8.25.2009

Tickets for Springsteen? Pricey!

Our good friend Matt recently reported to me that he spent triple digits per ticket for the upcoming show. As he pointed out, he'd rather spend the money and get great seats for his first time seeing The Boss, and that is valid. Plus, it's doubtful you'll walk away from a Springsteen show feeling cheated. "You know, he just didn't seem to put much into it. Reall went through the motions."

After seven months of blankness, this information finally sparked a creative idea for another post, albeit a short one: What band or artist would you pay triple digits to see? This actually has me hard-pressed, as I'm a tight-ass. I can't off the bat fire off someone without thinking, unlike Matt, who will share it in his comment. And I'm not talking about bands that are gone, or people who are dead. I mean, right now.

My initial knee-jerk reaction would be the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, but I already saw Page/Plant in 1995, and nothing can top that, even without John Paul Jones not being there (and that was cheap- only 40 bucks or so at Kemper). After that, I don't know. Maybe I've lost a little passion to see people live, but I'm so used to club shows and 20 dollar tickets I can't fathom paying over a 100, and most of the bands I want to see tend to be at that club level.

Maybe I need to paint a certain scenario, like a big band playing at an intimate venue, once of those once in a lifetime moments, or bands who broke up but get back together to do a show. I also need to think about the idea of seeing a band with a great live reputation. So here's a short list:

Sleater Kinney
The Hives
Prince (if he rejects his faith and gets back with The Revolution)
Radiohead

That's all I got. More curious to hear from other people

2 comments:

Matt said...

I've only paid triple digits per ticket twice: Tom Waits (front row tickets at the Fox in St. Louis) and now Springsteen, who I've been wanting to see now for years. I'm pretty sure the Tom Waits show was the best show I've ever been to and it was worth every penny. I have a feeling I won't feel cheated by The Boss either.

I can't really think of any others I would pay triple digits for that are 1. still together 2. have all members living 3. actually charge triple digits for tickets. I might pay that much for Radiohead, but I don't think they charge that much for even their best tickets (I could be wrong there). All the acts that do charge that much aren't the ones I'm interested in seeing 99% of the time. I might have dropped three bills on Fleetwood Mac if Christie McVie had been involved in the reunion. I would say overall that 80% of the shows I see are still $15 or less.

However, I would easily pay triple digits to see Soundgarden, Uncle Tupelo or Talking Heads reunite.

Poindexter said...

Hmmm, $100 large for a killer band in an intimate setting (for instance: the Bottleneck in Lawrence?) I would happily drop that bill for My Morning Jacket. No questions asked, I would be in line screaming like a teenage girl. No shame in my game.