Concert prices are obscene

Tweet

Have you noticed concert prices for name acts are beyond the pale? You have to be financially well off, willing to take a second job or scrimp and save to sacrifice to afford that ticket. Those two hours of music and taking selfies to post must be worth it for the Swifties. Fans pay $100s to see tired old Brice Springsteen screech songs and rant and rave. Yet he sells out. They all do. Astounding in this era of unaffordability. Consider Hilary Duff whom I'm a huge fan of. She's on a comeback tour after 20 a year absence. Realistically Hilary is straying into has been territory still best known for Lizzie MaGuire. I figured she's play modest venues. I was stunned her big venue and Vegas dates all eventually sell out. Her local show at the Forum had near $200 tickets in the nosebleed section. Performers are a speck and you're paying to watch a giant video screen. I want to see Miranda Lambert in concert. During her Vegas residency, the least expensive nosebleed tickets were over $200. That price plus Vegas trip expense couldn't be justified. Country stars generally avoid LA so I was excited Miranda is coming to the Indian casino in San Bernardino an hour's drive away from me. Surely an Indian casino would be less than Vegas or major venue. Right? Wrong. I searched her website and various ticket brokers and the cheapest ticket was $146 before taxes in the nosebleed section. Tickets closest to the stage are running over $5000. I won't go to the poor house but refuse offended by obvious gouging. Ella Langley is playing the Greek Theater. Seats in the last row are over $200 and the Greek is steep so those seats are awful. In 2005 I saw Hilary and my decent seat cost $51.50 (I still have the ticket). 21 years later that same seat costs $550 and she's sold out. What's going on? I've researched and learned the same artists drop prices outside major cities. So the folks in the mid-west get a break but still outrageous. This also applies to sports and Broadway. Apparently young people prize these "experiences" above all else for bragging on social media and willing to pay whatever. Plus shelling out for overpriced cheaply made tees. That's great to do what you desire. Yet these same people point angry fingers at politicians and corporations over rising prices. How can you complain about gas then turn around without blinking an eye handing over $100s for a crappy seat for two hours? Where's the outrage over greedy entertainment and sports corporations and Taylor Swift is a billion dollar corporation. Makes no sense to me but I'm an old person so what do I know? Something is amiss. If unaffordability is such a crisis and people are pinching pennies then how come concerts are selling out? Ticket prices were soaring prior to covid then astronomical after. The usual excuses of rising labor and fuel costs don't fly to explain $51.50 in 2005 and to $550 in 2026. Greed and gouging and people are letting them get away with. Today's musical stars are the richest in history. It's the fans who really paid for Swift's lavish wedding. You know it's true. The rich get richer complains protesters who just paid to see Springsteen. So this old man has likely attended his last concert. The guy who happily paid for the best seat to see Linda Ronstadt and not feeling gouged is done. I'll sit back on the couch and watch my favorites on You Tube which offers tons of concert footage.