Monday 29 October 2012

How much for a concert ticket?

I remember there was a time when I would laugh bitterly in the faces of fools who spent ridiculous amounts of money on designer clothing. It's all very well going into hundreds for quality...but...thousands? Really?
"That white blazer you bought for £2000? Yeah, well I bought one almost identical for £25 in a sale. Put that in your juice box and suck on it."
What irritated me the most was that all that money, if donated to charity, would go a long way. It could feed a family in a poverty stricken country for at least a year. Is an item of clothing really worth someone else's life?

And then I thought...well shouldn't the whole 'ridiculous waste of money' concept apply to concert tickets?
Exhibit A: Glastonbury Festival, UK


£1 Baby to see T Rex? Yes please....

See, the fact is, there are some people in the world that will pay any amount of money to see their favourite band/ musician. 
But what about the people who would pay any amount of money to see the band BUT JUST DON'T HAVE THE MONEY?
I went to see Paul McCartney last year in the o2 arena...I paid £45, but Macca's team were so sweet they had these guys (good-looking guys I might add) go around giving tickets to the front row that were originally hundreds. And...yours truly was one of the lucky people to get free front row tickets!
It was a once in a life time experience but then I thought...
Hang on..
What about the people who had actually decide to spend hundreds on tickets? 





What had made me want to bring up this particular subject is the Rolling Stones' high prices for their concert in London. The cheapest ticket is £106. If you want Mick and Keith to be anything more than spindly stick figures in the distance, prices go to £406.

And a VIP hospitality ticket, which guarantees a place inside the terrifyingly-named "tongue pit" at the edge of the stage, is £1,140.

Yeah.

I understand why The Rolling Stones have put the prices so high. They're up there with the other "gods" of classic rock, like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Pink Floyd. They're probably thinking, "Hey, it won't be long till we're in wheelchairs so we might as well milk those rich pigs who always wanted to see us as teenagers but never got the chance."

What's sad though is the high prices mean that the arena will probably be full of wealthy older men and the occasional spoilt kid whose parents have decided to indulge them. For the younger generation, The Rolling Stones will not be as accessible.

And then...back to the point earlier. Isn't spending £1,140 for a VIP ticket as self-indulgent and pointless as spending silly amounts on clothing, or a hotel room?


And to you: how much would you happily spend on a concert ticket?