Van Morrison
- Thread starter mjp
- Start date
I was fortunate enough to see him in New Orleans at Jazz Fest this year. Only $50. Of course, I had to also pay for airfare, hotel, taxi, etc. Oh - I also had to be a little pushy to make my way down to the front of the stage amongst all the others trying to do the same. But it was worth it. The $50 also covered 11 other stages and was good for 8 hours of music. Van only played for a little over an hour.
And you can't drink beer!
this is also a major bitch of mine.. (ticket prices). there are many, many shows in the area here that I would love to see, and in the old days (70's, 80's) would have seen them all, but now shit! WTF indeed? we're talking close to a weeks pay for a couple to have a night out. It amazes me that enough people will pay these prices to support these tours. but I guess its a matter of population. I did manage to get a good seat at the "farm aid" show in milwaukee for $100. I'm happy.
My wife and I saw McCartney last summer for $99 each, and considering the high quality of the show and what other ticket prices are these days, it seemed a fair price. Of course, each ticket also had a $16.50 fee.
mjp
Founding member
I don't see where the quality of the show or performance justifies price gouging. The cost of putting on a tour has not increased 10 or 20 times in 25 years, but ticket prices have. That's just flat out greed. They aren't satisfied making 5 or 10 million profit on the summer tour. It has to be 50 or 75 million. Plus merchandise sales.
And please, does Mr. McCartney need 50 million more dollars? At what point is it enough and you do a free tour, or a tour at cost, or put out a record free or at cost? The more wealthy these people become, the more of your money they want. The Beatles are the worst example of that greed. I understand not devaluing your music by keeping the price high. That's simple marketing bullshit. But when is enough enough? Why is a Beatles CD still $15 (or $18-$20 per disc for the mono box)?
Not trying to get all Fugazi about it, but the amounts of money raked in by popular musicians used to be ridiculous, now they're just obscene. $100 to see a concert? $375 to see a concert? Fuck you!
And please, does Mr. McCartney need 50 million more dollars? At what point is it enough and you do a free tour, or a tour at cost, or put out a record free or at cost? The more wealthy these people become, the more of your money they want. The Beatles are the worst example of that greed. I understand not devaluing your music by keeping the price high. That's simple marketing bullshit. But when is enough enough? Why is a Beatles CD still $15 (or $18-$20 per disc for the mono box)?
Not trying to get all Fugazi about it, but the amounts of money raked in by popular musicians used to be ridiculous, now they're just obscene. $100 to see a concert? $375 to see a concert? Fuck you!
I guess my point was that I didn't consider $99 to be price gouging, especially in light of some of the other prices such as that for Van Morrison.
And I paid $15.50 per disc for the mono set and $11.99-$12.99 for each stereo re-master last year. But it is ridiculous. For years I was convinced that the prices remained at $18 per disc because the baby-fucker owned the catalog and had legal bills. Prices have come down since then. But the whole Beatles thing is just a money-suck. One I gladly partake in while holding my nose.
And I paid $15.50 per disc for the mono set and $11.99-$12.99 for each stereo re-master last year. But it is ridiculous. For years I was convinced that the prices remained at $18 per disc because the baby-fucker owned the catalog and had legal bills. Prices have come down since then. But the whole Beatles thing is just a money-suck. One I gladly partake in while holding my nose.
nervas
more crickets than friends
My friend went to see Van Morrison at the greek theater a couple of nights ago. She paid $250.00 per seat to sit in the orchestra section, but was enraged when she learned of Van's no alcohol rules. However she said that the greek was allowed to serve alcohol all the way up to 10 minutes or so before the show started. She said there were signs everywhere, even on the big electronic billboard outside the greek announcing the alcohol rules. She said they were also allowing you to buy 4 beers at a time? Not sure if she meant 2 per person though, since she was there with someone. Anyway once the lights went out, that was it, alcohol done.
I guess that's why the greek charged so much for tix, because the $250.00 was face value and I'm sure they take a risk of not earning anywhere near the money they would earn when alcohol is served throughout the night.
I guess that's why the greek charged so much for tix, because the $250.00 was face value and I'm sure they take a risk of not earning anywhere near the money they would earn when alcohol is served throughout the night.
mjp
Founding member
The venue doesn't always set the ticket price. Typically there is a contract between the promoter and the venue that says, "It will cost you two million dollars for a few hours of Mr. Morrison's time," then the venue has to do the math according to their seating and pricing tiers. In some cases the promoter will cap the retail ticket price, which is why you get a lot of the added on fees that make your $25 ticket cost $37.50 (TicketMaster isn't getting all of that).
It's a racket (what isn't a racket now?) and a far cry from the old $5 concert days. Back when they used steam engines to power the amps.
