Lalla Lalla Lola
April 22, 2009 3:12 pmThe lineup for Lollapalooza 09 was announced on Monday. Like every year, I get real excited when this comes out, but there are just a few things that tame this excitement:
- With that many bands there are bound to be a bunch that I’ve heard of and would like to see, but $190 for the entire weekend?
- Of the headliners, I could care less about Depeche Mode, Tool and Jane’s Addiction.
- Of the bands that I am excited to see, there is going to be overlaps in playing times that are going to make seeing all of them impossible.
- The “radius clause” has always bothered me. It means that if I don’t pony up the money, I won’t see them for a while. (Not that I see many live shows anymore)
- The argument made by some is that if there just 4 or 5 bands you want to see, the ticket pays for itself considering most concerts start at $50 these days. That reasoning only makes sense if you think $50 is a good price for shows. If you hate ticketmaster and ticket prices (that are only going to get worse), then paying for a Lollapalooza ticket is like taking that anger over paying for a $50 show and amplifying it by the 5 bands you want to see.
- Finally, it was really fucking hot the last time I went.
Sorry to sound like a cranky old man complaining about heat and money, especially when the decision to go will probaly be based soley on who else is going and if I have the money. So of the couple other people that read this, is anyone else thinking about going?
Categorised in: Random Posts
This post was written by Brian
6 Comments
1. Lets face it you are a cranky old man, no two ways about it.
2. I’m accepting donations to the Neil Wants to Go to Lolla Charity. If this endeavor fails my alternative would be to sell my kidney on the black market but because of reason 3 this would be nothing but a waste.
3. Only half on The Black Keys is gonna be there. Not to discredit Dan Auerbach and his solo en devour but without Patrick Carney on drums he just does not compare to the powerhouse that is the Black Keys.
4. Austin is a wiener.
5. Knibb High Football Rules.
I probably wouldn’t pay more than $20 bucks to see a band, and for $20 they’d better be about to die. People who are regularly paying $50 bucks to see bands are listening to a lot of pre-madonna assholes. I’ll see No Age and Dan Deacon when they come back through. Although, Dan Deacon was, to this day, the best show I’ve ever seen. Cover was $10. And the drinks were cheap.
So, Lou Reed would be worth $50, and is in fact probably on his last leg. But $190? WTF? Tickets for my first Lollapalooza in 93′ were $40.
That Dan Auerbach cd is amazing, Neil. And I can’t see it being that different from a Black Keys show; just different people behind him.
And I don’t want to pretend to know the inner workings of concerts, but I always assumed that when a band gets big enough, they have to charge more because they have to start playing bigger venues and because the venues are all controlled by the Ticketmasters and Live Nations. Pearl Jam tried to fight it, but pretty much lost.
Oh man, ask and you shall receive. No Age, Dan Deacon, and Deerhunter tour together this summer. Pretty stoked about this. http://pitchfork.com/news/35202-no-age-deerhunter-and-dan-deacon-to-tour-together-this-summer/
So many concerts. So little moneys.