Credit where credit is due: Kid Rock is a smart marketer. He says dumb things sometimes, but he’s good at making money and he’s doing something that’s good for his fans, too.
I’ve been a vocal critic of music acts I otherwise love because of their outrageous concert ticket prices. I refuse to spend so much of my precious cash so that a multi-millionaire, or billionaire can make a disgustingly-huge profit. Years ago when he was asked why The Eagles’ concert tickets cost so much, Glenn Frey got a little huffy and replied that he had to spend big to bring his family on tour and so on. Well, that did it for me. It’s my own little line in the sand. Those shows were all sell-outs so Henley and Frey didn’t miss my $250 one bit. But it was clear that they were giving no thought to me, the little guy.
Although he’s a very wealthy man, Kid Rock hasn’t forgotten about his Detroit roots and the value of a dollar to regular people. He’s hosting a series of concerts called Best Night Ever with Foreigner as opening act, for $20 per ticket. They’ll tour the states on that price and he admits he will still cash in bigtime. Six Detroit shows sold out and two more were added. They’re also going to Hartford, Scranton, Saratoga Springs, Bristow, Virginia Beach, Tampa, Atlanta, Dallas, Cincinnati, Phoenix, Wheatland and Auburn among other US cities.
I don’t expect a gaggle of live music fans to jump on my bandwagon but I do hope you’ll consider it for a moment. I’m not cheap by any means but I really balk at being gouged. And Paul McCartney charging $500 for a ticket is gouging, pure and simple. I don’t care what gas costs or if his wife is bringing along her personal hairstylist. With the amount of money he’s already made off of us, he should be launching a tour where he pays for everything! Since that’s never going to happen, maybe he and others will take a cue from Kid Rock and Foreigner and just be a little more reasonable.
(This post originally appeared on the Blackburn News website)