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The Police....

deanmass

By deanmass
in Sound, Stage, and Studio

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Super 8 Newbie

Super 8

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It's crazy what people charge for tix. I think I paid 9 or 11 bucks to see Ted Nugent/Blackfoot/Krokus back in '81. My first real rock concert, and I had a great time.

 

I stopped going to concerts a while ago. You shell out an inflated price and you end up with poor seats or crappy sound, or both. It's happened too many times.

Rock concerts should be rock concerts. Something kids can go to for not too much money, buy a t-shirt, and have a great time. This Police reunion is going to be a bunch of 40-something professionals trying to pretend they're 17 again. Screw that...

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Jeff da Weasel Newbie

Jeff da Weasel

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Is it possible that some people might want to go just to enjoy the show and not pretend like they're anything?

 

Yeah, I was a little taken aback by Super 8's cynicism here. There are very few bands that made a huge impact on my life... the Police were one of them. I never expected I'd have the chance to see them again, and I'm sure as hell not going to miss it now.

 

What, am I supposed to see smooth jazz shows now that I'm going on 40? I'm a rocker, and in regard to music, I don't feel a whole lot different now than when I was 17. Why shouldn't I like some of the same music?

 

In any case, VERY stoked to be seeing the Police. :thu:

 

- Jeff

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rainbird Newbie

rainbird

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Tried to buy tickets for the Seattle show at 9 a.m. when they

were made available on Ticketmonster yesterday. Not only were

there no two seats available in the cheap seats (ninety dollars!) ...but

there weren't any available for $225 either. Not that I'd have been

willing to pay quite THAT much.

 

So - how is it that ALL of these tickets were already gone

by the reported "start time" for the online sales? What do

these other people know that I don't? Is there some sort

of ticket-purchasing tool analogous to "sniping software"

such as many folks use on Ebay auctions?

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Jeff da Weasel Newbie

Jeff da Weasel

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Tried to buy tickets for the Seattle show at 9 a.m. when they were made available on Ticketmonster yesterday. Not only were there no two seats available in the cheap seats (ninety dollars!) ...but there weren't any available for $225 either. Not that I'd have been willing to pay quite THAT much.


So - how is it that ALL of these tickets were already gone by the reported "start time" for the online sales? What do these other people know that I don't? Is there some sort of ticket-purchasing tool analogous to "sniping software" such as many folks use on Ebay auctions?

 

This is the ugly side to modern ticket sales.

 

I did get seats yesterday at 9:00am through Ticketmaster. But the first four times I tried, I wasn't able to. I got my seats at about 9:06. By 9:10, the show was sold out.

 

Here's the deal: the ticket re-sellers (what we used to call scalpers) have people the pay to storm the websites where the tickets are being sold. Ticketmaster tries to prevent this somewhat by a) allowing only 6 tix mac per person, and b) making you enter a code so automated software can't scoop up all the tix.

 

But if the scalpers have 50 people doing it at the same time, they're going to get most of the seats. My $225 seats were going for $500 each, 15 minutes after the show was sold out. :mad:

 

To get seats, you have to be lucky, and you have to start trying the very second that the clock turns to the opening time. At 8:59:59, I was already poised above my keyboard, and I still almost didn't get any seats. It scks, but it's just how it is these days... the bad side to good technology.

 

- Jeff

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offramp Newbie

offramp

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I enjoyed the Grammy performance. I thought it was just fine. And it was certainly better than the RNR HOF performance, which was miserable.

And, yes, they chose 'Roxanne' because of the anniversary, gripers.

 

Andy's guitar on the Grammy's was the first of 250 exact replicas made by Fender. As I understand it, they even went to the trouble to repair the onboard preamp of the original, for him, which had apparently died on him some years back.

 

Got my tix. My wife (Roxane, oddly enough. One "N") managed to get two tickets at normal prices, even though they're not together. Such a woman...she gave me the one sitting closest (row 11, I think).

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deanmass Newbie

deanmass

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Jeff, no one is saying go to soft jazz concerts....

 

If the Police were $45.00 per, I'd buy 8 tix and take a bunch of friends, but a the prices they are asking, the scalper markup is gonna be through the roof. My suggestion is, go see more bands are smaller places.

 

The Police are part of my 'big three' rock bands, Rush, U2, and them. Sting and Geddy Lee are my main influences on bass, my main instrument, and I saw the Police in 1984, and they were amazing. My problems with going have way more to do with crazy prices and {censored}ty sound than lack of desire to see them. I just don't dig giant production concerts that much any more. I took my son to see Green Day in 05, and it was pretty good, but, we were at the rear of the lower bowl due to a 'mosh pit waiver' and not being able to take his diabetic supplies onto the floor with us. And it cost me big $$.

 

I thik what I am gonna do is, camp on the radios for a bit, see if I can win some tix. I have plenty of time..I would still like to see them, but for not high dollar.

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Jeff da Weasel Newbie

Jeff da Weasel

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Jeff, no one is saying go to soft jazz concerts....

 

 

I agree that tickets seem expensive these days, Dean, even keeping in mind that a $35 ticket in 1983 is more than $70 in 2007 due to straight inflation.

 

I was referring to Super 8's comment... "This Police reunion is going to be a bunch of 40-something professionals trying to pretend they're 17 again. Screw that..."

 

My point is that despite the fact that I'm not 17, I still enjoy rock shows, and I'm not pretending to be anyone. And I doubt that many 17-year-olds today would be interested in the Police, considering the last album they did was seven years before they were born.

 

- Jeff

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offramp Newbie

offramp

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Yeah, and I'll take umbrage with the "40-something" bit.

 

I'm 40-something.:mad:

 

Besides, Sting and Stew are in their 50's, Andy's 64, and they all look better than the Stones ever did, at any age.:lol:

 

Like enjoying rock is supposed to be limited to a pointless demographic?

Sounds like Logan's Run.

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deanmass Newbie

deanmass

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I don't think this is about their ages....It is just about value vs. desire to see them...I listen to lots of new stuff, lots of old. I am sure most of us on here do, cause we KNOW good music when we hear it. I was not implying agism, Jeff, sorry if it sounded that way. The Stones, to me, are pretty much pickled...pre-embalmed ( Lee F is now aiming at my head..:). The Police are taking better care of themselves, as are most of the younger generations of musicians. Sting with all his tantra Sex and Berries and all. I am sure they will put on a good show, but I have concerns about Stings voice being hosed, cause he blew it out all the time in the 80's, and his voice has always struck me as rather fragile and thin. If you pay the bucks, and he is croaking out stuff off key, blech...

 

I am sure they will put on a good show, but I have concerns about Stings voice being hosed, cause he blew it out all the time in the 80's, and his voice has always struck me as rather fragile and thin. If you pay the bucks, and he is croaking out stuff off key, blech...

 

Giant cash is what you pay

Squawcking on the Moon.

I skipped my lunch today

Squawcking on the Moon.

So that I could pay, Oh

Squawcking on the Moon

To hear Sting today, oh.

Squawcking on, Squawcking on the Moon.

 

( this is just a little joke, don't freak..:)

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elsongs Newbie

elsongs

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My point is that despite the fact that I'm not 17, I still enjoy rock shows, and I'm not pretending to be anyone. And I doubt that many 17-year-olds today would be interested in the Police, considering the last album they did was seven years before they were born.


- Jeff

 

 

Since today's teenagers either listen to hip-hop or 3-chord indie/emo/lameass whiner rock, The Police's music is wayyyyy too complex for anyone under their mid-20s to comprehend.

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UstadKhanAli Newbie

UstadKhanAli

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Since today's teenagers either listen to hip-hop or 3-chord indie/emo/lameass whiner rock, The Police's music is wayyyyy too complex for anyone under their mid-20s to comprehend.

 

 

This is so utterly UNTRUE I cannot begin to tell you.

 

I work with a LOT of high school kids (not the sp. ed. ones, but people who come in either in our out of our school district, plus since I'm a teacher, I simply talk to a lot of jr. high and high school kids). I'll see at least 50-100 a year.

 

I work in a diverse community. Lots of Armenians, blacks, Asians, and whites.

 

And a lot of them show up here wearing Hendrix, Doors, AC/DC shirts, or whatever. I ask them about what music they listen to, and sure, a lot of them listen to hip-hop, but you'd be utterly floored by what these guys are listening to - and not as an exception. They're listening to a lot of classic rock stuff. In fact, a group of guys were saying that just as many people listen to classic rock as hip-hop at their high school. They're into Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Sabbath, Zeppelin, AC/DC, Police, U2, Steve Ray Vaughn, ZZ Top, Steely Dan, Genesis, Ben Folds Five, Nirvana, Black Flag, new wave, etc. and are familiar with a whole lot more. These artists get mentioned all the time. They also are familiar with Ornette Coleman, Coltrane, Monk, Hancock, and others. A lot are familiar with blues artists as well.

 

Again, I must emphasize that these kids coming up here are NOT the exception - certainly not in the Los Angeles area.

 

Who do you think keeps buying these albums? How many times do you think baby boomers are going to keep buying these CDs? Who is buying Doors downloads?

 

100% for sure, these jr. high and high school kids not only listen to classic rock, but know a lot of the references we were making to specific band members (two 17 year olds last week completely understood a joking reference I made when I said, "Agh, someone should have kept Jim Morrison from flying off to Paris...".

 

I've been working with high school kids for 12 years. Every single year, they've always shown that they are far more adventurous and diverse and knowledgeable than most adults give them credit for. I'd recommend that before anyone makes the assumption about what kids listen to or feel or think or do, you go and actually talk to a bunch of them. You just might be blown away.

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dahkter Newbie

dahkter

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I got tickets too, MSF, August 3rd. Horrible seats (nosebleed, behind the stage). hopefully it's a small enough venue that it will still sound OK all the way up there.

Either way, I'll be happy to take that off of my checklist of things to do in my lifetime (see the police, not sit five hundred feet from the stage)...

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UstadKhanAli Newbie

UstadKhanAli

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Well, I'm seeing them at Dodger Stadium, so I don't know how close we are to the stage. I got the $95 tickets, but they're apparently still fairly high up, although centered. I usually go to clubs and pay $5-10 at most (I love seeing all sorts of different live acts!), so $95 seems prohibitively expensive, but we really wanted to see them. Ack!!!

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