OT: Concerts are only for rich people now
So I guess it's been a while since I've been to a concert. I just paid $365 for two tickets to see Phil Collins at LCA this fall (decent seats I assume, main floor near the back). And that is fucking insane! Even the nosebleed seats were $90 each!
Are these normal prices now? Or did I pay a "he may die any day now" premium for the tickets?
March 29th, 2019 at 11:52 AM ^
You paid a crazy price - must be a combination of the artist and his age and a few other things.
I've been to about two concerts a year for the last ~5 years, seeing very famous acts, and have never paid that much for two tix (and always had enjoyable seats).
This. I go to 3-5 concerts a year. One is usually a big family blow out event (wife, 2 kids and I) where we stay in a hotel etc. We have seen the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and are seeing System of a Down and Tool. But typically I go see bands at Intersection in GR or St. Andrews in Detroit. Smaller venues, not super popular bands, and usually $40 or less a ticket. I've seen Helmet (twice), Prong, Local H, Attila, Motionless in White, We Came as Romans etc. all for very cheap. Also took my daughter to Warped Tour every year in Detroit until they ended the tour. Those tix were real cheap for an all day punk/metal festival.
Tickets are quite expensive. I always struggle with the idea that if I'm gonna shell out $150-$200 a ticket when it comes to parking and then the ticket itself, I might as well pay another $100-$200 and actually get seats that make the experience enjoyable. Then it ends up being a way expensive night out.
and are seeing System of a Down
I'm only barely into music, but if I'm not mistaken, "System of a Down" is what was featured in that scene from "Secret Life of Pets" with the head-banging poodle:
The first time I saw that scene I literally started laughing so hard I could barely breathe. It's still one of the funniest things I've ever seen. :-)
Hilarious movie, it's always nice when the things I have to watch due to kids are actually enjoyable for an adult.
Sorry man, I'm old. I do not recognize any of those name you mentioned for $40. Maybe that's why they are $40.
I'm going to see The Dead and Friends at Wrigley Field and it cost me $69 out the door.
the financial model in the music industry has changed....instead of touring cheaply to drive up album sales many artists seek to make their money off of tickets sales since streaming has put a dent in revenue from recorded releases.
Artist don't make jack from album sales and never have. The model hasn't changed as touring has always been the artist cash cow. My best friend who had a #1 single and I have talked about this numerous times. The label makes a vast majority of the money on album sales. He has gone the way of of releasing music on his own through channels such as I Tunes, Spotify, and the likes.
March 30th, 2019 at 10:32 AM ^
Actually in Denver that’s the norm for good concerts I look into shows all the time and shake my head at the prices and usually find bands on their way up or down to see for a reasonable price. Good seats for the following shows
Elton John $200
Rolling Stones in a stadium $250-300
Billy Joel in a stadium $400
nose bleed seats for any of these shows where you can’t even see them are $100
March 29th, 2019 at 11:52 AM ^
It all depends on the band, you're going to see someone who's considered a legend in music, so you're going to pay out the nose.
My daughter's favorite band is Fall Out Boy. I took her to see them in Des Moines last October at Wells Fargo Arena (where Michigan played in the opening rounds of the NCAA), and paid under $175 for seats that were 5 rows from the floor.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:12 PM ^
I suppose. I paid $90 each (last row of the upper deck in the Palace) for Simon and Garfunkel tickets 15 years ago, but they hadn't toured together since the early 70's, and they hate each other, so the prices were crazy high.
I guess I just underestimated the Phil Collins fan base. People always make fun of me for being a huge fan.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:22 PM ^
Hatter, calculate that $90 each 15 years ago in today's dollars due to inflation, you'd probably be close to those Collins tickets. Genesis was big, and at his height, Collins was YUGE.
It all comes down to "how much of a fan are you?" You're going to see a great show, it'll be worth it IMO.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
Phil Collins is awesome
March 29th, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
Nobody should make fun of Phil Collins. He's a great artist.
Saw him live a few years back. One of the best live shows I've been to.
Tracy: “imma make you a mix tape! You like Phil Collins?”
Jack: “I have two ears and a heart, don’t I?”
I paid $300 each to see Hamilton in the Des Moines Civic Center last year. I've taken my wife to several Zac Brown Band and Brad Paisley concerts and we usually pay about $100 a ticket for decent seats (cost has usually been more dependent on the venue/city).
Try getting Hamilton tickets in New York - $500+ per ticket is not unusual.
Not really related, but Fall Out Boy is madly under-appreciated as a modern day rock band. Many people write them off because of their roots as an emo/pop-punk band or they've now been reduced to this "Jock Jams / Imagine Dragons" genre of generic, modern-day arena-rock; but in reality, they are the much, much closer to a modern-day Queen with their knack for ear-worm hooks... I can hear Freddie singing this same song in my head:
Long-story-short, your daughter has good taste.
Sorry, but Fall Out Boy is indeed trash, especially when you compare their new stuff to their first couple albums. But back in the early 2000's, man, those guys could rock.
As someone who grew up in "the scene" (Corktree came out when I was a sophomore in high school), I definitely enjoy the old albums more (as those align closer to my musical taste), but...
(A) We're talking the entire career here, and FOB can easily fill out a greatest hits album as well as any rock band in the last 20 years... when you talk about a band in retrospect, you don't focus on their most recent albums. No one's going to think the legacy of a Metallica or Guns 'N Roses is tainted because their last few albums aren't up to par.
(B) While the post-comeback albums are weaker and the shift to a more pop-based sound isn't my cup of tea, it's what they sorta have to do to stay relevant today. The only shame is that two of their most generic songs (Light 'Em Up & Centuries) were overplayed to the point of exhaustion because they filled a vacuum of bro-jams that ESPN needed for broadcasts.
(C) They can still write jams... Songs like Uma Thurman or Church are objectively great pop songs (and better than 90% of what's on the radio now), even if they aren't necessarily rock songs.
You got that right Jerry.
March 30th, 2019 at 12:36 PM ^
Fallout boy sucks, bro.
You have it backwards. Their emo pop punk days is when they were straight up fire. Anything past 2008 (and that's being kind) is straight up whiney garbage.
you're going to pay out the nose
The nose if you're lucky.
Fall out boys are legends in music
Pump the brakes my man. Don’t get me wrong, they are good, but heroes get remembered, legends never die.
March 29th, 2019 at 11:55 AM ^
Wait until you hear about rent.
Bump
March 29th, 2019 at 11:56 AM ^
Phil Collins retired and then un-retired 4 years ago. This is his first US appearance since then. People probably feel it may be their last chance to see him.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
Do you like Phil Collins? I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Take the lyrics to Land of Confusion. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. In Too Deep is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock. Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds.
But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite...
March 29th, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
Christy, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole...
Sabrina, don't just stare at it, eat it.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
Is that from the missing 4th verse of In the Air Tonight?
March 29th, 2019 at 12:47 PM ^
It's implied.
[Didn't we have a "Patrick Bateman" username here in the not so distant past?]
March 29th, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
Hey CRISPed, put the chainsaw down.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^
I prefer Huey Lewis and the News.
Their early work was a little too....new wave for my tastes. But when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own. Commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound. And a new sheen of consummate professionalism, that really give the songs a big boost! He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor.
In '87, Huey released Fore, his most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is Hip To Be Square, a song so catchy that most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should! Because its not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of friends, but its also a personal statement about the band itself!
Huey's illness is sad. I doubt he will ever perform again.
Easy there, music history teacher...whatever happened to, "I love that song...such a good beat!"
I believe this reference was In The Air Tonight and over your head.
Interesting take CRISPed - I think the Venn diagram of our tastes wrt Genesis would probably only overlap with Duke and maybe Abacab (I threw up in my mouth in dispute at the sentence "I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece"). To me, and again all music opinions are different people's tastes, Genesis was like an inverse progression to the Beatles who went from catchy pop to more substantial and interesting music; whereas Genesis went from more substantial and interesting music to catchy pop. Peter Gabriel-era albums like 'Nursery Cryme', and 'Foxtrot' and 'Selling England by the Pound' are infinitely more satisfying than, say, "Illegal Alien" from 'Genesis'. The musicianship was far more impressive and in particular Phil Collins' drumming on most of "Selling England" is one of the best balances of touch and power (the happy medium between Bill Bruford and Neil Peart) in all of rock drumming. Even the post-Gabriel stuff with Steve Hackett still in the band was more appealing to me than most anything after 1983. In fact, one of the things that bummed me out the most about Phil's autobiography was that he clearly seemed more happy as "international pop singer" than he did as "exceptionally awesome drummer". He's a talented guy and it's his life and he's achieved some amazing things - but I just prefer the talent he shows on early Genesis/Brand X over the different talent he shows doing his cover of "Can't Hurry Love".
Genesis fandom often boils down to the solo acts afterward. You prefer Phil, you like the later stuff. You prefer Gabriel, then it’s the early stuff. I prefer Gabriel but Collins, in addition to having the best first name ever, seems on every level to be earnest and genuine and that comes through in his music. Dude can write a heartfelt song with a helluva hook.
If only his first name were Wilford....
Sorry. I guess I was channeling my alter ego which is a late 50s guy in the Chicago burbs. I do that when I'm not being the ACTUAL eccentric southwesterner who bristles at the government telling me I can't bet on chicken fights. And fuck them for it.
Plus “Phil” probably looks better on a bowling shirt than “Wilford”.
March 29th, 2019 at 11:56 AM ^
Sounds like you paid for "guy might die at any time" tax like me. We did Elton John a few months ago and lower bowl, 2 tickets were like $250, but the Carrie Underwood (my wife's pick) were something like $50 each.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:03 PM ^
That's a very curious pair of threesomes.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:10 PM ^
We're adventurous. What can I say?
March 29th, 2019 at 12:02 PM ^
Market demand, you were willing to pay it so he charges that price. Stop going and prices will fall. Honestly, it's a premium name (arguably), so you get charged a premium price. I mean, I got standing front row for Modest Mouse at the Fillmore and it was only $50. So seems Phil & company are just catering to the suckers out there.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:02 PM ^
Wish I had time for concerts. Kids are terrible.