How much are you willing to pay for a concert ticket?

[rayword45]

Just something I discussed with my friends that I thought might make for good discussion.

For single-headliner concerts, I can rarely justify paying more than $50 or maybe $60 and that's saved for serious favorites and/or rare opportunities (Example: I would happily shell out in that range for Boards of Canada because their performances are so rare). Festivals are obviously different, I'd go somewhere like $300 for a 3-day pass with a solid lineup.

I personally cannot fathom why someone would pay in the hundreds or worse yet THOUSANDS to see one artist alone. I like Radiohead but Thom Yorke can fuck off if he wants me to pay $200 to see him dance, and that's one of the artists I can most likely see being potentially worth the money (Meanwhile, $2000 for U2). Perhaps it's because I'm a minimum wage earning high schooler but spending that much on one band seems horribly decadent.

Your limits?

[CA Dreamin]

Twice I've paid near $90 for a concert, which is the most I've paid. And both times were special occasions. Once was on Soundgarden's reunion tour opened by The Mars Volta. The other was Pearl Jam at the Philly Spectrum, the last event ever held there before the building was demolished. For bands of that caliber, I think $90 is close to my limit. You're right though; there's no way I'd pay $200 for Radiohead even though they're one of my faves. And $2,000 for any show is simply greed, a waste of money. Then again, we're poor. If money was no object, maybe we'd feel differently.
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[dmercado]

I typically pay anywhere from $0 to $30 for a concert. If I go to a concert I go for the experience of a concert of a band I enjoy -- ska, punk, and glam rock shows are really fun. I have yet to go to a concert of a really popular band, or one that I really really like.
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[zdwyatt]

~$30 is probably my upper limit unless I know they're awesome live or it's unlikely I'll have the chance to see them again. The cheaper a ticket is, the more likely I am to check a band out. I'll see anyone for $10.

[craola]

paid $110 once. paid $60 twice. regretted all three of those. too steep for a show where typically the band is too far away to begin with.

20-35 is pretty reasonable.
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[Satie]

my limit is $35 or $40, and that's like a high upper limit. i'm really selective with concerts above like $15 because you can find a lot of music in New Orleans for free or a very small cover. that all said, I once dropped $300 to get the VIP package for the Yeezus tour, and I don't regret that at all, since I was close enough to see the sweat going down Kendrick's and then Kanye's (when he wasn't wearing a mask) faces and was in a really amped part of the crowd that was going for it the entire time.

[Jimmy Dread]

I think the most I ever paid was to see Joanna Newsom on the Ys tour at the Royal Albert Hall - from memory it was about £25 (so what's that, $40?). That's top whack for me.

Festivals aside (which I tend to eschew nowadays on account of having a sprog and a wife who's into Kelly Clarkson) I'd often avoid the larger venue/stadium type of gig that would command a higher price. The only exception would be if someone I was desperate to see was playing the RAH or The Roundhouse, or in other words somewhere that the ambiance would fit the music. Best gig I've seen in the last 12 months was Kero Kero Bonito at Electrowerkz in Islington. Total cost of ticket? Nowt.
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[samistake2ice]

For a single headliner, I rarely go over $30. There are exceptions depending on who it is or what my chances are that ill get an other opportunity.

As far as festivals go my rule of thumb is $10 x number of bands i want to see. maybe a little extra depending on local of the fest.
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[JOSweetHeart]

For me, it depends on how much I want to see whoever is going to be in my area. The most that I have ever paid to see anyone at all was when Alison Krauss & Union Station were at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville on January 20, 2005. My seat was $46.50 plus whatever the service charge was. I don't remember what that brought the final price to, but Alison and the guys were worth every penny.

God bless you and AKUS always!!!

Holly (a fan of Alison since 1994)

P.S. I was in the 6th row and the performance was almost two and a half hours long.
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[rayword45]

Perhaps I should get more into local acts, because holy shit $10? Almost everything I buy is in the $15-30 range. You guys are speaking strictly local bands when you say you're spending $5-10 right?