Ticketmaster and Live Nation have destroyed the concert experience. But it didn’t use to be this way. Today, Oasis and Taylor Swift tickets might go for thousands of dollars, but back in 1955, you could see Elvis Presley in concert for less than the modern-day equivalent of $20.
Yeah, some of us are over 25-30 years old and remember concerts being, like $10 to $20, depending on your age.
I was talking with my dad about this just a few weeks ago. He’s Gen X and could go and see a big name band for 10 bucks. I’m a Millennial and could do the same for 20. Even as a high schooler, I was able to afford to go see a couple of concerts every summer just on an allowance of a few dollars per week.
I’d go to full day festivals for $30. Seriously. One year, I went to ozzfest and it was free! That year they dubbed it “freefest”. This isn’t even that long ago, I’m talking 15-20 years ago I was able to do this.
I remember going to a music festival when I was maybe 18 or 20, and the heat was so bad that I decided to just leave before seeing any of the bands I wanted to see because the ticket prices were low enough that there was no sense of “oh no, what a waste”.
I was at that free Ozzfest. Shit was sick AF. How were they even making money? Merch and booze sales?
It must have been all that. I’m sure I bought something while there. It was only done one year so maybe they didn’t make enough money.
There was a local radio station near me that would host a summer festival every year. The tagline was ten bands for ten bucks.
And we’re talking big name bands too - Smash Mouth, Bush, The Offspring. Usually 6-7 big bands and a couple just starting to break into the scene who were always huge 1-2 years later.
They just rebooted it this year. $50 plus fees for 6 bands. It’s still a decent deal considering but not the same as it used to be.
Oh man, I would kill to see The Offspring, especially if they were playing some of their real classics.