There\u2019s a deep-seated belief, buried in the hearts and psyches of many Seattle music fans, that their favorite artists consistently pass over Seattle on tour.<\/p>\n
Truth or myth, these feelings flared up like grill grease at a Climate Pledge Arena concession stand this year when Bruce Springsteen and Bruno Mars announced high-profile tours that noticeably skipped Seattle, respectively hitting Portland and Vancouver, B.C., instead.<\/p>\n
In both cases, fans flooded social media bemoaning Seattle\u2019s tour-poster omission, appealing to the scheduling gods and speculating (with varying rationality) as to why the stars were not gracing our fair city.<\/p>\n
Look, I\u2019m no internet shrink. But seemingly wrapped among the comment section discourse were fears of inadequacy, as fans wondered: In the eyes of artists whose music we hold dear, is our town \u2014 the 13th largest media market in the United States, according to Nielsen \u2014 somehow an undesirable or difficult place to play?<\/p>\n
Are we \u2026 unworthy?<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery manager, agent and artist wants to play Seattle,\u201d said Ali Hedrick, a longtime Seattle booking agent now based in New York. \u201cThey do not want to skip it. It’s going to be in their top markets in the whole country, so it’s not from a lack of desire to go to Seattle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hedrick isn\u2019t just viewing this through emerald-colored, Seattle-loving glasses. The music industry vet is a partner and agent at ROAM, which reportedly became the largest independent music booking agency in the world when Hedrick\u2019s Arrival Artists and ATC Live merged last fall. Their forces combined, ROAM represents more than 800 artists zigzagging the globe, including The Lumineers, Jungle, Khruangbin and Mt. Joy.<\/p>\n
As Hedrick knows from years of experience, building out a tour is akin to putting together a delicate, complex puzzle that takes many considerations into account to determine when and where an artist will play. Among them are things like production logistics, venue preference and availability, artist rest days and, of course, the all-important bottom line.<\/p>\n
We should probably point out that Seattle \u201cskips,\u201d like we\u2019ve seen with Springsteen and Mars\u2019 latest runs, are the exception, not the norm. Even if some high-profile occurrences are forever burned into our minds, making it seem more common than they are. (Never forget the Ariana Grande uproar of 2019.)<\/p>\n
Most of the major, expansive North American arena and stadium tours make their way to Seattle at some point, and for every ego-bruising Portland-to-Vancouver snub, there are several other tours that plot coveted opening<\/a> or closing night<\/a> shows in Washington.<\/p>\n Still, it does happen from time to time. So, what gives?<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s so much data and so many factors that could make all these decisions go in so many different ways,\u201d Hedrick said.<\/p>\n Reps for Springsteen and Mars did not respond to questions about their current tour itineraries. But at a glance, there are several surface-level factors that could have kept them out of Seattle this time around.<\/p>\n Springsteen went geographically out of his way to launch his politicized<\/a> “Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour” in Minneapolis before hauling across the west for an April 3 gig in Portland. The outspoken classic rock icon has had his black boots on the ground in the Midwestern city that became the front line of protests against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations that led to federal agents killing two Minneapolis residents.<\/p>\n As No Kings rallies were held across the country last month, three days before opening night of his tour, Springsteen performed his new protest anthem \u201cStreets of Minneapolis\u201d outside of Minnesota\u2019s Capitol.<\/p>\n The last time the Boss played Seattle, just three years ago, he cranked up the volume for a raucous affair<\/a> at Climate Pledge Arena \u2014 a venue with two pro hockey tenants playing condensed schedules this season during an Olympic year.<\/p>\n \u201cIf (artists) get larger and need to be playing in arenas, you’re competing with sports,\u201d Hedrick said, speaking generally as she does not represent Springsteen or Mars. \u201cSometimes you rearrange your timing in order to hit these very specific, big-profile events that you’re going to be doing around the world. Then to fit in the actual headlining tour, sometimes you get locked into a certain time frame and it doesn’t fit with what’s available on the calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n Between five Kraken home games the first half of April and the fact that the 76-year-old Springsteen typically has at least two off days between cities on this run, there were likely a limited number of dates in which a Seattle show might have worked.<\/p>\n While the good ol\u2019 Tacoma Dome is right down the road, its share of the concert market has dwindled since the shinier Climate Pledge Arena opened in Washington\u2019s most populous city \u2014 perhaps a sign of the South Sound barn\u2019s waning appeal. (It\u2019s worth noting that when Grande effectively told Washington \u201cThank U, Next\u201d with that 2019 pass-over, KeyArena was closed as construction began on Climate Pledge Arena.)<\/p>\n While the sports schedule could have been a factor in Mars\u2019 decision to bypass Lumen Field (the pop star\u2019s likeliest Seattle venue) in between two October shows in the San Francisco 49ers\u2019 stadium and a mammoth five-show run at Vancouver\u2019s indoor BC Place, a more obvious deterrent is the Pacific Northwest weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn’t want to go outdoors that late in the season in Seattle,\u201d Hedrick said. \u201cIf you’re going to choose that time frame, you’re going to look up, like, 10 years of data on the weather on those specific dates.\u201d<\/p>\n If that\u2019s the case, most bands and agents haven\u2019t liked what they\u2019ve seen. The latest Lumen Field concert in recent memory was a 2023 date with Coldplay on Sept. 20 \u2014 a full month earlier than Mars\u2019 Vancouver stand is slated to wrap.<\/p>\n Next door at the retractably roofed T-Mobile Park, the last October concert came on a chilly night in 2019, when The Who and a 48-member orchestra battled the ballpark\u2019s echo-y environs<\/a>. And even if Mars was willing to bundle up, the Mariners are hoping to make some \u201c24K Magic\u201d of their own with a deep playoff run that would seemingly prevent the old-soul showman from moving in for an entire week.<\/p>\n