When I was a kid, it was a lot easier to go see your favorite band. Before Ticketmaster had a huge presence on the internet (and for that matter, before the internet had a huge presence in our lives), buying concert tickets was a rather feasible thing to do. In the late 90s and early 00s, Rock concerts would generally be about $20-40 per ticket. You could even hope that when tickets went on sale, you had a chance to buy them.

Today, there’s barely any chance of that happening. You can either pay huge resale (scalper) fees, or be lucky enough to win a fanclub lottery. In the last couple of years I paid $250/ticket to see Red Hot Chili Peppers, $200/ticket to see Roger Waters, and multiples of face value prices to see other shows. Most of the time, it was through ticket resellers and scalpers. The only time I can remember actually buying face value tickets for a rock concert in that time was for Tool at the City Center, New York City. For that show, I waited in line 12 hours before the box office opened. There were still hundreds of people in line before me!

It’s unfortunate that more and more people want to go to concerts today, yet scalpers buy out the majority of tickets. Paying hundreds of dollars for concert tickets may sound crazy to some. But these crazy prices exist because enough people value live shows at high rates. You may never be able to see a show again, especially on a particular tour. Because people no longer buy music, but still want to support their artists, it may be that fans feel guilty and are now willing to pay more money to see concerts.

One good solution for artists is to raise the prices themselves or auction off seats to the highest bidder. That way, demand will drop and only the die-hard (or rich) fans will be able to buy tickets. The money will go to the artists instead of ticket resellers. And I will feel good again for not buying CDs, but still supporting great musicians.

Your weeping…

Singing
la la lala la la ehh
And the night over London, lay

So we rode down to the river
Where the tombs were stone
For the curse is to be broken
We’ll go underneath the arches
Where the witches aren’t the same
There are ghost towns in the ocean

The ocean..

Singing
la la lala la la ehh
And the night over London, lay

God is in the houses
And God is in my head
And all the Cemeteries of London
I see God come in my garden
But I don’t know what he said
For my heart it wasn’t open
Not open…

Singing
la la lala la la ehh
And the night over London, lay

Singing
la la lala la la ehh
There’s no light over London today

Just because I’m hurting
Doesn’t mean I’m hurt
Doesn’t mean I didn’t get
What I deserved
No better and no worse

I just got lost
Every river that I tried to cross
Every door I ever tried was locked
Ohhh and I’m…
Just waiting ’til the shine wears off

You might be a big fish
In a little pond
Doesn’t mean you’ve won
‘Cause along may come
A bigger one

And you’ll be lost
Every river that you tried to cross
Every gun you ever held went off
Ohhh and I’m…
Just waiting until the firing stopped
Ohhh and I’m…
Just waiting ’til the shine wears off

Ohhh and I…
Just waiting ’til the shine wears off
Ohhh and I..
Just waiting ’til the shine wears off

And since I fell,
For that spell,
I am living there as well (Oh).

Time is short
And I’m sure,
There must be something more…

Those who are dead,
Are not dead,
They’re just living in my head (Oh).

And since I fell,
For that spell,
I am living there as well.

Time is so short,
And I’m sure,
There must be something more…

Oh…

You thought you might be a ghost,
You thought you might be a ghost,
You didn’t get to heaven
But you made it close,
You didn’t get to heaven
But you made it close,

You thought you might be a ghost,
You thought you might be a ghost,
You didn’t get to heaven
But you made it close,
You didn’t get to heaven but you (Oh Oh…)

Oh, Oh

Those who are dead,
Are not dead,
They’re just living in my head.

They are turning my head out
To see what I’m all about
Keeping my head down
To see what it feels like now
But I have no doubt
One day, we are gonna get out

Tonight maybe we’re gonna run
Dreaming of the Osaka sun
Ohh ohh…
Dreaming of when the morning comes

They are turning my head out
To see what I’m all about
Keeping my head down
To see what it feels like now
But I have no doubt
One day the sun will come out

Ooh…

Reign of love
I can’t let go
To the sea I offer
This heavy load

Locusts will
Lift me up
I’m just a prisoner
In a reign of love

Locusts will
Let us stop
I wish I’d spoken
To the reign of love

Reign of love
By the church, we’re waiting
Reign of love
My knees go praying

How I wish
I’d spoken up
Or we’d be carried
In the reign of love.

Then we were dying of frustration
Saying, “lord lead me not into tentation”
But it’s not easy when she turns you on
Since they’ve gone

If you’d only
If you’d only say yes
Whether you will is anybody’s guess
God only god knows I’m trying my best
But I’m just so tired of this loneliness

So up they picked me by the big toe
I was held from the rooftop then they let go
If there’s any screaming let the windows down
As I crawl to the ground

If you’d only
If you’d only say yes
Whether you will is anybody’s guess
God only god knows she won’t let me rest
But i’m just so tired of this loneliness
I’ve become so tired of this loneliness

I used to roll the dice
Feel the feeling in my enemy’s eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
“Now the old king is dead. Long live the king.”
One minute I held the key
Next the worlds were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear terrorist and the bells are ringing
Roman can’t be quiet, she said it
Females nearing my soul can see her
A missionary’s in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
Once you go it was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world

It was a wicket of wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn’t believe what I’d become
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh, who would ever want to be king?

I hear terrorist and the bells are ringing
Roman can’t be quiet, she said it
Females nearing my soul can see her
A missionary’s in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
And around this word
But that was when I ruled the world

I hear terrorist and the bells are ringing
Roman can’t be quiet, she said it
Females nearing my soul can see her
A missionary’s in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
And around this word
But that was when I ruled the world

Clearly I remember
From the windows they were watching
While we froze down below

When the future’s architectured
By a carnival of idiots on show
You’d better lie low

If you love me
Won’t you let me know?

Was a long and dark December
When the banks became cathedrals
And the fog
Became God

Priests clutched onto bibles
Hollowed out to fit their rifles
And the cross was held aloft

There in me an armour
When im dead and hit the ground
Loves a poem
That unfolds

If you love me
Won’t you let me know?

I don’t want to be a soldier
With a captain of some sinking ship
Bestow
Far below

If you love me
Why’d you let me go?

I took my love down to violet hill
There we sat in the snow
All that time
She was silent still

If you love me
Won’t you let me know
If you love me
Why don’t you let me know

They were sitting
They were talking under strawberry swing
Everybody was for fighting
Wouldn’t wanna waste a thing

Cold, cold water bring me round
Now my feet won’t touch the ground
Cold, cold water what ya say?
When it’s such…
It’s such a perfect day
It’s such a perfect day

I remember
We were walking up to strawberry swing
I can’t wait until the morning
Wouldn’t wanna change a thing

People moving all the time
Inside a perfectly straight line
Don’t you wanna curve away?
When it’s such…
It’s such a perfect day
It’s such a perfect day

Now the sky could be blue
I don’t mind
Without you it’s a waste of time

Could be blue
I don’t mind
Without you it’s a waste of time

Could be blue,
could be grey
without you I’m just miles away

could be blue
I don’t mind
Without you it’s a waste of time

So come over, just be patient, and don’t worry.

And don’t worry.

No I don’t wanna battle from beginning to end;
I don’t wanna cycle, recycle revenge;
I don’t wanna follow death and all his friends.

No I don’t wanna battle from beginning to end;
I don’t wanna cycle, recycle revenge;
I don’t wanna follow death and all of his friends.