Monday, March 5, 2012

Psyched for Van Halen, but priced out

My youngest brother Joey called Monday evening.
"Yo! Guess who I'm going to see tonight?" he said from his South Jersey home.
With the Phillies having already played an afternoon spring training game in Clearwater, I figured that was out.
Unless he won some radio station trip giveaway.
"OK," I said. "Who?"
Van Halen, he said.
Ooooooooooh, you lucky dog, I told him.
Longtime Van Halen fans, we were pumped when they announced their 2012 tour dates a few months ago.
Then we got an eyeful of the ticket prices.
That cooled me off.
Not Joey.
"How much did you pay?" I asked.
"You're not going to believe it," he said.
Oh, yeah, I would.
When my wife went online to see what it would cost for the April 12 show in Tampa, she was aghast.
Every ticket was well north of $100.
That was before the service charge and all the little fees they add on.
Sherri and I had seen them in Tampa in 2009 for a lot, lot less.
As much as I enjoy Van Halen, we decided we were going to pass.
When Joey finally told me how much his ticket cost --- everything included --- I asked him to tell me again.
I wasn't sure I'd heard right.
Try $176.
He wasn't going alone, either. There was his wife Lisa, their son Steve and another guy.
More than $700.
Whoa!
I told Joey to tell me how it goes.
For that amount of money, it'd better be one rocking concert, too.

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