250

5. Green Day

Turnout: 25,000

Venue: National Stadium

How Fast: 5 days

Top Ticket: $225

6. Depeche Mode

Turnout: 30,000

Venue: National Stadium

How Fast: 10 days

Top Ticket: $275

* Last performed in Singapore on 1st March 1994

7. Michael Jackson

Turnout: 30,000

Venue: National Stadium

How Fast: 2 weeks

Top Ticket: $300

* Last performed in Singapore on 25th October 1996

8. Beyonce

Turnout: 10,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 3 days

Top Ticket: $250

9. Radiohead

Turnout: 16,000

Venue: Fort Canning Park, 2 nights

How Fast: 1 week

Top Ticket: $250

10. The Killers

Turnout: 9,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 1 week

Top Ticket: $225

11. Foo Fighters

Turnout: 10,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 1 week

Top Ticket: $200

* Last performed in Singapore on 16th January 1996

12. Take That

Turnout: 8,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 1 week

Top Ticket: $185

13. John Mayer

Turnout: 7,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 2 weeks

Top Ticket: $200

14. Celine Dion

Turnout: 9,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 3 weeks

Top Ticket: $250

15. Metallica

Turnout: 9,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 2.5 weeks

Top Ticket: $200

* Last performed in Singapore on 13th April 1993

16. Matchbox Twenty

Turnout: 9,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 3 weeks

Top Ticket: $200

17. Nickelback

Turnout: 8,000

Venue: Fort Canning Park

How Fast: 3 weeks

Top Ticket: $175

18. Aerosmith

Turnout: 8,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 3.5 weeks

Top Ticket: $250

19. Eminem

Turnout: 7,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 3 weeks

Top Ticket: $185

20. Whitney Houston

Turnout: 8,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 4 weeks

Top Ticket: $250

* Last performed in Singapore in 1995 (with the air-con turned off)

21. Blur

Turnout: 7,000

Venue: Fort Canning Park

How Fast: 3 weeks

Top Ticket: $150

* Last performed in Singapore in 1997

22. Dave Matthews Band

Turnout: 6,000

Venue: Fort Canning Park

How Fast: 4 weeks

Top Ticket: $150

23. Janet Jackson

Turnout: 7,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 5 weeks

Top Ticket: $175

* Last performed in Singapore on 27th & 28th February 1995

24. Prince

Turnout: 6,000

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

How Fast: 5 weeks

Top Ticket: $200

Agree or disagree with my list? Are there any acts that I've left out that you feel deserve to be in the list? Remember they have to be artists who have never performed a full show in Singapore before or within the last 10 years, so you can rule out the Coldplays and Jason Mrazs or the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Who's your number 1 must-watch act from the list? I'd love to hear from you. Maybe the concert promoters will stumble across this list and bring in some of the acts next year!