Summer Concerts by Roy Opochinski

Are you going to several rock concerts this summer? You better be wealthy or connected. Otherwise, it might be time to take advantage of the favorable interest rates and take out a home equity loan to support your concert jones.

If you want to know why the music industry is in trouble, look no further than the front row of your local arena, theater, or stadium. Bands make a name with their CDs. They make careers by building their respective reputations as touring artists. Unfortunately for all involved, the current climate limits the number of bands the average concertgoer can see.

Concert prices have more than doubled in the past seven years and this summer, the trend continues. Want good seats for Madonna? Prepare to shell out more than $400 a piece (excluding Ticketmaster service charges.) Looking for a pair of good seats for Simon & Garfunkel? Seven hundred dollars before service charges. And these are face values. Wait until the scalpers and ticket brokers (a.k.a. better organized scalpers) get their hands on them.

And those figures exclude the fact that you have to get to the show somehow. Gas is at or near two dollars per gallon throughout the country. Parking at most venues costs at least $10 (with some venues selling preferred parking for $30); a t-shirt costs another $30; two sodas and a pretzel will set you back another $10. And you might want to take your date to dinner before the show. Figure on another $50. So before you get to your seat, you’ve already spent $150.