Stars attempt to wow fans through summer
By Carlos Raigosa, editor-in-chief

     In its glory days of the ’90s, the music industry depended on the summer season to gain its biggest draw from concerts and music festivals.
     Now it seems artists spent their summertime battling against music sharing entrepreneurs and themselves than against the diminishing crowds at concerts.
     The time between Memorial Day and Labor Day accounts for 65-70 percent of all tickets sold this year.
     “For major superstar attractions, a good seat averages $75,” Jay Marchiano, House of Blues concerts president, said.
     “Three years ago, it was $39.50. That change is dramatic,” he said.
     Who were the biggest draws in the metroplex this summer?
     Tack one on for Miss Queen of Pop Britney Spears and her sidekick Christina Aguilera.
     On the flipside, their nemesis and public enemy number one Marshall Mathers, a.k.a. Eminem, topped charts and filled venues including the Smirnoff Music Complex in 100 degree weather.
     This was also the summer that could have been.
A late scratch from the summer bill was the Rhyme and Reason Tour, which featured a collaboration between the Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine.
     The B-Boys Mike D. suffered a freak accident while riding his bike home from rehearsal in New York, causing this tour to be postponed indefinitely.
Many will remember the mishap when the group skipped out on the Rage show at then-named Starplex and Philadelphia’s The Roots covered for them at the last minute.
     But the band was among the few who could combat the situation that has seen ticket prices sky rocket and tours flop.
    Major festivals such as the Smokin Grooves tour, Lollapalooza and the women-only Lillith Fair have all but become faint memories in the minds of those seeking their fix through a large number of bands on multiple stages.
     The following is a list of the top not-so-remarkable performances that passed through town and made little splash:
     1. Up in Smoke Tour: This tour was just what the doctor ordered. Dre, Eminem and Snoop showed why their West Coast-style hip hop is one of the top cash-generating genres in music.
     2. Deftones: The group followed up on its album, Around the Fur, released in 1997 with its third LP, White Pony, which debuted June 20 at number three on the charts, behind Eminem and the ever popular Britney Spears.
     This multiethnic metal band hailing from Sacramento didn’t take long to sell out its Bronco Bowl show.
     Rumor has it they will be headlining the Family Values Tour.
     3. The Warped Tour: How did that song go... 47 channels and nothing on.
     This tour had more than 30 bands, but no substance. The only notable bands making a stop in Dallas were the Long Beach Dub All-Stars (formerly Sublime), the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones and the hometown funkadelicks, the Hellafied Funk Crew.
     A late scratch from the lineup was Pimpadelic, who is still without frontman Dirty K a.k.a. Kord Murphy because of legal problems.
     4. Limp Bizkit’s Napster-funded free tour: Keeping it real? Fred Durst has run this group into what bands such as this tend to call sellouts.
     Daily appearances on teeny bopper Total Request Live has turned this band’s hardcore fans from angst ridden teenage boys into easily manipulated and gullible pre-adolescent girls.
     5. Summer Sanitarium Tour at Texas Stadium featuring Korn, Metallica, Powerman 5000, System of a Down and Kid Rock: Jonathan Davis makes a Korn show what it is, a non-stop emotional journey through his life that leaves listeners thankful for their own lives.
     An added bonus to this year’s tour was Metallica, who was overshadowed by drummer Lar Ulrich’s battle against Napster. An injured James Hetfield was sidelined for some of the tour, but Davis, Kid Rock and others filled in.
     Powerman 5000 and System of a Down belong in Deep Ellum playing to smaller crowds. Kid Rock has begun to mature into a more dynamic stage performer although his lyrics might lag behind his lackluster and flamboyant persona.