Trump’s DOJ hands Live Nation-Ticketmaster a free pass; Buffalo musicians celebrate their migrant neighbors; a host of new concert announcements; plus St. Paddy’s day shows and this week’s picks.

(Above: AI Art by Kim Miers)

(Have a cool concert or interesting event you know about? Email all the info and links to jeffmiersmusic@gmail.com to be considered for inclusion in Where the Bands Are.)

Hey there, fellow music-lovers.

Or as the the Live Nation – Ticketmaster behemoth refers to us, ‘suckers.’

Last week, I reported here on the launch of the Department of Justice’s anti-trust lawsuit against the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly. I wrote than that I had little faith in an actual, meaningful change resulting from this lawsuit, due to the fact that the current administration’s DOJ is — well, exactly what we already knew it was.

The Justice Department’s inquiry into the legality of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger initially approved in 2010 had legs, rest assured. The end goal was to break up the merger, and end a live music industry monopoly that has screwed artists, venues and consumers in an equal opportunity manner.

There was a possibility that this might have actually happened. And then, naturally, the Trump DOJ stepped in on Monday and announced that it had reached an out-of-court settlement that amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist for Live Nation-Ticketmaster.

“The Justice Department’s legal pursuit of Live Nation had bipartisan political support in Washington,” The New York Times reported on Tuesday. “At a Senate Judiciary hearing in 2023, weeks after a botched Ticketmaster sale for tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, senators from both parties scolded a Live Nation executive and called the company a monopoly.”

So much for all that hard work. The DOJ settlement essentially allows LN-TM to continue its dubious and disgusting business model, virtually without censure.

“Overall, the settlement’s [jerry-rigged] system of ‘access,’ whereby Ticketmaster retains all the control and power over primary ticketing, will be impossible for the courts to enforce,” wrote The Progressive Policy Institute’s Vice President and Director of Competition Policy, Diana Moss, following the announcement of the settlement.

“The settlement requires Live Nation-Ticketmaster to commit to several conditions. Among these are ‘loosening’ exclusivity provisions in Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s exclusive contracts with venues that stifle competition in primary ticketing and drive up ticket fees; the divestiture of 13 Live Nation amphitheaters; and a cap on ticket service fees at its amphitheaters equal to 15% of face value.

“This jumble of conditions risks the same ineffectiveness and lack of transparency as those that DOJ originally imposed on the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company violated those conditions for years, at the expense of competition and consumers. The same approach, years later, is a green light for Live Nation-Ticketmaster to engage in business as usual, because the absence of an effective break-up remedy preserves its monopoly power.”

“[The] settlement’s 15% cap on ticket fees is an easy concession for Live Nation-Ticketmaster. The company will more than compensate for the fee cap by continuing to squeeze out competition, steering even more fans back to its ticketing platform, and collecting monopoly ticket fees on tickets it sells.”

How nice for them.

You might find it useful to know that Live Nation hired MAGA influencer Mike Davis to lobby for them in the run-up to the trial. Live Nation, which had already spent $500,000 on Trump’s inauguration, paid millions more to Davis and a bevy of Trump-allied lobbyists to make the lawsuit go away.

They laid the groundwork for this slap-on-the-wrist deal back in February, when they managed to drive out the last remaining vestiges of decency and fairness in the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, through pressured resignations, including the one offered (under duress) by Antitrust Division chief Gail Slater. Previously, Antitrust Division second-in-command Roger Alford was fired for, according to Prospect.org, “resisting sweetheart settlements in antitrust cases,” speaking publicly about lobbyist corruption, and warning that “Live Nation and Ticketmaster have paid a bevy of cozy MAGA friends to roam the halls of the [Justice Department building’s] Fifth Floor in defense of their monopoly abuses.”

I realize that there are much more glaring examples of corruption emerging from the current administration on an almost hourly basis, and most of them have much more dire and tangible consequences for the country and the world. Still, I doubt I’m alone in finding this particular orgy of corruption infuriating, sleazy, insulting, and redolent of the crystal clear underlying goal of this (and every) authoritarian regime — to create and foster a billionaire class built on the backs of regular folks who are already struggling to make ends meet.

Whether it’s at the grocery store, the gas pump or the ticket window, the onus for continuously feeding the insatiable maw of this corpulent, hateful beast falls on us. Fun, huh? So much winning!

“The settlement is a dark day for millions of live events fans and artists,” The Progressive Policy Institute’s Moss concludes in her response to the LN-TM settlement.

“The DOJ had the opportunity to finally get it right by fully litigating an antitrust trial on the merits. There are strong odds that the government would win on liability and break up the company to restore competition to ticketing and protect consumers. If the settlement moves forward, that outcome is now out of reach. The non-settling state AGs, under their own authority, should continue to pursue litigation and effective remedies on behalf of competition and consumers.”

Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?

Now for some news that doesn’t suck …

Justice for Migrant Families Benefit Tonight at Nietzsche’s (3/11)

“Alongside the ever-talented Tyler Westcott, we’re proud to be hosting a benefit for Justice for Migrant Families, a local organization doing important work right here in our community!

To help raise funds, we’ve gathered 15 musical acts who generously donated their time and talent for a night of short, sweet sets. There is a suggested donation: $20, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. There will also be a 50/50 raffle running.”

8:00 — Tom Stahl (back)
8:15 — Ellen Pieroni & Sean McNamara (front)
8:30 — Jake Sanders & Friends (back)
8:45 — East Coast Dave (front)
9:00 — Autonomous Vehicles (back)
9:30 — Lauren Clifford (front)
9:45 — Blood Thirsty Vegans (back)
10:15 — Tyler Westcott & Scott Calpin (front)
10:30 — Shaky Stage (back)
11:00 — Brian Patrick Carney (front)
11:15 — Sara Elizabeth (back)
11:30 — Kevin Crowley (front)
11:50 — The Travesties (back)
12:20 — Snake Oil Serenaders (back)
12:40 — DJ U-Lock (back)

Kim says: Check out KEXP during their Spring Drive

If you don’t already listen to KEXP, a “nonprofit radio station and an international community of music lovers and music makers” AND one of the BEST stations on the planet, now is the time to check it out and support! Listener-powered and culturally engaged, KEXP not only provides DJ-curated shows and live in-studio performances, it also delivers a spectrum of sound from new indie to R&B/soul to world and indigenous to classic rock. KEXP covers just about any genre you can think of! Additionally, the station often has dedicated theme days/weeks/months ranging from 6 Degree Week to Music Heals days with heavy listener participation and messages of hope and positivity. There is much more — I’ve been an “Amplifier” for several years and still have more to discover — but I encourage you to check it out for yourself! –Kim Miers