Tori in the City

Tonight we saw Tori Amos in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millenium Park, the new park in Chicago's front yard. It was a gorgeous venue with perfect acoustics. We were on the lawn, and the audio was just loud enough to drown out folks talking, but not so loud it hurt your ears. Tori was great, and was even complemented by fireworks which I assume were shot off at Navy Pier.

It is times like this when I think I could live in this city long term: it was a beautiful night, even complete with a few stars pushing through the city lights, in a wonderful venue, listening to an amazing artist with my lovely wife. I can think of few better ways to spend an evening.

Ticketmaster Exerts Monopoly Power

Laura and I are going to see Tori Amos on Wednesday! Alas, this means I had to give money to a company that I hate, Ticketmaster. Here is the breakdown:

Lawn Tickets: $10.00 x 2 tickets
Convenience Charge: $3.80 x 2 tickets
Order Processing Charge: $4.80
Will Call: No Charge (wow, thanks)
Taxes: $0.62
Total: $33.02

In total, Ticketmaster charges represent a 62% bump in the price of each ticket. The price of the tickets went from $10 to $16.20 each, before taxes, after Ticketmaster added its (monopoly-priced) "service" charges.

When Ticketmaster wants 10 times what the government wants, you know something is SERIOUSLY wrong.

Tori in the City

Tonight we saw Tori Amos in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millenium Park, the new park in Chicago's front yard. It was a gorgeous venue with perfect acoustics. We were on the lawn, and the audio was just loud enough to drown out folks talking, but not so loud it hurt your ears. Tori was great, and was even complemented by fireworks which I assume were shot off at Navy Pier.

It is times like this when I think I could live in this city long term: it was a beautiful night, even complete with a few stars pushing through the city lights, in a wonderful venue, listening to an amazing artist with my lovely wife. I can think of few better ways to spend an evening.

Ticketmaster Exerts Monopoly Power

Laura and I are going to see Tori Amos on Wednesday! Alas, this means I had to give money to a company that I hate, Ticketmaster. Here is the breakdown:

Lawn Tickets: $10.00 x 2 tickets
Convenience Charge: $3.80 x 2 tickets
Order Processing Charge: $4.80
Will Call: No Charge (wow, thanks)
Taxes: $0.62
Total: $33.02

In total, Ticketmaster charges represent a 62% bump in the price of each ticket. The price of the tickets went from $10 to $16.20 each, before taxes, after Ticketmaster added its (monopoly-priced) "service" charges.

When Ticketmaster wants 10 times what the government wants, you know something is SERIOUSLY wrong.