Has anybody noticed this trend? Recently, I’ve observed that a number of concerts I’ve attended have begun inexplicably early. The doors opened for the Aimee Mann concert at 7:00pm, Sarah Harmer’s starting at 7:30pm and the doors for the REM concert (at the Orpheum, tickets go on sale tomorrow) open at 6:30pm! What’s with this? I just had a quick look at TicketMaster, and doors open for the Beastie Boys at 6:00pm and for Green Day at 7:00pm.
Now I know these acts aren’t exactly the cutting edge of hip hop cool, but what happened to start at 8:00pm?
DarrenBarefoot.com 
It’s to draw in attendees who might still be in highschool and have weeknight curfews.
My favorite are the early shows at Richard’s (doors 6:45) where they literally kick the headlining band off the stage at 10:30, just in time to let the club kids in. As for the shows you mentioned, all those bands are getting old, they just can’t rock out as late as they used to 🙂
The audience for groups such as these is getting older (ok, maybe not the Green Day audience.) I’ve been listening to REM since forever. Now I’m old(er), got a couple of kids, and am used to getting in bed by ten. We just can’t stay up that late anymore without seriously regretting it the next morning. Sad but true.
The crowd that stays out till 1 or 2 am is no longer the crowd with the most money. QED.