Yep, we saw George Strait in the early 90’s, Jackson, MS. It was a while back, enjoyable though.

It’s hard for me to even consider paying $700 for two tickets to a 4 hour NFL game. By the time you pay for parking, a few beers and a couple of hotdogs, you’re pushing over $800, I’d guess. Opportunity cost. My wife and I did a 7 day Alaska cruise on Princess for right at $1,000. No charge for hotdogs either.

Oh, those games are free on your TV.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
I paid $800 for 2 Bengals season tickets for next season.
I don’t feel that is bad.

WOW, sounds like a great deal - NFL season tickets for $400/seat.

Our family has season tickets for a different NFL team (this year we have to buy 8 regular season games and 2 preseason games) and they are substantially more than $400/seat. Actually, I think the least expensive tickets in the nose bleed section are more than $400 for the season.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
... And then you add on Ticketmaster’s is bullshit fees.

Yep, buyer pays Ticketmaster about 20% plus a processing fee AND buyer pays at least 10%. So Ticketmaster has no inventory costs and earns 30% plus a transaction fee for each order.

And there's more.... many (perhaps most) tickets are sold months before the actual game. Ticketmaster doesn't pay the seller until 7-10 days after the game. So they have the use of the money for many months (interest free).

Sales of tickets is competitive and there are multiple sites. But as far as fees, they all seem to be about the same.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Like most things, the price is related to the opportunity to pay. I will only see Mr. Strait once. So, I am willing to pay a lot. Scarcity inflates price.

One of my weekly shooting groups was discussing this one time only thing a couple of weeks ago.

Our general opinion was that's what's driving a lot of the prices of things like concert tickets and Disneyland tickets and so on.

If people are only doing it once in a lifetime, they'll pay $15.00 for a hotdog. If they go every year, they won't pay it.

The various venues are aware of the one time only thing and they're exploiting it. Economics 101

When I go to games I’m usually the guy in the nosebleeds for 75 bucks. In the newer stadiums there aren’t really any bad seats. Of course being down close to the field is a whole other experience but I’m not willing to pay for it at todays prices.

Coincidentally I’m currently standing on the field at US Bank Stadium getting ready to work a show here. This is my first time here and it’s a really nice facility. Not sure if you’ve ever been here before but if not you’ll be impressed. It’s a long way from the old stadium.

One of MANY examples from my saved Ticket Stubs:

Nine Bucks

I've been to close to 100 Rush concerts. That's one band where you never walk out after the show feeling like you didn't get your money's worth. They bring it every time.

Touring is how bands make money now. There is very little money in album sales anymore or streaming royalties. So they have to charge what the market will bear for concert tix. Back in the day they could get filthy rich on album sales and touring was break-even just to promote the album sales. Those days are gone forever.

I used to go regularly to Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin back in the ‘70s. Saw a lot of great acts there. After it shut down I lost interest.

One trick is to look for smaller venues.

For example, at one larger amphitheater concert venue in the area, concert tickets are $100-$200 each. At another nearby smaller indoor venue, concert tickets are $30-$40.

You're not usually going to be top-tier-super--megastar-headlining-stadium bands at smaller venues, but I've seen some pretty big name bands there for 20-30% of the cost of seeing them in a bigger setting.

I'm going there tomorrow night to see Sevendust, in fact. Tickets cost $38. Whereas the last hard rock/metal show I saw at the bigger venue was $130.

I stay away from events in the stadium venues in major cities. Even though I'm 30 minutes from the Philly stadiums I go to Reading or Hershey for stadium or arena venues. But I try to find shows at smaller, local venues.

Just recently saw Whiskey Myers at the Santander PA Theatre, $35 for tickets 7 rows from the stage. They rocked the place from start to finish, will definitely be seeing them again.

Wife wants to see Chris Stapleton so I got tickets in August when he's in Hershey at the stadium, field seats for $120 each. That's the most I've ever paid for concert tickets but it's for her so I'll gladly pay it.

A friend in the music biz told me that with no record/CD/cassette sales, concerts are really the only way for a band to make money.

Apparently there's little to no revenue for download / streamed / youtube music.

It's a different biz model than they had 30 years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
A friend in the music biz told me that with no record/CD/cassette sales, concerts are really the only way for a band to make money.

Apparently there's little to no revenue for download / streamed / youtube music.

It's a different biz model than they had 30 years ago.

I don't doubt there is something to that,
I still try to buy the CD's of some of my favorites even when I can get from streaming sources.
It is an effort to show some support.
Still as I have said before I limit my live shows to something special.
Like a few years ago wife and I saw Stevie Winwood and I enjoyed that never seeing him live before.

As far as I know bands never made much money on album sales and they made the majority of money from tours. At least since CDs were out. It’s possible back in the 70’s they did pretty well per album. I could be wrong too, and even the little they made off CDs is probably more than they make off streaming.

Ticket prices had risen considerably but not all of that increase is going to the band. Think about a show you saw in the 80’s and a show today. Now you have massive video screens, a ton of lighting and far better audio equipment. In addition the venues are bigger and fancier and so it costs the band more to rent the venues. If you go see a show in a newer stadium now you are sitting in much more comfortable seats and have a much larger selection of food and beverage choices than you would hade had in a stadium even 30 years ago.

Does all of that make the experience better? I was a part of building that experience for a few years, so personally no. I prefer a small intimate venue but like others have said that’s not always possible. Lots of larger bands simply don’t play too many of those shows. If you find one you are lucky and unless you live in one of a few cities it’s unlikely that venue will be close. Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago, NYC and LA have small venues that even big names will play.

quote:

I used to go regularly to Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin back in the ‘70s. Saw a lot of great acts there. After it shut down I lost interest.

^^^^^^^^^^
That was an interesting place. Was there in early 70s when we lived in San Antonio.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
With concerts the ‘tribute bands’ are enough for me. The cost is reasonable, easy to get to, plenty good enough.

One a few years ago was ‘Hollywood Nights’, a Bob Seger tribute band. I’m kinda thinking they were better than the current 70+ year old Seger.

if you are a Talking Heads fan, Stop Making Sense is fantastic,

they are based out of PA IIRC, saw them maybe 7 yrs ago, great show

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
I've been to close to 100 Rush concerts. That's one band where you never walk out after the show feeling like you didn't get your money's worth. They bring it every time.

Touring is how bands make money now. There is very little money in album sales anymore or streaming royalties. So they have to charge what the market will bear for concert tix. Back in the day they could get filthy rich on album sales and touring was break-even just to promote the album sales. Those days are gone forever.

there was an article out a few years ago about a new revelation on concert pricing,

it was started by Taylor Swift or some similar pop band that would sell out in seconds,

they used some algorithm to price tickets so they sold out in days or a week or more vs that morning,
increasing revenue for the artist and all involved, and still selling out


FWIW, the Missus and I used to do 10+ concerts a year, between RVA and DC,
mostly 70's and 80's Alt/Punk/New Wave stuff, and pricing was reasonable,
it's adding in a hotel, meal, Tshirt, travel, metro etc that can really add up,


IIRC the last 2 shows we saw, Numan then a month later OMD, both at the Lincoln in DC, were ~$40 a ticket

In the past tickets weren't that expensive but the only way to get good seats was to wait in line or call in really fast when sales open. The well connected scalpers still got the good seats, and I usually ended up with lawn seats.

Waiting in line favors the young and unemployed. Now they realize that with everything computerized, they can price seats like airline tickets. More expensive the better the seat is. And if you extract the most money you can per seat, the scalpers can't really make money.

Now Ticketmaster allows you to resell your tickets on their site. So the day before the show in March I got Eagles tickets, and on my 50th birthday my son and I went. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen and about 3 hours of music. Cost me about $600 for the two resold tickets and fees. My impression was that I paid less than face value for floor seats in the middle/right of the floor. In 2010 I bought a scalped ticket for Jeff Beck outside the venue. This was a lot easier, and no dealing with lowlifes with "I need tickets" signs.

Was it too much? For the occasion and timing, and memories, and probably the last chance to see a bunch of 75 year old guys play before more of them are unable, it was worth it.

This is happening everywhere. Go to a museum in a major city and you can wait in a long line for lowest price admission, or you can pay more to use the short lines. Theme parks are doing this too. Time is money, and people with money often don't have time.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
One trick is to look for smaller venues.

For example, at one larger amphitheater concert venue in the area, concert tickets are $100-$200 each. At another nearby smaller indoor venue, concert tickets are $30-$40.

I just looked at the price of some tickets for a show I wanted to see and I remembered this thread and I see this and this used to be the case but it appears not so much anymore.

The Used and Story of the Year are touring together this Summer. They are playing Bogarts in Cincinnati which is a great small general admission only venue I have been to countless times and never spent more than $30 a ticket and most were sub $25

This show is $75.50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Took me back to seeing Yellow Card play with Story of the Year in Cleveland at some Ampitheater on the river.
Looked up Yellow Card and they are playing with Third Eye Blind at Riverbend in Cincinnati which is their big ampitheater on the river and those tickets are $75 for reserved seating. I am too old for General admission lawn seats outside in the summer at Riverbend.
Inside the AC at Bogarts sure but not for $75!!!!

And these are bands that were relevant like 20 years ago!
Prices are insane.

Did not even pay $75 to see TOOL a couple years ago.

However I think my Jordan Peterson tickets for May are about $75.

I don't know. If something's out of my price range, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. There are many things I don't have the money for. It doesn't hurt me at all if my finances precludes certain purchases.

What does get my goat and makes me hate myself is buying something and not "using" it or having some "utility" from having it even if I'm not "actively" using it.