This could very well be what drives the final nail in the music industry coffin... http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-wed-kot-ticketmaster-feb11,0,5705516.story Seriously, who shells out major money for concerts nowadays? I think this last dust up over Bruce Springsteen's tour opened some eyes (belatedly, but never the less) that even Congress took notice. Thank God for my small local venues that give me all the quality live music I'll ever need.
I stopped going to concerts at big venues for the most part unless it is a show I really, really want to go to. I like local venues that use their own ticket sales and dont have someone like Live Nation managing their shows. Maybe the government will step in and block this thing due to it damn near creating a monolopy.
I purchased two tickets this morning for Coldplay in Raleigh, NC this summer. Each ticket was listed at $79.50, which is really way too much to start with of course... But, then for EACH ticket there was a $20 "ticket fee" or some nonsense. Plus, again for EACH ticket, there was a $6.00 parking fee. Add in tax and the total was about $215. I hate myself for even buying the damn things, but it's a show I really want to see, and if I don't go this time around who knows if I ever get the chance? That's us now too. The only concerts we've been to in the past 5 years or so were Faith Hill & Tim McGraw (my wife is a huge Faith Hill fan, and I don't mind looking at her), the recent Van Halen tour with David Lee Roth (because I was pissed that I had never seen VH live with him and wasn't going to miss my chance now that they were touring again with him), and Bon Jovi and the Goo Goo Dolls with a big group of friends. Unless it's one of those "shows I must see or I'll be mad forever" type of deals, we just don't go. *edit* oh yea forgot to mention that I chose the 'print at home' option which in my mind should eliminate the damn 'ticket fee' charge all together. If I print the damn ticket then what the hell is the damn fee for? *edit*
The thing I hate most about this kind of crap is that you have non-locals booking shows all over the place. I used to go to a decent amount of shows at larger venues when they were booked locally and there was a statewide ticketing agency. That agency got bought by Ticketmaster and then the local venues got purchased by national companies and it totally changed the face of things around here regarding larger venues.
For what it's worth, Ticketweb is a Ticketmaster subsidiary (I think), and their fees are pretty reasonable.