The Concert Thread

[MuckyFunster]

On the subject of ticket prices - it?s a bit of a long one but I?m quite proud of my research here 😂

Was listening to Johnny Cash the other day - ?The Night Hank Williams Came To Town?, and it got me thinking?

The song says that it was the same night that ?I love Lucy? debuted on tv. I Wikipedia?d this and it says that this was October 15 1951. The website ?setlist.fm? doesn?t have any details for where the concert would have been, but the song says it was in a high school gym, so a pretty small venue considering (according to Wikipedia) that Hank Williams had 25 top 10 singles (including 6 number 1s) by this time.

The song says ?tickets for the two hour show are $1.50 - you get your money?s worth the first 15 minutes and the rest is free?. $1.50 in 1951 equates to $18.02 (?14.50) in 2024 money.

Wikipedia tells me that Hank Williams would have been 28 at this date (just 14 months before he died).

The song also says ?he sure is humble for a grand ole opry star?. I don?t know too many grand ole opry stars, but the big news one recently has been Jelly Roll.

Jelly Roll is 39 years old has only had 5 top ten singles (including 4 number 1s). Face value ticket prices for his show next week at the Fillmore in Detroit are $123 (?98.98) which, in 1951 money, would have been $10.24. Tickets for Jelly Roll?s Fillmore show are sold out and are selling on LiveNation for $305.28, which would have been $25.47 in 1951 money.

So never mind ?a coke and burger costing 30cents? in 1951 ($3.68 2024) - in 1951 you and 16 of your closest friends could have seen *the* Hank Williams playing an intimate gigat a High School gym (?a thousand people sweltered in the gym?) for the same price as a 1 ticket to see Jelly Roll playing a 2900 capacity venue.

I also farted about on trip advisor and found a review from December 2023 saying that it was $16 for a drink at the Fillmore. Doesn?t say alcoholic drink but i assume it probably was a beer or something. I?d bet my house that it wasn?t $1.33 for a beer at the Hank Williams show.

IMG_8910.jpeg

?The night Hank Williams came to town? was written in 1987. Found this ticket stub for JC in 1986. His tickets were $12, which is $32.99 (?26.49) in 2024 money.

IMG_8911.jpg

And this one from 1988 for ?10, which is ?27.29 in 2024 money.

In short - we are getting absolutely rinsed for tickets these days. Rinsed, hung out and dried.

[gag]

Originally Posted by MuckyFunster

On the subject of ticket prices - it?s a bit of a long one but I?m quite proud of my research here ��

Was listening to Johnny Cash the other day - ?The Night Hank Williams Came To Town?, and it got me thinking?

The song says that it was the same night that ?I love Lucy? debuted on tv. I Wikipedia?d this and it says that this was October 15 1951. The website ?setlist.fm? doesn?t have any details for where the concert would have been, but the song says it was in a high school gym, so a pretty small venue considering (according to Wikipedia) that Hank Williams had 25 top 10 singles (including 6 number 1s) by this time.

The song says ?tickets for the two hour show are $1.50 - you get your money?s worth the first 15 minutes and the rest is free?. $1.50 in 1951 equates to $18.02 (?14.50) in 2024 money.

Wikipedia tells me that Hank Williams would have been 28 at this date (just 14 months before he died).

The song also says ?he sure is humble for a grand ole opry star?. I don?t know too many grand ole opry stars, but the big news one recently has been Jelly Roll.

Jelly Roll is 39 years old has only had 5 top ten singles (including 4 number 1s). Face value ticket prices for his show next week at the Fillmore in Detroit are $123 (?98.98) which, in 1951 money, would have been $10.24. Tickets for Jelly Roll?s Fillmore show are sold out and are selling on LiveNation for $305.28, which would have been $25.47 in 1951 money.

So never mind ?a coke and burger costing 30cents? in 1951 ($3.68 2024) - in 1951 you and 16 of your closest friends could have seen *the* Hank Williams playing an intimate gigat a High School gym (?a thousand people sweltered in the gym?) for the same price as a 1 ticket to see Jelly Roll playing a 2900 capacity venue.

I also farted about on trip advisor and found a review from December 2023 saying that it was $16 for a drink at the Fillmore. Doesn?t say alcoholic drink but i assume it probably was a beer or something. I?d bet my house that it wasn?t $1.33 for a beer at the Hank Williams show.

Attachment 250688

?The night Hank Williams came to town? was written in 1987. Found this ticket stub for JC in 1986. His tickets were $12, which is $32.99 (?26.49) in 2024 money.

Attachment 250689

And this one from 1988 for ?10, which is ?27.29 in 2024 money.

In short - we are getting absolutely rinsed for tickets these days. Rinsed, hung out and dried.

And that is my point when I say to ppl ?50 is more than ample enough, imagine a venue of eg 20,000 ppl all buying a ticket at ?50, that's a million alone just tickets sale nevermind anything else, but it's not, new co op arena around 24,000, Ao arena 21,000 with all the different ridiculous prices tickets sales are more 3million plus, that's just greed, and think of the interest 3mill can earn,
Then they've got to think that fans fork out for travel, food, drink, merchandise and some cases overnight stay, so even a cheap concert can add up to ?200+, not everyone can keep affording that if they like their concerts and go regular, cough cough like me, before beggining of the year I had 8 concerts booked, and I've already booked 3 more this year including the Cult, hence why now my cut off point is around ?55, and if it's not walking distance within a trainstation or a hr or so by car then it's a no from me.
If a small venue can hold 5000 or less and charge less than ?40 why can't larger places be more affordable?

Years ago everything was about the enjoyment and family day out etc etc, now everything about the money.

[Justin101]

I don't want to sound like Captain Obvious, but it costs a whole lot more money to put on an arena show, there are more staff to pay, more equipment, more electricity, more food. Hire of the venue itself, paying for the venue staff, paying for security. Haulage of all the equipment and tour crew/staff, the list goes on and on.

So while it might seem like more concert goers means cheaper tickets, it not the case.

(I work in a venue so I know these things)

[gag]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I don't want to sound like Captain Obvious, but it costs a whole lot more money to put on an arena show, there are more staff to pay, more equipment, more electricity, more food. Hire of the venue itself, paying for the venue staff, paying for security. Haulage of all the equipment and tour crew/staff, the list goes on and on.

So while it might seem like more concert goers means cheaper tickets, it not the case.

(I work in a venue so I know these things)

Yes I get all that, but if some bands can perform for say 55 then why can't most play for that ?
Main point is 80-90 plus is just a bit of a pisstake.

Part deleted .

[Justin101]

23,000 x 100 is 2.3 million

[gag]

Originally Posted by Justin101

23,000 x 100 is 2.3 million

Yes I realised my mistake I was about to come back and autocorrect it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

23,000 x 100 is 2.3 million

Haha! Yes i was going to post that. You wouldn't want gag looking after your finances would you.

It should also be noted that arenas don't usually hold 20,000 people. The only two that do are the AO in Manchester and the 02 in London.

Cardiff for example only holds 7,500 max. Newcastle and Liverpool hold 11,000 whilst Leeds holds 13,000.

[Justin101]

In the end, no-one makes any money off concerts except for the promoter. The venues just cover costs, the band get a small portion of it, the person who sits in an office in London gets the lion's share of it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

In the end, no-one makes any money off concerts except for the promoter. The venues just cover costs, the band get a small portion of it, the person who sits in an office in London gets the lion's share of it.

Swap Liverpool for London and that would be you then!

[gag]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Haha! Yes i was going to post that. You wouldn't want gag looking after your finances would you.

It should also be noted that arenas don't usually hold 20,000 people. The only two that do are the AO in Manchester and the 02 in London.

Cardiff for example only holds 7,500 max. Newcastle and Liverpool hold 11,000 whilst Leeds holds 13,000.

Ah slight oversite when you're tired and knackered due to not sleeping properly for 2-3 days.

Anyway on that note,

Theatre of hate are playing Darwen library theatre and tickets are only 22, so thinking of going,
I won't need to drive / catch a train / taxi I can just walk Less than 10 min and I'm there.