I have given up on large venues. I can afford the prices but can't afford the sound that isn't that great when my system sounds so much better. I go to smaller theater venues and the symphony. We also have a mucic theater company that puts on great shows with a live orchestra that is great. I went to all the shows in the day. Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Led Zepplin, Jethro Tull, Pearl Jam, Prince and others I have forgotten. The heyday is over.
Concert Ticket Prices - Not a Rant - Just an Observation
I’m not a major concert-goer. I do look for new bands playing small venues and I enjoy those. Some of these are as low as $15. Some as high as $50. I recently saw Marcus King at a tiny venue. Tickets were $90.
I haven’t seen a band in a large venue in ages.
I recently ’discovered’ a band that I was blown away by. Came across them on YouTube. They’re called The Red Clay Strays. They are relatively new from a recognition standpoint. I figured I’d look up their tour dates and maybe find a concert in a small-ish venue.
Well, my first surprise is that this band has already hit the big time. I ’discovered’ them a year too late. They are already playing civic arena sized venues almost exclusively.
I figured that since they’re coming to a couple of cities near me I’d go to a show. That’s when I got my second surprise. They’re ticket prices are in the $350-500 range. Yes, there are some for around $175 but most of those are single seats in the nose bleed sections of civic arenas.
I’ve heard that Taylor Swift and Springsteen tickets are $1000+.
I looked up Rush tickets and they’re in the $350-600 range.
I got to thinking about ticket prices. I went to see a lot of concerts in high school and college. Early to mid 80s. I remember seeing the big bands like Foreigner and Journey, often with 2 opening acts for $12.50. That never seemed like too much even for a high school kid with no allowance and an after school job for cash. An AI search indicates that that was indeed the typical price for big artists even bands like The Who, Fleetwood Mac and Rush.
A Google search indicates that $12.50 in 1982 was about like $80 is now. But tickets for the big acts are not $80. They are 4-8 times more than that now. That’s quite a phenomenon that vastly out paces inflation.
That brings me back to seeing the Red Clay Strays. They’re coming to my area in October. They usually sell out. Tickets for these shows were moving fast almost 4 months before the show.
My wife and I decided to go. We have some old friends, two couples, who also love this band and who have been extremely generous to us over the years. We decided to get six tickets and treat them to the show. We could not find six seats in a row at any price. Even as we browsed seats were disappearing. We finally found 4 seats in a row with two right behind them.
We bought the six tickets. Good seats too. Our friends are thrilled and we are thrilled to repay some of their kindness to us. It will be great to see them and get together for this.
Yes ticket prices are shocking even for a new act like the Red Clay Strays which, in fairness seem to have hit it big. But their shows are selling out and a tight wad like me bought six of them.
So it seems like they are charging what the market will bear.
Hope they put on a good show.
- ...
- 46 posts total
@goose This show will be my first time in a large venue for a rock show in over 30 years. I will be interested to see what the sound is like. I have seen operas and symphonies in large venues during this time and they were all fine. Back in the 80's I could not tell you want the sound quality was like with the big guitar bands because most of them were (literally, I'm sad to say) deafening. I will say that just the fact of being in a small venue is no guarantee of sound quality. I once saw the same band in 3 different small venues over the course of about three months. In one of them the sound was great. In one of them it was okay. In one of them is was sub par. I will say again, I don't think comparing a recording (live or otherwise) to an actual concert is valid. Not to me anyway. A concert is a show. A good concert also involves some level of connection with real people (audience and performers). In a really good concert that connection drives the performance in a real and tangible way. |
In 2018 I saw 4 concerts in 5 weeks at 3 different venues (Aimee Mann - Dixie Dregs - Kaki King & Sixto Rodriguez). I managed to schedule a few business appointments near those venues, so that I could purchase the tickets at the box office(s). The ticket prices ranged from $25 - 75, The savings from no ticket fees allowed me to attend the two least expensive shows for free. I also got an actual ticket stub as a bonus for that effort. Today bands try to make money touring and break even on the album sales. The album is now used to promote the tour, instead of the other way around back when the business model was the exact opposite. So, I don't see the issue of concert ticket prices getting any better. These days concerts often devolve into either a social media photo op or a mass karaoke session. The cell phone generations are not entirely to blame. Anyone who attended a show in the 80's or 90's at Chastain Park in Atlanta know all about the wine & cheese crowd who had season tickets ("best seats") and who subsequently talked throughout the entire concert. I'll never forget my first outdoor concert in Austin, because virtually no one in the crowd was talking during the music. Austin has a reputation as a music town for very good reasons. As many others have noted, a pretty simple solution is to stick to smaller venues (1,000 seat or less is my standard) with good acoustics and sound systems.
|
I am a huge live concert goer small and large. I have passed on Tedeschi Trucks Beacon shows the last few years because I refuse to pay $450 for a good seat for a band I have seen over 20 times already at prices no more than $150. My first concerts were $6 dollars for Hot Tuna, $ 8 for Jerry Garcia but I do still pay for shows that make sense to me. I paid I think $1100 a ticket for the last Stones tour . $1800 for Desert Trip. $550 for the last Allman Brothers show ever. $600 a ticket for Cream in London for the first night at RAH in 2005 etc... but some things do not make sense. The Guess Who is the show I really am looing forward to in a few weeks but $500 for a good seat isn't happening so waiting till the Platinum and VIP seats go back in at the standard prices. I should note I like to be in first 10 rows and so I will pay these above prices. Was Second row for Cream second row for Desert Trip on side. in the pit for the Stones. Those are probably the most I have paid the least I have paid over my more than 1000 shows attended. I will still go to the shows and pay but a little more selective on the crazy prices. Oh yeah forgot Bruces last shows in and around NY. Not paying $2K or even $800 or even $500 a ticker for Bruce but people did. Until people stop paying the prices the prices will continue to go up. On the flip side lots of bands are cancelling shows this summer and my guess is ticket sales because they priced themselves out. |
- 46 posts total