in 1969, a mere 44 years ago, The Rolling Stones, as they were known then, gave a free concert in Hyde Park. it is remembered and spoken of as one of those iconic moments in rock history.
in 2013, The Rolling $tone$, as they are now known, announce a concert in Hyde Park. this one is not a free one. oh no, far from it. the pricing is as follows :
standing at the back - £95
"regular" standing - £330
seating + Bon Jovi (minus Richie Sambora, presumably) the day before - £1120.50
observe the big smile Ronnie Wood has in the picture below, in particular if you are considering paying the above money for a "last chance ever, honest this time" ticket to go.
yes, that's right, he's smiling to say "thank you". you know he has recently married again, and you know that this means a costly divorce very soon. The $tone$ seem always keen to get back together to pay his bills, and the idea of "anniversary" performances allows them to add an even better percentage.
with the Hyde Park capacity being about 60,000 you can soon work out that they will do very well indeed out of this show. even better for the band is that they won't have to perform all that much - the infamous incident in which the sound was cut on a Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney duet means that they are very serious at finishing shows at 10pm in Hyde Park. they won't make the massive money they did off the poorly received shows in London and the USA last year, but a fair few coins all the same.
what do those ticket prices translate to in regards of in-demand acts? Noel Gallagher, who happily tells charity audiences that they "get no new songs as i am not getting paid" and berates people who have the audacity to live near enough to a stadium to hear his concert without paying, charged £50 for tickets for his O2 shows. The Stone Roses for both the 3 Heaton Park shows last year and the 2 Finsbury Park shows this year charged £55 a ticket. i think those numbers speak for themselves.
considering the poor performances thus far (even allowing for the novelty factor of "oooh, it's Keef! ooh, Mick spoke to the crowd! ooooooh, Charlie sat there looking bored! cor, Ronnie's having a fag! oh right, there's their random black bass player hiding in the background" type of things), the band may have been better off just licensing their music to Pepsi or whoever and just keeping off the stage. the money is all they really particularly want, why bother everyone with this nonsense when their are easier ways for them to get it?
i was, am and always will be a Stones fan. their music is astonishing, and will be played until the last star falls from the skies. but this $tone$ cash cow can just go away, please.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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