Fans Spend Big to Rock Out Live
There’s a reason she’s called the Material Girl. If you want to see Madonna up close in concert on her “Re-Invention Tour” this summer, it’ll cost you $300 for the best seats.
And it’s not only Madonna whose concert costs are through the roof.
Reuniting with classic acts like Elton John or the Rolling Stones will each set you back a couple hundred bucks. For a real splurge, Simon & Garfunkel fans can sit in terrace or garden boxes at the Hollywood Bowl for $504.50 each ? before taxes and fees.
The average ticket price for the 100 top-selling concerts was up 8 percent from 2002 to 2003, to $50.35, according to Pollstar, a music industry magazine that tracks concert prices.
While some music fans find the increasing prices outrageous, concert experts have discovered there are always people willing to shell out for a song.
“We basically found that for the right acts like Paul McCartney and Simon & Garfunkel $250 is not a price barrier,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar. “There is definitely a market for good seats. They are the first ones to be taken if people deem it to be something very special.”
That special quality motivated Jacinthe Babin, 31, of New York City to pay $330 for a ticket to see Madonna at Madison Square Garden this summer.
“When you really, really like the performer why not? It may just be once in your lifetime,” she said. “Madonna is a legend, her shows are amazing ? the music, the dancing. It’s a great night.?
But for Babin it’s not a once-in-a-lifetime event. She saw the Material Girl’s concert in 2001 and paid $250 to a scalper, which she said “was worth it.”
“This time I wanted to pay $150, but I didn’t mind … I thought, “Good, we have the best seat in the house!?” she said.
From an article by Amy C. Sims, Fox News