But we do try to get away to catch a concert or two each year. Heather's list of must-see concerts includes James Taylor, James Taylor and James Taylor. Oh, did I mention she's a big fan of James Taylor? That's right, for about 8 years James has come to Toronto every other summer and paid us a visit at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre. The price has always been affordable and we really enjoy the venue.
A couple of years ago James went commercial on us. Last winter he came to Toronto with Carole King. I went online to order tickets and then gasped at the price, almost $200 a ticket. Hmm, what to do, feed the family or let them starve for a few weeks and see a concert? The food and hunger thing won out.
Heather forgave James and we both hoped he'd come back to Toronto this summer without Carole King (yes we blamed her for the over priced tickets, not James!). Well, James announced three weeks ago he would be back in Toronto in June at the Rexall Centre but again his tickets cost upwards of $200 each. Again, feed the family or see a concert? For the second time in less than a year we put the credit card back in the family wallet and hit cancel in the 'purchase tickets' section of the Live Nation website.
Two weeks ago though Live Nation sent me a lifeline. I got an e-mail from them announcing Peter Gabriel was touring and would make a stop in Toronto this June.
Both Heather and I have been big fans of Peter Gabriel going back many years. We last saw him at the SkyDome in 1993 during his Secret World Tour. But he wandered off into concert obscurity after that and hasn't been heard from since.
The Peter Gabriel New Blood Tour comes to Toronto on June 22. I immediately checked Live Nation fully expecting to see James Taylor ticket prices. To my relief the tickets were half the price. For $200 we got two tickets in the 300 level.
So my question is this, how could a performer of Peter Gabriel's status charge half as much for one of his concerts while James Taylor, who used to be affordable to see, charge such exorbitant prices? It's just not right.
Yes, I realize James Taylor could fill practically any venue he wanted. There are a lot of Boomers out there who would pay any price to see him. Unfortunately I'm not a Boomer or able to shell out that much coin for 90 minutes of entertainment.
Funny, I took Heather to see Jason Mraz a few summers ago and we paid around $75 a ticket and ended up in the front row at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre. We were two of the older people in the crowd but Jason Mraz put on just as good a show as James Taylor ever has. The difference? Jason Mraz's fans were made up of Generation Ys with far less disposable income.
In my mind though a concert is a concert is a concert. If one Boomer could put on an affordable concert why couldn't another? Just asking.
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