Why this interest in Depeche Mode? Because I heard an old song of theirs on the radio, which I have on vinyl from when it was originally released (early 80's) and I thought, "Hey, they're good." I hadn't listened to an album of theirs in a long time. Then after the song, I heard that they're coming to Chicago in November. So I went online and found concert clips to make sure that their shows weren't lame, and thought, "Maybe I should go."
But then there was the problem of ticket prices. I hate being ripped off by bands, especially those that preach that the fans are part of selfish, awful rich countries. U2 likes to remind us of that. They don't care that people have to shell out up to $170 for tickets to their shows. No, the concert-goers are the bad guys because we live in relative comfort and aren't starving. So we listen to their lectures while they live in mansions, stay in five-star hotels, and charge inflated prices throughout the world because they can get away with it. People worship them too much too complain.
I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Depeche Mode has two prices: $55 and $75. Not bad. It's not cheap, but it's not outrageous. And I had no idea they were so popular (they still play arenas after 20 years), so for them to have two prices is quite fair, considering their stardom.
So this morning I went to get a ticket, and I was prepared to get lame seats since there were already some presales. I wasn't going to pay the higher price until the clerk said: "Best available is first section, seventh row." That's seventh row in an arena! I asked her if it was the same price as the other sections that cost $75, and she said yes. "Seventh row for $75? I'll take it!" If this is an indication that my lot in my life is improving, then I'll go with it.
Of course, Ticketscheister (Ticketmaster) charged an addition $10 "fee." Whatever that means. I think that evil ticket cartel/monopoly fits what Depeche Mode sang about:
The grabbing hands grab all they can
All for themselves - after all
The grabbing hands grab all they can
All for themselves - after all
It's a competitive world
Everything counts in large amounts
The grabbing hands grab all they can
Everything counts in large amounts
4 comments:
09 26 05
Hello:
I saw DM in concert in 1993. It was awesome! I think the ticket price is reasonable:) Hope you have fun there! Say, do you know about how vosotros from archaic Spanish got morphed into vos in Argentina?
I am curious and no one has been able to tell me. Thx have a nice day:)
I don't know off the top of my head, but I asked LanguageHat about it--I'll see what he says.
Hey, I'd like to see DM; the crowd would probably be as entertaining, maybe even more. As a snotty college kid into harder, "more alternative," stuff, I did once ridicule them as "Depeche Commode," but I generally enjoyed their stuff.
When they first appeared in the early 80's, they were considered cutting edge, and I was proud to be an early admirer of theirs. But by the time they got really famous, I'd moved on to other stuff, such as jazz with Japanese instruments.
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