Size Matters (Are Pop Concerts A Rip-Off?)

Member Name: jamiemchale

Product:	Are Pop Concerts A Rip-Off?
Date:	24/06/01 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: See the stars, Hear the music, Feel the emotion

Disadvantages: High price, High Capacity, Lower Enjoyment

I have been to see many of my favorite bands in concert, Slash's Snakepit, Green Day, The Offspring, Ben Folds Five. The venues ranged from small rock clubs, to medium-sized concert halls, to large stadium-sized events. I love going to these gigs, the emotions, the power, the inspiration of the music to me is great - And I do think it is worth a fair bit of money. You can get priceless experiences from gigs - The pounding of the bass line opening your favorite song, 500 people going wild, the adrenaline rush - Something I'll never forget...

So what makes the perfect show? The venue size is important. The shows that I have found the best to be at are those at which you are near to the front - At smaller venues you can get closer to the stage, be part of the action, be closer to where the feelings are. If you don't like being crushed that much then a small venue is essential. At a large venue you are less lightly to be anywhere near the stars, especially if the venue has a standing area at the front.

A high ticket price, for example Madonna, Guns N' Roses, etc, normally comes with a large venue, fitting 2000+ people. I would pay a large amount of money for a 500 capacity venue, however, if I'm stuck with large numbers of people I would expect the ticket price to decrease. It seems to be the opposite - My favorite venue, the Camden Underworld, charges between £6-£15 generally for its gigs, and that normally includes the booking fee. Its capacity is around 500, wheras other gigs that I have been to, the price was in the region of £20, including booking fee, and there were about 10x more people. The promoters seem to be ripping the people off when it comes to the quality of the venue related to ticket price.

So what are you getting for your high priced ticket? Well pop concerts seem to be a lot of dancing, a lot of glitz, and a lot of pointless posturing. Rock concerts (generally speaking) are a lot more about the music - Wh
ich is what it's all about right? I wouldn't pay any amount of money to see a band lip-sync and dance to a pre-recorded backing track. When I see "live music" I expect live music. I want to hear the expressiveness that the artists can put into their work live. I want to see their work played out before me.

In conclusion to these random thoughts - If you look for it you can have a great time at a low price. High priced gigs may be your only chance too see an artist - But it might leave you feeling empty - Find a small venue, go there regularly, its more fun that way.

Jamie

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