News-Record.com

Thanks for your informative article today. I, too, read the Rolling Stone piece a few weeks back and have experienced the frustration you did with the U2 concert.

I have been to maybe two concerts in five years, and the antics you describe are the primary cause.

Patrick:

Thanks for your post. Misery loves company.

I confess to having joined a couple of fan clubs (at $45-$100) just for the privilege of being able to buy tickets. Which, when you think about it, is kind of ridiculous.

One reader said to me in an e-mail that perhaps smaller venues, like the new Charlotte Arena, should sell their tickets at a few outlets where you have to be physically present to buy.

That's certainly a start. But what's to keep the brokers from sending in armies of freelancers to buy up tickets?

As long as the Internet is there as a powerful sales tool, we're going to have to get a lot more creative to stop these practices.

'Twas ever thus. I remember writing in 1984 about how ticket brokers were buying up all the best seats to Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" tour and scalping them.

The brute market fact of the matter is that demand for these tickets is so high that, even at $100, many tickets are underpriced. Strange but true.

My sister and three of her pals bought lowest-price tickets for U2 in Chicago last month. Walking around on the floor just before the show, she spotted four empty seats, first row. She said to an usher -- he looked about 16 -- what does it cost to get seats like that? He said give me $20 each and they're yours. They did, and they were.

So, look for ushers who might want to make a few bucks on the side.

"Convenience charges" offend me more than high ticket prices. But there's an antidote: skip the arena and coliseum shows and see bands in small venues. There's a wealth of good music out there, and it can be heard for a few bucks a show.

I've been to one arena show in the past five years, and I don't feel like I'm missing much.

Ian - it certainly is a lot less stressful, isn't it! Still, I do get a charge out of the really big shows from time to time. But there's nothing like getting up close with a less-famous band that is playing great music.

Yeah, there's nothing like seeing the rolling stones playing Barry Manilow versions of Satisfaction or Ruby Tuesday. I'm going to stick with Ian. I'd be in the middle of a hot sweaty concert venue drinking brews and actually feeling the energy pour off some band that still actually cares about the music rather than being some popped up version of themselves 30 years later. I say screw paying any more than $50 max for a ticket. "Even at $100 underpriced"??!!! Lex, you musta ate a little too much of the purple acid at the last Traveling Wilbury's reunion show.