The last time I bought a ticket for a festival it was about £80 for the whole weekend which is why I'm shocked to see that festival tickets cost about £150 these days, and probably part of the reason why I don't go anymore. That's roughly a 100% price increase in 10 years. Wowzer.
Anyway, Scouse and I have been thinking about crossing the Atlantic next year for Rock The Bells, which means I'm on their mailing list and get notified of all sorts of concerts and events that I can't go to. At the end of October, everyone's favourite leanheads Cypress Hill are presenting 'The Smokeout Festival', a two day extravaganza with Goodie Mob, Geto Boyz and Hieroglyphics reunions! - sadly it's a follow on from that late 90s nu-metal-hip-hop-love-in and also features Deftones and Slipknot. Anyway, I was curious to see how much tickets cost and I was shocked to see this:

$30? For two days? Yeah you might be stuck at the back behind a rig but you only paid $30. You can't even get a ticket in the nosebleed section of the O2 for that these days. And okay, okay this is more like a Wireless festival than a Glastonberry (sorry, I can't help it), but you still couldn't get to a 2-day gig for under £30 here could you?
I think it's brilliant that you can get cheap tickets to see so many acts and means that the crowd won't just be the middle classes and old people (in this context I class anyone who is not a kid) who can justify the spend. Plus if you do have loadsa money you can buy a VIP ticket and get t-shirts, posters and the opportunity to spot some celebrities from the other side of a velvet rope. Over here our entry level prices are VIP, which can't be good for music appreciation in general. Just another case of rip-off Britain. I despair.
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