Would you pay $250 for Madonna's Confessions?

Cafe Society
#1

According to this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4896262.stm Madonna’s latest tour “Confessions on the Dance Floor” is running upwards of about $250 per ticket.

The article goes on to claim that because concerts no longer directly equate to bigger sales of albums, the cost has gone up. Apparently piracy is the bugaboo being blamed for this.

Now, I don’t think I’d pay money to watch Madonna take a shower with Brittany Spears. If this is what live concerts are costing, venues are going to have to scale down to accomodate (unless, as the article suggests, there are more than enough people willing to spend money for this).

Honestly, I can’t think of anything I’d pay that kind of money to see.

#2

I’m trying to remember how much I paid to see Cher about five years ago during her Believe tour. I’m thinking it was something like $70, which I totally wouldn’t have paid had she not had Cyndi Lauper as an opening act. No way in hell would I pay $250 for a Madonna ticket. If I want to get fucked over and pay for it I know hustlers who work a lot cheaper.

#3

I’ve been doing what I can to keep my BF from hearing about her shows here in LA next month, because he would pay that much. I saw her in detroit 5 years ago (I went free) and that was enough for me.

#4

I wouldn’t pay even $2.00 for Madonna herself.

#5

“More than enough people willing to spend money for this” explains the ticket prices. Piracy has nothing to do with it.

I’m seeing Madonna, but I’m only paying ~$90. I also get Paul Oakenfold, the Scissor Sisters, Massive Attack, Gabriel & Dresden, The Go! Team, Mogwai, The Dears etc. for this price.

#6

I figure I spent close to $1,000 to see the Nice in London on their reunion tour in 2002. The ticket was only £25.00, plus about the same again for a program and a couple of cheesy t-shirts; the main expenses were airfare, hotel, and getting a new passport.

It was totally worth it.

#7

Because she wanted to go, I took a girlfriend to see Cher a few years back (late '90s, I believe), and the only person who somewhat salvaged the entertainment was Cyndi Lauper; in fact, although Cher was on stage longer, Cyndi actually sang more songs. (Plus, she just has a better voice.) Cher spent a lot of her time showing film clips of herself. Cher was a waste of money, but I’d go see Cyndi again if she ever came into town.

#8

I wouldn’t pay $250 to see the original Madonna.

#9

You couldn’t pay ME $250 to go see Madonna. Her latest image is fug, too. Madge, those leotards ain’t flattering!

#10

I would however have paid the $1500 for the best seats to see Sarah Brightman a few years back, if I had it to spend at the time.

#11

I wouldn’t pay it, but to be honest, her ticket prices are not any worse than Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and lots of other acts. I am probably going to NYC in October to see Streisand in Madison Square Garden and there have been rumors that top ticket prices will break the $1000 mark. (I get in for free, but that is another story.)

In Las Vegas, it costs $250 for a good seat to see Celine Dion or Elton John at Caesars…and the same for Barry Manilow at the Hilton…so, I guess if you are a fan, $250 is pretty much the going rate.

#12

Damn. I only paid $50 for tickets to this years Sounds Of The Underground and there’s a whole day’s worth of entertainment. Granted, there won’t be many Madonna fans in attendance, but still…

#13

Hey, I actually do like a lot of Madonna’s music, but I have to say $250? I wouldn’t pay $250 for a personal lap dance from her.

#14

I thought this was going to be about another Madonna book, for which I wouldn’t pay 250 cents, less’n there was lots of pictures from her cheerleading days, then maybe.

#15

We saw her in 1999. Did you get Julio Iglasias Jr too? He was awful. Should’ve dumped him and given his time to Cyndi.

Same friend and I saw Cyndi a couple years later in Chicago, supporting her “At Last” album. SHe’s so fantastic.

#16

I have no objection at all to artists of any type, or sports figures, obtaining whatever they think the market will bear for their performances, nor do I object to people paying whatever they think is acceptable for their own entertainment. Nevertheless, there is no event I can think of that I personally would travel more than about 150 miles, or pay more than about $30 per seat, to see. I just don’t find it that important that I be present at one live event or another.

Now, I’ll gladly go to an interesting event if someone happens to lay a ticket on me, but even then, I won’t make any effort at all to try to cadge a ticket if I don’t have one.

I guess all that means I haven’t been out to a major concert in quite a while. I do see plenty of Astros baseball games, because the ticket prices are in a range I find reasonable.

#17

The only artist I’d pay more than $50 to see (by himself, not as part of a larger bill) is Tom Waits. And apparently, on the rare occasions he still tours, his tickets get scalped for hundreds of dollars each. So no, nobody is worth $250 to me.

#18

Depends. To get these confessions, who will be torturing her, and for how long?

#19

There’s only two groups I’d pay more than $50 to see:

The Beatles (with 50% dead members, it ain’t gonna happen)

The Electric Light Orchestra (ca 1977) (from what I’ve read, there’s too much bad blood between Jeff, Kelly, and Bev, so THAT ain’t gonna happen either)

I’m not a big concert goer and the most I’ve ever paid to see a group was $45 for Alison Krauss and Union Station (and it was well worth the money).

#20

I don’t have the money to buy the ticket, much less any interest in doing so.