Okay, well I’m not quite done bitchin’ yet…! :P

So the Black Sabbath tickets went on sale this morning. I went from happy and excited to pissed off and disappointed.

That “Early Entry“-package shit is probably the worst idea promoters have EVER come up with. Thanks for being total assholes, LiveNation!

The development is pretty sad, the way I look at it. It’s like squeezing the last penny out of fans – to the point where it’s gone way beyond tasteless.

Back in the day, fans used to wait for their idols to show up at the stage door – in rain or snow, any kind of weather, for hours, sometimes days. I know, cause I used to be one of them. But it was FREE. And your autograph was precious just cause you knew what you had to go through to GET it.

Now fans have to pay for that “privilege”. If you’ve got a REALLY fat wallet and nothing better to do with your hard earned bucks, you can PAY to get that autograph and breathe the same air as Ozzy for a few minutes. How much is that worth to ya?

I love Ozzy, don’t get me wrong.This is a general thing that somebody (and I hope that the fucker gets rolled in tar and feathers!) came up with a few years ago, that’s escalated to enormous and ridiculous proportions.

Those who charge stupid crazy amounts of money for very little, have no shame whatsoever.

I wish that fans would just collectively go on strike and say enough is enough.
Fuck you! We’re not playing along with this shit.

I’ve been so angry for the past two days. And I’m even one of those “privileged” ones who CAN pull some strings and get in on the guest list if I want to. People even ask me howcome I don’t just do that. But to me, a concert experience is the greatest thing in the world, if it meets certain criteria.

That criteria, usually, is getting in the front row, get that closeness where you can see every expression on the artists’ faces, every little detail and just be a part of the indescribable energy that goes between the crowd and the band.

Being as short as I am, I could never do that if I was ANYWHERE else in the arena than right at the barricades.

If I’m on the guest list I can usually forget that for concerts of this size.

The second the door opens – it’s the law of the jungle. You have ONE thought in mind: RUN!

Get to barricades asap. Nothing else exists for those two minutes until you get to your front spot. (Then you’ll have to spend two hours fighting to KEEP it, but that’s a different story. I’m used to it, it’s fine).

So, by the time they’ve found my name on the guest list, the front row is fully populated already, and that was that. There is just no TIME for any guest lists.

I’m not into standing way in the back looking cool. Well, I am if it’s a band I don’t really care about too much, but for bands that I REALLY want to see (Priest, Whitesnake, Sabbath…) I’m not taking any risks. I’m buying a ticket just like everybody else.

But now, even THAT option has been taken away. Because paying a fucking FORTUNE for that front row spot is NOT an option.

I’d rather not go at ALL. Screw that.

I COULD pay for it, I’m travelling all over the globe for concerts so yeah, I guess I could afford it, but I’m just NOT doing it. Just out of pure principle. They can take that “Early entry experience” and shove it up their greedy asses.

[Forget about THIS if you haven’t won the lottery recently]

The whole thing pisses me off. Concerts are supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be an experience for everybody. The standing crowd are usually those who can’t afford the expensive VIP seats – or those who, just like me, are the hardcore fans who WANT to experience the show. The kind of people who are making the superstars who they ARE.

And let’s face it, Black Sabbath is, or at least WAS before they became rich, WORKING CLASS. Their FANS are working class, mostly. Charging these fucking fees is the same as getting the rich assholes in the front and the less financially fortunate fans, way in the back. What is that doing to the fan-hierarchy and the experience for the BAND? Or has it gone to the sad point where they just don’t care, as long as they get their fat check?

When I looked at the so called “VIP Early Entry package” – what they are charging for is just the plain fact that they are opening the doors a bit earlier for the rich people and keeping them closed for the other fans! That’s IT. And that DOOR is the difference between a “regular” ticket for 700 DKK and the VIP crap for 1500 DKK! That’s a pretty damn expensive door.

Cause all that other shit that they are trying to market as something “special” is just junk.

A “tour laminate“. What the fuck is that?! It’s not good for anything. It’s not good for backstage entry, it’s not good for anything other than just plain decoration. And that piece of plastic doesn’t cost them a whole lot. You can do it yourself in any office with a laminating machine and a color-printer!

Then there’s some “tour gift” whatever that is. Unless it’s a leather jacket with custom artwork on the back, it’s sure as hell not worth 1500 DKK! And the last thing you get is “event management staff present“. Uh, wtf?! Isn’t there ALWAYS “staff” present? What are they good for (other than being gatekeepers)?

Seriously, people are expected to scoop up the cash for basically NOTHING! For something that has been a normal part of going to a show since the fifties. The doors open and people get in! End of story. Who gets in first is up to the fans themselves.

But now we are made to feel like absolute bitches – OWNED by the Live Nation PIMPS. It’s become simple prostitution.

The prostitutes are the artists. The whoremongers are the fans who are paying for the “special services”. And the pimp is the promoter. Nice.
So this is where we’re at now. It’s just so frikkin’ SAD.