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The band Rush is gearing up for a new tour. Renown drummer & lyricist for the band Neil Peart, passed away a few years ago and they had been in semi-retirement. But they contracted with an excellent replacement & set about to board the cash cow that classic, high-demand acts like the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, have been riding for decades now.
It’s that thing where first of all, the worst seats in the arena are about $125, and best ones up in front are about 10x that. Then you have the scalper’s aftermarket. At least that used to be a mom & pop operation, but you go on Ticketmaster now for the Rush tour, and all that are left are “resale” tickets which are double or more of original face value. It apparently means that Ticketmaster decided they could put mom & pop out of business and they would simply sell the scalped ticket after they sold the original ticket. Era Of Corruption, et al…
And Rush signed off on this grifter ticketing system – they are seasoned pros and they know how it works – and the other day they put out a video on YouTube announcing the tour. Hey!
It’s sort of next-level comedy, as Geddy and Alex apparently had no idea about the wrath which awaited them in the comments. It’s theater actually – go read them.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBfbGZrEQss&t=2s
To their (lesser) credit, they have not screwed with the comments received about what a rip off the tickets are. They’ve left them all up, perhaps deciding that to now become censors on top of being a couple of players warped by wealth and greed, would only make matters worse… 😄
I think they were blindsided, out of touch with the paycheck-to-paycheck world they once knew so well. And they probably feel sick about getting their fanbase mad, and also as this regards to trashing their legacy. They need to cancel and refund these shows, and start over with a non-transferable ticket system that will close off the aftermarket.
Whether they will do that remains to be seen, but at the moment the whole situation is quite the spectacle of 2020’s Americana. Here is what I told them, or an assistant whom will likely be screening these. Nonetheless they need to hear it ;
Neil Peart had it wrong about Ayn Rand, whom the far right co-opted to justify laissez-faire capitalist greed and extreme inequality. But he got this right ;
“One likes to believe in the freedom of music –
But glittering prizes and endless compromises,
shatter the illusion of integrity”A non-transferable ticket means a numbered ticket system and you show your ID at the door. Yes, that is a hassle and admission through the doors takes longer. But that is not so much to bear, in order to shut down a price-gouging after market that ends up charging a multiple of face value and importantly, pricing most of the fans who put you on the map, out of a chance to see your live show.
It started when the Eagles reunited for Hell Freezes Over in 1994. The first three-figure rock concert tickets ($100+), and it is nothing short of elitism.
“Sure, you bought our $7 tickets and $6 albums and $5 t-shirts in the old days, and if you can afford a few hundred or thousand dollars now, come on out and see us. If you can’t well, it’s just the free market at work and we can’t do anything about it”.
See if that is the bottom line, you don’t have to tour. You can refuse to under that kind of usury pricing regime. – RG