Pictured: A $5 ticket I saved from a 1993 Fugazi show.
I took a peek today to see what it would cost to see the reunited Dinosaur Jr. at the Electric Factory on Wednesday. I was alarmed at the markups being charged:
Event Dinosaur Jr
The Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
Wed, Jul 13, 2005 08:00 PMReview Your Order
Item Charge
Tickets (Dinosaur Jr) FULL PRICE US $28.00 x 1
Total Convenience Charge(s) US $8.40 x 1
Order Processing Charge(s) US $4.35
Will Call No ChargeTOTAL CHARGES US $40.75
Needless to say, I didn’t complete the transaction.
Maybe this is old news, but the degree of price-gouging going on is worse than I knew. I’ve been doing my best to avoid the ClearChannel/Ticketmaster collusion for years, and hadn’t realized it was this outrageous. Here in Philly, Sean Agnew and R5 Productions have done much to raise awareness about the monolithic national concert promotion company. More importantly, he’s made it a non-issue (at least for me) by playing host to 95% of the good shows I’ve seen during my four-plus years in Philly. Unfortunately, not every town has an R5 and plenty of people are being forced to pay $40.75 for acts that should really cost no more than $15-20.
The early Dinosaur Jr. never played $5 shows, but I rarely paid more than $10 for shows back then. Lou Barlow and J. Mascis might be on the same stage for the first time in sixteen years, but there is no way the value of thier performances has gone up 400% during their long feud. Of course, the median income of those of us who were in high school when the early Dinosaur Jr. releases came out has gone up a bit. But I’m sure that has nothing to do with the band’s recent peace treaty.
Related: Salon.com’s dissection of Clear Channel | Clear Channel Sucks
