phishtaper Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 ticket prices in toronto are outrageous. the market is completely out of whack with reality now. bands like the Raconteurs are playing shitty venues in TO while they are actually playing decent venues in other cities for half the price. WTF?!the mars volta is playing the docks, where maybe! a third of the crowd can actually see the band. no thanks. and the big draw artists like clapton, cohen, even george michael are several hundred dollars a seat and they dont even come close to selling out. double no thanks. with so many shows coming to town, im going to pick and choose carefully. i may just bail on a ton of shows altogether or this may just become my summer on the lawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 How does going to see acts in small(er) clubs fit in to your plan? These days, I rarely, if ever go see a TicketMaster-handled artist*, but I still manage to go to a lot of shows, almost always for less than $15 cover.Aloha,Brad* I think the last one was Drive-By Truckers in Montreal, which was about $40 for the ticket, and worth every penny, especially at Cabaret Juste Pour Rire, which is a really cool venue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted April 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 absolutely right, brad. we've got tickets for Hot Chip and some other smaller bands in smaller clubs. that market hasnt been poisoned by LiveNation just yet. $20 to see them at the Phoenix is great. and we try to buy those tix at RotateThis too, so TM gets a bit less of my money.but, i'd also like to see REM, Raconteurs, hell, even George Michael, but only if I don't have to take out a second mortgage to do so or have to see them in the crappiest venue on their tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanada Kev Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 Gotta have faith ... ooooh oooh baybay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blane Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 one of the nice things in Montreal is that there is still a very high % of shows that do not require dealing with tickbastard or similar rackets. I don't know if Toronto has the same type of movement.Promoters such as Blue skies turn black are very aware of the issue and still deal with local stores who charge a very reasonable $1 service charge for each ticket (often waived if you buy a CD or something with your ticket purchase). This isn't limited to small-time shows either. The most recent Arcade Fire shows were available through ticketmaster, or through local record shops with the same $1 charge. HOpefully more promoters and venues can get on board with this kind of movement, but admittedly once you get into the corporate-sized venues it's really tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewRider Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 * I think the last one was Drive-By Truckers in Montreal, which was about $40 for the ticket, and worth every penny, especially at Cabaret Juste Pour Rire, which is a really cool venue.$17.50 before service charges in Toronto. What a steal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewRider Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 $29.50 per lawn seat for REM, Modest Mouse and The National is a pretty sweet deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 bradm the montreal tix were actually 24 /27$ not bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 PT, if you can cross the border, i'd say venture on over to Detroit! Last year the Detroit scene seemed to take a bit of a hiatus, but it's back... big time! Shows almost every weekend and no annoying Toronto people. I just got myself a couple of Tom Petty tickets for $50 each! Wooo! I'm sure those would have cost $100+ in Toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 bradm the montreal tix were actually 24 /27$ not bad at all. Thanks, phorbesie. I guess my ability to remember details of future events is a lot better than it is for past events.Aloha,Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted April 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 PT, if you can cross the border, i'd say venture on over to Detroit! Last year the Detroit scene seemed to take a bit of a hiatus, but it's back... big time!Oh for sure, Birdster. We've gone to see a bunch of bands like Widespread, Trey, Tom Waits and others in Detroit over the years. And Mr. Little Caesars has made great contributions to that area of town by pouring money into theaters, etc, making it actually a nice place to go. We also head down to Buffalo a lot too. It's a bit of a shame that we have to do that, tho'. Even with travel and hotel costs, its sometimes cheaper to go out of town. Figure that. btw, i like your "if you can cross the border" caveat. one cannot necessarily make that assumption around here, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 Is the Ricoh a bad venue? I haven't heard or read bad things about it other than being empty for Marlies games. I got my tickets for The Raconteurs. Can't wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted April 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 ricoh is a horse barn built in 1921 that has been retrofitted into a small hockey arena. by design, its a lousy place for a concert. it's capacity is 6000 plus. other big-market shows on this tour are in clubs less than 1000. the TO show should have been at the sony. we got ripped off this tour re: venue, much like the time a few years ago when the white stripes show was at the hershey center arena in mississauga. good show despite a horrible venue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 PT' date=' if you can cross the border, i'd say venture on over to Detroit! Last year the Detroit scene seemed to take a bit of a hiatus, but it's back... big time![/quote']Oh for sure, Birdster. We've gone to see a bunch of bands like Widespread, Trey, Tom Waits and others in Detroit over the years. And Mr. Little Caesars has made great contributions to that area of town by pouring money into theaters, etc, making it actually a nice place to go. We also head down to Buffalo a lot too. It's a bit of a shame that we have to do that, tho'. Even with travel and hotel costs, its sometimes cheaper to go out of town. Figure that. btw, i like your "if you can cross the border" caveat. one cannot necessarily make that assumption around here, lolYep, i'm a big fan of the motor city. My buddies and I are going on a 'Detroit Cultural Heritage photo shoot tour' next weekend. Such a wickedly cool dirty town. It's a shame more people don't know the history and all the cool stuff that exists there. Mind you our tour is more for fun than anything else... we're downloading the cops soundtrack and cruising around videotaping ourselves as members of Detroit SWAT on the job... hahaha... good times ahead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted April 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 a couple of years ago, we won $800 on a slot machine at the casino in detroit. they pay you in cash with all the bells and lights still going off. all those sketchy eyes marking you out made it rather stressful. let's just say it was a rather quick, and immediate, run back to the hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 ticket prices in toronto are outrageous. the market is completely out of whack with reality now. Thanks for downloading all that free music everybody! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 ticket prices in toronto are outrageous. the market is completely out of whack with reality now. Thanks for downloading all that free music everybody!Right on Booche!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 ricoh is a horse barn built in 1921 that has been retrofitted into a small hockey arena. by design, its a lousy place for a concert. it's capacity is 6000 plus. other big-market shows on this tour are in clubs less than 1000. So you've been in it for concerts since the retro-fit? I've been in the old Ricoh many time going back as far as the mid 70's, so I'm open-minded about the new version of the arena. I heard it works well for hockey, but I realize hockey arenas in general have inherent questionable acoustics for concerts. I don't think $42 is outrageous to see Jack White and company rip it up like the devils they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted April 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 ticket prices in toronto are outrageous. the market is completely out of whack with reality now. Thanks for downloading all that free music everybody! Right on Booche!!! but its not the artists or even the record companies that are jacking prices. if that was the case, prices would be comparable at each show on a tour. but they are not. its the promoters who are taking advantage of specific affluent markets. live nation is the devil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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