Am I the only one who is flabbergasted by the stupendous increase in concert ticket prices over the last few years?

Let's look at a few examples:

(all figures are converted to $US, approx.)

BB King, Montreal, 2001-Jan: US$55
BB King, Las Vegas, 2001-Mar: US$100
Buddy Guy, El Cajon, 2001-Mar: US$46
Jonny Lang, Anaheim, 2001-Feb: US$38
J.L. Hooker, Las Vegas, 2001-Feb: US$45
Elton John/Billy Joel, Syracuse, 2001-May: US$176 (!!!)

Ok, am I the only one missing something here? The minimum wage in the Americas (Canada, USA, and Mexico) is roughly the equivalent of about $5-6, yet the promoters will have us pay $50 and up (from our net paycheque) to see a show? IMHO, something *really* does not make any sense here.

Now I'm going to sound like an old fart, but I remember back in the mid 80s when a band with an extremely complex stage setup (lights, smoke, and FX) would charge $15 because of the increased overhead.

But paying US$100 for a concert with a few medium floods?

Sorry, I know a bit about the cost of live production, and it has not gone up that much over the last 10 years.

It's no wonder that the youth of today can't access the music scene. Think about dropping US$100 + $30 for drinks + $10 for parking...

Viva intimate shows in nice small venues for $5 by talented artists who are actually earning their pay.

Cranky,

eBuddha, you're not alone here. Give me the small setting anyday where I can approach a stage and actually meet a performer if I so desire.

IMHO, Jonny Lang hasn't sown enough oats to warrant such extravagant ticket prices yet. And when I saw him at an outdoor festival last summer, he had enough bodyguards and roadies that you would've thought he was the Pope. Poor kid can't even walk into public on his own without their watching his every step.

Yes, I vaguely remember the Hell freezes over tour by The Eagles. If I recall correctly, there was quite a brouhaha, by the industry and fans alike, about the foray into triple digit ticket prices.

One of our local radio DJs here in Montreal, Terry DiMonte, who always was a huge Eagles fan even ripped into them for gouging.

Like you, I'm quite selective about paying those kind of big bucks for any entertainment event. In my mind, either you pay for intimate access to the artist - i.e. I would gladly pay US$250 a head to have one of my favorite artists play in my basement with a couple of dozen of my friends.

But now it's to the point where the shows are less intimate and more expensive!

JaZZer had an interesting comment in his other topic about making the Temple a source of critical mass for fan representation... the problem is that it boils down to a classic scenario of pure economics: supply and demand. I did a random search for seat availability for the Elton John/Billy Joel tour, where most venues are charging well over US$150 for the best seats. Those $150+ seats are selling well... Ditto for $80 to watch BB, from a seat 125 feet away from the stage.

As long as the concert-going public accepts these prices, and by accept I mean buying the damned tickets, we will never see a return to reason.

You know what's really scarey? Not that people are buying $200 tickets ... but people are buying premium tickets from scalpers for $500 or more!!!

OK, gotta chill out, this really annoys me.

eBuddha

Ya gotta hand it to local talent. There are an infinite number of great players that have yet to be discovered in just about every major metropolitan area and even a great deal of smaller towns that you can visit. I once asked drummer Jimi Bott (Rod Piazza & Mighty Flyers/Fabulous Thunderbirds) if he thought any one city had a better blues community than others. He said that all cities had great players, you just had to know where to look. A good place to start is at venues that offer jam sessions where any musician is free to sit in.

I am lucky that Portland has a thriving blues community, including one of the best indie labels with Burnside. A lot of these artists play free in some venues and most do not tend to charge too much. Most major blues shows featuring national performers do not tend to be more than $15 unless there are multiple acts involved. Of course, the best deal every year is the Waterfront Blues Festival - $5 + 2 cans of food for the local food bank. Can't beat it when you consider just last year's event had about 85 acts including Dr. John, Carl Weathersby, Robert Jr Lockwood, Tab Benoit, Jonny Lang, Larry McCray, Eddy Kirkland, Johnnie Bassett, Long John Hunter, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Carey Bell and too many more to mention over the 5 days.

With blues available in clubs 7 days a week and major talent coming through quite often, I can forego those high priced shows at the Rose Garden or other massive venues.

I've said it before, but to have people like Curtis Salgado, Paul deLay, Lloyd Jones, Terry Robb and on and on living right here and playing all the time, there's always good music available that I don't need to shell out a pocket full of cash.