Lawrence, whose co-founder Clyde Lawrence made headlines almost exactly a year ago with sharp criticism of Live Nation in testimony given to a U.S. Senate subcommittee, announced plans for the Family Business Tour. The tour, supporting its upcoming album of the same name, brings the indie artists fully into the fold with Live Nation and its ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster, though at least some of the ticketing appears to be handled directly via the band’s website.
The tour dates were announced on the same day that the American Antitrust Institute had a scheduled roundtable discussion on the “Case for Breaking Up Live Nation-Ticketmaster” with the American Economic Liberties Project
Lawrence begins its 2024 tour dates with 11 shows in July across Europe, returning to the U.S. for shows beginning in September. Stops include Radio City Music Hall (New York), The Met (Philadelphia), HISTORY (Toronto) and MGM Music Hall at Fenway (Boston).
Tickets are available now in presale, with general sale scheduled to begin on Friday, January 26 at 10 a.m. local time. Tickets appear to be available through each venue’s standard box office (most often LiveNation.com or Ticketmaster.com) but some shows also have the option of purchase through the band’s website, which appears to have some level of allocation for most shows. Tickets purchased through that website are non-transferable and must be picked up at the venue will call the day of the show, with photo ID required.
“We’re so excited to be selling tickets directly to our fans,” reads a portion of the text explaining the ticketing process for their website. “It allows us to offer our fans lower ticket fees than they’ll find anywhere else on the internet, and it also ensures that a greater percentage of the money our fans spend goes directly to the band. We love you and thank you for your support. See ya at the show!!”
Lawrence is just one of multiple prominent Live Nation or Ticketmaster critics to turn around and embrace the entertainment giant’s market dominance. Pearl Jam famously sat for public testimony against Ticketmaster back in the 1990s, only to realize the near-impossibility to tour at a certain scale while avoiding them. Zach Bryan took less than a year to go from referencing the widespread hate for Ticketmaster in the title of an EP to going all-in with the company on a tour.
Clyde Lawrence made international headlines with his anti-Ticketmaster and Live Nation stance in late 2022 and early 2023. The singer wrote a scathing Op-Ed published by the New York Times in the wake of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour fiasco outlining the issues with the live music ecosystem dominated by the company. He reprised many of the same points at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in January.
Artist explains the Ticketmaster monopoly pic.twitter.com/mWLerLzm2m
— Brennan Murphy (@brenonade) January 24, 2023
In the wake of that testimony, there has been a significant effort for reform in the ticketing and live entertainment ecosystem. Numerous bills have been introduced at both the state and federal level – some seeking to open up the marketplace to competition, while many others have been funded by Live Nation’s lobbying apparatus that would effectively fully close-off the ticketing ecosystem to competition.
Live Nation appears to have successfully brought Lawrence on board through some changes that it has made to its touring program – particularly the “On The Road Again” initiative that gives big cash bonuses to smaller acts performing at Live Nation venues. These incentives address many of the concerns that Lawrence outlined a year ago, though smaller venues say they will effectively make things worse by making it impossible for non-Live Nation venues to book acts.
Regardless, Lawrence seems to have been able to get itself enough leverage to book a Live Nation tour in its own fashion, and is benefitting from the full force of the company’s marketing efforts as it goes on sale this week. Tickets can be purchased through venue box offices and via the band’s website here. Resale marketplaces will also have tickets available for sale as they become available – at least those not subject to the restrictions put in place by the band’s preferred system. Shop for Lawrence tickets at StubHub. Shop for Lawrence tickets at Ticket Club (free membership here). Shop for Lawrence Tickets at MEGASeats.
Full tour dates for Lawrence The Family Business tour are available below:
Lawrence The Band Family Business Tour Dates
EUROPE
JUL 5 London, UK // O2 Forum Kentish Town
JUL 8 Paris, FR // Le Trianon
JUL 11 Madrid, ES // Mad Cool Festival
JUL 16 Cologne, DE // Gloria-Theater
JUL 17 Kassel, DE // Kulturzelt
JUL 18 Stuttgart, DE // Jazzopen Stuttgart
JUL 20 Hamburg, DE // Mojo Club
JUL 21 Berlin, DE // Columbia Theater
JUL 23 Munich, DE // Strom
JUL 24 Wurzburg, DE // Hafensommer
JUL 25 Jena, DE // Kulturarena
US
SEP 17 Philadelphia, PA // The Met Philadelphia
SEP 19 New York, NY // Radio City Music Hall
SEP 20 Silver Spring, MD // The Fillmore
SEP 23 Charlotte, NC // The Fillmore
SEP 24 Nashville, TN // Marathon Music Works
SEP 26 Atlanta, GA // The Tabernacle
SEP 27 St. Petersburg, FL // Jannus Live
SEP 28 Fort Lauderdale, FL // Revolution Live
SEP 29 Orlando, FL // House of Blues
OCT 1 New Orleans, LA // House of Blues
OCT 2 Houston, TX // House of Blues
OCT 4 Austin, TX // Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
OCT 5 Dallas, TX // House of Blues
OCT 8 Phoenix, AZ // The Van Buren
OCT 9 Los Angeles, CA // The Wiltern
OCT 11 San Diego, CA // SOMA
OCT 12 San Francisco, CA // The Masonic
OCT 14 Portland, OR // Roseland Theater
OCT 15 Seattle, WA // The Fillmore
OCT 16 Vancouver, BC // Commodore Ballroom
OCT 18 Salt Lake City, UT // The Depot
OCT 19 Denver, CO // Fillmore Auditorium
OCT 22 St. Louis, MO // The Pageant
OCT 23 Minneapolis, MN // The Fillmore
OCT 25 Chicago, IL // Byline Bank at Aragon Ballroom
OCT 26 Indianapolis, IN // Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
OCT 27 Columbus, OH // The Bluestone
OCT 29 Detroit, MI // The Fillmore
OCT 30 Toronto, ON // HISTORY
NOV 1 Montreal, QC // Beanfield Theatre
NOV 2 Boston, MA // MGM Music Hall at Fenway
