When Barbra Streisand returned to live performance after a gap of over 20 years in 1994, she came to London’s Wembley Arena and my lifelong love affair with her died when I saw the ticket prices: they were pegged at an astonishing top of £360. What could possibly justify such outrageous fleecing? Greed and nothing but. Especially when she said at the time in interview that given her long absence from live performance, it wasn’t that much if you aggregated it over the years she’d been away…. and that she was unlikely to be doing it again, so count yourself lucky! (I paraphrase, but that was the gist). The point, however, was that she charged these prices because she could, and because it made a statement: not just ‘I’m worth it’ but also, ‘I’m the biggest star in the world, and this validates it’. But touring is a responsibility and a payback to the fans who have supported you — not an opportunity to rip them off. I didn’t go; and I stopped playing her CDs. Her personal greed had so undermined her in my eyes that I couldn’t let my ears hear the truth of her singing anymore.
And of course, it hasn’t proved to be a one-off at all. She has made two returns to live performance since. And now is about to make another, launching in the US in October. This time, however, she is stating that the concerts are primarily charity fund-raisers: “The increasingly urgent need for private citizen support to combat dangerous climate change, along with education and health issues was the prime reason I decided to tour again… .This will allow me to direct funds and awareness to causes that I care deeply about.”
So at least the ticket prices — this time $100 to $750 — can be justified on more than greed terms. Intriguingly, Streisand’s concern about climate change is one that was also addressed by Mandy Patinkin in his concert at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival on Saturday. He told us that he missed his flight out to Australia because his wife took an old passport to the airport, but it was ‘bashert’ — a Yiddish phrase meaning it was meant to be, because when they got back home that evening, he and his wife went to see a new film, An Inconvenient Truth, that follows Al Gore on his awareness campaign for global warming. Patinkin called it “the most important film I’ve ever seen in my life”, and told us that this is something that affects our entire planet, and is something we need to address immediately.
I had not heard of the film myself, but now I will be rushing to see it. Artists, as well as their art, can make a difference. And maybe buying a ticket to Streisand’s concert will further the cause, too.
I doubt that $750 will get us very near the stage for Streisand. I had heard that about the first 25 rows of the floor would be priced at about $1800.
After checking Ticketmaster (in the style of Broadway shows now) they are selling "Premuim" seats at $1804 per person and Premium Level 2 seats at $1004 per ticket. Okay you generously get a programme, a "tour gift" and VIP Entrance and Parking (where available!) thrown in too !
It would be interesting to know how much of that ticket price makes it through to the charities involved. Whilst I sound sceptical I would kill to see Barbra because she is the last real icon that I have not managed to catch live yet, perhaps this tour will be my last chance.
Please, we've been paying $350.00 a seat for the Rolling Stones for the past 20 years - how many tours and dates have they played during that time. Madonna is charging 350 and she toured just 4 years ago and played lord knows how many dates.
Julia, Tom Cruz, Hanks, Gibson all charge 20 million a movie. That made movie tickets go up. Are they donating that to charity or is that greed acceptable??
You pay a premium when something is rare. You pay a premium when something is unique. In this case it's both. It's not recorded music - (Madonna), and it's not just amplification of song played way too many times (Stones), it's a full orchestra and a performer who is consistently at the top of her game.
Save the grief for those issues where it truely is pure greed - the price of oil/gas? ?
I saw Streisand in Sydney - the second show- where it poured with rain and she ended up as wet as the audience. I'd paid for cheap tickets a long way back but we were moved forward to much more expensive seats which gave a much better view. The attendant explained that Ms Streisand didn't like to perform to empty seats. We also got the best of the tour's four shows and the only encore. Rather ironically it was 'Come Rain or Come Shine'. Complaining about the price of Rolling Stones tickets - I saw them again at Easter in Melbourne. the show sold out in 14 minutes and we were on the side of the stage - very close and although we didn't get a front on view, we were also provided with a large screen to view that too and all for the princely sum of $65 (AUS) a ticket. That one was more than a greatest hits package with many surprises - classic album cuts etc. Also, unlike Streisand, Jagger didn't require teleprompters for the songs. Barbra also had the inter-song patter displayed. Both were great shows.
I believe ALL ticket proceeds are going to charity. So, for those who care to, you can claim the face-value of your tickets as donations on your tax returns. Why do you think she's endorsing American Express? That's where she's earning the dough for herself, people. I bet they paid her, at most, a nine-figure sum. American Express can afford it. I haven't the slightest idea why everyone and their mothers have been clueless on this. Duh.