Ugh.. not cheap

[HAL9000]

The Rolling Stones are going to be playing in my home city on Oct 8th and have just opened another date for Oct 6th... sorry tho.. not paying $300 + tax per ticket.

[bailey]

The Rolling Stones are going to be playing in my home city on Oct 8th and have just opened another date for Oct 6th... sorry tho.. not paying $300 + tax per ticket.
do they furnish a dinner and free drinks for that price.

myself I would not go see them if it were free.

[doctorgonzo]

do they furnish a dinner and free drinks for that price.

For that much I better get my own groupie too. Or at least a roadie to haul all my stuff around and act surly.

[HAL9000]

First concert sold out in 12 minutes.... crazy people..... I'm spending $5 on a raffle ticket to win a pair.... then I'll go... but that's it.. not spending that kinda cash.

[mbossman2]

I have been absolutely shocked at the prices for concert tickets, especially for high line acts (the stones, clapton and the like).

$80 up to "how much you got?"(AKA $300+) and those are the face value.

I guess the loss of CD royalties is hitting them pretty hard.

[doctorgonzo]

I don't think it's the loss of CD royalties that is driving the increase in prices. When I saw the Stones in 1997 ticket prices were already that high, and that was two years before Napster came along (and I was still buying CDs).

No, it's simple demographics. All these baby boomers who grew up listening to the Rolling Stones and bands of the same era are now quite well-to-do middle-aged folks, and they can afford to pay these prices to relive their youths. Why should bands set their ticket prices artificially low and let scalpers make tons of money? Charge what the market will bear, and obviously the market will bear $300 tickets quite easily.

[mbossman2]

'twas a joke.

The last time i saw the stones (they toured with Blues Traveler) i think my tix were $50 per (plus the service fees).

Saw springsteen recently and he was in the same range.

Jimmy Buffett was $20 or 25 per.

[HAL9000]

ya.. it all comes down to "what will people pay"

[mbossman2]

money and brains are sometimes mutually exclusive.

[HAL9000]

Sometimes?.... rather often.... unless you forgot your [/sarcasm] tags :rolleyes:

[mbossman2]

hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut...

[Force Flow]

$20 is about the max I'll spend on a concert...I don't have the burning desire to go to them *that* badly.

$300...yeesh.... :eek:

[Floppyman]

hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut...

LOL, good one.

[glc]

Pro sports is getting just as bad - I have a customer that has Cubs season tickets and he gives me a set each year - this year's have a face value of 60 bucks each and these are not special club tickets - just standard field boxes. $4 hotdogs and $6 beers add up fast too.

[EzyStvy]

I saw the Stones many moons ago. They had a little band called The Eagles backing em up...Nothing like an outdoor concert on the 4th of July in 100º + heat....

[rjfvillarosa]

From the ITV news site in the UK.
The Rolling Stones' astute handling of their wealth meant they only paid 1.6 per cent income tax on earnings of £80 million last year.

Since 1972, Sir Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards and drummer Charlie Watts have had their millions managed abroad as they reportedly did not trust British institutions.

The three have financial advisors in Amsterdam and their immense wealth is also handled in related offices in the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean as there are significant tax breaks.

The details of their earnings have emerged because they are making their wills and Dutch law requires certain information to be made public.

Sir Mick's wealth is estimated at £205 million while Richards is worth £180 million and Watts £85 million, the report says.

But, Ron Wood does not qualify to have his assets managed by the same Dutch group as the others as he is the poor relation with just £70 million in the bank.

[RazorDX]

Even for a concert that's outrageous. I would pay that for a festival ticket, where you camp out for three days and catch a good 20-30 bands, with three stages going at a time (Download festival, Leeds, Warped). For one show though, that is definitely not a reasonable price.

I don't think the huge festivals even charge that much... it's more like 120 dollars for them.

[pastorleon]

You know it is not just the high-end rock acts that demand these incredible prices. A few years ago Harvey Corman and Tim Conway were here in the Green Bay/Appleton area and the tickets were $100. I thought that was an outrage. I know I am showing my age with even considering going to see them. My wife and I were not going to pay that kind of money to see someone.

Now this October Bob Newhart is coming and is *only* $25-$55 I think I will spring for that. Call me frivolous!!

[Kareeser]

The details of their earnings have emerged because they are making their wills and Dutch law requires certain information to be made public.

Does this mean he'll be paying back taxes? :)

$4 hotdogs and $6 beers add up fast too.

That must be why tailgate parties are so popular... is that what they're called?

[pam123]

WNBA tickets used to be reasonably priced.
So if you could stand the concession prices it was a great sports night to take the kids to.
No longer.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Man, THEY would have to pay ME to get myself into a crammed place, with God alone knows what kind of people, to be jostled, pushed around, have my ears ringing for days after, and on top of that listen to some geezers who shoulda retired almost as soon as they formed. No, thanks.

[HAL9000]

Just open you window Nuke... you should hear them just fine.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Ahh! :eek:

[lil Jimmie]

I think the last concert I went to was Motley Crue's Theater of Pain and it was only $18.00 or $19.00. I thought that was too much back then but I was used to paying around $12.00 for general admission in those days.

No way I'm paying $800.00 to see anyone.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Interesting, I was just at the barber's and they were mentioning tickets for 160 or something. But I think that's only for those who are Roughriders ticket holders or something like that. And, yes, those are sold out too.

[HAL9000]

Those would be really crap seats... anything good will cost you $300..

Last concert I went to was Def Leppard almost three years ago now... no idea how much the tickets were, I pulled a few strings and got freebies.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Well, the guy was mentioning he got some seats next to the stage. But I don't know if he was talking about the 300 or the 160 he was gonna try to get for the barber.

N' I take back what I said about the people, it looks like it's mostly mature guys who are gonna go and see them, rather than youngsters.

[Freakitchen]

Here in England, just had to turn down seeing the Eagles on their "farewell tour" (how many times have they done one of those now?!). The poorest seats started at £70 - the ones I wanted almost double that. They sold out pretty quickly, which obviously meant plenty of people were willing to pay that sorta price, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much.

FK

[RazorDX]

I was planning to see the Chili Peppers live, but the tickets sold out too fast. They were only 36 dollars though, which is reasonable considering they are the friggin' Chili Peppers and they had some decent supporting acts.

[doctorgonzo]

The Chilli Peppers have always been highly anti-Ticketmaster and very much in favor of reasonable ticket prices. They just had a concert here too, I wish I could have gone.

[kev7555]

Paying $300 for a ticket to the Stones is ridiculous. The last time they were any good in concert was about 30 years ago.

You're not missing anything.

I wouldn't pay $30 to see the (current) Stones and I was a huge fan back when they were good.


-Kev

[David M]

I hate to say it but if the Stones can sell out in 12 minutes then they are undercharging. At $300 bucks a ticket or whatever the average price is, the demand far exceeds the supply. Thats capitalism. You charge what the market will bear. Charge too much and there will be a surplus. Charge too little and there will be a shortage. Obviously there was a shortage at the price they charged for tickets.

I read somewhere that the Beatles were only able to keep 10% of what they earned living under their native countries tax laws. Remember the song "Tax man"? This is what they were complaining about. I don't blame the Stones for the tax strategy they have set up. I don't think any country should have rights to earnings earned outside of the country. If you want to bring the earnings inside the country then that becomes a different story.

[HAL9000]

Heck... tickets have been spotted on E-bay for $2000 already.... and yes, using that, they are undercharging..

[mbossman2]

I read somewhere that the Beatles were only able to keep 10% of what they earned living under their native countries tax laws. Remember the song "Tax man"? This is what they were complaining about. I don't blame the Stones for the tax strategy they have set up. I don't think any country should have rights to earnings earned outside of the country. If you want to bring the earnings inside the country then that becomes a different story.

the tax rates in the UK in the 60's were almost criminal. if you got above a certain income level, you got hit with up to 90% income tax. this caused many entertainers to become tax exiles.

The US, in the past, has not been much different. the highest income tax rate was 94% in 1944 and 45 for income above $200,000 and was always over 50% up until the Reagan era when he took the unprecedented (and very controversial) step of lowering the top tax rate from 50% down to 28%.

any discussion of why and the impact of those changes will probably get us banned to forumclick, so I'll shut up now.