Eddie Vedder is Still an Incoherent Drunk
When you’re not in a tiny space like Bowery Ballroom, where even in the worst seat in the house you can see the snarls and sweat onstage, then the concert experience is just as much about the crowd’s reaction to the music as the music itself. For me, anyway, a great crowd makes a show memorable and a meh crowd makes me wish I had danced around my apartment with the CD at full blast, instead.
I’ve seen Pearl Jam twice now—once in 1996 at Lockheart Stadium in Florida (the year of the Ticketmaster fiasco) for the No Code tour, and again last night at the Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey as a birthday present from Jeff. Both times, my seats were very good, but not “I can see Eddie Vedder’s blue eyes” close. But because Pearl Jam has that special sparkle quality—not in the “ohmigod, Pearl Jam effing RULES, man” way (well…maybe a LITTLE bit in that way), but the combination of their huge, stellar catalogue and fanbase—both shows were scream-out-loud fantastic. Last night, we were on …
I’ve seen Pearl Jam twice now—once in 1996 at Lockheart Stadium in Florida (the year of the Ticketmaster fiasco) for the No Code tour, and again last night at the Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey as a birthday present from Jeff. Both times, my seats were very good, but not “I can see Eddie Vedder’s blue eyes” close. But because Pearl Jam has that special sparkle quality—not in the “ohmigod, Pearl Jam effing RULES, man” way (well…maybe a LITTLE bit in that way), but the combination of their huge, stellar catalogue and fanbase—both shows were scream-out-loud fantastic. Last night, we were on …
do you agree that the adidas/reebok merger is such an unbeatable combination? Yes, they have increased market shares, but they're sacrificing price competition. with fewer price competitors, the value of existing competitors goes up, no? and it seems like the market kinda agrees--reebok's share price went up after the announcement, but so did nike's. whatever, i wear asics anyways.
ReplyDeleteross
I don't think price is an issue here. The insanely profitable portion of the sneaker market is a pretty well-defined niche on the high end–folks who will spend $150 for something that costs $5 to make, just because of the person who's name is on them. The demand in that market is relatively inelastic.
ReplyDeleteI think if anything the merger is about managing endorsements. Someone like LeBron gets $100 million from Nike in part because of the fierce competition for his services; one fewer separate shoe company means one less corporation to play off another by athlete's agents chasing endorsement money, though of course two giants are capable of bidding each other up as well. But Reebok and Adidas get to combine their existing rosters of athletes and celebrities and capitalize on those people, and will be in a better position to actually go after the LeBron's of the future without it being a foregone conclusion that he'll Just Do It.