Re: Return on investment

What concert has been the best value for whatever you paid for the ticket — in musical pleasure, over-the-top entertainment, or whatever measure you choose? (Any show you saw for free is disqualified.)

Also, is there any big-name performer out there today who, in your opinion, is worth the price of a ticket?

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A comment by MJM, on the marketing thread, made me think of this topic. Apologies, if it's been done before.

Wilco, July 2000, Vancouver B.C. $30 CND

They were still just a four peice (Jeff, Jay, John, and Ken) -with touring keyboardist- at the height of their powers as a rock and roll band.

Perfect setlist, all the songs arranged into out-and-out rockers. Jay was incredible, skittering back and forth between his guitars and bank of keyboards. The crowd was wild for him. At one point he broke into a solo that had everyone cheering. Tweedy just stood aside, shaking his head, trying not to frown.

here goes.

1/ steve earle in 1998 at a small bar in nj . got there extremely early baRELY anybody was around except me my friend a few others the bartenders and some hillbilly from nj named bruce who i talked about steve earle about. he later joined him for a few songs.

2. matthew ryan/willie nile/matt mays band- was in a small place in brooklyn for 10 bucks and held about 100 people. sat in the front row and inbetween songs matthew ryan would ask the audience questions which i would answer and we would start to have a dialogue several times.
a few months later i somehow got a bootleg of the show . i guess it would count as my only live recording
they are all on the same record label out of brooklyn caled 2.59 and all 3 rank as my favorites.

3.bob dylan-2002 was hanging out as the show was beginning and after not being able to scalp his ticket some guy sold his tickets at 20 dollars a pair and the seats werent bad and saw dylan do the harrison song- something which he only did once.

The 'Mats at the University of Pennsylvania was I think a $10 show - maybe less. A life changer.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse w/ Sonic Youth and Social Distortion was a show I remember being particularly high in value. Each band had a full and dynamic set - Sonic Youth was not in noodling form at all - tight and focused.

Jeff Beck, 9/26/06, Paramount Theatre, Oakland. Whatever I paid wasn't enough. A flawless performance, even for Beck. It left me weak and in awe. The guy is a guitarist's guitarist.

Fans enjoy guitarist Jeff Beck's magic fingers

Bit jealous of the DBT, Karsh kale and Danien Jurado escapades.
INXS was my first underage gig for $4 at the local beer barn. Saw Echo & The Bunnymen and The Gun Club (not the same show) at the same venue for about $8

Went to this inner city venue called The Musicians Club in about '84-85 to see Toots & The Maytals for about $12. I'd never been there, I think it was a bit of a jazz club but it was this great long room with another bar (+ pokies) next door. It's pretty close to the best thing I've ever seen (actually along with the Gun Club show which also had the Hoodoo Gurus supporting). About a week later a friend saw the Psychadelic Furs at the same place for even less money and said it was brilliant. After that they stopped putting on bands and not long after that the whole place disappeared. It was an upstairs room and a lot of those vanished when these fire regluations came in at the time.

Fishbone was always one of the best live bands anywhere. I saw them at least 5 times as well, including one time in 1991 when I got clotheslined by Angelo after I did a stage dive and was about to leap back off into the crowd, only to be detained on stage by him and made to lead the crowd in chants for about 5 minutes. It was one of my couple of brushes with greatness - topped only by being helped to my feet by Jonathan Richman after laying down my motorcycle in the middle of an intersection!

1. Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, UGA Student Center, Athens, GA, June 1989. Poi Dog Pondering opened. Typical great, fun show from Hitchcock & co. Many stories, three encores. He closed by playing "Trash" solo and acoustic. As it was general admission and the crowd numbered no more than 200, I spent the entire show center, front. The ticket was $2.

2. The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Georgia Theatre, Athens, GA, Spring 1990. This would have been a tumultuous period for the Reid brothers. Ha ha. In retrospect, the real reason this stands out is the extremely amped up and obviously bound for bigger things opening act, Nine Inch Nails played a disciplined, intense, angry and cacophonous 45-minute set that caused half the crowd to go berserk and the other half to retreat to the lobby to score drugs. JAMC's show was actually pretty enjoyable, too. $8.

3. The Hold Steady, The 40 Watt, Athens, GA, August 9, 2008. I've discussed this show with a number of other attendees, and all parties agree it was the perfect combination of band, audience, venue and performance. Plus, opening melodic punkers The Loved Ones (from Philly, not Australia) brought their A game while one of The Hold Steady's roadies (oddly, from Athens) filled in for their bassist, who was attending a wedding in NJ (?). $17.

Re. big names who are worth the $, I'd have to nominate Springsteen. There's a reason he's such an obvious choice...

Ray Davies at the Old South Meeting House, Boston, May, 1998. He was originally supposed to appear at the Borders downtown to promote the Storytellers CD, but had to move across the street due to the number of people who showed up. He played for an hour, and at one point, he looked around the colonial interior and said, "I shall reclaim this building for Britain". Cost: free

I saw fIREHOSE at the 40Watt in Athens on their first tour in 1986 (drove over from Atlanta by myself) with about 50 other people for $4, I think. And I saw the Volcano Suns in Greenville, SC, in 1987 or so for $3. Likewise, Sonic Youth on the Sister tour (with the infamous box of guitars) in the fall of 1987 was probably 7 or 8 dollars at the Metroplex in Atlanta.

Of course, it's 20 years later, but I can scarcely remember the last time I paid less than $10 for a show. Paying $20 to see Hitchcock and the Venus 3 last year seemed a little steep at the time, but when he closed his encore with "Kingdom of Love", that was worth the price of admission right there.

Ween - late `90's $9 - I had low expectations but they really performed.

Dictators - June 1991 $9 - one of the few times I pushed up to the front for the whole show and didn't mind all of the pushing and shoving. The Neighborhoods opened and they were great too.

In the `90's, King Missile used to play the DC area it seemed like every couple of months and my buddy and I would pay around $8 for an always entertaining show (one show was a triple bill - Gin Blossoms and Rev Horton Heat supporting). I got the impression that the guys liked playing in DC so they seemed more loose and enjoying themselves. Except, the audience was always informed that they would not play 'Dick' and 'Double Fucked by Two Black Studs', though they would play 'Muffy'.

As for paying more, I paid $40 for Steely Dan and $50(!!) for Devo and was underwhelmed by both. I've been burned twice, so no more! Though maybe I would for Stan Ridgway (since he's been great everytime I've seen him -not cheaply though).

I spent around $60 to see the Cure this last spring, and was well pleased. It wasn't billed as a greatest hits tour, but that's what it was, and it was quite good - they even dredged up unexpected ancient stuff like "Grinding Halt," "Primary," and "Killing an Arab."

I think I paid around $6 the first time I saw Jonathan Richman in 1986 or 87, which was also the last time time I saw him with a full band. It was money very well spent.

I haven't had time to think this one through much - I just wanted to second The Cure as incredible live - I saw them free in Berlin for the Trilogy shows and they were as good then as any of the other 6-7 times I've seen them since Head on the Door (prolly $8) - that said I would never pay to see them again - time is too precious and with their unbelievable mobile studio, the steady DVDs are plenty to fulfill that need.

the first really unforgettable one was the Mats unannounced opening for Husker Du at First Ave circa '84 - free as my friend's bro did door there. About the same year I was impressed by some new Australian band opening for Men at Work - INXS was their name - whatever happened to them?

I'm a cheapskate and having seen a TON of shows I still find the most exciting shows these days are always in the free-$10 range. I just saw this kid play on Sat night for free - about 18 y-o and reminded me of a young Billy Joel, while playing music that you'd actually want to hear - just fantastic songs solo on accordion and then piano - the entire audience was enraptured and was a "hairs on the back of the neck" moment - (s)he was called Novice Theory. Other great recent shows in the under $20 category lately: Thurston Moore solo, Aesop Rock, Monotonix was AWESOME, Karsh Kale, Philip Glass...(I am of course in a pretty decent local market at the moment)
I paid near $50 to see Ein. Neu. a few months ago and that was serious drinking money blown - boring as hell, even though I still find their last few studio albums to be some of their best stuff - and their subscriber business model is pure genius. Two nights later I paid about the same to see Dig Lazurus Dig live and it was worth it, even if it had a few dragging moments - but those are about the biggest single show shell-outs and I only do that about 4-5 times/year - again usually feeling dirty each time.

I guess the spectacle concert is a let down in general because I hate to sit at shows (unless I can smoke or do other shit) and if it's general admission (standing) it's usually too much for me to stand through for the obligatory 2+ hours most bands commanding that much cash feel they need to do.
Not to mention, I get no good feelings being around crowds over a few hundred - if I need binoculars to see the band - fuck that. 50 or fewer still rules and you get used to being the oldest guy there.

I've been looking forward to this one tonight for awhile (and free!)



Post Edited (08-20-08 15:49)

Quote

I've been looking forward to this one tonight for awhile (and free!)

It was freakin' brilliant...

Quite a who's who in tow as well - I saw Zorn, Thurston & Kim, JG Thirwell & Patti Smith (who plays there for free on Sunday) among the masses.

MJM - thanks for posting the link to these videos. That's greatly appreciated!

The best way to end a weekend.

-Great show - I missed most of the blues openers, but The Knitters were top knotch; Exene inadvertently ended up sittin next to me after she finished. The Haden stuff was tame but still had some inspirational moments. Patti Smith was fantastic. I've never been a big fan of hers, but she blew me away live - awesome power and presence. I don't know if she ever recorded it, but her version of Hendrix's "Are You Experienced" was unbelievable with her doing some amazing oboe soloing, and of course ended it with Gloria. I'm sure YouTube action to come - I'll post if I find it.



Post Edited (08-25-08 00:42)

Patti Smith live at Lincoln Center last Sunday

These aren't as good as the previous Ex posts - I thought the Nirvana cover was lame, but her version of Are You Experienced? was transcendent but so far not a great copy there yet, but watch for it...

Patti Smith's actually coming my way in October and playing the concert hall at the Sydney Opera House. Could be quite an experience going by what you say.
Having said that, it was the scene of a bad return for my investment a few months ago when I saw PJ Harvey there.

I was going to share details of each show, until I realized the post would be way too long. (Besides, I'm sure each of these acts has been seen by at least one other person on this board.) So I'll just say that all of the following were awesome, and with two exceptions, all under $10 for a ticket.

Cheap Trick, 1978, New Orleans

Kansas, 1981, Mobile (believe it or not!)

R.E.M./Dream Syndicate, 1984, Denver

The Violent Femmes/Fishbone, 1985, Denver

The Bears, 1986, Denver

Einstürzende Neubauten, 1986, Denver

Hüsker Dü, 1987, Denver

Public Enemy/Anthrax/Primus, 1991, Colorado Springs

The Specials, 1994, Denver

Reel Big Fish, all through the '90s

The Cramps, 2002, Denver

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, 2003, Denver

At the big-ticket-price side of things ... I've seen Prince four times; his ticket price, so far, has topped out at $80 for me. For that money, I've never gotten less than three hours of top-notch music and awesome showmanship.

I must stop with The Hold Steady. Seriously. My wife has asked me to stop talking about them all the time (hey, at least I'm not talking about sports, right?). And I will stop. But first, I have a righteous road trip to plan:

The Hold Steady & Drive-By Truckers are co-headlining (DBT close the night) at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on Friday, October 31 (some folks call it Halloween).

Tickets are $21.50.



Post Edited (08-20-08 16:50)

I saw the Truckers earlier this year. Outstanding show which kept going and going and going. Since it's a Friday night and it's Halloween, you shouldn't expect to be getting home from it until sun-up.

Upstate New York's Felice Brothers opened for the DBTs when I saw them. Their albums are great, but live they're incredible also. They're going to be back in STL in September playing a free show, but unfortunately it's the same night my beloved Neko Case is playing a different venue in town. Wish to hell the Felice Bros were opening for her. That would be a great show.

Damien Jurado is going to be a the same free venue two nights later. September is packed with an unusually huge number of great shows coming to STL. I'm not used to it - we're usually ignored by everyone.

Value for Money would probably be The Kinks Preservation show (with a full set of hits and favorites and then the musical).

But even having seen The Who in their prime and almost everybody else I wanted to see I still think the best live rock 'n' roll act I've ever seen was the Violent Femmes in the months after their second record came out. They just walked out and slayed.

During the mid-'80s in Denver, there was a club called Ladies Choice that started hosting bands from the "underground" scene. This was very odd, since the club was in Five Points ... which was, back then, Denver's analogue to Harlem or Watts. But I saw some great shows there, for a low price ... including the Meat Puppets, the Femmes, Green on Red, Half Japanese, and Havana 3AM (not remembered as a great band, but believe me, they left no ass unkicked that night).

I ended up getting there really early for the Meat Puppets show. It was hilarious sitting in on the Puppets' sound check, and listening to all these old black dudes shout out requests for them to play some R&B. "Man, I can hear y'all got the groove ... now just let it go, man!"

The Liberace show I've talked about here was free. A friend had a last-minute extra ticket.

> I still think the best live rock 'n' roll act I've ever seen was the Violent Femmes in
> the months after their second record came out. They just walked out and slayed.

Yeah, that'd be the time frame when I saw 'em the first time, with Fishbone. They played a manic hour-long set, and then the Femmes played for three hours.

The final encore was "Blister in the Sun." They drew out the long "When I'm walking I strut my stuff" part toward the end, until they stopped it cold, at an unresolved point. The three musicians stood frozen still for a long time on that note, just staring at each other.

Then the Femmes' horn players ran onstage, along with all the members of Fishbone, and they charged into the Batman theme! People were jumping up from the crowd to dance onstage, until I couldn't see any of the musicians. When they hit that "Bat-maaan!" finish, everyone jumped off the stage as if a bomb had exploded up there. Fishbone and the horn players ran off ... and once the cheering settled down, the three Femmes picked up "Blister in the Sun," right where they'd left it, as if the "Batman" interlude never had happened.

I've seen Fishbone five times, and the Femmes so many times I've lost count. Neither band ever has let me down.

Hmmm, I think it's going to thread.

$3 - murder city devils - replay lounge, lawrence, ks - summer 2000 - have drunkenly credited this show with changing my life
$10 - v3 - bottleneck, lawrence, ks - spring, 1996 - opening for gbv, blew them out of the water.
-kind of embrassing, but the early bright eyes shows in nebraska and kansas were cheap and very, very good. and the flaming lips have never disappointed.

the last concert i attended was a festival, ticket price nearly $200, but mates of state, avett brothers, buckethead, and aforementioned lips made up for it.

Fugazi, $5 every time, all great.

Fugazi was great (and $5) every time I saw them, but I thought I read that toward the end of their run (one can only presume it's pretty much over now), they acquiesced to having to charge more than a fiver on some occasions.

I once saw The Flaming Groovies at the Bottom Line in NYC and I still think about how great that show was.



[buddylove.us]

boyish u2 was really something.
jack cassidy bassist.
cheap trick carefree theatre jan '04 w.palmbch fla.

check swing, it mighta been pete sales bassist jefferson starship instead.



Post Edited (08-22-08 18:47)

at least neil gives a refund if he sucks...............or maybe he was vocal coached by rick rubin.....

[ap.google.com]

The Clash @ Bonds (NYC) - $5. Unbelievably good show. My ears still hurt from the decibel levels encountered.

Here's some advance warning for out-of-towners - Sept 6. is another abundance of riches in the big city. The year's FREE concert/festival scene is winding down and this should be an amazing day for music - I highly recommend renting a bike for the day.

EVR Festival - South Street Seaport - Dr. Lonnie Smith, Vivian Girls, KRS-One, Flying Lotus, Boris...

HOWL Fest - Tompkins Square Park The Slits, The Cockettes...

Monster island - Williamsburg tons of freaky rawk bands that Brooklyn produces by the truckload these days