Definitely got way too ambitious with arena tours, not sure what they were thinking. Surprised they have cancelled the festival's though. Plus they haven't really had any hits or songs that have stuck about in the charts with the general public.
I think artists like Olly are between a rock and a hard place. The relative success of every other single hasn’t translated into album or ticket sales. I very much see Years & Years like Ella Henderson. They have talent and are great performers but something stops the GP absolutely stanning for either. Both recent albums were solid and enjoyable pop but maybe just not quite enough to cross over fully. Festivals and guest slots/opening for others seems to be the way to get to the big audiences and do a handful of more intimate shows for their own music. The world of music is an odd place these days!
Safe to say Years & Years morphing into a solo Olly hurt them a lot too. It's dump but a lot of their fanbase probably preferred being into a band with cool graphics and aesthetics as opposed to a shiny pop star.
I mean it doesn't help that the singles from this era all sound like anonymous DJ features desperately vying for radio play. Casual listeners don't buy tickets to shows on the strength of that one song they hear all time on Capital.
The album is actually doing surprisingly well in the U.K., already spending 20 weeks in the top 75 (Palo Santo managed 11 weeks in the top 100). But the points around live shows and their profile are all very valid.
It’s a strange one - they’re certainly in that awkward space where they should be playing Academy venues but to do so would look like a step backwards. I think a hybrid of arenas and Academy venues (similar to what Bastille did on their recent UK run) might have fared slightly better - maintain a big production for the arena shows but have the ability to scale it down for smaller venues.
How did the UK shows sell? Sadly I couldn’t make it to any of the dates. On Instagram I think I saw a black curtain cutting off the back half of the venue in Birmingham, and maybe the rear blocks at Wembley? Not sure about any of the other shows though.
I had an email from ShowFilmFirst a few weeks back offering free (plus admin fee) tickets to the Brighton show so I imagine other shows had similar low ticket sales
Wembley had the curtain at the back but it was a standing gig and the floor felt reasonably full actually so it was anything but a disaster. I think they are fine doing theatre shows next time though - they just need to bill it as being intimate and they are fine.
He wasn't even playing arenas in Europe though. The venue in Milan I had tickets for holds 3,000 people at full capacity.
I was at the Manchester date. The top tier was all curtained off but he did say it was the largest crowd from the tour.
The way he had It’s A Sin and the will-he-won’t-he Doctor Who hype behind him, plus the New Years gig, I wonder if there’s regret at not crediting himself as Olly Alexander for music purposes. That name would sell shows I feel.
Are we really pretending that presenting himself as Years & Years is his own decision, and not something pushed by his label/management?
No management / label has that power dd. If anything label would’ve been happy with Y&Y remaining a semi faceless cool “indie” band. Olly does not strike me as someone being told what to do like at all!
It’s wild to remember how much hype and good will Olly had coming into this era but the name isn’t what let it down, the music was just not good enough.
Theirs was one of my favourite sets at Glastonbury - but, like Haim and Belgian beer, by the time I get home to delve in, it doesn't hit as hard as it did live. It was like the tracks had a much more powerful, gutteral, techno thump to them on stage, which either doesn't exist on the recordings or my headphones aren't processing.
I think most of the newer tracks sounded better on tour than they do on the album. A lot more umph to their production.