Does Anyone REALLY think ticket prices are too high?

moeron · Post by **moeron** » January 28, 2007 2:59 pm

Last year was the first time in years that I did not see Jimmy. I couldn't afford to pay to see Jimmy. With a daughter in college me being outsorced in my job, bad spelling and all. I had a party in my backyard with RM on. We had a great party for alot LESS than we would have spent. With no lines to the bathroom. I will be online and in line to try to get tickets, but if I don't well too bad thats more money for me and less for Jimmy. Hopefully Jimmy will play back at wrigley field this year. I get to see him for free since I work there.

gb · Post by gb » January 28, 2007 8:21 pm

YES,they are too high.. $125 for a ticket is ridiculous.. Dave Matthews tickets are only around $40 as are a lot of other good shows.. OR you pay $40 for a Jimmy ticket and sit in the lawn.. What about something between $40 and $125?

Demerara · Post by **Demerara** » January 28, 2007 8:42 pm

moeron wrote:I had a party in my backyard with RM on. We had a great party for alot LESS than we would have spent. With no lines to the bathroom.

We did much the same thing. I simply couldn't justify the expense of the tickets, transportation, accommodations, etc. So we stayed home, did our own backyard tailgating, and probably saved $500.

A few years ago, I set my "ticket price threshold" at about $80 (exclusive of taxes, fees, etc). That's what I'd pay to see Jimmy. Worked fine in '04 and '05, but not in '06. I'm hoping the mid-range tickets make a comeback this year but I'm not holding my breath. My backyard, a barbecue, a cooler full of Corona, a pitcher of margaritas, and RM blasting - that'll do the trick.

LonePalm1 · Post by **LonePalm1** » January 28, 2007 10:38 pm

$150 for my 1 weekend party a year, is fine by me!

Demerara · Post by **Demerara** » January 29, 2007 1:05 am

I can confirm that Jimmy will not be playing the Post-Gazette Pavilion on July 6 this year.

Why? Because the Volunteer Jam is there: the Charlie Daniels Band, the Outlaws and the Marshall Tucker Band - all on the same day! And the best part? A pair of pavilion seats costs $25, thanks to the Buy 1 Get 1 Free promotion. That's right, $25 for a pair.

Charlie Daniels +
Marshall Tucker +
Outlaws = $12.50/ticket

Jimmy Buffett = $126/ticket

Let's see... Four tickets to see three legendary Southern Rock acts and a hotel room for the night for less than the cost of a single Buffett ticket. Time to put the Hawaiian shirt in storage and get out the Jack Daniels t-shirt!

JustDucky · Post by **JustDucky** » January 29, 2007 1:13 am

Y'all have left out one major part of touring acts playing venues - the promoter setst the prices, yes. The act gets a set amount for that tour (or along those lines). But....

The act has to rent the venue. That costs money and goes into the ticket cost.

That's why the Stones, U2 and other huge international touring acts put tickets on sale way in advance of the show and put the money into a high interest account, which then allows them to have the room to offset the cost overall for production and transportation and rental of the venue. For example, when the Stones came to New Orleans in 1994 and U2 in 1997 it cost them, from what I've read, $100,000 a day to have the dome. On average, it takes a total of 3 days to set up, play and tear down.

There you go. Neither show sold out - neither show sold HALF of the tickets. The rest of the tour soaks that loss up.

Be sad the day Starbucks sponsors a tour - it will cost double. Maybe triple. Ha ha.

NorthernConch · Post by **NorthernConch** » January 29, 2007 1:31 am

JustDucky wrote:
Be sad the day Starbucks sponsors a tour - it will cost double. Maybe triple. Ha ha.

but on the bright side you will be able to get double foam on your beer

frognot · Post by **frognot** » January 29, 2007 7:47 am

Hoot Island spoiled me. The parking lot party was so much fun & the whole setup too awesome. Listening to the concert on satellite radio would have sounded so much better that the acoustics on the lawn. Plus less crowded and better (and cheaper) drinks in the parking lot. Next time, i'll probably just guard the Yucatan . . . i mean, parking lot.

Conolulu · Post by **Conolulu** » January 29, 2007 7:50 am

frognot wrote:Hoot Island spoiled me. The parking lot party was so much fun & the whole setup too awesome. Listening to the concert on satellite radio would have sounded so much better that the acoustics on the lawn. Plus less crowded and better (and cheaper) drinks in the parking lot. Next time, i'll probably just guard the Yucatan . . . i mean, parking lot.

Hoot Island spoiled a lot of us...

First time I never , ever left my tailgate and walked the lot...and didn't even think about it....

I have already weighed in on my opinion about ticket prices, over and over.....not going to argue this one again....

TommyBahama · Post by **TommyBahama** » January 29, 2007 7:54 am

Yes they are high and getting out of control.....Just a few years ago they topped out at 50-60 dollars

Quiet and Shy · Post by **Quiet and Shy** » January 29, 2007 11:34 am

JustDucky wrote:The act has to rent the venue.

Hmmm...I'd never heard that before. I always thought all facility costs came out of the venue's portion of the gate, concession sales, other fees, etc.

So you're saying Jimmy pays to rent a facility out of his 85-90%? Does that mean he pays all of the other "variable" costs (security, cleanup, venue staff, electricity, etc.) as well?

drunkpirate66 · Post by **drunkpirate66** » January 29, 2007 12:19 pm

what about when people pour gasoline on their gas grilles and then light a match and blow themselves up in the parking lot? Happened. EMT, police, ambulance ride, hospital easily costs 20,000. Most of that is tax payer money; atleast before the individuals insurance kicks in their small percentage. Those responsible for the insurance rates for a parking lot with ten's of thousands of drunken fools playing with fire and generators has to be huuuuuuuuuuge.

jimsig · Post by **jimsig** » January 29, 2007 3:02 pm

drunkpirate66 wrote:Not to beat a dead horse but I still can;t believe that places like Great Woods don't charge for parking. 15,000 cars (I am guessing) X 40$. Thats alot.

Technically Great Woods does charge for parking, $ 1 per ticket. I also wonder if at some of these venues they can not charge for parking, or have a set amount (like what is included in the tickte price) due to agreements with the towns they are in. These town have to put up with a lot when they have a venue, having people parking in the near by neighborhods would be a nightmare, regardless of how many no parking signs you put up. Granted some venues have paid VIP parking, but no one is forced to pay it.

jimsig · Post by **jimsig** » January 29, 2007 3:08 pm

Quiet and Shy wrote: Re. parking lot charges, my guess as to why they're included in ticket prices is to prevent non-ticket holders from filling up the lots. With Buffett tickets being as expensive as they are and people loving the party around it, I'm sure that could become an even bigger issue than it already is. (Parking is usually separate for stadium shows because lots and venues are operated by different companies). And also, not collecting $s at the lot gate keeps traffic flowing better and keeps the parking lot folks from handling cash.

At Great Woods you have to show you have a ticket drive into the parking lot, thought I have heard people get around it. I believe it was 1998 when they filled the parking lot at Buffett's Sat show. It was the first time they ever filled the lot in the history of GW. People who had to use one of the few paid lots outside were p*** they were turned away as the ticket for GW includes $1 for parking. Expecting to park for free and having to shell out probably $20 at that time for parking at that time ticked a lot people off.

rednekkPH · Post by **rednekkPH** » January 29, 2007 3:27 pm

gb wrote:Dave Matthews tickets are only around $40

That's $39.99 too much.

pirate676 · Post by **pirate676** » January 29, 2007 5:06 pm

look the other way at 20,000+ breaking open container laws, public nudity laws, numerous fire code violations, etc Wow..sounds like I might have to fly to GW. Thats a great endorsement

I payed IMO alot to go to Wrigley. I had 6 tickets for myself and friends. They got deployed to Katrina so I ate a fair amt of the ticket price but it was worth every penny. I probably would not pay that much for every venue but for Wrigley it was worth it.

I don't like not being able to get a ticket at face value after three minutes at ticketmaster. That's why I was not at Alpine last year. Couldn't afford scalper prices but was a good enough excuse to get sirius which has been wonderfull. Hopefully I get lucky and get Alpine tickets at face this year.

Tiki Torches · Post by **Tiki Torches** » January 29, 2007 6:33 pm

Demerara wrote:I can confirm that Jimmy will not be playing the Post-Gazette Pavilion on July 6 this year.

Why? Because the Volunteer Jam is there: the Charlie Daniels Band, the Outlaws and the Marshall Tucker Band - all on the same day! And the best part? A pair of pavilion seats costs $25, thanks to the Buy 1 Get 1 Free promotion. That's right, $25 for a pair.

Charlie Daniels +
Marshall Tucker +
Outlaws = $12.50/ticket

Jimmy Buffett = $126/ticket

Let's see... Four tickets to see three legendary Southern Rock acts and a hotel room for the night for less than the cost of a single Buffett ticket. Time to put the Hawaiian shirt in storage and get out the Jack Daniels t-shirt!

Only thing is, I'm surprised the Marshall Tucker Band and the Outlaws even have permission to use those names since most of the original band members aren't even in the lineups any more.

Tiki Torches · Post by **Tiki Torches** » January 29, 2007 6:57 pm

Cincy'sOwnDrunk wrote:All tickets are too expensive, whether it be Buffett orost anyone else.

Not true, especially when Buffett tix are $126 and some others are much, much less than that.

Demerara · Post by **Demerara** » January 29, 2007 9:01 pm

Tiki Torches wrote:Only thing is, I'm surprised the Marshall Tucker Band and the Outlaws even have permission to use those names since most of the original band members aren't even in the lineups any more.

Yeah, but Fingers isn't in Jimmy's lineup anymore is he?

I think there's only one original member in the Marshall Tucker Band and two in the Outlaws (and two in the Charlie Daniels Band). Then again, all three bands had kind of an evolving (revolving?) lineup over the years.

JustDucky · Post by **JustDucky** » January 29, 2007 9:06 pm

I know of only the football and baseball stadiums charging the fee to use the space for how ever many days the artist/act is there with stage, etc...Nothing ever mentioned if that goes into covering personnel for parking, vendors, damage repairs, etc...

I don't know if JB pays any kind of rent for the sheds. I've only ever read about the Stones and U2 - and only because of how they lost money for not selling enough tickets and the cost of renting the Superdome.

Maybe when you sell out 80% or so of your shows every year like JB does no one ever talks about costs.

I've found it so strange to look in PollStar to see tickets available and tickets sold for the big touring acts and not all of JB's shows are sellouts. Even though everyone always says JB's sold out etc...

I would think there is some kind of rental fee though - those places don't let JB and whoever play for free. Probably years ago when JB would do 2-4 shows at some venues the cost was lower for tickets. Now he does less shows so the cost is higher.

Still doesn't make sense that JB charges what he does compared to whoever that three-pack deal was someone mentioned. With one exception - he knows people will pay no matter what. And he doesn't want to play as many shows a year anymore. It's become more of a luxury than anything else for the fans and less of a pain in the ass for JB.

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Does Anyone REALLY think ticket prices are too high?

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