To be sure, the current concert season has had its disappointments. President Bush’s critics point to the cancellation of tours by Britney and Christina, as well as the Republican’s favorite summer festival tour, Lollapalooza, as the first tell-tale signs that Americans are fed up with the current administration’s concert policy, and come November, will vote for a change.

However, those same critics neglect to note the current administration’s concert success stories, how Vice President Cheney worked long hours to negotiate the Pixies reunion, or how President Bush rammed through Congress the appropriate legislation that made Velvet Revolver a reality. In short, for every achievement, including the long hours of diplomatic debate which resulted in Bryan Adams announcing his UK tour, as well as White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card’s pleading with The Cure to make “Curiosa” a reality, there have been abrupt changes in concert strategy, leaving many Americans wondering “what next?”

What next, indeed? Already in a state of sticker shock over the recently released figures by the Federal Office of Concert Budget and Management indicating that the average American needs to work through May 5 in order to pay for his Celine Dion tickets, concert goers are now looking towards Washington for service charge relief, as well as across-the-board cuts on concessions, parking and T-shirt costs.

However, there are those on both sides who firmly believe that government has no business in concerts, except to ensure that Simon & Garfunkel remain on speaking terms for the duration of their tour, that tour buses for the Burning Brides and Clutch arrive on time and that the beer lines remain open at Jimmy Buffett concerts. For these concert “free traders,” the belief that “less is more” fuel the fires of concert deregulation.

Will a Kerry / Edwards ticket make a difference? Furthermore, if Kerry wins the election, will Edwards follow the new tradition of a strong vice presidency? Or will he follow the long line of VPs before him and only execute those tasks laid down by the U.S. Constitution, such as casting the occasional tie-breaking vote in the Senate, or seeing those bands and artists for which the President has no interest? Furthermore, what of President Bush’s first term concert legislation, most notably his “No Tony Orlando Fan Left Behind Act?” Now that headliner and support act on both ends of the political spectrum have been designated, will voters go with what they know, or will concert policy for the next four years fall under the ambiguous heading known as TBA?

Coming up later this week: Will Dick Cheney’s Halliburton connections help or hinder Clear Channel’s plans to build a 20,000 seat amphitheatre in downtown Baghdad? Furthermore, will Ticketmaster be successful in establishing outlets in Fallujah? Stay tuned.