Sturgill Simpson Says Ticket Prices Stayed the Same “Because I Insisted On It”
Johnny Blue Skies (Sturgill Simpson) & the Dark Clouds, photo by Edwin Keeble
This fall, Sturgill Simpson will head out on a North American tour as Johnny Blue Skies, backed by his Dark Clouds band. Simpson’s return to the road has gotten some traction in the past week, beyond the much-discussed live debut of the smoked-out dance floor country funk on Mutiny After Midnight, his second album under the new moniker, as some fans have complained about rising ticket prices. Simpson responded to that charge last night with a post clearly expressing that ticket prices have remained stable “because I insisted on it.”
Simpson goes on to detail that prices are exactly the same as last year’s tour, save for a $10 increase in GA Pit tickets, despite meaningful increases in touring costs. “Not sure if the vocal minority complainers are new discovery phase fans or scalper bots sewing discord,” he wrote, “but these are the facts folks and if I’m lying you can sell my bones to Davey Jones.”
Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds will embark on their Mutiny for the Masses tour with a kickoff from Austin, Texas’ Moody Center on Sept. 4, then race through 26 performances across the US and a lone Canadian stand before a finale at Lexington, Ky.’s Rupp Arena on Oct. 30. They’ll be playing Mutiny After Midnight, which veers from the melodic Americana of 2024’s Passage du Desir to produce “a dance record… The dance of all creation.” The nine-track cycle balances sharp social commentary with slick grooves inspired by ‘70s fusion supergroup Stuff, Marvin Gaye’s In Our Lifetime and other fixations the band latched to while touring behind Simpson’s last album. Given the follow-up’s roots on the road, you can bet they’re raring to get out there again.
“Touring behind ‘Mutiny’ is something we greatly look forward to,” Simpson wrote in a note to his fans. “Something we will cherish. Just as I have come to see and harness my own neurodivergence and the weaponized autism of our collective members as a superpower in the studio—the same is true live. We’re going out to play arenas and theaters with a vengeance. No opening act. We’re going to take every minute the venue gives us. We’re gonna rock this Mutiny as hard as humanly possible. It is our privilege and our honor because our fans deserve it.”
See Simpson’s ticketing post below. Coincidentally, a video of a teenage Simpson rapping about prom is making the rounds today, too, and that gem’s below as well.
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