As a lot of you on here know, I'm longtime Journey fanatic - I've seen them 15 times, starting with Steve Perry, through Arnel and everyone in between
I never miss a tour if it comes to South Florida or somewhere else in Florida. I've even seen them in Houston, with JSS and Def Leppard in 2006. I have all of the CDs and DVDs including Eclipse, Revelation and all of the remasters - basically, major fan ...My problem with this year's tour is the fact that they're finally playing another two dates at the Hard Rock Live arena in Hollywood, FL - right down the street from me - this is a great venue, and has good sightlines from any seat - only holds 5,000, so with a two-night stand, they should be able to play to 8,000 people - not as much as 19,000 at the Cruzan Amphitheater in West Palm last year and in 2011, but respectable for casino shows ....
However, in 2011, I paid $40 for a ticket at Cruzan in WPB with an assigned seat (not lawn) and saw Night Ranger and Foreigner with Journey - great value .... In 2012, I paid only $32 for a lawn seat, but got to see Loverboy and Pat Benatar - again, a great value - 3 bands, but a shorter set by Journey - trade-off, but still great performances all the way around, both years. In 2009, I saw them solo at the Hard Rock, and paid in the $50 range or so ... great performance, but still, only 1 hr., 45 min.
This year's shows at the Hard Rock (no opening acts) are priced as follows: $100, $150 and $200 per ticket - NOT COUNTING venue / Ticketmaster fees ...
Even if they play a 2-hour set (not likely given Journey's recent touring history setlists and show length times, even on solo shows / casino shows), this still seems like a SIGNIFICANT increase in ticket pricing from one year to the next, considering that they're not playing any songs from Eclipse, probably no songs from Revelation, etc. Even If Deen sings a few, and if they do some Infinity duets with Jon, what is the incentive / increased value for the sharp rise in tickets to even justify this? I'm a major fan and love to see them on every tour at least once, if I can, but this seems excessive ....
In contrast, I just bought first level seats right near the stage for The Rascals Reunion concert Memorial Day weekend for $64, including fees, at the same venue. This is a major multimedia production and the first series of public shows together in 40 years, since 1970. A major big deal, and a great value!
Even Paul McCartney has inexpensive seats for his Orlando arena shows (2) in May for about $60ish ... I realize that the economics are different for an arena or amphitheater (shed) show from a 4,000 seat casino venue, but still, seems quite excessive and a price gouge of the fans to me ... Just sayin' ...
Journey's tour this year seems more scattered and less structured in terms of dates, cities and venues ... this show is obviously a fly-in, based on their schedule, rather than part of a traditionally routed tour like last year and in 2011, with buses, and shows on either end of the scheduled West Palm Beach date, etc. I know this can also affect the economics of this, and affect pricing, but the fans shouldn't be gouged like this because Journey wanted to add a date or two down here to flesh out their touring schedule, as an after-thought, to make an annual minimum show / date quota ..
Am I crazy for my thinking on this year's Journey tour? Thoughts please ... I want to know your views, even if they differ from mine ...
Best Regards,
Michael G.
i have never paid more than $40 bucks for a tix and always had seats (never sat on the lawn)
