Concert ticket prices

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Breklin76@reddit

Yeah. Fuck that noise. I choose local shows featuring local and touring bands at bars and small venues. I refuse to pay more than $50 a ticket, if it’s a well-known touring band.

I miss the good ol days when big venue concert tix were $25-40.

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kcsews@reddit

Fuck we paid $10 in the late 70s early 80s

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Bob_D_Vagene@reddit

I just watch someone’s feed on YT the next day and thank the good lord I wasn’t dumb enough to pay up for that crap.

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Samwhys_gamgee@reddit

Paid $225 each for Rush tickets this summer. It will be my first, and likely last, big arena concert. But I couldn’t pass up the chance to do it once.

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This is a reseller site. The official site(AXS/Ticketmaster) was also showing only resale tickets starting at $200. I could not believe that Lord Huron would sell out Red Rocks so I looked at a second site to confirm, then rage posted this.

It seems like Red Rocks is only affordable in the pre-sale fan window.

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

It says ‘as a resale marketplace, tickets may be above face value’ - I’d like to see an actual face value. And no band is worth north of $300/seat at an arena.

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Tater72@reddit

That’s what I guessed but missed it. Resale marketplaces are suspect at best and I had one pull a scam on me a couple years ago, fortunately the credit card company was able to investigate and stop it

Ticketmaster, while not ideal is at least trustworthy I feel

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

Yeah. More reliable than a sidewalk scalper, but still robbing us blind

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redsfan-@reddit

Last concert I went to was Colin Hay solo, $60 and one of the best nights I’ve had in years

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

That’s a great show and price. I saw Old 97s for like $35 about 2-3 years ago. They kill it every time and are super affordable.

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martinpagh@reddit

Since you bring up Taylor Swift, this is your friendly reminder that flying to Paris, Stockholm or some of the other destinations on her Eras tour was cheaper than seeing her in the U.S.

Including hotel and return flights.

This is a U.S. problem.

You can also compare prices for the 2026 World Cup with the last World Cup overseas. Or for the 2028 Olympic Games compared to Paris.

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

Soooo many people - no, NO ONE gets this over here…! The corruption is so rampant and just part of ‘capitalizm’ - most are oblivious to the real possibility of moving past this shitshow

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martinpagh@reddit

I would say capitalism has stopped working in the U.S., and that's where the problem is. We're no longer functioning under a regulated free market system. Capitalism is doing just fine in Western Europe and mostly serves consumers well.

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No_Button_1750@reddit

Agree wholeheartedly as a non-American who currently lives in the US.

The ticket prices are 🤯but the added on fees are 🤯🤯😭. Ticketmaster/Live Nation are printing money. I hope the continuing lawsuits against them crush them.

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

They need more lawsuits to fight… but they have big boss $$$

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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GenX-ModTeam@reddit

No Politics - Political posts or comments of any sort are not permitted. If you wish to have political discussions, you may do so on our other sub r/GenXPolitics.

Breaking this rule may result in bans, either temporary or permanent.

Before you make the claim: No, providing respite from political discussions does not infringe on your rights.

Also, this politics ban was put before the sub over a year ago, and members have spoken.

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davoidismyname@reddit

What happens when concert tickets are monopolized by a single company. Fuck Ticketmaster…

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Curious_Instance_971@reddit

Yeah I saw Noah Kahan tickets were $300 and he was playing an outdoor arena. I had no idea he was that big of an artist but also what the hell?

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303FPSguy@reddit

That’s why I haven’t been to a concert in a decade!

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elcad@reddit

I still see at least one big act a year and many smaller shows. $64 is my top price per seat. I think I paid a few dollars extra to see Weird Al this year, since my girlfriend got hers for free.

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303FPSguy@reddit

I can barely see 2-3 hockey games a year, let alone a show.

I did get to see a lot of bands when I was younger and they were younger and had more energy in performances, so there’s that. Like Clash of the Titans at Red Rocks in 89 was amazing. Tool in 94 at Red Rocks. So many bands at Red Rocks!

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elcad@reddit

Oh dang, I miss going to hockey games. Used to go often when the Caps played in Maryland, but the move to DC increased prices a lot and now it takes forever to get home after a game. Haven't been since Ovi was a rookie.

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

Any chance there’s a college nearby? Our local ones are $10 or free… and more skating, less fighting

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303FPSguy@reddit

I try to see a DU game but they’re kind of their own thing and usually packed.

The Avs are also a good team and ticketed are nearly impossible to come by for a reasonable price.

Sucks being a fan of championship teams I guess.

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

Shoot - I guess if your local team is too good that makes a difference… it shouldn’t though, for locals

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I_Bought_Uranus@reddit

I’m going to see lesser known acts at smaller places, Monday and Tuesday nights when things are cheaper. I’m 58 and still love club shows, need to remember to wear ear plugs for loud shows. (Die Spitz was loud up front) Will admit I paid $270 for Angine de Poitrine in August but fuck it, I really want to see them in a club. I paid as much per ticket for LA Phil and the opera, and those were x2 because the wife wanted to go.

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Intrepid_Year3765@reddit

Remember when a $50 ticket was expensive before ticketmaster and the internet made it easy to pricegouge everyone?

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

Abso-fucking-loutley…!

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moxiemoon@reddit

I remember going to Ticketmaster at the grocery store service counter and buying concert tickets, ah those were the days 😍

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BustinMakesMeFeelMeh@reddit

Paula Abdul!

Wait, did I say that out loud?

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

It’s just a flashback - you’re ok!

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2014Subaru@reddit

Sleeping out for floor seats

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EnjoyingTheRide-0606@reddit

That’s why I don’t go anymore.

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Wren572@reddit

The last concert I saw at Red Rocks was Sting in 2010. Tickets were about $100/each for middle-ish section.

I just don’t do the big names these days. I’d rather see bands at smaller venues, like The Gothic or Summit in Denver. Last year we saw Faun (German pagan folk rock) and Itchy-O.

(If you’re in Denver and haven’t seen Itchy-O yet, do yourself a favor and go see them. They have shows a few times a year.)

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Going to see Old 97s there this summer. Great venue.

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Silly-Dot-2322@reddit

The last concert we saw was Pink Floyd. I am fulfilled, and will never pay that much money, ever again.

I will always support local venues, wineries and parks.

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BuckyD1000@reddit

Obligatory "back in my day" comment:

I saw The Rolling Stones with Van Halen opening in 1981. Tickets were $16 and we couldn't believe they had the audacity to charge so much.

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DonaldKey@reddit

Now do the inflation calculator on it

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ScousePete@reddit

The concert was either on 21st or 22nd of October 1981 in Orlando. $16 from that date is now $56.57.

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DonaldKey@reddit

Add taxes and connivence fees

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BuckyD1000@reddit

Yup. I went both days. Got my second day ticket in the parking lot for $5.

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mon-dak@reddit

I remember the days when all it took was $25 to spend an evening with Metallica on the justice tour, best 4 hours ever.

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Consistent-Fix-8443@reddit

And they saw today back in 1999 with Napstar.

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Consistent-Fix-8443@reddit

Blame it on Napster

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IonCannonCharging@reddit

Jesus Christ, the amount of bitching, crying, moaning and complaining in this sub is maddening.

Yes, those tickets are expensive. They are expensive because you are seeing a sorta well known band at Red Rocks amphitheatre. How is that hard to understand?

For comparison, my wife and I just saw NIN in February for $70 a ticket. I saw Emperor two weeks ago in Chicago for less than that. Just bought Old Crow tickets for $80. Affordable shows are still around if you are willing to look for them...

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Barthle@reddit

Not to mention, these are tickets on a resale site. Face value might still be expensive, but resale tickets are always going to close more unless the place isn't sold out.

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tunaman808@reddit

I saw Lala Lala a couple weeks ago. I googled the name and clicked on a link. It appeared to be, in almost every way, a legit website for an American indie band. Tickets to the show were $54, which seemed spendy for a band of that (lack of) fame.

I went to the venue's site, and tickets there were only $28 all-in.

I went back to the first site, and only then did I notice the words "this is an independent ticket reseller site" is small-ish text on the banner, with the white text blending in to the background image in parts.

I think they copied some band's entire site, then figured out how to import other artists' Facebook and\or Insta feeds to create "News" and "Photos" sections on the site.

It looked really good, and almost fooled me!

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Barthle@reddit

You're not the first person I've heard of that happening to either! That's why Google isn't as good as it used to be. The ads always come up first instead of the actual site you're looking for. They probably paid for it to show up there in the hopes that would happen.

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Independent-Fan4343@reddit

Ice switched to our local music scene. We're blessed with a few really active places. $15 tickets, and you are right next to the stage.

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Revolutionary_Tale_1@reddit

My wife and kids got me tickets to a bucket list show for my birthday. Metallica, Pantera, and Suicidal Tendencies. I remarked about the cost of parking and beers, and my wife told me what she spent on those tickets. $700. For two tickets. In the second tier of a football stadium

And even at that, there are other artists I want to see, so I'll probably pay that again for the right concert.

Part of it is FOMO; I would have paid dearly to see Tom Petty. His death kinda put a damper on that. I'll have to pay to see 'em when I can.

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Western-Corner-431@reddit

There’s no one worth $300

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squirtloaf@reddit

This. I love music, but a concert is just not worth that much.

You go, you watch it, you go: Wooo!, see some visuals, hear some sound, maybe get some new ideas.

Then you go home.

Shit should be priced like movies.

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red08171@reddit

300 for a ticket is insane to me too.

But Devils advocate, movies don't require hundreds of employees daily to do. At my venue, there's around 200 day time employees (riggers, security, catering, maintenence, IT, etc) then an additional 800-1000 employees for the show (all of the above plus beer sellers, merchandise, parking etc). The starting pay is 15/hr, and many make 20/hr. Then after the concert you have clean up, riggers, recycling, etc. Then the band still has to get paid.

It's not nearly as cheap as a movie theater.

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squirtloaf@reddit

To be fair, movies cost hundreds of millions to shoot, market and distribute. Not sure they are that different.

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red08171@reddit

Absolutely different. Those millions are a one time cost, and they have special accounting to fuck with the numbers. Venues litteraly pay people daily for each show. It's not even comparable.

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squirtloaf@reddit

Having worked in both industries, I find them fairly comparable. Like a 30 day shoot and a 30 day tour...you got travel, techs, talent, security, trucks, sets, lights, etc.

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ScousePete@reddit

Your venue is probably selling more $15 beers than the local movie theatre though.

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Western-Corner-431@reddit

Pay insane parking and concession prices, fight traffic and crowds, probably have people standing in front of you, maybe people start shit around your seat, whatever. I want everything to start at 4, be $50 or less, be a half hour from my house. I want to grab food and get home by 9

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LayerNo3634@reddit

I refuse to pay current prices. Recently saw that my favorite is coming to a local small town honky tonk. Perfect! Not too crowded...general admission is $68?!? 6 top table is $1300?!?

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midnight_to_midnight@reddit

l've known for years I'll never see a live concert ever again. And I'm totally fine with that.

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GardenBunnyBaseball@reddit

l've known for years my chances are GREATLY reduced for seeing live concerts again. And I'm totally not fine with that. At all. I love the live music experience. And as GenX, now it’s not so much ability/inability to afford tickets… it’s choosing not to pay ridiculous prices even if I die a little on the inside.

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

For the most part, yes - but I did see Vampire Weekend last summer (last one before that was The Shins in 2017) and both were worth the $70-ish price.

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go-speed-racer@reddit

I have about an $80 upper limit for shows.

Seen shows like Metallica, Chili Peppers, The Killers, Weezer, and have GnR next summer all under that limit

Beyond, won’t even look. Sure would have liked to see the Eagles just once, but oh well.

For shits and giggles I looked at Hatsune Miku tickets a few months ago and they were over $300 — for a virtual idol. No thanks

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

I’d see the Eagles just to throw something at Don Henley - worth it! biggest a-hole in music (debatable, for sure, but def in the top 5…)

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OnlyGuestsMusic@reddit

I just paid $62 to park for 90 minutes in Manhattan to see my son’s specialist. Concerts aren’t on the menu.

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thatsmsbitchtoyou@reddit

😲

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

2nd that ☝️

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Ok-Description-4640@reddit

Just got tickets to Jack White, $114 each for GA lawn seats at a 5000-person outdoor venue. Last year I saw him and tickets were $175 for a 2000ish-seat indoor venue. My wife loves Springsteen but she isn’t going to pay $400 to see him, and Rush tickets were closer to $500. Major touring acts are expensive but at a certain point they’re going to have to pull back when they see so many empty seats. And hopefully the scalpers will go bankrupt from it.

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

Or we make some rules about the secondary/resale market…

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bookant@reddit

I wouldn't pay those prices those prices for any band. I saw U2 on the Joshua Tree tour. Adjusted for inflation to today's dollars the tickets would be $45.

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Playmill@reddit

This is most certainly a screenshot from a reseller web site. This is the real problem- people buying up tickets and reselling them for premium profit.

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Alternative_Sort_404@reddit

Kill the secondary market and LiveNation - problem almost solved. The artist ought to be in on that, since they don’t see the profits from resales (or do they?)

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hip-disguise@reddit

small venues still have reasonably priced tickets, never mind the 18$ beers though... I am done with festivals and stadiums. not worth it.

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tunaman808@reddit

$18, not 18$

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rckblykitn14@reddit

Lmao I posted on r/petpeeves about this and it was very divisive (I'm on your side).

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hip-disguise@reddit

whatever

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BigDaddyBull_1989@reddit

I just can’t justify it anymore. There are few things in this life I love more than live music, but even lesser-known bands in smaller venues are going to cost about $100. As a punk rock kid, I was spoiled with $5 gigs growing up and just can’t do it anymore.

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tunaman808@reddit

lesser-known bands in smaller venues are going to cost about $100.

Where? I haven't seen a $100 face-value ticket to a small venue, ever. Even Fazerdaze\Spoon\Pixies was "only" $81 with all taxes & fees, and I thought that was a sky-high ripoff.

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tunaman808@reddit

Stop going to arena shows. I'm probably buying tickets to Nation of Language tomorrow morning, and at $54 all-in I think that's a damn ripoff. But I have all the vinyl of theirs I want, and rarely buy concerts shirts, so it'll probably just cost gas, $9 parking and the ticket, soooo...

Slightly off topic: I really like going to Asheville for shows! The drive back to Charlotte at night is always about 1h 50m. I saw a show up there a couple weeks ago and was home before midnight, ate some leftover pizza for dinner and watched that week's episode of Outlander before bed!

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Outrageous_Plum5348@reddit

We were into the thousands for both Sting and U2. It is getting criminal.

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Cthulwutang@reddit

I saw /r/PeterHookandTheLight in 2023 for three nights for about $100. Granted, it cost me ten times that for the flights, trains, hotel and meals, but it was refreshing and one of my life highlights.

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lionrumpus@reddit

Hooky is the best. Saw him for the first time with New Order and Echo and Bunnymen at Irvine Meadows in 1987. Now, nearly 40 years later, I still get excited to see him play. I saw him in 2011, 2013, 2017, 2022, and twice in 2024. I have tickets to see him twice later this year. Hard to beat $40 a ticket!

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AcademicIdea9169@reddit

Reselling has killed going to concerts and sporting events. The entire system is broken.

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digawina@reddit

And streaming. Artists don't make money off albums anymore, mostly just touring, unless you're Taylor Swift releasing 100 different versions of the same album + one unique song, and your sucker fans buy the same album multiple times to get all those songs specific to each version.

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BarsoomianAmbassador@reddit

Tay has taken exploitation of her fandom to levels of greed that I thought impossible. What do they say about a fool and their money?

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digawina@reddit

I fully agree. And I say that as someone who likes her music. The way she exploits the absolute batshit crazy of her fans is gross. Like, at what point do you have enough money?

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BarsoomianAmbassador@reddit

She's a brand and a business with hundreds of employees.

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raisinghellions@reddit

Well you’re in luck, because tickets are about half that if you go to Red Rocks’s site and buy tix from the box office. Just checked.

This is a resale site you’re on.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

No. Only resale or premium are left on the official site too. The literal cheapest are now $186.

The issue is that resale sites scoop up huge inventory almost immediately. After a short window, that’s pretty much all that’s left.

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OutHereToo@reddit

Bots

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raisinghellions@reddit

I was just there and saw face for 140, but I guess dynamic pricing is doing its thing. Face for 140 is nuts anyway.

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sixteenHandles@reddit

Local bands at local bars and clubs! It’s fun. Hit or miss but it’s cheap. It’s an adventure. Stakes are way lower.

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sauerkraut916@reddit

I’m not familiar with Lord Huron, but a big concert does cost a lot of money to produce. It is very sad that a teenager or everyday working person cannot afford the ticket price.

In the 90s I was lucky that I could afford to see my favorite bands in a major arena, Top-10-artist for about $50. But back then the costs to the artists’ tour for all the crew and venue fees and pyrotechnics were still in the reasonable range. Today every touring artist has to weigh the cost factors of every show.

When the entertainment system is so expensive that everyday fans are priced-out of participating, the artist loses core fanbase traction. But sadly everything is about the money. money, money, money

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Tweakjones420@reddit

I was jsut looking at sublime tickets for friday 4/17 and they are 250 bucks for general admission

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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GenX-ModTeam@reddit

No Politics - Political posts or comments of any sort are not permitted. If you wish to have political discussions, you may do so on our other sub r/GenXPolitics.

Breaking this rule may result in bans, either temporary or permanent.

Before you make the claim: No, providing respite from political discussions does not infringe on your rights.

Also, this politics ban was put before the sub over a year ago, and members have spoken.

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Cold_Device9943@reddit

The last big show I saw was Rush R40, because I knew it was goodbye. I'm out on these ticket prices.

I remember staying all night lined up at the venue ticket office for it to open. All seats were the same price, about $16 in the late 80's. The Eagles cash grab reunion in 94 was the first time I saw different priced seats for the venue where I grew up. The beginning of the end IMO.

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GuitarHeroInMyHead@reddit

The music industry equation is far different today. No one is selling albums anymore...they need to make income off live performances now. When we were seeing shows when we were younger, tours were marketing tools to sell albums and they were artificially inexpensive.

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OutHereToo@reddit

You’re right, unfortunately a massive chunk of that money goes to TicketMaster.

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GuitarHeroInMyHead@reddit

A chunk of the money has gone to Ticketmaster for quite some time... That is not new.

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FilletOFishForMyVife@reddit

Problem is, nobody is going to make money at all if the price point keeps fans away. There’s plenty of artists now saying they’re only breaking even at the end of a tour at best, so they’re being screwed out of record sales and ticket sales simultaneously. The only thing left is festivals, and that market seems to be a little saturated now, at least where I live.

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GuitarHeroInMyHead@reddit

The interesting thing is that fans are not staying away in my experience. I go to.a lot of shows every year - big and small - and they generally have near full crowds. There are lines at the merch tables for $40 t-shirts and the VIP ticket packages sell out quickly. It's like Disneyland...they have not found a price where people stop going.

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Big_Nas_in_CO@reddit

Yup, 💯

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DisturbingPragmatic@reddit

I wouldn't even pay 300 bucks to see "megastars".

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elcad@reddit

I wouldn't pay $100 for anyone.

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vikrambedi@reddit

Wait until the day before or day of the show and check the scalper sites... I got box seats to a major concert for like $30 last year this way.

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SorryForPartying6T9@reddit

You know they’re playing the very next day at Fiddlers Green and you can buy seated tix right at the stage for $120 or GA lawn tickets for $60?

Red Rocks is a destination venue and if you don’t buy artist presale you’ll absolutely get taken for a ride by resale tix. But, they will drop closer to the day of the show.

Lord Huron is a phenomenally great live band, hope you get to see them.

As for ticket prices being “expensive” now. It’s literally the only way artists make money now since streaming stole all their revenue from album sales. And it’s insanely expensive for bands to tour due to just the cost of everything in our world right now.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

I did not know this but thanks for alerting me and I will go there now. We have been in the hospital, tending to a family member and I just honestly stumbled across the show.

Typically, I try to go to the “middle class” musician shows for that reason. For example, I’m goingto pay $45 for Old 97s this summer. I get that musicians make their money this way now, but most of that is going to resellers. But I guess it does guarantee Lord Huron a sold out red rocks show worth of income, so that’s something.

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No_Character_4443@reddit

Sucks, but I'm just priced out of concerts now (and I live 30 minutes from Red Rocks, which is an extra bummer).

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pythongee@reddit

I live relatively close to Red Rocks as well and I haven't been there in 15 years. I looked at tickets to a show there last year that I really wanted to see and they wanted $500 for seats 3 rows from the top.

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Helpful-Intern-677@reddit

Not for me

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

Same, refuse to go. I stopped going to sporting events as well.

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Helpful-Intern-677@reddit

The prices for this stuff is insane

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

Rich getting richer living off the middle folk who can still afford to do this once in a while. Well not me, anymore.

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digawina@reddit

I agree that concert tickets are insane, but I hope everyone complaining is also buying albums. Because that's why it is the way it is (and resellers, but they aren't the only reason). We all stopped buying albums and instead give a monthly fee to streaming services, who don't give the artists shit. We can't have the whole world of music at our fingertips for $10 a month AND see those artists on the cheap.

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usingbadnamesabunch@reddit

Artist typically pull between 10 and 20% of the album sales. The majority of their earnings come from touring.

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digawina@reddit

Right. That was my point.

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usingbadnamesabunch@reddit

thanks for the clarification. I read your comment as "Buy albums - that's how you can help artist earn more money." But if you really want to support artists you need to go to their shows.

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digawina@reddit

Oh, Gotcha. And I think I misunderstood you too, because I kind of was saying to buy albums. But you are totally right, even that isn't going to make much of a dent anymore. The music industry is a mess. The artists aren't making money off the thing people can afford (the albums), and people can't afford to see them live because they aren't making money off the albums.

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Bitter-Assignment464@reddit

Bands and musicians really only make money by touring since record sales aren't a thing anymore.

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digawina@reddit

Right. That was my point.

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Bitter-Assignment464@reddit

👍

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JRemenshneidersHorse@reddit

The last time I saw Lord Huron was for \~$45 at a theatre in maybe 2016. Thats some serious inflation, they haven't gotten that big.

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invertedsaint_666@reddit

Fuck all that. I've seen all my favorite bands numerous times so I'm good. I do however like to go to see smaller or up and coming bands at smaller venues.

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Mustbe7@reddit

Because ...

It's sold out. Had you purchased tickets from Ticketmaster when they went on sale prices would be much less.
Your screen shot is from a ticket broker/secondary market so ppl can price as high as they want.
Buying from the secondary market is feeding the machine, supporting the bots. It's why artist have to raise prices.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Yeah, it's 'sold out' because re-sellers scoop nearly every Red Rocks ticket after the fan pre-sale. The official site has the same prices b/c it's all resale and premium (posted above).

I may be able to track a couple acts well enough to hit the presale, but that's not sustainable for every show. I'm definitely not on the Lord Huron email list.

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Mustbe7@reddit

Oh I know that game too well!! I played it last week. Right when pre-sale dropped for my favorite band who I see numerous times throughout the year, every year, AXS decided I was a bot and locked me out of my acct.

Took me 20-30 mins of trying to get in; w/ wifi off, wifi on, using VPN, no VPN, mobile, laptop ect FINALLY was able to get two 2-day passes. When public sale happened two days later, sold out in seconds.

Sighh

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Sometimes I try to wait out the resellers. Once or twice I’ve been able to pick up reasonable same-day tickets, but I think the algorithms now don’t let you do that as often.

For Beck, the price never dropped - even the same day. I think the resellers are willing to eat it on 30-50 tickets, as long as they can keep the prices artificially inflated most of the time and sell most of their tickets at super premium prices.

Either way, you basically have to become a ticket reseller in order to not get screwed. It’s practically a part-time job not to get inflated tickets.

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Dogzillas_Mom@reddit

And then half of the people in this thread don’t seem to understand any of this. They just think, “welp. It’s costs $300 to see lord Huron now.”

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TheHip41@reddit

Go see lord Huron eventually. He's really good. Not for 325 dollars though.

I refuse to pay that much for anyone.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Surprisingly, I just saw that he’s at Fiddlers Green (outdoor Denver venue)for about $80-$100. That is at least reasonable.

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TheHip41@reddit

He's just a great show. Reminds me of older country artists (not the actual music more the vibe)

Just come out there with a great band and stand there and sing and it's awesome. Like 1900s Alan Jackson

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Yeah. That sounds great.

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Big_Bottle3763@reddit

I would pay those prices to see Lord Huron at Red Rocks tbh. That sounds so amazing. The value is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

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UpstairsCommittee894@reddit

Who is lord huron?

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Super mellow singer-songwriter. Meet Me In The Woods is a representative song I’d say.

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Full_Mission7183@reddit

No mentions that the venue happens to be freaking Red Rocks.

They're not near me, but I would be willing to bet that places like The Gorge, Red Rocks, maybe even the Caverns prices are further inflated by the core of the bands fans willing to travel to iconic venues.

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AintEverLucky@reddit

"Those are rookie numbers in this racket" 😒

A couple weeks ago I saw a social media post about some Metallica tickets, right around this Halloween at SPHERE in Las Vegas. I want to say, they were a pair of 3-day passes, and good-not-great seat locations

... they were asking for like $36,000 😠 😡 😤

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

That is outrageous.

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AintEverLucky@reddit

Those strike me as "wishers prices"... as in, throw it out there, see if anyone is willing to pay literal Top Dollar. If nobody does, gradually lower the price... I imagine if they're still available by say Oct. 1, they could maybe let em go for "only" $10 grand 😒

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Secret-Function-2972@reddit

I just don't do concerts.

Now, I was almost willing to spend for Final Four tickets...until the chance to get some at face value came out of nowhere. (Nosebleeds, but still in the building.)

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Tjwhit29@reddit

Red rock prices are insane, i have seen cover bands going for $80.

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Historical_Project86@reddit

Woah! Tickets are priced competitively, starting at one monthly mortage payment!

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RustyAndEddies@reddit

Your parent’s mortgage, not ours

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Historical_Project86@reddit

Well, true, depends how lucky you are I guess. "A chunk of change", for certain.

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Bigstar976@reddit

I had to fork out $450 to see Tyler Childers last year. He’s my favorite current singer songwriter, but that was a lot of money. Mots people in the audience clearly only knew one or two of his songs that they saw on social media. I wonder how people justify paying those prices.

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RustyAndEddies@reddit

So you “had to” pay $450 because Tyler is your favorite singer-songwriter for now but you’re 100% convinced everyone is only there because they knew a few songs popular on social media?

First, do you know you what hit songs are? Second, do you know radio and MTV are dead? Third, your “everyone is a poseur but me” means you are absolutely in the right sub, so welcome.

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TaterOT@reddit

Just bought Jack White tix yesterday. 120 all in.

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amnichols@reddit

That seems pretty reasonable.

I just paid nearly $500 for third row seats for Duran Duran in Vegas. My kids are paying part of that for my Mother’s Day gift.

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hobbitfeetpete@reddit

I know that venue is awesome, but I saw Lord Huron in the fall for a fraction of that cost. Are you buying through a reseller?

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

At Red Rocks, you can buy through fan pre-sale but after that, there’s about a two hour window, then everything is scooped up by resellers. So this is a reseller website, but the prices are the same on the official site.

My wife loves Lord Huron so I thought I would take a look once I saw he was at Red Rocks. I thought it might be decently priced given that he is not a mega star, but that turned out not to be the case, which is why I posted this.

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jacksprack5150@reddit

Red Rocks is worth the venue if you've ever been. At those prices though, I wouldn't pop on them unless it was like, my favorite band ever. And even then, id probably just go GA and get there 4 hours early.

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Sorry_Lecture5578@reddit

I found that if I track where my favorite band is going to be there are times a flight/hotel/tickets are cheaper than seeing them in Denver. If I plan far enough in advance.

I have a buddy that does that when the Dodgers play here. Its cheaper for him to fly out and sit behind home plate than to sit behind home plate at Dodgers stadium.

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Same_Lack_1775@reddit

Bruce Springsteen is coming to my area. I looked at tickets and the cheap seats are about $500….or you can get tickets for $300 sitting behind the stage in obstructed view tickets.

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amnichols@reddit

Sitting behind the stage for a Springsteen show is super fun. I’ve done it 3 times.

Last two times I saw him I paid around $100 in Denver and for lawn amphitheater tix in Atlanta. He’s gotten too expensive for me. I’d rather pay to watch one of the recorded shows.

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Agreeable-Fault2273@reddit

It really is everything now. They’re having the PGA Championship not too far from me next month. Sounded like fun, maybe take the kids to watch some golf.

Nope, it would be like $1,000 just for 3 grounds tickets. On the Thursday! Plus who knows how much for food, drink, souvenirs?

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

World Cup tickets starting at $1,000….

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LeatherRebel5150@reddit

Im glad my closest venue is an amphitheater and the lawn seats arnt that expensive. Obviously more than they used to be but still in the $35–$50 dollar range for big legacy acts. Going into the seating section costs a bit more usually $75-$100 each. But at this point in my life Id rather just get the seating so I don’t have to compete for position in the lawn

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Red Rocks is just wooden benches like you’re at a high school football game.

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eulynn34@reddit

Who the hell is Lord Huron?

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Bloody_Mabel@reddit

You took the words right out ot my mouth.

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LeatherRebel5150@reddit

It must’ve been while you were…whoops wrong artist

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Bloody_Mabel@reddit

Yeah I almost included that parenthetically.

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fullofsharts@reddit

This was my thought as well.

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Most_Maintenance5549@reddit

Literally never heard of him/it/they.

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Big_Nas_in_CO@reddit

Its also the ticket seller monopoly and agreements (contracts) with resellers. Ever wonder why a band/artist sells out in 5 mins everytime? Its because half (or more) of the tickets are already promised to ticket brokers and the public only gets a chance at whatever is leftover right when they go on-sale. Then it's "sold out" and the scalpers can get whatever they want. Every. Time.

Good thing that anti-trust lawsuit against Ticketmaster was thrown out by Mango Mussolini's DOJ. And get ready to pay more this summer since fuel is going up and those tour busses and 18 wheelers full of gear ain't all electric yet.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Yes, it's maybe not every venue, but every available Red Rocks ticket is purchased immediately after fan pre-sale too. There are only so many acts that I can track pre-sales on. It is literally a racket.

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idobi@reddit

Red Rocks ticket prices have gone up and I am not sure why. I was looking at Yungblud tickets and they were like $1000 near the same section, if I travel, they are $200.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

I guess people from other places go to see their favorite acts here and make it into a vacation, but it sucks when this is your only chance to see them. I'm not paying $200+ for Lord Huron or driving to Salt Lake either.

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SHDrivesOnTrack@reddit

Unfortunately it looks like most of the tix for that show are sold out, and all you’re seeing is resale tix. AXS has some resale reserved seats for $200 which isn’t much better. But I think AXS is the original ticket seller so may be cheaper than the resale sites. I’d go there first and see if you can find something better.

My best advice is to get on the band email list so you can buy presale or first on sale before they sell out. I really try to avoid ticket resellers as they jack the price up and the band gets none of that money.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Yeah, lowest I saw was $186.

My frustration is that, OK, maybe you're tracking Oasis or whomever, which I did well enough to get on the presale site. I'm not doing that for Lord Huron, or at least there's only so many acts you can do that for.

After that, it's 100% resellers. You can't really branch out to see new acts at these prices. The high price is probably somewhat a Red Rocks destination issue, not all tickets/venues are this completely scavenged; but it happens enough that others have seen the same inflation.

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Most_Maintenance5549@reddit

I don’t do stadium shows. I hate them.

If you want to avoid this nonsense, I recommend getting into indie rock and punk from the 80s and 90s, and their awesome and reasonably priced club shows.

Actually don’t.

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BarsoomianAmbassador@reddit

I went to see a band from Europe (melodic metal) in NJ last month. $26, 4 bands, almost 4 hours of music, and there were only about 200 people in the club. I paid $80 additional for VIP so I could meet the band, get some things signed, and a few pics. Arena shows suck, generally speaking. I like supporting emerging artists anyway. Metallica doesn't need my money.

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concerts85701@reddit

Is this the thread where older gen-x tells stories of how cheap concerts used to be?

Or is it a rage bait post showing inflated secondary market prices for a very popular band playing at red rocks?

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sane-asylum@reddit

I’ve been priced out of concerts and sporting events now. Metallica could play in the parking lot of my apartment complex and I wouldn’t pay that much.

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digawina@reddit

Someone I know was just looking for Metallica tickets and grousing about how the nose bleed seats were $800 a ticket. Anyone who would pay that needs their head checked.

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x86_64_@reddit

The Sphere was sold out long before TicketFuckers emailed me that they were "available". Looks like $700 to get in the door and $5k for a "meet and greet" package.

Saw them three times in the 90s for $25 or less.

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sane-asylum@reddit

I’ve seen them on the cheap back in the day as well. I remember my buddy asking me to borrow $100 to see them, maybe on the Justice tour and I knew I’d never see them again.

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fullthrottle13@reddit

Same.. I love live music but shelling out hundreds and hundreds for a single show is ludicrous.

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chasseur_de_cols@reddit

There's only one way to fix this, and that is for all of us to stop buying tickets to shows.

But we won't because FOMO or whatever.

At a minimum we should not be supporting re-seller sites like this one. Buying tickets above face value perpetuates the cycle, and ticket prices keep increasing.

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MNConcerto@reddit

Don't look at theater prices for touring Broadway shows etc.

Holy shit!

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VirusOrganic4456@reddit

"As a marketplace, tickets may be above face value"

Did you check the official sale site? Unless you waited until it was almost sold out there's almost definitely better prices out there.

Never just search for tickets and click a link. Go to the band website and follow the link from the Tour page.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Yeah. Official site is all premium seats and resale too. I think it’s only fan pre-sale and a five hour window where you can buy normal seats.

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VirusOrganic4456@reddit

Fan pre-sale is the way to go. Sign up for your favorites mailing list or follow on social media. That's pretty much the only way I get tickets now. That or credit card pre-sales can also work but usually those are heavily premium seats as well.

The whole thing is a racket but still best to avoid random 3rd party sites like that one.

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raisinghellions@reddit

I just checked, there’s still tix at the box office.

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Glass-Nectarine-3282@reddit

Exactly. I don't understand how we've had online ticket resellers for 25 years and people still don't grasp that one price is not THE price.

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craigechoes9501@reddit

I might not ever go to a concert again.

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devious_204@reddit

Saw U2 on the popmart tour. Floor seats were around $75 canadian. That would be 138CDN in todays money.

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BreadfruitOk6160@reddit

And this was an expensive one. They were mostly $5.50, $6.50 and $7.50. It never was torn because the fence got stampeded down the night before.

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Character-Ad2839@reddit

I saw Pantera and White Zombie in 96. I was just reading a review of that show and it mentioned that the tickets were “expensive” … they were 40! 😬

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KaleidoscopeEqual790@reddit

865 for back row of a Pearl Jam show in South Florida. Needless to say, I skipped that one

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Pug_867-5309@reddit

That's absolutely insane. Front row...maybe. Back row, unless there were only 10 rows...nah.

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Pug_867-5309@reddit

I have never heard of Lord Huron. And not that I'm in the know about all things music, but the fact that I've never heard of this group tells me those tickets are overpriced. That said, I did pay a bit more than that for tickets to see Eric Clapton a few years ago. But that was 8th row...and Eric Clapton...and with my dad, who's also a big fan. Late-in-life core memory right there.

On a related note...have you looked at MLB tickets lately? Uuuuuuuugh. After looking at prices at two different MLB stadiums a couple of days ago, I decided to check secondhand ticket vendors. Bought tickets on vividseats for half the price.

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Key_Mathematician951@reddit

Yep, the prices have gone beyond what the majority are willing to pay. Base prices are through the roof. It is a sad end to an industry. Forget discovering a band or even going regularly.

If you are wondering why this is happening, there are many reasons but the main one of the artists greed. There is an extensive analysis of this bs trend in pricing in Forbes

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Vonnegut_butt@reddit

Is this the article you are referencing? Because it does not blame artists and does not portray them as greedy:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviashalhoup/2026/01/27/concert-tickets-are-now-luxury-goods-and-thats-a-crisis-for-the-music-industry/

As the article explains, musicians make very little money from streaming, the primary source of music distribution today. Every time you stream a song, Spotify (or another billion dollar company) makes the majority of revenue. The recording label makes a few pennies, and the artist makes less than one penny. They then have to share that penny with their manager, their lawyers, etc. if they’re lucky enough to get their song in a TV commercial or on a TV show, that can be more profitable, but not nearly as much as it used to be. And don’t forget that millions of people don’t even pay to stream your song. They use free services or download illegally.

So one of the few remaining revenue sources for musicians is touring — a grueling endeavor in which you go without seeing friends and family for months at a time, performing nightly, and then having to share your revenue with roadies, technicians, and the concert venue itself.

Of course Taylor Swift makes a shit load on her tour. So does Coldplay, and about 100 other megastars. But for the vast, vast majority of working musicians, a tour merely helps them to pay the rent— they are not getting rich. Oh, and also—the vast majority of artists don’t have a say in the price of their concert tickets.

Sincerely, A former working artist

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AZWildcatMom@reddit

No, the main reason is Ticketmaster’s greed. It’s why they keep getting sued and losing.

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will23188@reddit

I just got Billy Idol tickets when he comes to Cleveland (Cuyahoga Falls) in September for $30 each. They are lawn seats, but I enjoy bringing my lawn chair and relaxing under the stars.

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optimal-gold976@reddit

I’ve had more fun seeing smaller bands or cover bands at my small local venue for $10-$25 the last few years than I have seeing big name or the actual artists. There’s very few I would pay to see, but being able to see any of them at Red Rocks (I’ve wanted to go for so long) would be awesome.

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Meepoclock@reddit

💯

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wykkedfaery33@reddit

I didn't pay that much to see Prince back in 2004. And we had pretty solid seats!

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Moxielilly@reddit

I saw Prince for free in 2004 because I worked at the venue and at the last minute, they released some free tickets for employees, which almost never happened for concerts. I wouldn’t have considered myself a huge Prince fan before seeing him live, but OMG I did after. He was such an incredible live performer. I’m so grateful I did get to see him live.

I hardly ever see live shows now, because even if I can afford it, I can’t justify spending $500-600 on one night out, especially if you don’t know for sure that a performer is going to deliver. My only consolation is that as I age, so do the musicians I grew up with and some of them end up at state fairs and other more affordable venues. You don’t get to see them in their prime, but you still get to see them, but those opportunities are few and far between.

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Weird-Girl-675@reddit

And that’s before all of the fees!!

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PissedCaucasian@reddit

Saw Nirvana for $25 in 93 BUT. They could make money off of recordings back then. Now they make most of their revenue off of live shows. Blame streaming and the Ticketmaster (also called ticketweb for smaller acts) monopoly.

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kramwest1@reddit

Did anyone go to First Avenue in the ‘90s?
They used to give you free tickets to other future shows as you walked out from the concert you just saw. They made their money off booze sales.
I love live music, so I’ll cough up for a show I really want to see, but only within reason. I’ve mostly been able to get presale tickets. You need to get ahead of the game and sign up for notifications from the artists and the venues from every outlet possible: email, text, Instagram, Live Nation All Access, etc. None of them cost anything, just the time to delete the notifications you don’t care about, which is most of them.

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Dogzillas_Mom@reddit

Why are you shopping resale tickets?

I have never paid this much for tickets. I saw NIN last fall. I think my seat was $125? I bought at presale. If you’re waiting until right before a show to go, this is what you’re going to get. Also, have you tried the venue box office directly?

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Full_Mission7183@reddit

If you want to see an artist the way is the artist pre-sale code, visiting resale sites, particularly for a location like Red Rocks is going to yield these results.

TicketMaster will still fuck you, but not as hard as the secondary market.

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Bromodrosis@reddit

Resale buys all the tickets. Ticketbastard partners with them and they get a cut from resale.

But they were fined $200m!! 😂😂

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gumercindo1959@reddit

Same goes for broadway tickets. Went to a show a few weeks ago In nyc and I had absolute sticker shock. Insanity.

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IWantTheLastSlice@reddit

I don’t recall the exact price but it was somewhere in the $80-100 dollar range for an upcoming concert. Not bad at all except for the fact that it’s for an outdoor venue (back part) and standing room only. No chairs and not allowed to even bring chairs.

Granted, it’s for the B-52s but c’mon with the standing part. Don’t they know the average age of their remaining fans?

I will not be heading to that love shack.

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kramwest1@reddit

The new Mystic Lake Amphitheater has lawn tickets for $55, but if you want a lawn chair, you have to rent one for $20. At their old venue you could bring in your own chair.
I’m going in June to see what the venue is like and if any of it is worth it. The reserved seats range from $1000 to $60.

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IWantTheLastSlice@reddit

There is a cane that turns into a chair. A boss level move would be to hobble in with that cane then bust out the chair.

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tnofuentes@reddit

Went to the HFStival in '98 and saw them and 25 other bands for ... $25.

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Kauffman67@reddit

Concerts used to be for selling albums. That’s dead, concerts are now primary cash flow.

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PinkyLeopard2922@reddit

Streaming pretty much killed physical media so now instead of touring so people would buy your albums, you tour to get paid. Musicians make very little from streaming.

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parallaxdecision@reddit

Streaming did this. Bands used to get money through physical sales and now they have to get it through ticket prices on top of the monopoly money we have to pay just to buy tickets. It's been years since I've seen a national act, but I do still buy physical media.

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Fair-Wishbone-1190@reddit

I paid $12 for my first ticket to a concert and my mom yelled at me for spending that much money on a ticket. This was in 1987.

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Grafakos@reddit

Sounds about right. If I recall correctly, I paid $12 to see REM and 10,000 Maniacs at my university in 1987. I also saw Pink Floyd, but that was at a premium price, like $20 or so.

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handsomeape95@reddit

I saw Pink Floyd in 1994. Tickets were around $65 but on the floor like 20 rows back from the inflatable warthog. I remember thinking how outrages the price was but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for us.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

U2 Zoo TV tour was $32 in 1992 for me. Exorbitant.

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TrickQuiet9630@reddit

yeah...won't admit what i paid to see the cure at the hollywood bowl, front row, center...

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macgruder1@reddit

Why not? You don’t want fake internet points?

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TrickQuiet9630@reddit

wait, whaddya mean 'fake'? life satisfaction isn't based on likes? my mantle-top display of achievement awards impresses no one? aw man, i'm cold and i am shamed lying naked on the floor... what next? , cow tipping not a real thing? the diamond market is manipulated? walt disney isn't cryogenically frozen under pirates of the caribbean? that baby in the twilight movies was cgi? 😄

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DustSeparate26@reddit

It started with sporting events. Now it has crossed over to the music. $80 to park, $25 for a beer $60 for a poor quality T-shirt on top of $300 plus ticket prices.

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opus_4_vp@reddit

Artists make absolutely no money from albums or streaming so this is how they make up that revenue. They didn't have to overcharge in the 90s when they got rich off CD sales.

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TheEvilOfTwoLessers@reddit

I wouldn’t pay $300 to see Jesus. You can and should go support small bands and venues, which are usually $25 or less at the door in most of the country.

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pichudo33@reddit

That looks like a secondary market site. Do better.

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syzygialchaos@reddit

This, don’t support the scalpers.

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UrsaMajor7th@reddit

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DonaldKey@reddit

That’s $67 in today’s dollars. Around $100 with taxes and fees

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trUth_b0mbs@reddit

the ticket prices are absolutely ridiculous these days.

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rainbikr@reddit

Everything's off by a factor of ten

I guess this = not paying for music x monopoly on ticket selling?

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bigkat5000@reddit

Lord Huron was set to play a "free" concert in a city park near me not long ago. They're good but not $300 good.

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NOGOODGASHOLE@reddit

I wouldn't pay that much to watch my own resurrection.

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lookaround123@reddit

What annoys me about big concert tickets now is the tiered rates. Sure, you can get tickets for $80 but that's only like the last 5 rows of the venue. Want to sit closer, the next 10 rows are $120 and to sit in the front of the balcony is $150. Then the floor starts at $150 for the last 5 rows and gets more and more expensive.

So, I can get in early with a pre sale or something but the cheapest seats all sell out and there is a big gap where folks don't think it is worth it to pay. I've seen this with a lot of the bigger acts (think Neil Young and Sting, for example) where I would go for one of the lower rates, but somewhere over $125 is where I draw the line. Then the tickets sit unsold with Ticketmaster.

Heck, I saw this with a smaller show I saw last week. Diana Krall was playing and Ticketmaster had tix starting at $70 and this again was for the last 10 rows and the price increase was pretty steep for the next section. It was a last minute decision to go so I wound up buying tickets at the box office. I paid $55 to get in the door. Big gaps of seats where folks hadn't paid for the more expensive seats in the balcony. When the show was starting, a lot of folks moved up.

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remweaver27@reddit

At last Ticketmaster has to show the all inclusive price now, which decides if I get sticker shock before I get through to the payment screen. There are very few bands left that I would pay more than $100 to see, and nowadays, at least here in SoCal, you will pay dearly to park, have a beer, and snag some merch.

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macgruder1@reddit

I think that is for every ticketing site now. One of the only good things to come out of the current administration.

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BikingAimz@reddit

Now I get why everyone records shows on their phones. Gotta rewatch a dozen times to justify the cost?

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macgruder1@reddit

Nah, it’s just for internet likes. Everyone is the center of attention now. I’m guilty of it myself.

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macgruder1@reddit

If you really want to go, buy tickets a few hours prior to the event on StubHub, where all the bits scramble to sell What they have left.

Otherwise find smaller bands to see.

That is ridiculous

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Turbulent_Tale6497@reddit

I paid $1k/pair to see both Phil Collins and Paul Simon’s last tours. Then paid $350 to see ZBB.

I think Phil was the best one

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Otherwise-Toe-5380@reddit

I saw Lord Huron once at The Midland in KC in 2018 I think. Since then it has been cost prohibitive. I never missed a Social Distortion show when they were anywhere near me until tickets were priced out of range. Live music being affordable is one of the biggest things I miss these days.

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Fun_Reputation5181@reddit

It’s still affordable at smaller local venues. Arena shows are a thing of the past for me as well though, not only because of cost but that probably the main reason.

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JimTheJerseyGuy@reddit

We, collectively, need to stop feeding this industry. Buy their albums, listen to their music, but draw the line at spending hundreds of dollars per person to see a 90 minute set.

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W0gg0@reddit

I haven’t gone to a concert with the Mrs. since the 90s and that’s the reason why. Way above my pay grade. It’s ridiculous.

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NoH8Kate@reddit

Same here. We keep saying we’re going to go and every time we see the ticket prices we change our mind.

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mkstot@reddit

I’m paying $90 for a night of Claypool gold, and $225 for another night because my family loves me, and I love Primus. The cheaper ticket was from a show that was not sold out the expensive one was resale. Get on the artists mailing list for presale codes, and get your seats the day they go on sale, if possible, to get your seats for face.

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-Granby-@reddit

I'm going to this as will in June. I'm stoked. Been wanting to see Les for a long ass time. I hope Skerik is there.

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sumbozo1@reddit

Primus sucks

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-Granby-@reddit

There are still concerts to be seen that don't break the bank. We are going to see Alice Cooper next week and those tickets were like $100 and that's the most we have spent. Saw Alice last year and it was less than that. We have Primus coming up and I think those were around $60. Bucket in May and those were $45. Viagra Boys were about $50. Devo twice last year and one of those my wife got for $16. John 5 last year for like $40.

Alice is my daughters favorite or I wouldn't be paying that much.

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Beagleguy26@reddit

They only cost that much because someone is willing to pay those prices. If no one was willing, the prices would drop.

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therelybare5@reddit

I think that the last major concert I went to was Billy Joel and Elton John’s Face 2 Face tour. Tickets were probably over a hundred dollars but not like this!

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bonzaiboz@reddit

Here's some stubs I found from the mod nineties. Prices were similar except a few cheaper.

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-EvilLittleGoat-@reddit

This is one of the reasons I’m such a big Jack White fan. Two GA floor seats today cost me $208 with Ticketmaster fees included. He also holds back tickets to sell to students on the day of the show for like $20 or $25 a piece with no feee at the box office. I’ll usually try and catch a Pearl Jam show each tour because they also try to keep prices reasonable, but interest in other shows usually goes right out the window when I see prices.

I feel bad for kids today because so many of my great memories are from concerts and festivals and there is no way it’s affordable now.

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Powerpoppop@reddit

The part about kids sucks. I'm an old dude, but have a couple of older teens. I saw so many arena shows as a teen that I could afford and then club gigs in my 20's every weekend. I do not blame musicians charging $30+ for club shows today since they aren't making much money on music sales. But for the larger gigs? Just not feasible. I wanted to take my family to see LCD Soundsystem last year and $500 for four just isn't going to work for us. I might be able to take one of my kids to a $100 gig, but it will only be once a year.

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bendingoutward@reddit

You know, maybe it's just because I like niche stuff, but I'm heading to a show tomorrow, and two VIP tickets came to just about a hundo after tax for a relatively unknown artist.

Same deal for GA for Bad Religion a couple years back.

Granted, it's not the twenty bucks I blew to see Six Feet Under a decade ago, but still, I'm running into really reasonable tickets.

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Worth_Fondant3883@reddit

Stop going! You won't die but Ticketmaster will.

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MusicMan7969@reddit

This! I’ve pretty much given up on live shows. I refuse to be extorted to see live music and have decided I will buy the record. That’s good enough for me and I’ll utilize my money for more important things like food, shelter and saving for retirement.

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abbagodz@reddit

Geez...and back in 1983, we were talking about how much prices were to see Olivia Newton-John ($23 each). Until a few months later, Marvin Gaye beat her ($25 each).

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MaenHoffiCoffi@reddit

I remember paying £6 to see the Pogues and swearing I would NEVER pay that much again. I would pay $357 to see the Pogues in 1986 again now.

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FilletOFishForMyVife@reddit

My ‘never again’ moment was £26 to see ZZ Top in 1996. I figured they were getting a bit old, and wasn’t sure if they’d carry on playing for much longer …

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Illustrious_Low_1188@reddit

Do you remember the opener? I saw ZZ Top that year at the Gorge in Washington.

My high school friend got free tickets so we all rallied and when we got there they escorted us to the handicap section lol

We thought we were ballers getting walked to our seats. Then we felt like total jerks the rest of the show standing with a bunch of people in wheel chairs

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FilletOFishForMyVife@reddit

It was this concert. They were trying to shed the more radio-friendly tunes and get back to playing the blues stuff, which I appreciate now, but at the time, I did want to hear the Recycler songs.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Yup. I saw Shane a bunch and never regretted it. He was entertaining one way or another.

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Odd_Policy_3009@reddit

I looked into seeing Tame Impala in Columbus and the nosebleed seats were over $300.

There were some floor seats and close to stage on the side seats going for NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS

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velvet42@reddit

I'm going to a 2-day metal festival in June and the GA tickets are less than half that. Significantly less than half that. $140 bucks for 12 bands and all the free-play arcade and pinball games I can stand

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FilletOFishForMyVife@reddit

It’s completely absurd. There’s a blend of price inflation and price-gouging going on, and it’s going to kill music altogether.

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PrivateEnis@reddit

My first pearl jam concert was like $28 a ticket

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Gwaptiva@reddit

I paid NLG 27.50 ($13 or so at today's exchange rate) for my first ticket to Queen

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Bokononfoma@reddit

I splurged $45 (not too bad) to see Mike Patton and The Avett Brothers later this summer. It's a bit of a Frankenstein's monster, but I'm into it. Seeing Mike Patton get emotional like this might just fight that cynicism back for a couple more minutes.

The show will even be at the exact same location I saw Faith No More 31 Years and 1 month ago almost to the day. Pretty sure my college roommate will be there both times with me. They'll even play some of the same songs (Easy, Digging The Grave). I cannot even begin to explain the layers of nostalgia and memories around this. I love live music

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Hurryupslowdownbar20@reddit

Found all my old concert stubs from the 90s.. most were $15-25.. a few were $30-35.. I wouldn’t pay these crazy modern day prices for a group/band from my youth, regardless of big of an act they are/were..

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Guttersnipe77@reddit

I need to find my collection of stubs. Jane's Addiction/Pixies/Primus was like $19 in '91.

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ronwabo@reddit

They are so expensive, I usually only go to a couple a year now. That being said, I did get 2 Rise Against tickets at Red Rocks this year for $150, which is very reasonable in this era.

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AZJHawk@reddit

Red Rocks seems to do a pretty good job at keeping prices down. I saw Big Head Todd last summer in reserved seats for under $100.

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Bokononfoma@reddit

Yeah, just think about what a headache it would be if there were separate parking areas to pay for and all that stuff. It's a cluster just getting out of there.

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TheBetaUnit@reddit

Anyone else remember paying $5 to see Fugazi regardless of the venue?

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OutHereToo@reddit

I mean, sorta? I was pretty drunk and that was 35 years ago.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Yes.

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miggismallz33@reddit

Way too high. Bruno Mars here in Houston over $200 for nosebleeds. Rod Stewart, smaller venue over $100 for lawn seats. I just can’t justify spending $400-$500 for one ticket that’s halfway decent.

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easemeup@reddit

Wait until a day or two before the show and try and get tickets from scalpers that need to unload their tickets. I've lucked out in scoring less than face value because scalpers overestimated the demand for tickets.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Same. I did that for The Black Keys same day last year and got 10th row. It's really the only way I buy tickets now.

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moonbeam127@reddit

its the same for all entertainment. theater tickets are insanely expensive.

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Andovars_Ghost@reddit

Who the hell is Lord Huron?

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

Like they said, it's super mellow music. I like it, but my wife loves them, so I thought, "Maybe this will be cheap and a good birthday present." LOL. That's what blew me away about the price.

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spintool1995@reddit

Very mellow music

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Jerry-Lives22@reddit

theyve been around for a good while…not my cup of tea exactly but they have a dedicated fan base thats wild about them. worth a listen

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Jumbly_Girl@reddit

Yeah, same boat. I'd say for a couple different artists I could consider a weekend night show and build something around it (cocktails, fun in the city beforehand). But the last one I looked at was a weeknight and $280 before transportation/parking and I couldn't figure out any way that made it add up to being worth it.

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hvacigar@reddit

I just had this same reaction to the ticket prices for Weezer/Shins/Silversun Pickups. Saw $240 and closed the computer in disgust. I saw Van Halen for $17, Pearl Jam for $19, and REM with Radiohead opening for them for less than $25.

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CollectsTooMuch@reddit

Don’t forget about the $50 tshirts.

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Hey-buuuddy@reddit

Best solution for high prices is high prices.

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gingerthetrailpup@reddit

It is good that I do not like crowds of any kind. Even a normal day at the grocery store is too much for me.

Even went to a classical music concert … too many people.

😂🤣

I cannot imagine spending that kind of money … but to each their own.

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vikibabbles@reddit

I’m still salty about having to pay $55 for floor seats at Soldier Field in the early 90s to see the Rolling Stones, and I only agreed to do it because they were so old and were probably going to die soon.

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Ok_Echo_6528@reddit

😂😂😂

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Januszek_Zajaczek@reddit

Mine was 40 bucks last Thursday. Saw 4 bands. Maybe not everything is bon Jovi

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unga_bunga_kid1927@reddit

What I paid for my ozzfest ttickets were not even this high. Wow. Glad I don't go to concerts anymore. Ridiculous prices.

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93195@reddit

Yup. The purpose of concerts used to be to promote album sales, which is where the money was. Now that nobody buys albums, the purpose of concerts is to make money.

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thehoagieboy@reddit

I think that's the Red Rocks tax because it's such a cool venue.

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cdlauro@reddit (OP)

I guess that makes sense. Every band’s super fans all across the country are planning to splurge on Red Rocks and a Colorado vacation? It definitely sucks for us out here though.

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Igmuhota@reddit

Got to see so many amazing shows over the years, for which I’m grateful. At this point, I’ve just accepted that this is another thing I’ve essentially been priced out of.

Becoming more of a regular occurrence these days.

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EverythingScrolling@reddit

Nope. There isn't anyone I can think of I would pay that kind of money to see, plus the Uber to get there and back. The crowds.

I'll stay home in my jammies and listen to music.

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Smoking_In_The_90s@reddit

Ain’t no way I’m paying $300 to see any band, past or present.