Would you pay more for a ticket price for smaller venue to weed out the partiers?

cincybearcat

HughFreakingDillon said:

Was at a show over the weekend. The Watchmen come back to Winnipeg usually annually, and it's almost always on a Saturday. That really brings out the "let's get loaded and nostalgic" crowd. The lead singer usually does at least on a capella song, as he's got the voice to do it, and it's magical every time. Inevitably, some idiot(s) always end up interrupting him and yelling shit out during it, and this time was no exception. He actually stopped midway through and said "it's my turn pal". Then, right when the band was coming out for the encore, some guy had a medical emergency (I'm going to guess something he ingested) and the rest of the show was cancelled. 

So I was thinking: maybe it's time the band scale back the venue capacity, charge more, so the fans who are actually out to see them are the ones who go, and the ones who just want a party can stay home and get loaded and watch youtube. 

I'd personally pay a premium for that. Of course it's not going to get rid of all the drunks, but I think it would help. 

Would you do it?

Yes.  I feel this way throughout most aspects of my life.  I am willing to spend more $ to make my life easier and better.  

goldrush

How much more are we talking? Tickets prices are getting crazy anyway (the Sydney GC tickets were almost $300 AUD each), so I’m not sure how much more I’d be willing to pay.

As others have said, idiots will always get in. Drunks and assholes have cash too! When Ed played the State Theatre in Sydney (capacity of around 2000), there were still people talking, calling out, rushing towards the stage etc (How many times has he heard drunk people yell out “you’re the Better Man” over the years?”)

Get_Right

Unfortunately I doubt there is any correlation between douchebaggery drunken behavior and higher prices or smaller venues. There might even be more of them at an expensive smaller show. I seem to encounter fewer of them when I go to festivals. And yes, the phone use is totally annoying.

lexicondevil

I really don't think a smaller venue would weed out annoying party people. I would definitely pay more for a bigger band at a smaller venue. In fact, I just did. Saw The National at a much smaller venue than they were playing the next day an hour away. It was more expensive, but worth it. There were hella annoying drunks there. They were mostly wine moms/dads(show in Napa). I haven't seen so many obviously wasted people at a show in a long time. It gave me an opportunity to practice keeping calm and trying to ignore, while still enjoying the show. I was mostly successful.

brianlux

HughFreakingDillon said:

Was at a show over the weekend. The Watchmen come back to Winnipeg usually annually, and it's almost always on a Saturday. That really brings out the "let's get loaded and nostalgic" crowd. The lead singer usually does at least on a capella song, as he's got the voice to do it, and it's magical every time. Inevitably, some idiot(s) always end up interrupting him and yelling shit out during it, and this time was no exception. He actually stopped midway through and said "it's my turn pal". Then, right when the band was coming out for the encore, some guy had a medical emergency (I'm going to guess something he ingested) and the rest of the show was cancelled. 

So I was thinking: maybe it's time the band scale back the venue capacity, charge more, so the fans who are actually out to see them are the ones who go, and the ones who just want a party can stay home and get loaded and watch youtube. 

I'd personally pay a premium for that. Of course it's not going to get rid of all the drunks, but I think it would help. 

Would you do it?

Wow!  Well, first of all, bummer that this incident happened and I'm sorry to hear about it.  Hopefully you'll get a better situation next time.

I would pay more to see a favorite band or artist in a smaller club if I knew the extra money each attendee was paying was for a couple of things like: a) someone at the door to check cell phones, and a couple of good bouncers to kick out the idiots who interrupt or heckle the artists. 

But any more, I would probably only go see groups or solo artists for whom such problems are likely to be rare or non-existent: Henry Rollins, Steve Wynn, The Dream Syndicate, Lee Ranaldo, Juliana Hatfield, John P. Strohm, Richard Barone, and most jazz artists. 

jatimbo

Nah!