Big Bands on the Cheap

Patrick Sweeney opened for the Black Keys. Excellent blues-rock.

In high school, I saw Kings of Leon and The Black Keys for around $35 each, even after Ticketmaster had its way with my wallet (I hate Ticketmaster with all of my heart, but I don't need to jump on the bash-wagon). I saw them both at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. I was ten feet from the stage and had the best time of my life. I bet you want to know how you can do this, too. Trust me, I wish I had an answer.

Caleb from Kings of Leon. Truly a gorgeous sight.

One of the saddest consequences of a band's rising popularity is the wildly exciting ticket prices. Kings of Leon and The Black Keys now sell out massive stadium tours where the best seats reach over a hundred dollars. Back row seats can be around $75 and lawn seats are around $50. Guys on the street will try and bilk $20 out of you if you stand too close to the venue.

Annoying? Absolutely. But now I have the satisfaction of having seen these bands in the best possible way, for a totally reasonable price, at a real neat place.

Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys.

There are a few things you can do to protect yourself from music industry robbery. Find all the small venues in your area, the bars, the dives, the standing-room only clubs for hipsters. Look at the lineup of future bands and pick out the ones you've either heard of or that fit your musical taste. Now go to those shows. Just go. There's a half decent chance you will see great musicians and a slightly smaller chance that some of them will make it big. Or at least big enough to charge $120 for seats a mile out. By the way, the pictures in this blog were taken on my old Motorola flip with a 1.3 megapixel camera. That's how close I was to the stage.