Neil Young ticket prices

disconnected

How 'bout this:


An Open Letter To Neil Young On Ticket Prices For The Turnstiles

neil-young-nashville-2006.jpg
Over on the widely read Blogcritics, The Rockologist Glen Boyd has written "An Open Letter To Neil Young". In the letter, The Rockologist lays out his devotion to Neil's career that has zigged and zagged across the highway. The Rockologist was there for Neil with Tonight's The Night and On The Beach in the 70's and in the '80's with Trans and the Shocking Pinks. He writes:

I also stood by you when you courageously released 2006's Living With War, an album which would've gotten you deported back to your native Canada if the pro-Bush righties had anything to say about it. Hell, I even defended your honor right here on Blogcritics for months, when one such right-wing nut responded to my original review of that album by flaming the article with something like 500 angry messages about how releasing a record like that was somehow "anti-American."


Now comes the Chrome Dreams II tour and the associated ticket prices where The Rockologist is paying $172 to see Neil in Seattle. And this is where he draws the line.

Look, I know that some of the other big tours like The Stones, The Police, and McCartney have gotten away with charging upwards of $300 a ticket, but those are bigtime stadium rock and roll extravaganzas, Neil. Somebody's gotta pay for all those explosions and lasers. Somehow, I suspect we won't be seeing any of those at your show. At least I would hope not.

I mean look, it's not like you need the money, right? If I recall correctly, there was an interview you gave around the time Living With War came out, where you said you had made enough money where you didn't really care if the records sold or not, as long as you were able to play the music that you were feeling at the time. So doesn't that rule also apply here?

Anyway, Neil, like I said before I've always stood by you, and I guess I'll stand by you now too. I'm really looking forward to hearing the new album, and I can't wait for the concert - although at $172 a ticket, there better be one hell of a setlist. How about the entire second side of On The Beach for starters? Sound good to you?


Even some of the Rusties are feeling the pain as Mark "looking thru a travelers glass" explains in the post Hello and goodbye: "I won't be attending Neil's concert here in LA for a few simple reasons."

But it turns out that the above criticism is fairly mild when compared to the satirical post Neil Young Returns to St. Louis; Fans Secure Second Mortgages to Buy Tickets by Eric Whelchel:

"Still other fans are finding creative ways to support their Neil Young habits. “My wife has agreed to cut our three children’s meals down to two a day, and my wife, the little angel, is stopping her medication for a few weeks. Lupus isn’t that serious, right?” said Jessie “Slappy” Pellegrino. “With these steps, I can afford two of the $79 middle balcony seats, and only have to shell out $22 in service charges. Plus, from the middle balcony about 50 rows back, Neil will look like a closer blur than he will for those shlubs in the upper balcony section. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with such a musical legend; there is nothing more inspiring for an audience than seeing an artistic genius through squinted eyes and binoculars.”"


The Rockologist, Mark and Eric Whelchel are not the only fans complaining about ticket prices for the turnstiles. We've received quite a few comments here at Thrasher's Wheat along the lines of how can Neil tour a song called "Ordinary People" and then charge these prices?

It's a fair question. I can only point out a few observations and not necessarily as a defense of Neil's business. First, virtually the entire music industry has imploded and been turned on its head. This we all know as CD sales have plummeted and downloading, burning and ripping are rampant. Nowadays, many musicians can support themselves only by touring and selling merchandise (although Neil clearly does not fall in this category). Those are the economics.

And then there is the ticket market itself with scalping and ticket brokers whose profits are greatest on the spread between face value and demand. Obviously, the higher the ticket face value, the more goes into Neil's pocket and the less into scalper's. Neil is playing small venues that are selling well enough that both Denver and Toronto have added shows.

Is Thrasher thrilled by the prices? I look at this way. We could be seeing Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen this Fall but have decided to forgo those concerts to see -- hopefully -- more than one show. Personally, I'd rather see Neil in a smaller, intimate setting for a higher price than a larger venue at a lower price. Supposedly, this will be a 4 hour evening (with opening act and 2 sets - one acoustic and one electric) meaning we'll hear somewhere between two and half to three hours of Neil's music). For those concerned with value, you can do the math on a price per minute.

And giving away the CD Chrome Dreams II with a ticket purchase is being generous. After all, Neil didn't have to do that if he were in it only for the money and didn't care about his fans. Also, let's not forget the numerous benefit concerts Neil has performed at for no fee such as Farm Aid and The Bridge.

Lastly, fans have finally been able to crack the inner sanctum of pre-sales and have a shot at good seats at face value. Those in the community have always been generous about re-selling tickets at face value and not trying to profit from their fellow fans. This speaks most loudly of what the spirit of Neil's music has always been about. Besides, probably anyone reading this "gets it" and really doesn't need all of this analysis. If not, we'll leave you with this quote by Franklin Greenback, an investment banker from Chesterfield, an affluent suburb of St. Louis:

“Let those bums fight it out in the upper balcony steerage section. I’ll be enjoying the show from my orchestra seat, along with the lawyers, doctors, trust funders, and other corporate VIPs, as we listen to Neil’s songs about political injustice, personal desperation, doomed junkies, and other things we’ve never experienced. After all, isn’t that what music’s all about?”"


Experiencing a living legend -- priceless. See you at the show!

Source (with links in it) can be found here:
http://www.thrasherswheat.org/2007/09/open-letter-to-neil-young.html

Travelar

I only paid $65 for tickets this tour. I thought that was pretty reasonable.

mole1985

How can you have an 'open letter' if it is addressed to someone? Someone doesn't speak gud england me finks.

merkinball

disconnected wrote:

How 'bout this:

The Rockologist, Mark and Eric Whelchel are not the only fans complaining about ticket prices for the turnstiles. We've received quite a few comments here at Thrasher's Wheat along the lines of how can Neil tour a song called "Ordinary People" and then charge these prices?

Easy. Neil didn't play Ordinary People on this tour.


Seriously, you can bitch about the price of the tour, but I paid $45 to see him in L.A. Granted, this put me in the 10th to the last row, but it was still a great show. I wasn't happy with the higher prices for the seats close to the stage ($250!), but I wasn't going to pay it either. Neil pulled out a bunch of rarities, played both acoustic and electric sets, and toured smaller venues.

xkevvx

chiefojibwa wrote:

wah wah wah....don't go then. i spent a ton of money to see the man twice on the tour, and it was fuckin' a worth every cent.

So, most people around here praise Pearl Jam for having such low ticket prices, and bash bands that jack prices up too high for many people to afford....

But if Pearl Jam's buddy, good ol' Uncle Neil charges an arm and a leg....it's "wah wah wah don't go then"?

Odd...

jamie uk

xkevvx wrote:

So, most people around here praise Pearl Jam for having such low ticket prices, and bash bands that jack prices up too high for many people to afford....

But if Pearl Jam's buddy, good ol' Uncle Neil charges an arm and a leg....it's "wah wah wah don't go then"?

Odd...

Well PJ's tickets are the going rate as far as I see. As for Neil, yes, expensive, but then the venues(in the UK at least) are smaller than you'd expect). Put it like this, I paid £40 to see PJ in Wembley arena with 14,000 other people, some of whom would have watched 'dots'. With Neil I paid £75, but I will see him in a venue about a third of the size. He could easily have sold out 2 nights in Wembley, but instead does 6 shows in Hammy Apollo...I'd be happy to do the same next time Ed and the boys come.

1STmammal2wearPants

case and point, the tix are expensive. refused to see him for that price, and i didn't go.

surferdude

Neil Young falls into the same category as Bruce Springsteen in my books. They talk a great game about being of the people and for the people. Until you see their ticket prices. Consistently priced the same or higher than acts who bring a full blown stage production. They are all for government intervention to protect consumers and against free trade except and it's a big except when it comes to their ticket proces. Then they are all for free trade and what the market will bear. In fact they'll go as far as to tell you that it's a rip off when a ticket scalper charges you $100 for a $40 face value ticket. But when they themselves set the ticket price to be $100 that it's fair and what the market will bear. In the end they are just good/great songwriters who are just full of shit and think their shit don't stink.

jamie uk

OK, last post has hit on a great point. And it's becoming more and more noticable, and it's very dangerous to gig goers.
Promoters see people paying double on the black market...and are slowly pushing up box office prices on the basis of it. I would never(or never have yet) paid over the odds for a gig ticket, I find it against all my principles. But it's becoming more and more noticable how prices are creeping up. I say, you miss out at the B O , then let the seat go empty...it's the only way we'll stop it.

xkevvx

jamie uk wrote:

I say, you miss out at the B O , then let the seat go empty...it's the only way we'll stop it.

Right, but it'll never happen. I always said the same thing, but when I missed out on getting a ticket for Philly '03, I drove down to the Wachovia Center on Oct. 3 and walked around the parking lot until I found two questionable looking fellas and bought tickets. I couldn't miss the show....and people will always be like that.

hailhail82

surferdude wrote:

Neil Young falls into the same category as Bruce Springsteen in my books. They talk a great game about being of the people and for the people. Until you see their ticket prices. Consistently priced the same or higher than acts who bring a full blown stage production. They are all for government intervention to protect consumers and against free trade except and it's a big except when it comes to their ticket proces. Then they are all for free trade and what the market will bear. In fact they'll go as far as to tell you that it's a rip off when a ticket scalper charges you $100 for a $40 face value ticket. But when they themselves set the ticket price to be $100 that it's fair and what the market will bear. In the end they are just good/great songwriters who are just full of shit and think their shit don't stink.

Dude, Neil Young isn't "of the people and for the people". That's an image people put on him, and he's then expected to follow.
He put out an anti-war record but the only time I've ever read about him discussing "government intervention against free trade" was in the '80s, saying people should be responsible for themselves. He also has been quoted as saying he's "a fucking capitalist businessman".
Neil Young has always done exactly what he wants, creatively and otherwise, in his career. He's rarely made an obvious attempt to give fans what they want, and often does the opposite. From printing only 5,000 copies of an EP filled with arguably the most commercially viable material in years (Eldorado, 1988) and only releasing it in Australia and Japan, to performing whole albums or styles of music to audiences who haven't heard it yet, he seems to take joy in confusing, challenging, or disappointing those listening. Not to mention dangling the promise of the Archives in front of our noses for 20 years without delivery.
So why is it any surprise that he doesn't care how much you pay for tickets?
You can call him a hypocrite for writing a song called "Restless Consumer" and then charging high prices but in the end that's just another example of him writing what comes out, not editing, and moving on.
It's art.

I'll admit I was angry about the price in LA just like everyone else. But I saved up and paid to watch true art in front of my eyes and it was the greatest show of the 20-odd times I've seen him.

Thierry Henry

Still no Irish dates...... BOOO!!

Julien

Dates in Belgium have been announced but it was sold out when I saw it..
The tickets are expensive (more than euros 100 = more than $140). It's certainly worth every cent, but it's expensive though...

Thierry Henry

Julien wrote:

Dates in Belgium have been announced but it was sold out when I saw it..
The tickets are expensive (more than euros 100 = more than $140). It's certainly worth every cent, but it's expensive though...

Did you try ebay??

Don't know why Ireland wasn't included.

jamie uk

xkevvx wrote:

Right, but it'll never happen. I always said the same thing, but when I missed out on getting a ticket for Philly '03, I drove down to the Wachovia Center on Oct. 3 and walked around the parking lot until I found two questionable looking fellas and bought tickets. I couldn't miss the show....and people will always be like that.

I agree, it'll never happen probably. But the thing is, you always had a couple of 'dodgy fellas' in the parking lot selling tickets, nowadays every Tom Dick and Harry is getting in on it. EBAY is awash with clever sods playing at being ticket touts(scalpers to you lot), it sickens me to the point where I regularly send hate email to the bastards!. As much as I love EBAY, it's line on ticket sales sucks, and it's driving up the box office prices.

Julien

Thierry Henry wrote:

Did you try ebay??

Don't know why Ireland wasn't included.

I checked ebay quickly alst week and I saw a few tickets available, but it was expensive. I love Neil Young but I don't know if I love him enough to pay 200 euros...

intodeep

I agree with most of the orginal post here. disgusting the way prices were on this past neil tour.

And i love neil. It kind of shocked me. Tix for the CSNY tour were expensive too but i figured that was because he was with CSNY but then when they were just as expensive for his solo show i kind of wondered a bit.

Oh well.

boxwine_in_hell

I actually liked that open letter. Made sense to me and I thought it was pretty funny.

dont_go_on_me

I agree. For having the blue collar, simple man image he makes it difficult for those kinds of people to see him. On the other hand, he probably sold out every night so the demand is there. That I understand, just doesn't seem right.

It was the $40 t-shirts that bothered me the most though...