The cost-of-concert blues

12/6/2023

The tightly sealed cardboard box from the attic is an accumulation of orphaned items too dear to trash. There’s a first communion missal, a holy water font to hang on my wall, a kindergarten report card from St. Thomas Aquinas (with nine graded categories, one being the “Ability to talk to God,” for which my heretical soul got an “A,” you doubters), old passports, and . . . . what’s this? Concert tickets?

The line stretches long and meandering from the entrance to Hilton Coliseum in Ames through the east parking lot, across the South Skunk River, to eventually come to rest in my memory more than 50 years later. I do remember the smell — the pungency of marijuana as it drifts from the crowd while my buddy and I try unsuccessfully to look cool standing in line with our eyes down and our hands deep in our pockets. Once we are seated, everyone around us is laughing and talking and passing drinks back and forth. College kids, for sure. We sit in our brand-new bellbottom pants, eyes wide, and pass pop back and forth. Yup, high school kids, for sure.

From stage left comes our man. Alone. Shadowed. Quiet. He sits at the piano and pauses. Then he bends over the keys and plays. Gradually, the music loops around and his voice joins in: 

“Blue-jean baby
L.A. lady
Seamstress for the band
Pretty-eyed
Pirate smile
You’ll marry a music man” 

Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” And we forget all our anxieties, worries, cares and desires. We are no longer separate from the crowd. We are floating in the air, driven by this strange man on the big stage wearing cartoonish glasses. We are transported.

And the cost of this ecstasy? Well, back in 1972, it was $4. 

Yes, four big ones. Tax included. That’s not happening today — even accounting for the increase of the minimum wage from $1.60 an hour in 1972 to $7.25 an hour in 2023. Three hours of work actually paid for my ticket back in 1972. Three hours of work today would barely pay for a reusable water bottle sold at a Taylor Swift concert. 

Taylor Swift brings her “Eras” tour to Kansas City in less than a month, and resale tickets have only shot up in price since they sold out on Ticketmaster in November 2022. According to StubHub, prices range from $1,047 to $7,166 for the remaining 473 tickets for July 7 and $1,100 to $10,890 for one of 509 tickets available for July 8.

Craziness has happened. Two high school boys from Iowa City are not buying two tickets for $10,890 each. Please.

Of course, the Taylor Swift ticket sales were outsized. We all know that. But even to see Elton John in Denver last year would have been a hard swallow:

Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which he says will be his last, is coming to Denver’s Ball Arena at 8 p.m. this Friday. Last-minute ticket grabbers will pay about $300 at the cheapest end, or upward of $4,800 at the most expensive.

What has happened here? Who can possibly afford this?

So I asked a pro.  

“The Ron Sorenson Show — Progressive music from the Dean of progressive music. Nobody has done it longer or better.” KFMG Program Schedule (https://kfmg.org/program-schedule/). 

“I’ve been doing radio since God was just a little girl.” Ron Sorenson laughingly explains in his deep, melodious voice with the calming notes of a meditation guru at a day-long retreat.

Ron Sorenson is general manager of KFMG radio and president of the board of directors.

“Essentially, I run the store.”

Which means?

“That means I’m general manager, staff announcer, principal underwriting sales person, fundraiser, copywriter, production director, I do promotions, and I take out the trash.”

OK, Ron, based on your long years in the music world, what’s going on with these music concert ticket prices?

“I did some digging, mainly because I was curious. Today, average concert ticket price is $252. But in 1970, a big name show, a Beatles show or a Led Zeppelin show, was charging $10 to $12. But remember that gasoline in 1970 was 36 cents a gallon. So, one cause for what’s happening today is clearly inflation.”

And?

“Well, another factor is that 32% of ticket costs are currently fees and services. And don’t forget the resellers. They want to sell for more than they paid. It’s Stubhub but also individuals just trying to make a buck.” 

Yikes, that’s a chunk.

“Another factor, I believe, especially for Baby Boomers, are that they are doing pretty well and are willing to pay $1,000 to $1,500 to see Paul McCartney for the last time. So they get the VIP treatment and don’t have to mingle with the hoi polloi.”

But what about all the young people attending a concert like Taylor Swift? 

“Hah, those concert goers have grandparents who are baby boomers. I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t substantial parental and grandparental support. And don’t forget that Taylor Swift is a phenomenon — it’s a show, a circus, not just a band up there playing.”

I thank Ron for his thoughts, and he returns to his microphone while I return home to my box of memories and old concert tickets. 

Wow. Look at this. Don McLean of “American Pie” fame at C.Y. Stephens Auditorium in 1973! Who knew? And the cost? Three bucks. 

Shaking my head, and deciding once again not to trash all these treasures, I seal up the box and take it back to the attic. Then I sit on the attic stairs, an old man perch, and consider the wonderfully sweet smell of melancholy.

“A long, long time ago

I can still remember

how that music

used to make me smile . . .”

— Don McLean, “American Pie” ♦

Joe Weeg spent 31 years bumping around this town as a prosecutor for the Polk County Attorney’s Office. Now retired, he writes about the frequently overlooked people, places and events in Des Moines on his blog: www.joesneighborhood.com.