Too Many Tours Aimed at Mom and Dad?

The next battle for baby boomer bucks is about to begin.

That generation turned out in droves in recent years for concerts by the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones, among others. And it seems a sure bet to turn out in big numbers for Bruce Springsteen’s reunion with the E Street Band this summer.

But will it turn out for Springsteen and the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunion and the planned Bob Dylan-Paul Simon double bill and Tom Petty and an Elton John-Tina Turner pairing and Steely Dan and John Mellencamp and Rod Stewart and James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett?

“The baby boomers typically don’t go out to more than a couple of shows a season,” says Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of the concert business monthly Pollstar. “And to appeal to that audience, you have to do things that reach ‘event’ status, in their minds at least.”

What’s more, many of these tours will have to transcend concerns about escalating ticket prices, with per-show fees for the top packages reportedly running around $500,000, which translates to average ticket prices in the $70 range.

Brian Murphy, president of Los Angeles’ Avalon Attractions, worries about the competition not just for baby boomers but for their children as well. This summer also has many teen-appeal acts coming around.

“At the same time that, say, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is going on sale, you might have ‘N Sync going on sale,” Murphy says. “So the kids are pressuring their parents to buy them $25 tickets for that, while the parents are contemplating $50 or more a seat for CSN&Y.;”

Toss in baby-sitters, parking and the general chore of getting to a show, and there’s a lot to keep people from going out too often.

That’s no problem for the Springsteen shows, which Bongiovanni and major concert promoters surveyed by Pop Eye predict will have much more demand than available tickets (which are expected to be around $45 to $50 for most seats).

The Dylan-Simon teaming, with Simon touring for the first time in eight years, and the CSN&Y; shows, the first for the classic foursome in 25 years, also have automatic hooks.

And the others? Opinions in the concert business range from caution to cautious optimism.

Petty and his band the Heartbreakers haven’t toured for several years, and the advance word on their upcoming album is that it returns to the drive and energy of their earlier work after several more subdued Petty solo albums this decade. “Petty will be a must-see show for his fans,” says Ken Scher, senior vice president of Nederlander West Coast, which operates the Greek Theatre and books concerts at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim.

Elton John alone, promoters say, might suffer from the competition, since he’s toured regularly in recent years. But adding Turner “clearly adds pizazz,” says John Scher, president of East Coast promoter Metropolitan Entertainment.

Does that mean trouble for Rod Stewart, Steely Dan and the others, all of whom have been present in varying degrees in the concert market in recent years?

“If all these acts had spread themselves over 12 or 18 months, they all would be assured of doing well,” says John Scher. “They may all still do well. But even the Rolling Stones, the most successful touring band in history, have left some unsold tickets on their arena tour in markets where they had played in the past few years.”