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Why Acts From Adele to Metallica Are Playing More Shows in Fewer Places


Adele and Metallica are part of a trend of concert residencies and touring fewer cities, forcing their fans to travel to them.

For Metallica, much of the cost is in “load-in” — moving and building a doughnut-shaped stage with standing room in the middle, plus eight towers of speakers and monitors that weigh 11 tons each. Touring artists have to compete with festivals, which offer fans a lot of acts for their money, plus an experience to remember — and, not incidentally, share on social media. Personally, I don’t think Metallica or Adele needs any of this — I’d be just as happy to see either in a club, in front of a brick wall — but bigger productions seem to create a sense of FOMO.

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