But a reader pointed out that the best prices for concert tickets can be found on StubHub! I looked and sure enough, prices for the Minneapolis concert appear to range between $134 and ...... $10,757! If you don't believe it, look!
However, many tickets exist in the $150- $250 range. Not great, but not the worst in the stadium. AND, most importantly, StubHub! promises that the price you see is what you'll pay - no surprises with taxes and fees.
Theoretically at least, PK and I could see the Stones for between $300 and $400.
The Events Ticket Center, where I originally searched (and also called and talked to a real person two days ago) now has tickets ranging from $124 to $4,450. A couple days ago, the lowest ticket listed was for $250 and the highest was $3,400. How could the prices change so dramatically in a few days?
The guy I talked with—his name was Shawn—told me that those two tickets, the cheapest available, with taxes and fees, would end up costing $677.
Hence I ditched my long-held desire to go to a Stones concert. And also got huffy.
About the June 3 Stones concert in Minneapolis? Reconsidering.
As a another reader pointed out, YOLO. For any Luddites out there, that means you only live once.
If I start talking myself into buying concert tix (which will also mean adjusting PK's attitude) I would add LIS - Life is short.
Original post
Hey! You! Get Offa My List!
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| I love this caricature of the Rolling Stones. I hope the copyright police don't come after me for posting it on my non monetized (what a word!) blog with 10 readers and sue me for copyright violation. Because then I could really never afford a Rolling Stones concert. |
Such a stumble/grab occurred a few days ago when I realized that PK and I would be in Minneapolis on June 3 for a Rolling Stones concert. Wow! Big damn grab! Right by the throat. Made my tongue stick out like on that famous album cover.
I'm a rock n' roller from way back, and for years, the Stones was my favorite band. That was before a great flood of easy-to-access music, and younger friends, pumped up my music life. I still love the Stones, and never tire of songs like Jumpin Jack Flash and Sympathy for the Devil, but the band has settled somewhere on the far edge of music that compels me to dance, sing, sniffle, or otherwise enter an elevated state.
When the Stones was my top band, I was dying to see them in concert. I thought I would have given anything! Not any more.
Not since yesterday when I discovered that Rolling Stones concert ticket prices start at $250 and go up to, are you ready? $3,400!!! For one freaking ticket!
According to one source, the Stones are far and away the most expensive in-concert artists. Here's a list from 2013 and a more recent source with similar information. The first source also details how many millions per year some of the artists amass. Amounts listed are the average ticket price.
10. Paul McCartney, $241
9. Pink, $270
8. Fleetwood Mac, $282
7. Beyonce, $294
6. Roger Waters, $314
5. Justin Timberlake, $339
4. Eagles, $354
3. Maroon5, $364
2. One Direction, $460
1. Rolling Stones, $624
Ok. Where have I been hiding that I didn't realize that Big Names command small fortunes for their stadium extravaganzas?
I've been hiding in the sticks. And in the decades that have passed since I first loved the Stones in the 60s. I've been hiding in the garden and on the rivers and in the mountains where pop culture and media don't necessarily rule. I've become a person far enough removed from mainstream culture that I cannot fathom the audacity of billionaire celebrities asking fans to pay hundreds/thousands to see them. And I don't get it about celebrity worship that involves spending more on a single concert ticket than many people pay for a month's rent.
I don't feel deprived (well, maybe a little) of great live music. We live on the I-5 corridor midway between San Francisco and Portland/Seattle, and because of that geography, we snag fabulous talent into our little venues for mid-week concerts. Big names, not the Stones or U2 or Fleetwood Mac, but artists that are Grammy winners or nominees or should be. The local concerts usually run between $25 and $55, but we did pay $99 to see Richard Thompson last year. (At the historic Rogue Theater.)
I won't even get started on the fantastic concerts we've seen at various New Orleans venues, none of which exceeded $100 per ticket. More like $30.
My nephew Michael Johnson lives in Minneapolis and was considering the Stones concert with us until informed about ticket prices. He wrote:
Playground for the rich. I mean, back in the sixties, who would have thought it would come to this? But I guess the "bad boys of rock" never were really part of that altruistic hippie crap anyway. Don't get me wrong, but the Stones were definitely more sex and drugs than they were peace and love.
I responded:
I imagine that the really huge names in rock, hip hop, rap, country, pop, can command these prices. But I’m trying to think of a “peace and love” group from the sixties or seventies that is still as popular as the Stones.
Michael:
A peace and love group that is still around? Well, I think they are on PBS getting rolled out for the pledge drives. Then the six-figure salaried CEOs of said non-profits get to go see the Stones! This is the top-heavy celebrity worshipping "culture" of our times.
Well, whatever. PK and I will be in Minneapolis June 3. We will not be paying $677 (cheapest 2 tickets + fees and taxes) to occupy nosebleed stadium seats at a Rolling Stones concert. But I, for one, will offer a reluctant toast to a great Stones song, You can't always get what you want.
