180 degrees of music

What's on My Mind

Last time I looked, there was a downturn in the economy, and yet major record labels and their performers have not lowered the cost of their products - music, merchandise, or concerts. On top of this, the record labels want to tell me what I can and cannot do with the music I purchased for my own use. If I want to burn a copy of a cd that I purchased and give it to a friend, that should be my right. There are musicians who I have helped support for their entire careers by purchasing tickets to all of their concerts, in whichever city I lived in; buying and re-buying their music in different formats as they develop, leaving me with vinyl, cassette, and cd versions of the same album, and each costing more money than the earlier version. With the summer concert season here, I decided to see how much more money some of my favorite acts wanted for admission to their concerts.

What's on My Mind

I conducted a random search of "big-name" acts that are touring this summer to see what these performers were charging and I thought that I would share some of the results with you. The price ranges were those listed on Ticketmaster, and reflect the range of seating choices. With the passing of John Entwistle I do not know whether "The Who" will tour. However, prior to Entwistle's death "The Who" at The Hard Rock in Las Vegas was charging $150 - $350. If you are in Los Angeles, "The Who" concert at The Hollywood Bowl would run you $44 - $505. "The Rolling Stones" concert at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco will cost you $54.25 - $304.25. You can see "The Eagles" at Kemper Arena in Kansas City for a price of $56 -$136. You can see "Rush" at Jones Beach in New York for $30 - $75 (In 1987, I paid $19.50 to see "Rush" at Madison Square Garden in New York City). If you are in Ireland, Paul Simon, performing at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny will cost you between 50.00 -58.50 euros - roughly $45 - $53 in U.S. dollars. (In 1980, I paid $15.00 for front row center seats for Paul Simon at The Palladium Theatre in New York City).

Bands that are well-recognized, as the above bands are, tour to either promote new material or to play their past hits. If a band is touring in support of a new album, you can look forward to a show where you probably will not recognize most of the music. If a band is touring to play their past hits, consider whether the price of admission is justified; take into account that you probably already own the recorded versions of the songs anyway - in studio and live version formats. I am a great advocate of live music (as my past articles and my consistent support of indie musicians demonstrates). However, if I am going to hear new material that a band just released and that I probably do not even own yet, I want to hear more than one track in heavy radio rotation before I invest in a $300 two-hour concert.

Here is my plan for this summer. Instead of spending my hard-earned money on one stadium concert along with 20,000+ fans, I will attend twenty or thirty shows in intimate club settings with a cover charge (averaging under $10.00 in New York City), comfortably enjoying indie music, having a few drinks with friends, purchasing a cd - if I like what I hear - and still spending less money than I would for that one big concert and, hopefully, having a better time. I hope to see some of you at the various shows I plan to attend.