The Magic Whip Commercial Expectations

[Sushi]

Man....

24. Blur's best chart position in America. What a time to be alive. I assume it is not enough of an indicator that gigs would do well here. *sigh*

[thespider]

Indeed. You had bands like Aerosmith, 2pac etc. selling a million plus in week 1.

[MrMagpie]

Man....

24. Blur's best chart position in America. What a time to be alive. I assume it is not enough of an indicator that gigs would do well here. *sigh*

Agreed. I'm very afraid but expecting that they look at those numbers (~15000 TOTAL sales) and think "our first proper gig in 15 years (not counting Coachella in 2013 which was a festival) which was hyped up and had limited access, and that's all we sold?" Can't see that making them want to slog around the country playing venues the same size as the one in Brooklyn, unless they just stick to the major markets like New York, Boston, Philly, DC, LA, San Fran, Chicago, Houston. Otherwise, what's the point?

[SeverHense]

It's not even that far off from what Think Tank sold in 2003 the first week (and that was back when a lot of albums were selling multiple millions of copies a year). And besides, these are changed times. I'm willing to bet a lot of people who may have heard and liked the album simply just pirated it or streamed it rather than buying it.

[Sushi]

Man....

24. Blur's best chart position in America. What a time to be alive. I assume it is not enough of an indicator that gigs would do well here. *sigh*

Agreed. I'm very afraid but expecting that they look at those numbers (~15000 TOTAL sales) and think "our first proper gig in 15 years (not counting Coachella in 2013 which was a festival) which was hyped up and had limited access, and that's all we sold?" Can't see that making them want to slog around the country playing venues the same size as the one in Brooklyn, unless they just stick to the major markets like New York, Boston, Philly, DC, LA, San Fran, Chicago, Houston. Otherwise, what's the point?

Houston??

But yeah, I'm not holding out hope. Kind of devastating....would have been nice to round out all this excitement and enjoyment of a great new album with a gig. Although I do find it weird that Damon's solo album warranted a short American tour....

[MrMagpie]

Man....

24. Blur's best chart position in America. What a time to be alive. I assume it is not enough of an indicator that gigs would do well here. *sigh*

Agreed. I'm very afraid but expecting that they look at those numbers (~15000 TOTAL sales) and think "our first proper gig in 15 years (not counting Coachella in 2013 which was a festival) which was hyped up and had limited access, and that's all we sold?" Can't see that making them want to slog around the country playing venues the same size as the one in Brooklyn, unless they just stick to the major markets like New York, Boston, Philly, DC, LA, San Fran, Chicago, Houston. Otherwise, what's the point?

Houston??

But yeah, I'm not holding out hope. Kind of devastating....would have been nice to round out all this excitement and enjoyment of a great new album with a gig. Although I do find it weird that Damon's solo album warranted a short American tour....

Well, I had to throw in another city between the coasts besides Chicago and Texas is big...maybe I should've said Dallas? Either way, no way in hell Blur go south of the Mason-Dixon line and most likely don't play in flyover country unless it's Chicago.

[SeverHense]

I dunno, they've played in Atlanta 5 times before. And we're not as, err, backwards as other parts of the south. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

[MrMagpie]

I dunno, they've played in Atlanta 5 times before. And we're not as, err, backwards as other parts of the south. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

Oh, I wasn't saying anything about the south like that (even though I'm a lifelong northerner )...I just meant that unless bands are gonna slog around the entire country, they usually just hit the big cities on either coasts, most of which tend to be in the northern part of the country (New York, Philly, Boston, DC/Baltimore on the east coast, SF and LA on the west, Chicago in the middle).

It'll be interesting to see how much more they sell here as I read this morning that even in the UK, the new Mumford and Sons (ugh) album is already outselling the Magic Whip by something like 3 to 1.

[101reykjavik]

I'm not in the least surprised by that statistic about Mumford and Sons outselling them to that degree. They're just a big, mainstream act popular with people who wouldn't call themselves music fans. And when you get the masses on board like that, you'll shift units. No shame in losing out to that. To compete Blur would have to be equally big, dumb, bland and boring.

[dunkaroo02]

I dunno, they've played in Atlanta 5 times before. And we're not as, err, backwards as other parts of the south. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

If they do decide to tour the US I think there's a good chance they'll come to Atlanta - maybe some place like the Tabernacle (I think they played there in '03). I also think there's a small chance they could do Music Midtown in September, if only because the dates line up well and that could be their one big Southeastern US festival date.

[Petter]

The Magic Whip is #8 in Norway this week which is quite good compared to Think Tank.

Think Tank #18
13 #1
Blur #6
The Great Escape #5
Parklife #37

[SeverHense]

124,000 sold worldwide in the first week.

[SeverHense]

So this is kind of random, but Essex Dogs and Strange News From Another Star are both currently at #186 and #187 on the Philippines iTunes.
Who would have thunk it?

[xdrake24]

As far as the U.S Goes, I'm glad that it beat it's past records! (even if sales being lower these days has something to do with it). I'm not sure how it will affect any other shows in North America, but I wont give up hope! I also remember saying to myself that it better beat the falls charting (as its a album on a ipad!) It got the same charting and 24 is my favorite number so I guess its a win!

[SeverHense]

I also think there's a small chance they could do Music Midtown in September, if only because the dates line up well and that could be their one big Southeastern US festival date.

I dunno, the way Music Midtown has changed in the past few years since it's revival (ie. from a wide ranging festival featuring a whole spectrum of underground and mainstream rock music styles as well as some crossover hip-hop, electronic and pop artists to an almost exclusively Top 40 pop festival where people go for the atmosphere/scene and not the actual music), I have a feeling it wouldn't be the right place for Blur. Hell, they probably would never play America again after playing MM.

During it's original tenure, it had acts like The Stone Roses, Cake, Bob Dylan, Dinosaur Jr., Wilco, Iggy Pop, Oasis, the Atlanta hip hop duo Outkast, DEVO, The White Stripes, Pixies, Lou Reed, The Strokes, among others.

Last year, it featured artists such as Eminem, the Zac Brown Band (awful local country act who got to #1 on Billboard this week), Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Bastille, and Iggy Azealia as well as a few bottom of the barrel so-called "indie" artists that happen to be backed by major labels and receive lots of radio airplay.