I worked in a records & tapes store in the late 70s- early 80s and was lucky enough to get some promo tickets, provided by reps and which filtered down to staff. I wound up seeing some bands I probably wouldn't have paid to see (Judas Priest, Stevie Nicks), not that they weren't enjoyable. I also saw Yes, Blondie, Van Halen, and Santana. You could get some tickets back then for $25-$35. But the last big venue concert I attended was the Yes Anniversary tour at DAR Constitution Hall in 2002. That ticket was $80. I sometimes go to smaller venues now and my favorite genres are jazz, rock/jazz, fusion, and prog. I may try to see Rush if they come to my area!
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.
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@klerxst That statistic is not one sided. That means a small number of people are putting a lot of money back into the economy. (They also pay most of the taxes by the way). I also don't think it accounts for the prices you are referring to. I've gone to pro football games over the last few years (as a guest, I really don't like pro football anymore). The people I'm seeing in the stands are not the wine and cheese set. And there are 70,000 of them. Nicer hotels in Italy (was there a few months ago) and in a historic/resort city near me are full. All the time. That employs a lot of people and puts a lot of revenue into a community. I'm not making excuse for the prices. I don't like the prices. And I don't know if I'm in the top 10% or not. But I do know that it is bit ironic on a high end hi-fi site (where average systems cost $10-$15k and some folks here are likely to have cables that cost more than that) to be complaining about the top 10%. |
It doesn’t make Much difference to me because I quit, I’ve been to a few concerts in my life. I’ve seen Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, couple of jazz concerts. Been to Hollywood bowl a few baseball games but my big thing is driving out of the parking lot. Have you been to a baseball game lately here in California to go to a Dodgers game with the tickets and the food you’re looking at 400 to 600 dollars and you’re fighting your way to get out of the parking lot when the game is over. It takes an hour and a half to get out so like I said I quit. |
As to ticket prices. I paid $3.50 CDN to see Elton John in 1971 and $6.00 CDN to see the Stones backed up by Stevie Wonder. That $3.50 in 1970 is around $28.00 in today's dollars. We have become a society of greed that measures success in dollars and cents. There is something critically wrong with any society that pays an athlete $50M season to play football, but grinds teachers and healthcare workers for every penny. It wouldn't be this way if everyone, with NO exceptions, paid 10% in income tax, but that would require Elon, Mark, Jeff, Larry and Donald to actually care about the world they live in. Ticketmaster is just one symptom of a much bigger disease.
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