My plan was to write about Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood's performance at Madison Square Garden last night. And how Clapton, at 63 years old, is playing guitar better than ever. And how Steve Winwood, at 60 years old, still has that 19-year-old voice that gave us chills on "Gimme Some Lovin" nearly 40 years ago. And how for the same cost as my mother's monthly rent controlled apartment, you could have had a pair of decent seats. And how even though the cost was ludicrous, you really can't put a price on the joy and experience one gets from music. And how I would have paid twice that amount of money to relive certain concert moments of my lifetime.
Since you asked, a few examples.
Elvis Costello & Rosanne Cash performing "Unwanted Number," Costello's original tune written for the film Grace Of My Heart, but never recorded, in front of less than 100 people at the Rubin Museum in New York. (one of the toughest tickets ever)
The Black Crowes & Wilco on two separate nights, just a few weeks after 9/11. They were the first concerts I went to after thinking I would never see live music again, and both bands were visibly moved by the turnout, the emotion, and just being alive. So was I.
New Orleans pianist and R&B artist Jon Cleary with some of New Orleans R&B legends including Dave Bartholomew & Earl Palmer performing rock 'n' roll classics at Preservation Hall from midnight to 3:A.M..
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint performing Paul Simon's "American Tune," at New York's Beacon Theatre, not long after Katrina. (man, did I lose it that night)
Just about anytime Bruce Springsteen plays "Jungleland" or "Rosalita."
I wanted to write about how seeing Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood perform one of my favorite songs of all time, "Can't Find My Way Home," last night at Madison Square Garden has made it into my top 10 live performances.
But I can't. I can't write about any of that. I am too distracted. Not by the fact that at last night's concert at MSG, a cup of room temperature Stella Artois beer cost $8.25, the same as a cold six pack. (No one was under any obligation to purchase any.) Or that a foot long, undercooked phallus of encased baloney in a damp roll that MSG loosely referred to as a hot dog was $6.75. (I didn't want one, but someone did.)
I was distracted by James Dolan, that lovable philanthropist and CEO of Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the once beloved Beacon Theatre, and how he has not only turned the New York Knicks into the laughing stock of the NBA, but has also turned some of New York City's best concert venues into the worst. (Especially on those nights when his band, J.D. & The Straight Shot, a third-rate bar band of wealthy businessmen who sinfully play "A Change Is Gonna Come" in their set, opens the show. There is NOTHING more offensive)
I guess you can't blame the mogul for the cost of the ticket. The same way Bruce Springsteen keeps his ticket below $100, Clapton & Winwood could have opted for the same, instead of the $250 per that they were asking. But all three shows sold out. So, I guess that's not Dolan's fault. And, like the beer and hot dog, no one was obligated to buy. (Although before J.D. took over the Beacon Theatre, shows were regularly priced between $40-$60. Now, even Frank Caliendo, comedian and John Madden impersonator, gets to charge $65. That's funnier than anything in Caliendo's act.)
But here is what really got under my skin.
A 12 ounce bottle of water was $4.25! Not $4.00. $4.25!! Every convenience store in the USA can afford to sell a bottle of water for $1.25. Is it really necessary for James Dolan and Madison Square Garden to charge 4 times that amount? For water. Which is free. And to add insult to thirst, the vendors won't give you the cap for the bottle. You're getting an incomplete bottle of water for $4.25.
I, along with 20,000 other fans, attended a great concert event last night. Why am I going on about an overpriced bottle of water? Because this is what NYC has become, thanks to people like James Dolan. Yes, that's right. However unfair it may seem, I am blaming James Dolan for making NYC unlivable unless you've got mad money or no conscience whatsoever. I've known this for a long time, as long as I've never had mad money, which is forever. But it really didn't hit home until my wife asked me to leave our $269.70 (with service charge -- HA!) seat and get her some water.
Eric Alterman often files items on his blog Altercation, under the heading "My City Kicks Your City's Ass." He boasts about all the wonderful events that take place here on a regular basis, some of the time free, but most of the time, definitely not priced to move. Born and raised in NYC, I've always felt that same way as Eric. NYC kicks every other city's ass! I'm not feeling it anymore. I can't be the only one who feels this way.
And don't get me wrong, I do like some of Celine Dion's music. But I'm glad she is leaving Las Vegas and the diva Bette Midler is taking over! Dion charged close to $250.00 (crappy seats) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday Nights. Could you even imagine what they would have been if the seats were good??
Again, thanks so much for writing this article. I'm also a huge fan of both Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton, but extremely disappointed that they charged that amount for their show. WRONG, just WRONG!
Take good care,
Gayla
Las Vegas
Here's a concert I attended in 1969 at the Electric Playground in Chicago. Tickets, at the door, were $12.
Ted Nugents Amboy Dukes opened.
Savoy Brown (with Chris Youlden) did the next set.
Jethro Tull kicked ass after a brief intermission and...
Led Zepplin closed the show with a blistering hour and a half.
Zep actually set up their own gear, no doves, big screen videos, just four young guys playing their butts off. I've seen Zep 6 times. That first one was the best.
Also, a giant 12 hose hooka was passed around the hall.
This will never happen again in rock.
For starters, there is little competition. Used to be, in any given market, there were a few promoters that booked a handful of venues varying in size. These days, most shows are AEG or Live Nation, if not local branches then because these national promoters have purchased the entire tour directly with the band/agent and go into every market and produce that show. Everyone wants to make more and more money. Capitalism and free market says that the market dictates the price; if you charge more and more and people are willing to pay more and more, than your price is validated. Doesn't make it the right thing to do... but in the realm of economics, it's accurate.
The artists are grabbing money. Their managers are grabbing money. The promoters are grabbing huge wads of money. Dolan owning the venues he does is raping customers by overpricing everything, for sure. You can also blame him for the overpriced merchandise -- while the artist dictates the price points on t-shirts, programs, hats, etc... the cost includes the amount they are obligated to turn over to Dolan and the venue at each show, therefore the price to the concertgoer is marked up to include the cut the artist has to hand over to the venue. Standard practice.
Very few artists care about the fans. So long as people buy the tickets at higher and higher prices, the artist will sell them at higher and higher prices. But they've also smartened up -- the promoters aren't innocent in the deal but the secondary ticket market (the StubHubs, E-Bay, CraigsList and broker sites) is exploding... and the artists realize people are willing to pay ridiculous prices for tickets because they're paying that money to the scalpers and the artists aren't getting any of that money... so the artists started putting tickets up on official TicketMaster and Ebay auctions... offering exclusive extras packages... whatever it takes to get the money out of the hands of the brokers and back into their pockets. If they can't beat them, they join them.
The Police. MSG. August 2007. $240 per ticket. Single biggest waste of money on a concert ticket in the 25+ years I've been going to shows... Zero production. Same 3 pasty white guys on stage. Pure profit for all involved.
The artist, manager, promoter combo are doing the money grab -- why in the world would Celine Dion put tickets to her arena tour on sale ONE YEAR before the actual showdates? a) to coincide with the media push when she finished her vegas run and her new album came out... get people excited and the marketing/advertising for the tour overlaps with the marketing budget for her album and therefore the promoter doesn't have to spend as much from their budget.... and b) while the customer's money is deducted from their account or their credit card is charged immediately, the collected money earned by the ticket sales sits in an interest gathering account... for a YEAR... giving even more money to the promoter, artist and ticketing firm.
Yep. The industry is vile at the moment.
Any concert in Dallas at the Smirnoff Center, Cotton Bowl or American Airlines Center features 8 dollar beers, 6 dollar dogs and a bottle of FREAKING WATER for 4.25.
Coincidentally, the last major concert I saw was Clapton's "Crossroads Guitar Festival" at the Cotton Bowl a few years ago and while the tickets were worth the price, it was the added cost of concessions that drove me away from going to any more concerts.
Spender,
There is a listing for 5 different Ray Davies concerts that are about to go on sale. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and Philly. Ticket prices start at $35 and peak at $65, with the exception of Chicago, where the high price is $75. Starting tomorrow, a 6th venue will be added to Ticketmaster, NYC's Beacon Theatre. That ticket will be $100. Do you think Ray will be bringing brother Dave out for that show? Will the show be 25 minutes longer? I think not.
Stillman, I am sorry to say, I just don't agree. I wasn't there in 1969, but I am not one of those fans who refuses to believe his last great achievement as a guitarist, was also his first--Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Eric Clapton's CD releases have been mediocre at best. And yes, some of his live performances have been phoned in. But that doesn't mean he cannot play. Choosing to play and being able to play, are two different things. He is not only NOT "past his days as a great musician," his playing has never been so inspired. If you attended the show last night, and you disagree, right on. But Eric Clapton set Madison Square Garden on fire.
I didn't know people eventually lose their talent the longer they perform. Someone tell Slash and all the other brilliant guitar players - their days are limited!
Anyone who admires "pimps" just because they don't work for Disney is a person who has had never had to work for any of them.
"But I like going to Times Square and looking at all the pimps and watching them hit the prostitutes and then we can take pictures of the drug addicts and then we go home to our comfortable apartment and watch movies! It's fun! Why is Disney taking that away from us! What are we going to do now for fun! We could look at women being exploited in other countries but that is expensive! I hate Disney!"
And you should be telling us more important things like how great it was to hear "Layla" live in concert.
Well, the headline seems ok to me. And I would have mentioned "Layla," except they didn't play it.
I would have been so upset if I paid that much and he didn't even play "layla" that night. I play that song almost every day at work and also "wonderful tonight" with the guy from Dire Straits.