I don't go to many concerts anymore but I've been to 4 or 5 in the past 5 years. The most expensive one, pre-COVID, was at Red Rocks and I think, IIRC, the tickets were ~$60 apiece to see 4 bands. Just for fun, I noticed both Shania Twain and Springsteen are coming to the Nuggets arena here in Denver this spring. The least expensive ticket I could find on Ticketmaster, in the back corner of the arena in the upper deck, started at $180, not counting taxes/handling/fees. If you wanted a lower arena ticket they were starting around $350 and the two sections on the sides nearest the stage were >$700. Yes, they're big names but DAMN. That's a lot of dough for a friggin concert.
So, I thought perhaps it's just the big name acts charging outrageous prices. Looking at the lineup thus far for Red Rocks this year (which is mostly comprised of a bunch of musical groups I've never heard of), most 'cheap' tickets were >>$100 apiece. The bigger names I'd heard of were in excess of $200 for the most part. So, being a very big fan of Tx Country band Reckless Kelly, I looked at their website. So far, no dates in/around Denver but to see them in Gruene Hall just outside of San Antonio you'd fork over a minimum of $180/ticket. Bear in mind, I've seen them 5 times or so, never paying more than $30/ticket. The last two times (2019 and 2021) I was close enough I could have easily touched the members of the band on stage.
How does anyone afford going to more than a couple of concerts a year with prices like that? There just aren't that many groups I'd pay close to $1,000 to see play for a couple of hours. I make really good money but they've pretty much priced me out of attending a concert anymore. Certainly going to see a band I'm not that familiar with to check them out is completely out of the question.
