The Big Money
Krüde has seen his fair share of rock gigs since he
was a wee lad of 13 years old. The cherry popping gig I saw when I was an entry
level teen was Rush. At Radio City Music Hall NYC, on September 19,1983.It
was an amazing show. I still have the shirt I bought that night (doesn’t fit). This
stellar Rush show started me off on a 43 year obsession to see every performer
I ever wanted to see. And I have. Save for a few exceptions (usually death of
artist). Que sera sera….
Here we are in 2026 and Rush is back on the road with a new drummer (RIP Neil
Peart). And a stage show for the ages. The new drummer Anika Nilles.
A chick from Germany that has drummed with Jeff Beck in the past. Loren Gold
is on stage left now playing keyboards. So Geddy Lee and Alex
Lifeson have all the necessary musical weaponry to play a mighty 3 hour set
every gig. Good for them. Better for the fans. An excellent night of music and
visuals for Krüde while in Philadelphia for the Rush 50something tour. Plus, the
cheesesteaks were boss in the arena.
Yet, what I really want to rant about is the price of concert
tickets these days. Rush tickets were not inexpensive. Yes, they had an
incredible stage show. But charging an average of $300 a ticket in an arena is
a bit much. I had a conversation with a Bruno Mars fan a few weeks ago.
He had the same gripe about getting a decent seat at a Mars gig. Nothing under
$500 to sit in a good seat at a football stadium. He also mentioned the ‘cheap’
seats that are usually found at the back corner of a venues’ upper deck are
usually the first tickets to sell out. Maybe 1000 out of 15,000 seats are priced
fairly. Everything else will be a complete rip off. Doesn’t matter if it’s a
rock show, rap, country, pop etc… Concert ticket prices need to come down to
Earth. Ticket sellers often use words such as ‘platinum’ seating to charge a
lot more. Fuck that. If Iron Maiden can keep ticket prices reasonable on
their current tour,so can all the rest. DON’T OVER PAY FOR CONCERT TICKETS. Let
the artists know by not going to their expensive shows. Tell ‘em Krüde
smartened you up. I’m game. Always
Anyways, since I’m making decent $ again, I just cannot
justify seeing an act for a price that seems unfair. Yes, I do recall the days
of normally priced concerts. A normal arena show would cost around $75 for a
good seat. In the 1980’s most shows cost under $20. The’good ‘ol days’ really
were good. And there is no real reason (aside from greed) that we can’t have it
good again. Mahalo
Still groovin’…..
KK