In contrast, tickets to Joe Henry’s upcoming show in Portland are twenty bucks, Iris DeMent forty. Seeing NRBQ---one of my all-time favorite Rock ’n’ Roll bands (they are actually much more than that)---when they came through town awhile back set me back only thirty, I think it was. They were fantastic, by the way. Same with Mary Gauthier, in the same room.
I’ve always appreciated the fact that my musical tastes are for the most part of cult audience artists, not only for the low ticket prices, but also for the fact that their shows are held in small, intimate settings. A win-win! I got comp tickets to see The Stones in The Staples Center in the early-2000’s, and my woman and I lasted only three songs. It was ridiculous; not only did The Stones suck, but watching the show in that gigantic "room" (with a gigantic video screen behind them) was like watching a basketball game. I felt no emotional involvement what-so-ever with what was taking place onstage. The sound also sucked, REAL bad.
When I was a kid it cost me only three bucks to see Hendrix, Cream, The Kinks (a LOT of fun!), Procol Harum, Albert King, countless other greats. In the 80’s and 90’s you could attended a show by John Hiatt, Rockpile, Dave Edmunds or Nick Lowe, Lucinda Williams, The Blasters, Marshal Crenshaw, The Pretenders, Squeeze, Richard Thompson, and many others for ten bucks.
A thousand bucks for a ticket to a show?! Absurd, imo.