i don't think i have ever paid more than $25 for a concert, except one time i dropped like $70 to see tool at a big stadium, which was something i promised myself i would do. it was, indeed, like being on mushrooms. i bought no drinks, parked in a neighborhood and walked through the cold (free).
my favorite act i ever saw was $17 (explosions in the sky).
but generally speaking, i find venues to be uncomfortable. the seats are uncomfortable. the bathrooms are fucked. there are too many people, so we're all packed and stacked. every type of refreshment takes 20 minutes to get and is piss poor in quality while jacked up 3-5x in price. it's stupid. i'm a geriatric millenial, and these assholes did this to themselves. it's the same thing with malls. malls everywhere are fucking dead. the only edge malls had/have over online shopping was the social aspect of a market place. my first jobs were in a mall. and guess they fucking murdered the social aspect in the 90s. the security guards were assholes to "kids" and young adults who were just there to hangout. the shop managers pushed to have unattended minors and "slackers" systemically harassed/banned. even young adult employees were directed to leave if they weren't going to be shopping when they weren't on shift.
and guess what, we all grew up seeing the mall as a hostile environment to casual socializing, so we didn't go there to casually socialize. why wouldn't i just go online or to a big box to make my purchase, since it's not like i'm going to run into anyone i know at the mall and catch up. why do all that extra walking and dealing with the giant parking lot? in their effort to make their location full of high-value spenders, they degraded the experience.
same with stadium venues. after someone's brain marinates long enough to see that a situation is a losing value proposition, they adapt. if i wanted to run a successful venue, i would simply not try to rob everyone there blind.
i don't think i have ever paid more than $25 for a concert, except one time i dropped like $70 to see tool at a big stadium, which was something i promised myself i would do. it was, indeed, like being on mushrooms. i bought no drinks, parked in a neighborhood and walked through the cold (free).
my favorite act i ever saw was $17 (explosions in the sky).
but generally speaking, i find venues to be uncomfortable. the seats are uncomfortable. the bathrooms are fucked. there are too many people, so we're all packed and stacked. every type of refreshment takes 20 minutes to get and is piss poor in quality while jacked up 3-5x in price. it's stupid. i'm a geriatric millenial, and these assholes did this to themselves. it's the same thing with malls. malls everywhere are fucking dead. the only edge malls had/have over online shopping was the social aspect of a market place. my first jobs were in a mall. and guess they fucking murdered the social aspect in the 90s. the security guards were assholes to "kids" and young adults who were just there to hangout. the shop managers pushed to have unattended minors and "slackers" systemically harassed/banned. even young adult employees were directed to leave if they weren't going to be shopping when they weren't on shift.
and guess what, we all grew up seeing the mall as a hostile environment to casual socializing, so we didn't go there to casually socialize. why wouldn't i just go online or to a big box to make my purchase, since it's not like i'm going to run into anyone i know at the mall and catch up. why do all that extra walking and dealing with the giant parking lot? in their effort to make their location full of high-value spenders, they degraded the experience.
same with stadium venues. after someone's brain marinates long enough to see that a situation is a losing value proposition, they adapt. if i wanted to run a successful venue, i would simply not try to rob everyone there blind.