[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

In defense of the higher "face value" of concert tickets today, I have to point out that the experience today is enhance by all of the high tech equipment that today's bands have.

I played in a band back in the 60s and early 70s that opened for several big name touring acts. These bands mostly just plugged into huge amplifiers and the sound went directly out the the audience. There were no mixing boards. Occasionally, if the venue was big enough, the drums would be miked, often with one bass drum mic and an overhead. Guitar amps were seldom run through the board as there was often no board. Often times, the performers didn't even have monitors.

These days, Paul McCartney travels with twelve 18 wheelers full of equipment. A twenty five foot high HD video show goes on behind him during his performance. He travels with his own stage. There are pyrotechnics involved in most shows. The bands have state of the art monitoring systems including wedges or in-ear and sometimes a combination of both. Performers have can look at television screens on which the the lyrics to their songs scroll in time with the music so that they don't forget a line. Amps are all run directly through the board and all of the drums are closely miked so that all of the sound is coming through the board and can be precisely controlled. It is amazing how they can EQ a board today to get them to sound so good in venues that in the past were considered impossible in which to get a good sound. Instruments are exchanged seamlessly. Pianos come up from holes that open in the stage. And these days, most of this is done without cords through remote controls.

And all of this is set up and run by a staff numbering in the hundreds that travels from venue to venue.

Then think about the venues that you sit in to watch these concerts today. I've been to concerts at the Amway Center and Orlando and the Banknorth Garden in Boston. These places are amazingly comfortable with wide padded seats. It's a far cry from sitting in the mud for hours waiting until 4:00am or the old standing on floor of the no seating concerts that we had back in the day.

If you wonder why concert tickets that were $20 forty years ago, are $250 now. That is the answer. It's a much better show and a much better experience. And that is without factoring in inflation.

Now as to why you have to pay $1,000 for a $250 ticket, that is another question and one that has me really ****ed off.