Tomorrow evening, I am going to the Eagles farewell concert in Honolulu. How much do concert t-shirts go for nowadays?
Depends on the band, of course. For something like the Eagles, I’d be shocked if it were less than $30.
Yeah, it depends on the band. Local bands might sell them for as little as $10. Lesser known (but still played on the radio) bands (like the UK’s Keane) usually sell them for $20 - $25. A super-popular band like The Eagles or Stones probably has a wide range of shirts, from $35 for a basic t-shirt to $75 for a babydoll t-shirt complete with the band’s name spelled out in rhinestones.
And before anyone complains about price, rememeber that concerts are where your favorite acts make money. Of the $20 you spent on their last CD, the band itself might have gotten a quarter at most. On the other hand, spending $35 on a shirt nets the band around $15. As much as concert shirts are a rip-off, I do buy them occasionally, as I know I’m helping a band far more than by buying their records. In fact, at Madonna’s last show, I dropped around $270 at the gak shack.
I figured they might cost a lot, but I am buying a memory of my favorite group. So I consider $30 worth it.
You have to be pulling in a hefty income to afford both the tickets to the concert AND the band t-shirt these days. Congrats on that, HubZilla. 
Well, with housing so cheap in Hawaii, it was no problem. But I drew the line at the $250 floor seats.
Well, with housing so cheap in Hawaii, it was no problem. But I drew the line at the $250 floor seats. Geez, I could almost rent the band for that.
So you’re rich and you live in Hawaii, eh? Now I think I understand identity theft.
A word of caution – concert t-shirts these days are much poorer quality than they used to be.
In the last 10 years I’ve bought t-shirts for Jethro Tull, ELP and Yes, and all of them fell apart within a year or two. On the other hand, my Flotsam & Jetsam shirt from the Doomsday For The Deceiver tour of 1988 is still holding up just fine, though it’s a little faded.
At an Eagles show? Well, let me put it this way: Next to the merch booth is a loan officer…
Seriously, expect to pay $40-50 a shirt.
While the grass shack cuts down on a mortgage, I cannot see paying $40-50 a t-shirt.
Interestingly enough, I decided to check their web page and they have the shirts for $25. So if worse comes to worse…
Tickets to Rolling Stones Forty Licks Tour concert: $50
Rolling Stones Forty Licks T-shirt at concert: $10.
Getting interviewed on the evening news with my buddies outside the concert, after I told my boss I was going home with a stomach-ache: Priceless.
It would have to be way more than $30. I reckon I would want at least $100 to wear an Eagles t-shirt.
Just remember, don’t wear the shirt of the band you’re going to go see. Don’t be that guy.
T-shirts at the Depeche Mode show in Chicago last night were $35.
Isn’t pretty much everyone that guy?
My INXS shirt from a concert in 1987 w/ all the words that end in ‘-ate’ is still in pretty good shape though it’s been retired to jammie status.
Same w/ my Stryper one…it was a gift.
The last group’s shirts (Okkervil River) I bought from their online store afterward b/c I was carrying a backpack to live out of @ the actual concert. They were really cheap, $18 I think.
It’s apparently a joke that nobody ever gets. Somebody says “don’t be that guy,” you say “what’s wrong with it,” and they say “nothing, it’s just a joke.” I’d rather be “that guy” than, say, wear a Josh Groban t-shirt to a Slayer concert.
Just be glad you guys don’t live in Oz.
Here, decent concert tix can cost between $70-$100. And they’re the cheap seats at some venues!
T-shirts are still fairly expensive, from $30 for a lesser known act, to $60 for a top act.
A few years ago, I purchased a tour t-shirt from a Robbie Williams concert for about $50. The t-shirt has never been worn, and the screen printing was very, very poor, almost unreadable.
I bought a t-shirt from the Finn Brothers concert in Melbourne about a year ago and that was about $40 too. (tix to that concert were at least $70). Quality was average, nothing to justify the price tag.
When I saw U2 this spring in Vancouver Canada, current tour shirts were going for $45CAN if I recall.
However you could by “classic” tour shirts from past tours (War, Joshua Tree, etc.) and they were going for $100CAN!
That seemed like a pretty big money grab!
When I saw Dave Matthews in Vancouver, I bought a nice long sleeve T-Shirt for $35CAN.
Then when I saw Big Sugar (awesome Canadian band), their t-shirts were $10CAN.
MtM