I'd punch the fucker if I could. The buck stops with him. He chose the most cynical way to do it. Spending the majority of the early part of the tour on the East Coast, letting millions of us on the west coast high and dry. NYC, Philly, hell...Long Island...anything he can fly a copter to. Fuck off. I am tired of supporting this crap.
That sound you hear is the end of the greatest band I ever saw or heard. Giving in to the industry and ripping people off. FUCK YOU BRUCE. Jon is just a yes man now.
You all know how much I love them, and consequently, I am more let down by this than anything he has ever done. You can add up all the missteps going back to the poorly recorded shows in 2014. Then add no west coast dates then. 2016 was a waste of time in comparison, then the best shows were in the late summer and if you wanted to go, you needed to fly to Jersey or Philly. We on the west coast got fucked over. Then add the narcissistic self-serving mythology bullshit of Broadway. yes, I said it. Fuck you, Bruce Springsteen.
I concur. I'd punch the fucker too if given the chance. Little asshole sellout son of a bitch!
Sound checking Mary’s Place at moment.
The days of it being a two way thing are gone, I guess. You pay your money, you turn up, you get the show. 😔
Peeked in at the lake…looks like a good number of fans feel somewhat similar to me….that disconnected feeling. I never ever would have thought it possible that I’d feel as I do. I find myself not even listening to his music nearly as much as I once did.
That said….It’s looking like I’ll be at UBS Sunday. I have a side job that will put me in the building…so I’ll get to hear/see some of the show and get paid…lol.
I’m sincerely hoping that being there will rekindle some of the lost love for Bruce…The E Street Band and the music. But I’m not that optimistic.
Fair play to Robert Smith…..
https://pitchfork.com/news/the-cures-robert-smith-says-hes-sickened-about-ticketmaster-fees-as-tour-goes-on-sale/?utm_source=twitter&mbid=social_twitter&utm_brand=p4k&utm_social-type=owned&utm_medium=social
Bruce fans all over the world should vote with their feet and not to go to concerts where BS sings about working class to people who bought 5000 dollar tickets.
My friend John texted me tonight, asking if I was seeing the Springsteen show later this week. I wrote back, explaining that I was boycotting the tour. Turns out he's going to the show, and asked what to expect. Solo tour, E St Band? You see, he hasn't seen Bruce since the Born In the USA tour. I remember when Human Touch came out, and John said getting rich had changed Bruce, and he disregarded him after that. All aboard for the irony train. But now he and his wife were offered free seats from friends of theirs, nice people, wealthy, who have never shown interest in Springsteen or his music in front of me. Anyhoo, they're sitting in the 4th row. Oddly enough, I can honestly say I'm not jealous. I wouldn't go for free. I know someday I'll get past this, but I haven't listen to a Springsteen recording since tickets went on sale last summer.
I still occasionally peek at GL. I looked at that thread and bit and read a couple standard condescending replies from long timers responding to a seriously disgruntled former fan of Springsteen.
I personally feel disappointed in Springsteen to the point that I don’t really care if a see a show or not….and it’s a definite not unless something lucky happens and I get a reasonably priced seat. But I’m not really even trying.
I still love the music…but ‘disconnect’ is a good word for how I’m feeling overall as it pertains to Mr Springsteen.
If you're into some real 'Fuck You Bruce Springsteen' action and you still have the will and /or ability to visit Greasy Lake, check out the 'Some Kind of Disconnect' thread over there.
I actually made a satirical post over there, because as opposed to some of the measured and thoughtful stuff we've seen here there is some unhinged crazy going on.
I felt I was pretty much over my no-Cali-shows-blues, but the three nights in Florida only remind me that he's ignoring a major market that every successful artist plays each tour. He's always played several nights in the L.A. area, several in the bay area, and scattered nights elsewhere in Cali. At least, I'm not missing much. It's the same-old, same-old and I'm not talking about the static setlist, I'm talking about the songs that get played night after night. What's any different this time around? Three recent albums to draw from and he plays six or seven songs from them and the first songs to get dropped are the new ones.
Every tour is a nostalgia tour. He's capable of presenting so much more, but he's gotten a bit lazy, it seems.
Still, if he brings the routine to California, I'd go just to prove to myself I'm right.
Please Bruce Inc. stop with the tone deaf PR, read the fucking room.
Based on his Rolling Stone interview, he doesn't seem to give a shit.
Just chilling here in Aussie land waiting for my chance to get pissed off at Bruce ticket prices and the fact he ignored Adelaide this time (which I have a bad feeling is a given for some reason)...
My expensive tickets for Munich came today.
What in the past was an occasion for exitement and celebration now leaves me curiously untouched. It may be I'm getting too old to be a real fan, or the disappointment about the ticket anger is getting to me...
I hope I can rustle up some enthusiasm when the date arrives.
https://chng.it/sSJVT9TP9g
A Stateside petition against dynamic pricing.
I'm going to see if there's a UK one or start one.
Please sign and share, maybe on the old place if anyone still does post?
Late to the discussion. I did find it distasteful that I got an email to buy merch at essentially the same time as the tickets were being offered up. It’s quite a money machine, that organization.
Tour merch unveiled:
Please don't give your tickets away Louisa, or sell them. I think you should go, you could feel so much differently come show time, too hard to predict how you'll feel right now. Hell I'm in for whatever my pocket book will open for, if it does, and I'm gonna enjoy the hell outta it despite this huge circus show.
I'm just feeling really flat over this.
I haven't formulated my feelings into anything cogent yet.
I don't fully understand how the U.S. side of things work with the "verified fan" stuff.
The lack of dates in Cali, once again, don't know the details but it seems a bit suss.
But, both sides of the Atlantic, I hate that Bruce, and any artist whose art speaks to any sort of integrity, gets in bed with Ticketbastard.
Having said that, I understand that Bruce inc. do not have the infrastructure to handle distribution in-house.
Equally I understand that the Live Nation/Ticketbastard devil's duo have cornered the market as a "one stop shop" in putting on tours of this scale.
I get that concert tickets are expensive and I acknowledge that these tickets are, at worst, on a par price-wise with what other artists of a similar profile are charging, in terms of initial face value.
The thing I totally do not get is the dynamic pricing model.
Firstly, I cannot understand why this is legal.
It is abhorrent, it is unfair and it is morally bereft.
Secondly, I cannot believe that Ticketbastard could legally insist that the "dynamic" element of this was a deal breaker in terms of taking Bruce's business. In short, Bruce inc. could have put the kibosh on dynamic pricing. I refuse to believe otherwise.
Thirdly, the concept of Landau, nominally or actually speaking for Bruce personally, defending this practice, completely blows my mind.
I simply cannot get my head round the tone-deaf nature of the response.
Bruce inc. must have some sort of in-house PR/marketing department.
They've failed here.
Historically, the period after buying tickets for a Bruce show I'm on a child-like high.
Making plans, travel and social, debating (even this far in advance) the set list and generally behaving giddy.
Now, I just feel flat and let down
I daresay this might change in the run up to the shows, for now, the world seems somehow darker.
Jumping in late on this…but the ticket situation is disgusting. I really don’t know what to think. I just checked for single tix at USB Arena….over $400 before fees etc for a behind the stage top section seat…$4,000+ for a floor single. Bruce….what have you done?
I hate how much I love the music and have been so let down by the man himself. I can't begin to understand what his life may be like. I can't imagine what getting $500 million for your life's work can do to you mentally. Sadly, for the masses, they don't have access to a therapist 3 times a week for $800 and hour. Also, they can't get up each morning and decide what to do with their own time. We get up at sunrise, work a job to enrich someone, then we go home to extract some joy from what remains....
He decided at age ten to be a musician, and he was able to surrender everything to it to this day. He acted out of a responsibility to his fans, gave up millions to do so. I don't need to tell the whole story, we have been force fed the mythology since I read Dave Marsh's books. This obsession with selling us his mythology in addition to the music itself was a great decision as it made us feel we know him and can relate to the struggle....It made him really relatable and he took care of me as a fan since the first time I set eyes upon him. I had played Born to Run, Darkness, and The River, but when he arrived on stage, it split me open. I am an addict. I need what he does for me, or what he did once...but now we have stories of dinners with former presidents and movie stars..we see him on the beach with other famous people, Entry into that world must have been expensive...and to make a joke out of it by calling it a trick is so damn frustrating for me...
But now, I call bullshit. Him coming up with the concept of the magic trick really has soured me. I hope I am back someday, but bullshit is bullshit.
As I think I may have written on here, I've been wondering how much of it's directly attributable to this very possibly being Jon's last big payday. Bruce has almost always been Jon's only client, and there are good things and bad things about that. And other than maybe McCartney or U2, Springsteen is the best possible client a one-client manager could have. But still and all, if the train's coming to the end of the track, it would not be unreasonable to want as much padding as legally and ethically possible. And, well, these prices seem to be legal, at least...
Has anyone been thinking if this is somehow connected to his mental health? No one seems to wonder if he is OK? Bruce, the person? One must feel incredibly empty to not give a fuck anymore for what they fought for their entire life.
Well the heart wants what the heart wants.
Yeah, Bruce buddy got response from BST advising their error (allegedly) when he complained thru their contact route. In the meantime I went out to thrash the bike to relieve frustration for a couple of hours! I’m guessing their inbox went off the scale. And breathe……..
@Walkerinthesun Holy crap, that can't be right, surely? The amount of people who would've bought Gold Circle thinking that gets them on the rail, to now find they are effectively behind the 'pit... that's an absolute disgrace.
Don't apologise for the bad language, in fact I commend you on being reserved in your anger. And it's nothing compared to what will erupt when people who bought Gold Circle based on the original map but who haven't looked at it since turn up on the day to find where they are. It's going to be a riot.
At best (worst), if that Diamond View zone is to move, it needs to be split 50/50 in terms of stage front access with Gold Circle based on how Gold Circle was originally sold.
Perhaps I should offer an explanation for last nights outburst. Here‘s the Hyde Park layout when tix went on sale.
Now that it’s sold out the layout I posted yesterday has been put up by BST. See the difference? Note the ‘viewing areas are approximate and subject to change’ get-out beneath the maps.
There is no way these Gold Circle zones approximate each other, and without a shadow of a doubt these tickets have been mis-sold. I’d think about pursuing reimbursement direct from the promoter if I thought there was a cat in hells chance of being successful. Thinking about resell at face. Never thought the prospect of going to see Springsteen would dog me off. 1st world problem I know, and doesn’t compare with what our US friends have been subjected to, but it really is a deceit which adds insult to injury.
And apologies for the bad language.
https://www.nj.com/opinion/2022/07/bruce-springsteen-does-not-care-about-you-opinion.html
That’s a heartbreaker, JF.
Oh dear Mr Landau........oh dear.
Well, I'm guessing most folks on here follow Backstreets on twitter, and/or have seen the New York Times story about the ticket prices. All I can say is that, indeed, I seem to have been at least slightly Pollyannaish. Still not convinced Bruce himself knew...but he knows now, obviously, and hasn't done anything except let his manager say "hey, it's not that bad, and he's worth it." So... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ https://twitter.com/Fauxbituary/status/1552072685168893952
Just booked a 7 day cruise to Alaska for two with a balcony cabin for $2,000 less than a pair of 100 level Springsteen tickets in Austin or Denver.
Last Train Out (Blue Flannel Shirt)
I wore a blue flannel shirt
Just like Springsteen on an album cover
Wore out the grooves on his records
I played them over and over again
Until I knew every song by heart
I'd sing along and hum the saxophone part
And he was the obvious hero
For a boy in a town without men
And I followed when his guitar roared
And I answered when he called all aboard
I knew all I had to do was raise my hand
And I caught a fast train out for the promise of a promised land
I wore that blue flannel shirt
Long after it grew tattered and faded
Wore it the first time I saw him
He played for hours and hours that night
Oh and I knew every song by heart
I'd sing along and hum the saxophone part
And he's been a fair enough hero
For a kid born blinded by the light
But it's my last chance to ride that train
And I'm waiting at the station in vain
I thought all I had to do was raise my hand
But I missed the last train out for the promise of a promised land
Thought I'd go dancing once more in the dark
But I can't start a fire without a spark
You said all I had to do was get on board
But I missed the last train out and the promise I could not afford
@Jerseyfornia It's amazing how quick proponents of laissez-faire capitalism are to abandon their free-market principles when the £$€ dictates.
Further to Louisa's post here's Bruce's article that.......let's just say, hasn't aged too well.
https://web.archive.org/web/20090207073333/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/02/04/bruce-springsteen-furious-at-ticketmaster-rails-against-live-nation-merger
That is rather silly to suggest Landau didn't consult with attorneys before signing this shite away. Sure a lot of folks his age don't know how to use technology but this has nothing to do with that for the love of Christ.
I just checked Live Nation on Wikipedia. Who would have thought...
In 2009, Live Nation and Ticketmaster, a concert promotion firm and ticketing company, reached an agreement to merge. The new company received regulatory approval and was named Live Nation Entertainment.[3][4] Michael Rapino, then-CEO of Live Nation, became the new company's CEO, while Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff was named executive chairman.[5]
The merger was approved first in Norway and Turkey in 2009.[6] The United Kingdom's Competition Commission provisionally ruled against the merger,[7] but reversed its decision on December 22, 2009.[6]
The merger was opposed in the U.S. by some regulators, artists, fans, and competing firms, who argued it would reduce competition in the industry and increase ticket costs.[8][9] Artist Bruce Springsteen was one vocal opponent of the merger at the time.[10]
[Are we still trying to avoid threading?]
And that brings up another thorny bit. And that's the fact that we know, from his autobiography and interviews and biographies and Broadway that the perfectionist man-of-the-people from yesteryear was also desperately unhappy. And that he seems to be, finally, fully content, even as completely happy with his life as one can be. And the tradeoff, perhaps, is that debacles like this which would never have happened in the past are now a thing. Are we, perhaps, the ones who walk away from Omelas, or the ones who stay?
That's the thing Scott, albeit very sad to some, they bring up what Bruce would have or wouldn't have done decades ago but people change. For me, I believe Bruce still has some of his traits from yesteryear, but I also believe at his age, for better or worse, he's saying fuck it to a lot he didn't before.
I think I heard it on the podcast that the most viable theory is that Bruce was informed about the dynamic pricing, but TM algorithms were simply not prepared for demand as high, and that pushed the prices so high so rapidly. In a sick way, just another ego boost for Bruce. Anyone else had prices as high? Also, some artists put a cap on the dynamic pricing, and that was obviously not the case.
Who would have thought that we'd ever think wistfully about Harvey Bloody Goldsmith.....
And yet... and yet... and yet...
I just watched this. So much of it should now sound hollow to me. And yet, I was moved to the point of tears as I always am watching and listening to this particular performance.
Magic trick? Consider me bamboozled, I guess. Trust the art and not the artist? I dunno, even that is too much... whatever he is doing here, my reaction is so visceral I can't stop my emotions running away. If it's all an illusion, it's a fuckin good one, I'll give him yet.
If there is a response from Ticketbastard or Bruce/Landau inc. I can't wait to hear it.
Ticketbastard have previously justified their touting by likening it to hotels and airline seats supply side economics.
My answer is, yes, and that fucking stinks too.
Tickets may have been harder to get in 84/85 than they previously were, but they were fairly priced and everyone had a shot at them. No one paid 4k for a ticket to the USA tour. Hell, even my scalped seats for Ames were only 300.
Set the price and put them on sale until they're gone. Don't raise the cost of a seat because demand is higher. It's not a fucking auction. Even the great Bruce Springsteen does not put on a four thousand dollar show.
I'm sorry if I was clumsy with how I was expressing myself. The more I think of it, the more paradoxical the situation feels to me.
His music and how it affects me hasn't changed one tiny bit. I still feel the honesty and the connection, still love him completely. It is not lost for me, I think the opposite even. This shameful situation proves how correct he has been throughout his career when addressing social injustice. I'm not even trying to say that he has somehow betrayed his fans. I believe the times have changed, and as I said on the other thread, his management adapted to the new rules of the market.
What started to disturb me was this repetitive question in my head. Do I still belong to be in that stadium with the people there? Will I still feel at home?
There was a time when they would add shows to satisfy demand. Now they just add on to the price and exploit the loyalty of fans.
It's all been bullshit for a while - beginning with the Verified Fan crap and progressing to where we are now with tickets priced by demand rather than performance.
Bruce is now the Harley Davidson of rock and if you think that sounds cool, I'm using it as an insult.
Bruce's value doesn't equate to the value of a few hours in an arena. There's not a thing he'll do on that stage or an emotion I'd have at a show that is worth thousands of dollars a ticket, or even more than a few hundred. He ought to spend some time questioning the moral values of his organization and the Ticketmaster corporate thieves it treats with.
Do you know what Bruce's actual value is? Until we are all dead, he will continue to make us question our moral values.
I've got no interest in the tour. The way the tickets are being priced is disgusting. A show has value, but the value of the show should be determined by quality of the show itself, not by the quantity of seats available vs. number of people who want to sit in said seats. There was a time when more shows would be added to satisfy demand - now, they just price fans out of the market. It's sleazy to think of Springsteen shows being priced this way, especially in a time of high inflation and struggling working people.
I've seen my last E Street Band show, then. That was in 2016 and it was a great show. The memory is all I need. I'll enjoy the downloads and stay home.
BTX in meltdown right now, haven't checked GL. But some of what I'm seeing in terms of people's experiences and also the ticket pricing for the shows in the States is crazy. I might need to start lining up which banks to hit here now in readiness for any potential Oz tour if this is to be repeated here...