New Poem: CODA TO THE SILENCE OF THE BOSS

 Bruce sings My Love Will Not Let You Down 

 can’t say the same for the ticket prices

 so I learn to live with what I can’t rise above

 listening to live shows for a fraction of the cost

 paid by celebrity guest singers and well-heeled fans

 as the Jersey Man sings from a seldom-changing setlist 

 about aging, death and being the Last Man Standing

 and I remember when I paid a ticket broker’s price

 (cheaper than Dynamic Pricing today)

 to sit in the now dead Los Angeles Sports Arena

 and buy a T-shirt (since lost) with the saying

 THIS IS NOT A DARK RIDE

 this was a mere 35 years ago

New Poem: THE SILENCE OF THE BOSS

 say nothing

 let the plate crash on the floor

 send out the manager instead

 allow the official ticket seller 

 to wave a wand of percentages 

 >

 keep saying nothing

 not even something like:

 hey E Street Nation

 I carry a lot of band and crew around

 and we’re making up for pandemic hiatus

 >

 instead, it’s hey look over there

 watch this video of me

 playing with Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers

 forget that you can’t get online

 to buy regular price tickets

 until Dynamic Pricing kicks in

 >

 keep saying nothing

The Rolling Stones, high ticket prices and the perils of limited touring.

Here's August Brown of THE LOS ANGELES TIMES mentioning a block of $85.00 tickets being released in time for tonight's Staples Center show.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-rolling-stones-85-dollar-tickets-staples-20130503,0,5693752.story

And here's a link to the Bob Lefsetz blog entry Brown references:
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2013/05/01/stones-tickets/

Clearly, the Stones thought a limited-date tour warranted prices as high as $600 for tickets (as much a reason as the "beat the scalpers" thesis of Lefsetz).

And many fans (some of them probably angered by the band ignoring key U.S. markets outside of the East and West Coasts--except Chicago) are pushing back and staying home.

Curious if Led Zeppelin (allegedly Robert Plant's interested in another reunion; guessing it's keyed to the upcoming reissue-with-bonus-tracks of the band's recorded catalogue) will learn something from the Stones' victory-lap stumble.