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Elmo Lewis
Easy solution - don't pay the crazy prices (unless it's an act you truly LOVE).

Going to see Boz Scaggs for $83, but not dropping $200+ for The Doobie Brothers. I like, not love both acts.

Also, paid over $200 for poor tickets for Bruce, but moved to a better spot on my own.

I am willing to pay crazy numbers for The Stones.

You can get Doobie Bros tickets right now for $25 flat.

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Elmo Lewis
Easy solution - don't pay the crazy prices (unless it's an act you truly LOVE).

Going to see Boz Scaggs for $83, but not dropping $200+ for The Doobie Brothers. I like, not love both acts.

Also, paid over $200 for poor tickets for Bruce, but moved to a better spot on my own.

I am willing to pay crazy numbers for The Stones.

Only here only at IORR you can read words like this. Priceless!

back in the "olden days" it used to cost a similar amount of money to attend a concert as it did to buy an LP .

So $25 or £25 would be about right .

Are we supposed to be grateful because...just for a small number of events... we're not being fleeced ?

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Spud
back in the "olden days" it used to cost a similar amount of money to attend a concert as it did to buy an LP .

So $25 or £25 would be about right .

Are we supposed to be grateful because...just for a small number of events... we're not being fleeced ?

P
Performers make much less on product than they used to, so this isn't really a good analogy. That being said, we picked up tix for The Doobie Brothers, Noel Gallagher/Garbage, and Father John Misty/The Head and Heart for $25 a pop. We probably would have skipped all three if the promotion wasn't there, so LN/promoters/performers get butts in the seats. I guess you need to do a bit of work to get a good price (Lucky Dips, anyone?).The Concert Week promotion has been around for years (again, same with LD), so if you're paying attention, the tix are there at reasonable prices. Unless you're of those who buys tickets five days after they go on sale and complain there are no good seats/prices left. Can't help that.

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Spud
back in the "olden days" it used to cost a similar amount of money to attend a concert as it did to buy an LP .

So $25 or £25 would be about right .

Are we supposed to be grateful because...just for a small number of events... we're not being fleeced ?

On a percentage basis movies are the same. Used to be $1 and now $15. Either it bothers you or go go. If you don't want to go or don't mind crappy seats then don't pay. When in high school, I made $3.50 an hour and it took 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours to earn a concert ticket. Before retiring the same math held. Fortunately I don't need to worry about the cost, but if I spent money in other places it might.

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caschimann

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Elmo Lewis
Easy solution - don't pay the crazy prices (unless it's an act you truly LOVE).

Going to see Boz Scaggs for $83, but not dropping $200+ for The Doobie Brothers. I like, not love both acts.

Also, paid over $200 for poor tickets for Bruce, but moved to a better spot on my own.

I am willing to pay crazy numbers for The Stones.

Only here only at IORR you can read words like this. Priceless!

Damn right - gotta keep ones priorities straight!

Quote
Spud
back in the "olden days" it used to cost a similar amount of money to attend a concert as it did to buy an LP .

So $25 or £25 would be about right .

Are we supposed to be grateful because...just for a small number of events... we're not being fleeced ?

There's the promoter, right, that guarantees X amount (not sure if that is an across the board thing, never seen whatever for whoever other than the Stones, U2 and a few other biggies). Promoter pulls in sponsors. That helps pay for ABC and "keep ticket prices down". Manager/agent(s) of band/artist lines up airplane(s), buses, hotels, etc...

Then there's rentals of venues, insurance.

As an industry it's successfully suckceding at deleting itself. The big stadium tours are almost over with: they'll cost too much to do. The Stones "made" record money during NO FILTER but with the Stones and U2 winding down, it's almost done. It will strictly be arenas and theatres for the likes of Pearl Jam and Ed Sheeran blah blah blah.

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GasLightStreet

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Spud
back in the "olden days" it used to cost a similar amount of money to attend a concert as it did to buy an LP .

So $25 or £25 would be about right .

Are we supposed to be grateful because...just for a small number of events... we're not being fleeced ?

There's the promoter, right, that guarantees X amount (not sure if that is an across the board thing, never seen whatever for whoever other than the Stones, U2 and a few other biggies). Promoter pulls in sponsors. That helps pay for ABC and "keep ticket prices down". Manager/agent(s) of band/artist lines up airplane(s), buses, hotels, etc...

Then there's rentals of venues, insurance.

As an industry it's successfully suckceding at deleting itself. The big stadium tours are almost over with: they'll cost too much to do. The Stones "made" record money during NO FILTER but with the Stones and U2 winding down, it's almost done. It will strictly be arenas and theatres for the likes of Pearl Jam and Ed Sheeran blah blah blah.

No one will sell out stadiums? Isn't Taylor Swift doing that? Is Harry Styles? BTS? Rock and roll is going through the death rattle, but teeny bop pop still sells.

And I think Billie Eilish, SZA, Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles maybe Suga, and others I can't even think of right now can play stadium tours right now.

Blackpink stadium tour in August. Karol G now in stadiums.

And remember the kids don't have the baggage of cheap tickets. They have always been expensive. It's worth it like a once a year vacation to Disney is.

They love Billie because she's one of them. Meanwhile she's taking in the neighborhood of 100% of the gate but the kids blame Ticketmaster.

What's AC/DC doing? Really just one show?

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daspyknows

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Spud
back in the "olden days" it used to cost a similar amount of money to attend a concert as it did to buy an LP .

So $25 or £25 would be about right .

Are we supposed to be grateful because...just for a small number of events... we're not being fleeced ?

On a percentage basis movies are the same. Used to be $1 and now $15. Either it bothers you or go go. If you don't want to go or don't mind crappy seats then don't pay. When in high school, I made $3.50 an hour and it took 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours to earn a concert ticket. Before retiring the same math held. Fortunately I don't need to worry about the cost, but if I spent money in other places it might.

Yeah, I get all that...but it's not a case of it "bothering you"

Fact is that a concert ticket to see a major artist these days costs for what many folks would represent a week's wage or more.

Some simply can't afford it any more...and its a big shame.

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Spud

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daspyknows

Quote
Spud
back in the "olden days" it used to cost a similar amount of money to attend a concert as it did to buy an LP .

So $25 or £25 would be about right .

Are we supposed to be grateful because...just for a small number of events... we're not being fleeced ?

On a percentage basis movies are the same. Used to be $1 and now $15. Either it bothers you or go go. If you don't want to go or don't mind crappy seats then don't pay. When in high school, I made $3.50 an hour and it took 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours to earn a concert ticket. Before retiring the same math held. Fortunately I don't need to worry about the cost, but if I spent money in other places it might.

Yeah, I get all that...but it's not a case of it "bothering you"

Fact is that a concert ticket to see a major artist these days costs for what many folks would represent a week's wage or more.

Some simply can't afford it any more...and its a big shame.

Lots of things are more expensive now, its a big shame. Not just concert tickets.

Ticketmaster update on ticket pricing:

[apple.news]

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NashvilleBlues
Ticketmaster update on ticket pricing:

[apple.news]

It's not just Live Nation/Ticketmaster/SeatGeek. AXS, Stubhub, and most others do the same thing.

Laws requiring showing full total price up front would make it simpler for consumers, but would that be better overall? It would hide taxes and other government fees from consumers - and reduce overall transparency to gain simplicity. Governments would tend to favor just showing the complete prices, since that would hide government taxes/fees.

Fans here are more knowledgeable and frequent ticket purchasers. In general, we are better able to understand all the ticket selling games/pricing and take advantage to get better values. Even though the process is often frustrating.

Neil Young is an expensive old guy now. $180 for decent seats, no band. Maybe I'd pay that for Crazy Horse but solo I'm going to take a pass.

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crholmstrom
Neil Young is an expensive old guy now. $180 for decent seats, no band. Maybe I'd pay that for Crazy Horse but solo I'm going to take a pass.

I was going to post the same.. I took a look at the Santa Barbara Bowl tickets which were a bit on the high side to put it mildly.
I'm going to be out of town anyways, but couldn't resist seeing what I was missing which turns out to be a very expensive show for a one-man band.
Yes it's Neil Young, and it will undoubtedly be a fantastic show, but come on man! Guess he needs to make up for all the money he lost by not touring the last few years....

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

And I’m just the opposite I’d rather pay to see him solo and especially if acoustic.

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24FPS

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GasLightStreet

Quote
Spud
back in the "olden days" it used to cost a similar amount of money to attend a concert as it did to buy an LP .

So $25 or £25 would be about right .

Are we supposed to be grateful because...just for a small number of events... we're not being fleeced ?

There's the promoter, right, that guarantees X amount (not sure if that is an across the board thing, never seen whatever for whoever other than the Stones, U2 and a few other biggies). Promoter pulls in sponsors. That helps pay for ABC and "keep ticket prices down". Manager/agent(s) of band/artist lines up airplane(s), buses, hotels, etc...

Then there's rentals of venues, insurance.

As an industry it's successfully suckceding at deleting itself. The big stadium tours are almost over with: they'll cost too much to do. The Stones "made" record money during NO FILTER but with the Stones and U2 winding down, it's almost done. It will strictly be arenas and theatres for the likes of Pearl Jam and Ed Sheeran blah blah blah.

No one will sell out stadiums? Isn't Taylor Swift doing that? Is Harry Styles? BTS? Rock and roll is going through the death rattle, but teeny bop pop still sells.

They are but it seems that it's not their usual space. Ed Sheeran had his biggest US crowd ever at Met Life recently - but it's still not a record for attendance at Met Life, as the stadium mistakenly said.

The Rolling Stones and U2 have been playing football stadiums, in North America and Europe, for decades (the Stones, obviously, starting in 1975, at Arrowhead Stadium, as far as I know, and U2 in 1987 at the Pontiac Silverdome).

Not every tour - U2's toured arenas more than stadiums - but often enough.

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VoodooLounge13
And I’m just the opposite I’d rather pay to see him solo and especially if acoustic.

I've seen Neil as much as the Stones (20+ times) over the years going back to the late 70s in all sorts of guises. I've seen some great solo shows but solo acoustic shows these days kind of put me to sleep. Everyone has their own Neil definitely.

Friends of mine are going to see the Violent Femmes in Toronto in October. I’m not a fan, but thought about going just for the night out. Until I looked into ticket prices. $150 USD is the cheapest ticket I can find and most seats are going for $200+. For a band that I vaguely remember for a couple silly 1980s songs.

Good for them if they can draw a crowd at those prices.

Hard pass for me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-06-16 23:21 by JimmyTheSaint.

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JimmyTheSaint
Friends of mine are going to see the Violent Femmes in Toronto in October. I’m not a fan, but thought about going just for the night out. Until I looked into ticket prices. $150 USD is the cheapest ticket I can find and most seats are going for $200+. For a band that I vaguely remember for a couple silly 1980s songs.

Good for them if they can draw a crowd at those prices.

Hard pass for me.

LOL they have other albums with some great tunes! You should go! And give their other albums a listen! Country Death Song. No Killing. Two People.

I've wanted to see the Black Crowes for some time now. But not enough to drive from Richmond to Columbia Maryland... last year, maybe?

Patience sometimes pays, it developed I think this week that they're playing Sep 8 just up I-95 in Doswell VA. General public sale began this morning.

It's an outdoor amphitheatre. No pit. The first 7 front rows' prices, with fees, are...

Rows 1-3: $177 (Platinum Section 1)
Rows 4-6: $130 (Platinum Sec. 2)
Row 7 begins a "Gold" section at $94.

Got Row 7, not too far left of center.

These days, that location, for this band, I'm good with that price.

****
I'm down in Virginia
with your Cousin Lou

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crholmstrom

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VoodooLounge13
And I’m just the opposite I’d rather pay to see him solo and especially if acoustic.

I've seen Neil as much as the Stones (20+ times) over the years going back to the late 70s in all sorts of guises. I've seen some great solo shows but solo acoustic shows these days kind of put me to sleep. Everyone has their own Neil definitely.

In my retirement I'm making up for having seen few rock concerts in my middle decades. Neil I've never seen, and want to. But only a full-band Neil for me as well.

My favorite Neil Young was the Rust Never Sleeps & Live Rust guy. Although the Comes A Time Neil admittedly is up there, too.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2023-06-17 06:55 by TheBluesHadaBaby.

I don’t doubt the Femmes have other good songs, but at those prices I’m not about to find out.

Summer of Fun’ Could Lead to Autumn Pain

Consumers are splurging on expensive but fun experiences, from nights out to concerts — and that may force central banks to keep raising rates.

[www.nytimes.com]

June 23, 2023
The New York Times

[Excerpts]

'Fun-flation’

Uncomfortably high inflation appears set to linger, forcing central bankers to inflict further pain on consumers and businesses by raising borrowing costs again and again.

But economists have spotted an unusual trend heading into the summer: Consumers are still splashing out on expensive but fun experiences, from nights out to concerts, despite surging prices.

...Economists are seeing something weird in the inflation data. Consumers are splurging on pricey meals, through-the-roof airfare and expensive concert tickets. Some economists in Sweden even blamed Beyoncé fans for driving up prices of hotels and restaurants when they converged on the country last month to see the star kick off her world tour. In the U.S., others have seen a similar effect with hotel prices soaring in cities where Taylor Swift performs.

...When inflation runs persistently high, consumers normally cut back. If they do spend, it is typically on so-called durable goods: a new washing machine, a car, a house. The thinking is that it’s prudent to bring forward such purchases if you believe you’ll spend more for them in the near future. Economists... [are seeing] ...also higher spending on discretionary items, such as travel and nights out. Some call the phenomenon “revenge spending,” the zeal to indulge in experiences now that Covid lockdowns are far in the past. ...Grant Fitzner, the chief economist of Britain’s Office for National Statistics, has singled out airfare, concert tickets and computer games as big drivers behind the country’s stubbornly high inflation. ...

So concert tickets' soaring prices of just the past few years are being felt by more than just us, the bulging bank accounts of some music superstars, Ticketmonarch/LiveNation's wealth and industry dominance... and I'm sure performers down the pecking order have to be benefitting at least some as well, from the wave of money we're pouring into live music.

The price run-up is actually a factor helping prop up current high inflation, being exceptional and resilient enough to register even with interest rate analysts and policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic... who would like to back off the interest rate hikes if things would calm down a little more. But our "funflation" many of us are paying is even a measurable factor helping make overall inflation tougher to tame. Who'd a thunk our little self-indulgent world of profligacy and excess would matter beyond us?


The price jumps, beyond just irritating me, have also made me start paying attention to them, and for grins I just identified my 5 highest months of concert ticket expenditures ever, counting just my own tickets' costs only.

Only one of the months, July 2019, pre-dated our current period of high inflation. And two are still coming up: August and September 2023.


1. July 2019 $623.25
(one concert, the Rolling Stones (pit))

2. March 2023 $586.80
(Springsteen $523.80 (floor), Haley Reinhart $63.00)

3. August 2023 $565.42
(five concerts, John Fogerty highest at $194.00)

4. October 2021 $550.24
(one concert, the Rolling Stones (pit))

5. September 2023 $463.94
(Springsteen $370.04 (pit), Black Crowes $93.90)

****
I'm down in Virginia
with your Cousin Lou

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TheBluesHadaBaby
So concert tickets' soaring prices of just the past few years are being felt by more than just us, the bulging bank accounts of some music superstars, Ticketmonarch/LiveNation's wealth and industry dominance... and I'm sure performers down the pecking order have to be benefitting at least some as well, from the wave of money we're pouring into live music.

A lot are but some are cancelling tours because they are not profitable. Seeing this with metal bands more. A lot of bands play metal but to the same smaller hard core group of fans so some are getting squeezed out.

It costs $60,000 a month just to rent a tour bus. Anything beyond the club level requires more than one though sometimes you can shift band members or essential staff to commercial flights.

At least I live in LA where there is still an overabundance of live entertainment and plenty of opportunities for cheap last minute tickets if you can get up and go not to mention all the free shows. Unfortunately a lot of clubs have close squeezing out local acts.

But if you are a major fan who is interesting in seeing your favorite bands, not so much music as an art to be appreciated in all it's forms, then keep paying up or stay home. In my mind a "fan" is a sucker to be taken advantage of, you do much better as a discriminating consumer.

Recent scores: Tina - The Tina Turner Musical $11.82 via Tickpick

2 Love And Rockets tickets for $27via Tickpick (but I sold the pair for $45ish)

Blink-182 $40 (this was a parking lot score when online price was still $200ish and up)

2 days of Pride In The Park (Mariah Carey & Megan Thee Stallion) $40

Cruel World festival (Siouxsie Sioux and Iggy) $40

Was ready to splurge on a good seat for Crowded House but ended up getting into both nights for free.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-06-26 02:07 by Dan.

Pearl Jam going down the Springsteen route:

[www.express.co.uk]

[www.musicradar.com]

[community.pearljam.com]

This feels like particularly disconcerting for those who remember the group’s fighting against Ticketmaster in the 90s, and even more so considering The Cure/Robert Smith’s admirable effort to keep the ticket prices as affordable as they can in recent years. A shame.

It's the rule of market economy - in the end the price will be what the consumer is ready to pay - supply and demand. And the dinosaur acts are in a favorable position here.
People save money for the dinosaur and then spend less on smaller acts.

The most expensive ticket I ever bought was 254 Euros to see Bob Dylan in Granada last year. I never paid more for any ticket than face value!

Pearl Jam is $175 (at least where I was checking out) this tour. Interesting note: for the same seats a year ago, the Cure were $100 less expensive