[ Closed ] Has Joe Forgotten His Fans (Page 1 of 7)

Hopefully not.
I think his management may have.
Saw Joe in 2008 for £15 and enjoyed concert more than RAH
where the sound was poor and the ticket was about £35.
Paid same amount for Brighton last year - excellent.
This year will cost £60 for same seating, still worth it but only just.

Lester

I can also appreciate the concerns, but at the same time cannot imagine the cost of touring these days.  I read a post from Joe here on the Forum that the money does not all end up in the artist's pocket.  He found out that filling his one tour bus with petro was $700.  He was shocked and asked the driver how often he had to fill it up and it was 3 times a week! Plus the other tour bus plus 2 semi trucks for the equipment.  That's $8,400 every week just for fuel.  Not to mention overseas flights, etc.  Sheds a different light on the whole picture.

In general, all national level artist concert tickets are expensive.  Musicians don't make money on records like they used to.  Concerts are a natural way to make some of that lost revenue up.  I love the fact that Joe gives us records and videos and concerts.  And he does in frequency what only a tiny fraction of artists do.  So it becomes a matter of priorities.  For the last 7 or 8 years, Joe has made my priority cut.  I have no complaints about the value equation Joe provides his fans.  No one does it better for me.

The inflation rate in the U.S. hasn't done much damage to buying power for some years now (you can use this to see how much: http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ ), but the same can't be said for Britain and other countries in Europe as the Euro-Crisis-of-the-Week has been unfolding...

To the extent that such things influence YOUR buying power, don't forget that those same factors also affect Joe's (he doesn't get to pay in magic beans to put on his tour, after all; venues want money, transport companies want money, the folks in the band and the road crew want money, etc.).

Sometimes we let our emotions cloud our minds when thinking about economic matters. In an even relatively free market (which the U.S. and Europe are), a good or service will rise in price until it meets resistance, and then it will quickly find an equilibrium. It will not stay at that level for long, though, as at the new price demand will gradually increase again, and we repeat the cycle. That is the way the world works, always has been in this country, and for quite some time in Europe...

I just recently turned 60. If I go to the local grocery store and ask for a lower price for milk (and milk prices here in Iowa at least have gone a little nuts recently) because I've been loyally drinking it for longer than most of their other customers...   

All Joe owes us is his best efforts as an artist. I believe he does that (frankly, the amount of work the man does relative to a lot of his peers blows me away). Speaking for myself, I've never been disappointed, and don't expect to be. But he doesn't owe us a longevity bonus based on when we started following him...

P.S. If anybody makes any cracks about what was life like before milk was invented ('cause at my age, I must have been there when it was) will get a poke in the snout. And I have never raised my price on that...   

Shu

I don't know if it was on here or on Facebook Joe said he was responsible for 21 families plus himself.  That's a big deal when you are the breadwinner for that many families. And you feel that responsibility. Yes he gets help from the band, the crew, the office, etc.... but the show doesn't go on without Joe.  He does have the responsibility on his shoulders.  I understand what you are saying, but forget his fans??...I don't think Joe will ever forget his fans, my opinion is that Joe is cut from a different cloth and I think Joe is a very responsible person.  Joe also deserves to make a profit and a living for himself.  He has worked tirelessly for years.  My part time job is in a theater and I see how many people need to get paid for every show that comes thru there.......it is a a lot of people, but we still have 2,000-3,000 people for every show.....part of it is where you want to place your hard earned dollars.....I hope you understand what I am trying to say.  When I first started following Joe I couldn't believe how low the ticket prices were for the quality of show I was seeing.  Perhaps if there would have been a gradual increase in the earlier years it wouldn't seem so much now.

                                                I am thankful for how low the ticket prices were for so long.  Just my 2 cents worth....
                                                                                                                        pattyluvsjoe

"I'm not nice to any guitar!"     
                 Joe Bonamassa 05-03-12

JBLP CHILD #184

I totally agree Patty.And its not always easy for everyone to come up with the dough, to go to the show.But don't blame it on Joe.That's what I say.

Hey, it's a business......with killer music attached by a dude that always gives a damn.

                                                                              Thanks JB!!!

                                                                              J Dawg

I think in the case of this artist, the prices of tickets directly from the venues are justifiable. And the price of fuel seems to dictate the prices of a lot of things these days. Fuel goes up, everything goes up. It costs more to operate venues, maintain them etc. It's not just the transportation costs of getting a band from point A to point B.

I know it sucks having to sometimes pay more than you'd like to see a band but its not something you're doing weekly or monthly. And if someone is a regular concert goer, then I guess you either chalk it up as part of the game or you pick and chose a little more selectively who you're going to see.