Don’t Get Fooled Again

A prized piece of my coffee mug collection.

I’ve seen Bruce Springsteen (19 times), Paul McCartney, Prince, John Mellencamp, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, The Eagles, U2, James Taylor, Elton John and many other music legends live, but there was one in particular – The Who -- I had yet to see and time was running out.

So, when the opportunity arose last year, I called my wife’s cousin (a fellow “classic rock” fan) and invited him out from the East Coast to see The Who with me at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. The show was a year ago today.

I’m a bit of an easy sell when it comes to live music. I love it. So, when I can see a legendary group like The Who in person, I’m not going to hold their performance to an extraordinarily high standard. I’m just happy to be there. Heck, Roger Daltry was 75 years old! But I thought the performance was great and they played a number of their iconic songs like “Pinball Wizard,” “Eminence Front,” “I Can See For Miles,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” and, of course, “Baba O’Riley.”

I also had never been to Alpine Valley, in spite of living in southern Wisconsin for 25 years, so it was cool to see a show at that venue.

The Who concert was on a Sunday night. It was raining for at least some of the show. Parking was in the middle of a big field that became muddy from the rain. And, judging from the age of the audience, I didn’t imagine most would be partying into the wee hours of the morning. I’m sure most had to go to work the next day. But I took something else away from that show and it relates to my own work in college athletics: from where I was sitting (under the covered pavilion), barely anyone left before the 22-song set ended.

That’s a challenge we were facing in college sports before the pandemic and it may be an even greater challenge once things are back to “normal.” Organizations that put on live events – sports, concerts, whatever – have to find ways to attract attendees, but also to keep them in their seats.

Sure, you could say, “well, it was The Who, one of the great rock bands of all time. Of course people stuck around til the end.” Maybe so. But the point is they stuck around. Why? For me, it was seeing those legendary musicians and hearing those classic songs. That was enough to keep me there. I didn’t care about beating the traffic out of that dark, muddy lot. I didn’t care that we wouldn’t get home til 1:30 in the morning. The experience connected with me in a way that made all other factors less important. In short, I was having too much fun to leave early.

Attention spans are short these days and customers have a lot of choices. I think people leave events early (unless there’s an emergency) because they prioritize whatever’s next over what they’re doing at the moment. Organizations that do live events need to keep people engaged. Make things fun. Create anticipation. Keep your audience wondering what’s next.

It seems weird to be writing about live events with big crowds right now. But they’ll come back. The pandemic isn’t going to last forever. And, when it’s over, we’re all going to want people sticking around for the whole setlist.