Ticket Nostalgia (Or Thoughts On Youth), Part Three

 
Did you bring the beer?  It’s a party here at BRP!  I’ve been riffing about some concert ticket stubs that I found buried in my closet, and it’s been fun for me.  If you missed Parts One or Two, well, damn, get caught up and then come on back here.  I’ll wait for you – I always do. 

Let’s go with some unexpected fabulous shows:

Rod Stewart.  I was dating a girl, had money in my pocket from working during my summers (a quaint notion lost on today’s youth), and was basically buying tickets to any big show that was rolling into town so that we could hang out.  We were too young to get into clubs!  Anyway, I liked Rod, but went with low expectations.  Shattered!  Rod in his prime was an extraordinary showman, he had a lot of the original Faces as his backup band, and he had great material that they amped up during live performances.  I don’t know how you can dislike “Maggie Mae,” which is simply a fantastic song, but it’s even better live, as is “Hot Legs.”  I still remember Rod kicking soccer balls into the crowd as souvenirs – must have kicked 20 or so – and it was cool.  A great show.

Peter Frampton.  My mom sold real estate, and after “Frampton Comes Alive” came out, she included that album in her welcome package for every suburban sale that she made.  That’s not true, but FCA sold so many copies in suburbia that it was, like Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumors,” ubiquitous in my youth.  I loved FCA then, still love it, and still listen to it.  This was the follow up tour to that album, and it was the closest thing to Beatlemania that I have witnessed – young girls screaming their heads off, which was lucky because it muffled my own screams, haha.  Seriously, we went with another couple – a dude I was lifeguarding with named Barry, with whom I got along famously, and his girlfriend whose name I can’t remember anymore.  He had a big-ass Monte Carlo (very nice car in its day), and he and I dazzled the women by grilling steaks for dinner at the pool before heading over to the show.  He was also a little older -18 - and could legally buy beer – I think we splurged and went with imports, the craft beer of the 70s.  ‘Nuff said.

Tina.  I don’t even need to say her last name, do I?  What a show!  I’ve seen some of the old Motown bands, but mainly years after their prime at places like Wolf Trap.  But Tina was on a roll at this point – post-“Private Dancer” album – and she brought the old Motown trappings of dancing/singing young hotties, a bad-ass backup band that was tighter than a duck’s behind, and herself, an unbelievable headlining talent.  Polished, talented, poised and enjoying her solo fame, Tina was remarkable.  Her voice was amazing, her attitude transforming.  The crowd was adoring, and loved every moment of the show.  So did I.

One thing that I have found fascinating is the prices for the tickets that are listed on the stubs.  You’ve been waiting for my cheap ass to get to that right?  Well, I don’t want to disappoint you or prove that I’m nothing if not predictable.  I built a spreadsheet, an act akin to Moses parting the Red Sea, and listed the prices paid and what those prices are in 2017 dollars.  Of course, the spreadsheet didn't come out looking right in Weebly, but it’s really interesting nonetheless.  Here we go:
 
The Clash
$10 in 1982
$25.35 in 2017 dollars

The Ramones
$6 in 1984
$14.12 in 2017 dollars

Elvis Costello & Squeeze
$9.50 in 1981
$25.56 in 2017 dollars

Neil Young & Steven Stills
$6.50 in 1976
$27.93 in 2017 dollars

The Allman Brothers
$7.50 in 1975
$34.09 in 2017 dollars

Springsteen
$8.80 in 1978
$33.00 in 2017 dollars

Springsteen
$11.00 in 1980
$32.64 in 2017 dollars

Springsteen
$11.00 in 1981
$29.59 in 2017 dollars

The Who
$11.00 in 1979
$37.05 in 2017 dollars

Led Zeppelin
$7.50 in 1977
$30.26 in 2017 dollars

Loggins & Messina
$6.50 in 1974
$32.24 in 2017 dollars

Rod Stewart
$8.50 in 1977
$34.30 in 2017 dollars

Peter Frampton
$9.50 in 1977
$38.33 in 2017 dollars

Tina Turner
$65.25 in 2000
$92.66 in 2017 dollars

 
What does this all mean?  Well, it reflects that classic rockers were not 100% greedy when performing.  These shows were downright affordable, especially given the prominence of the musicians/bands and the venues.  Concerts of this magnitude today are much less affordable – you pay almost as much simply to park your car – and I think that is attributable to a few reasons. 

One clear reason is that bands made a ton of money from record sales.  Streaming has killed that revenue source, meaning that the only place that bands can make any real money is by performing.  Hence, increased ticket prices.  Another is that bands are much more savvy about the “business side” to show biz than in the old days.  They see what people are willing to pay on the secondary markets and figure they should get their share of that.  I don’t blame them, but it means that the close seats at big shows are usually full of rich people and corporate types, and we all hate them, right?  Particularly the ones that sit texting while some band is up there blowing the minds of the real fans who are stuffed in the cheap seats. 

All I can say to that is thank god for clubs and new bands.  If you are a live music junkie, that is where you need to live.  Otherwise, you are headed to bankruptcy court where you get to interact with ... rich people and corporate types.  Ugh, it just ain’t fair!  But I see a ton of bands for ridiculously low prices, and that, my friends, is the definition of cool.

That’s it for my trip down memory lane.  I have a bunch of other ticket stubs that I’m not going to show you, but suffice to say, I had a southern rock thing going back in the day.  And I found a number of stubs that generated “oh yeah” thoughts, like seeing Marshall Crenshaw or Joe Jackson, both at the now-defunct Bayou in Georgetown.  (I still remember seeing the Smithereens there with my brother right after bands started using cordless guitars, and the lead guitarist wandered into the crowd during “Blues Before and After” – when he got to his big solo, he was standing right in front of us, and just ripped it.  It was as cool as me singing “Daddy-O” with NRBQ at the Depot in Radford, Virginia, yet another story for another day).  Do you remember the shows you saw?  Have any souvenirs?  I was never into the t-shirt thing, probably because I was poor in the day when that would have appealed to me, but the result is that I have zero concert shirts. 

 
Come on back, and do it real soon, because my live music drought has ended.  I’ll take pictures, write something trite and fan-like, and post it for your ridicule as soon as possible.  In the meantime, dig into the vinyl, spin that Frampton Comes Alive album, and party like its 1976!