BoomerGirl Diary

Greetings! I hope your Thanksgiving holiday was full of good cheer!

My last entry discussed the concert part of the music industry and this entry will go into that theme a little further. Here are a few more examples of what seems to be taking place in the concert world now and for the last several years.

Two years ago I went with my husband, Mark, and grown son and daughter to see Depeche Mode at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City. It was my birthday and a dear friend who runs security in town, seated us in $200 seats down close, as a present. We were thrilled and settled in to see one of our favorite bands that have only played KC one other time. It was early May and a very chilly night. Only six or seven songs into the show, without saying a word, the singer Dave Gahan, turned and left the stage, much to the surprise of the audience and even the rest of the band. Seeming very perplexed, the other band members tried to carry on without him for a few more songs, but finally announced they couldn’t. There was much confusion and they ultimately exited, too. The crowd waited patiently for some kind of explanation and the band to return to the stage to continue, but they never did. A roadie eventually came out and announced the band would not be returning.

Everyone finally had to leave in a total state of disappointment, wondering if the show would be rescheduled or they would be refunded their ticket price. Neither ever happened. The only explanation that was ever offered on their website was that it was so cold Dave’s voice went out. End of story.

This was a clear cut example of a band leaving their audience in the lurch, no explanations, no recompense, no effort to make it right, save a small ad in the local newspaper a few months later saying Depeche Mode had donated $10,000 to music students in KC. Nice gesture, but it didn’t satisfy the thousands of ticket holders that felt gypped out of a good show they had paid big bucks to see. Depeche Mode may not be greeted warmly again should they decide to return to KC.

I have been fortunate enough to see some really good shows this summer, but I didn’t invest a lot to see them. Because of my years in the music business I still have connections and often get into shows at no charge, of which I am grateful. Mark and I bought $50 tickets to see the Police in July, which were in the nosebleed section of the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, although we did move down into excellent seats in the $250 section. Later in July, we paid $50 to see Bob Dylan at the Starlight and these seats were right down front.

In August, we saw Colin Hay, singer for the 80’s Australian band, Men at Work, at a free concert and Crowded House from New Zealand did a reunion tour and we saw them. I believe those tickets were around $45. In September, we saw Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett of Little Feat for $25 tickets. And a little later in the month, REO Speedwagon and Kansas played the closing show at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, better known as Sandstone. I believe those tickets went for around $45.

That’s probably the most shows we’ve seen in a summer for many years, but there were other shows we didn’t go see just because we didn’t feel justified in spending $45-$85 a piece to see them. People like, Neil Young, Peter Frampton, Dave Mason, Tori Amos, Elton John, Van Halen and several others.

Last week, as Mark and I were driving down to midtown on a Saturday night to have some dinner and catch a movie, we drove past a concert venue and realized Chris Cornell was playing there that night. He was the lead singer/songwriter for Soundgarden and Audioslave and has just released a new solo album. Mark and I like him, so we decided to spontaneously go, the tickets were reasonable, $36, and the show turned out to be great.

This coming weekend Poco is playing, and the tickets are just $30. Very affordable for a legendary band that has been around for 25 years, still sounds good, and will be playing in a small, intimate venue.

Next week Hannah Montana will be appearing at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. My 8-year-old granddaughter really wants to go, but we were never able to buy tickets. We will be calling the Sprint Center on the day of the show in hopes of buying tickets that are released at the last minute or getting them on the street from a scalper at face value. We’re just not going to pay the inflated prices. No one is that important. Amazing to think we have to jump through such hoops just to acquire admission to a kid’s show.

To summarize, the concert industry is still actively under way, but not attracting the numbers it did a decade ago. I am willing to get out and support the artists that I really want to see, but I just can’t see them all. And neither can most of my friends. I hope fans will continue to make their feelings known; it’s the only way anything will really change. The numbers seem to speak louder than words to promoters and managers and if the only way to get their attention is to not buy a ticket or CD until prices come down, then so be it.

The most important thing is that we continue to be entertained, inspired, and turned on by the healing energy of music. Or as I like to call it, Rock and Roll Medicine.

By the way, the new Eagles album is great and they are rumored to be going on tour to support it in 2008. I, for one, would really like to see them and I will be very curious to see how they price their tickets, since they are known to be socially conscious.

Until next time, rock on and be excellent to each other... Penny