Betrayal, Disbelief, Abandonment, Entitlement and other words that describe my prinicipled dilemma.

-
Stop me if you've heard this one:

I have been a fan of these guys for twelve (12) years. My first concert ticket, twelve years ago, set me back $5, and a two-hour drive from Gainesville to Orlando. It was in a cleared out church sanctuary with maybe 200 people. Maybe.

There are a few people who can claim fandom longer than me, but not many. And certainly not as loyally.

In the twelve years that have elapsed, I have seen my guys in concert at least once for every year -traveling to West Palm Beach, Orlando and even New York with my fellow groupie to catch them in Times Square. One year, fellow groupie and I promoted a show in our college town (which is fancy lingo for selling tickets, hanging posters and hanging out backstage). I've escorted them to interviews and escorted interviewers to them, I've snuck into a show early and "found" myself backstage where I didn't belong - only to have my loyalty deepened when lead singer Mac greeted us like we were old friends. We weren't, yet. That was way early. There were times later when I was backstage because I did belong, and I could just rock to myself as professionally as possible, because I was "working."

So here's the deal. Favorite band is coming again, this September. With another favorite band. Pre-sale starts today. Good seats are...

SIXTY FREAKIN' DOLLARS.

plus...

A SEVEN DOLLAR SERVICE FEE.

...each.

Sure, there are other seats available, like, in the parking lot, for $30.

It seems to me that bands ought to have some kind of loyalty rewards program, like, how some gyms let you keep your original starting fee so that you're still paying $8 a month when all the newbies are shelling out $49. Or how cruise lines give you new bags and keychains and stuff when you become a "repeat cruiser." Or how Subway used to have that card where when you bought 10 sandwiches your 11th was free.

But they don't. I was offered the opportunity to join the fan club (for $30) and then I have the privilege of buying tickets earlier than other people, but at the same price. But anyone can do that. I want some recognition. I want a reward for 12 loyal years. I can sing lyrics to songs that the rookies don't even know exist. Entire albums are logged on my brain's hard drive. I have reached the point in fandom where I can look around a packed venue and honestly say that I have been listening to these guys from the beginning - longer than a good portion of the audience has been alive. (Christian shows feature a lot of kids in the audience.)

So I am torn. Do I want to go? Absolutely. Do I want to pay $67 per ticket? Absolutely not. Do I EVER win anything, like FREE TICKETS? Nope.

Alas. Thoughts?

Comments

Loren Eaton said…
A new mortgage. Or, barring that, an X-Acto knife to slash the tires of their tour bus. If you choose the second route, give me a call. I'm still peeved that they've abandoned their Southern Rock roots.
May 9, 2008 at 6:35 PM
Amy said…
update: The REALLY good seats -the ones in the center section - are being offered at the bargain rate of $125. Each. With a $10 service fee. BUT, it does include parking.
May 10, 2008 at 9:27 AM
Loren Eaton said…
Parking, schmarking. I've got my X-Acto. When do we leave?
May 10, 2008 at 3:13 PM
Jack and Lexi's Mom said…
Malicious, criminal behaviour not withstanding, the best revenge is living well. That in mind, I say we start our own band and refuse to sell them tickets!
May 10, 2008 at 9:53 PM
Amy said…
OOH, and in other news, Jars of Clay (the other favorite band performing) is offering the same presale deal to members of their fan community which has NO COST TO JOIN, and the service fee per ticket is $2 less.

Agh! Someone remove the dagger!
May 12, 2008 at 2:34 PM
Anonymous said…
I've been listening to Third Day and Switchfoot from the beginning...I agree...some kind of loyalty discount would be nice.
On a side note, JC and I were both at the same Third Day/Switchfoot concert at his old church in high school like '97. Random, eh?
--rhoda
June 9, 2008 at 7:28 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where is Mister Rogers When You Need Him?

-
Image
It has been said that I am easily amused. Little things fascinate me. I like to know how things work. I like factory tours and behind-the-scenes stuff and those specials on Discovery Channel. I was definitely brought up this way: I remember my brother telling me about a conversation he'd recently had about "Jet Puffed Marshmallows." Topics covered were: What does "Jet-Puffed" mean? How big-a-jet are we talkin? What keeps the marshmallows from exploding when "jet puffed"? Several weeks ago, the girls and I caught an episode of the rarely aired Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In that one episode, the inimitable Mr. R shed light on two very interesting processes when he visited a sleeping bag factory and a dollmaker's workshop. Have you ever thought about how a sleeping bag is assembled? Me neither, but now I know, and I am a better person for it. So here are a few jobs I would like to shadow for a day (or watch Mister Rogers shadow them), because ev...
Read more

An Open Letter to Everyone's Favorite Morning Radio Host

-
Image
Dear Mr. Morning Radio Host, How dare you, Mr. Morning Radio Host , while thinking out loud on air, suggest that we all turn around and give our tax refund checks to Compassion International? It's an economic stimulus package! Didn't you think of that? How will sending our money to poor people out of the country stimulate the US economy? Huh? That's just an un-American suggestion! You are proposing that we send our economy into further tumult, just to satisfy your whim of feeding orphans! If we don't use our money to consume more stuff, or go on little vacations or invest wisely, then, well, the package will be all for naught, and we will all be guilty of treason, or something. What are you trying to do? Save the world or something? Start a movement? You are a danger to this economy, sir. Sincerely, Amy Wright, who is thinking that there may be something to this, and will soon be investigating ways to encourage people to do it, provided the Senate approves the plan.
Read more

Ask me what I did last night.

-
A few of us have been wrestling a little bit lately with what it means to live in the grace of God. What does it mean to live fully covered by the Gospel? To embrace the freedom Christ secured for us on the cross? For me, last night, it meant big hair and hard rock. See, over the summer, I'd started to get a little self-conscious about my holiness. I was part of a study at church that consisted of mainly older, wiser, more conservative and traditional women. While I still felt largely like a voice of dissent - a raging postmodern compared to this crowd - there was a certain feeling starting to set in. An old nemesis. I can't believe I didn't recognize it, as we' spent so much time together in the past. Guilt. Guilt that I wasn't the teetotaling, perfect homemaking, gentle-speaking mother that I was being mentored to be in this class. I used my powers of wit and sarcasm to mask and suppress it, but with each chapter and interaction the guilt seeped deeper...wit...
Read more