Springsteen: A Rich Man's Working Class Hero?

Over the years I have found it increasingly impossible to write about Bruce Springsteen, I almost feel that my prose could never do him justice. The man is a sort of personal Jesus to me; his music has brought me through some truly trying times. I've seen Springsteen live more times than any other artist for a very good reason; he may be the greatest live performer in the history of rock n' roll. I know there are hundreds of artists who have reinvented themselves on-stage numerous times, but no one has ever given as much of themselves when they hit the stage other than Bruce Springsteen. His workmanlike values, songs of strife and hope have defined a generation. One of Springsteen's most enduring qualities over the years has been that when you watch him perform you believe every word he is singing despite the millions he has in the bank, a difficult and near impossible feat. Despite my deep and profound love for this man and his music, I feel disconnected from him as of late. Many friends and colleagues would ask me "why, he's still the voice of a generation and one of our most important artists". I usually ask them, "Is he?"

I only saw two Springsteen shows in the summer of 2006, not many for a die-hard fan like me, but I felt like I had been taken advantage of because each show cost me $110 with service charges. I thought for Springsteen to charge an obscene amount of money to play arenas and sheds behind an album that the overwhelming majority of the public would find hard to swallow was egotistical and selfish. They were the easiest tickets I ever scored for Springsteen in my entire life and for good reason. Few people were interested in seeing this type of show in the venues it visited with a ticket price that broke the $100 barrier. Pete Seeger's songs are sincere and earnest and they deserve to be heard by future generations and I must admit to not fully appreciating them until I witnessed Springsteen perform them in concert. The two shows I saw were nothing short of breathtaking and they validated that Springsteen is a first-rate bandleader because he took material I was disinterested by on record and made it feel live, vital and releasing. Creative arrangements of standards like "The Saints Come Marching In", "Buffalo Gals", "Jesse James" and "Pay Me My Money Down" came to life and made me reevaluate the album. I remember being with a friend at these shows and discussing how fearless these shows were. I could never imagine an arena artist even attempting to pull off a tour like the Seeger tour. However the bold and brave performances were overshadowed by the fact that there were over 20,000 unsold tickets in Chicago, a building he filled to capacity on two-consecutive nights in 1992 without the E Street Band. This was a depressing site to see because there are a whole generation of people who could have been inspired by this show, the music and the message of these songs. Unfortunately, these people stayed home because someone felt it was necessary to institute one ticket price ($100) to see this show without any thought given to how many more people would see the show if there had multiple tiers of pricing.

I know Bruce and his people think they are doing fans a favor by keeping ticket prices below the $100 mark, but when tickets are over $90 the service charge will gladly take care of that. However, the biggest issue with their pricing over the last five-years is the lack of affordable multiple tiers for tickets. The best seat and the worse seat in the venue should never be the same price. At the United Center this coming October, a $65 ticket is being issued for eight sections (308 to 310 and 324-328). This is a small portion of the arena and seats in section 307 and 311 are not worth $110 for any act. The $65 seats should encompass a large part of the third level, all seats behind the stage and they should be priced below $50. Many people usually tell me that Springsteen is still cheaper than most other acts on the road today. This may be true, but it's a lousy argument. If you had a child and they continually brought home all A's on every report card for years and then all of a sudden the A's went to C's, you would ask why. Your child may make the argument that their grades are still better than half of the people in the class. What would you say to them? You would tell them you don't care what the other kids are getting, you are only concerned with them and you know what they are capable of and it's not a C. I feel the same way about Bruce Springsteen, why is it that Tom Petty, Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews leave money on the table every time they perform and none (aside from special shows) charge more than $65 for their top-tier tickets? Also, it should be noted that the Stones, Who, Aerosmith, U2, Justin Timberlake and Madonna have all had their cheapest seats priced lower than Springsteen. I recently saw Keith Urban in Milwaukee where he had a first rate stage set up (something Springsteen has never had) and the tickets were priced at $26 and $52. Is Bruce's overhead that much more?

Even if you take the dollar signs out of the equation, as an artist, wouldn't you want as many people to see you as possible? The last time I saw Tom Petty in concert was in 2005 and the show had 30,000 in attendance and was completely sold-out. It should be noted that this was approximately 7,000 more people than Springsteen has performed to on his last three trips to Chicago combined. Heck if I threw in the 2006 Milwaukee show I still think Bruce would be trailing in attendance. My point is that if you price tickets fairly ($30) people will come in droves to see you. If priced accordingly, Bruce could have a following as devoted as Philadelphia or Boston. The Seeger Chicago show was a wasted opportunity to bring exposure to the album. If all lawn tickets had been priced at $20 the day the show went on sale, I know dozens of people who would have gone and in turn, they may have experienced something unexpected. More importantly, a high school or college student may have gone on a whim and may have had a profound experience that altered their life in some way. The job of an artist like Bruce Springsteen is to not only entertain but to challenge and enlighten their audience. Whether one agrees with Springsteen's politics or not isn't the point, but what is important is people could have been inspired by these songs and walked away contemplating their meaning and the context in which they were written. Future leaders of tomorrow who are now in high school and college could have witnessed the Seeger show and possibly had their eyes and ears opened to a unique and enlightening evening of songs that have weighty meanings. Sadly, they were never exposed to the music or show because tickets were priced at an unattainable price for the majority of them.

Springsteen has always embodied the workmanlike values he sings about and I find a dramatic contradiction in his ticket prices. Yes, his prices are cheaper than other artists of his caliber, but it doesn't make it right. This past weekend, Springsteen largely sold out most of the shows that went on sale, however, as the tour progresses and he rides through other markets, most notably the South and Midwest, $80 for a nosebleed won't cut it and unfortunately, Bruce will miss out on more than money; more importantly, he'll miss out on an opportunity to inspire and enlighten thousands of lives who need a reminder that life is miraculous and a silver lining can always be found in a dark cloud. I wish Springsteen would take the lyrics of "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Hard Times and Live" to heart. There is nothing wrong with being a capitalist in any form, but sometimes there are greater long term goals at stake instead of money guarantee's. He should tier his pricing accordingly so that everyone and not just the elite can afford to witness his "magic" when he hits the concert stage.

In 2003 a handful of friends and I went to see Bruce and the E Street Band in ballpark in Milwaukee for a friends bachelor party. It turned out Milwaukee was a good meeting ground and Bruce happened to be in town that weekend. There's something magical about seeing Bruce in Milwaukee, dating back to the infamous "Bomb Scare" shows in 1975. For the last few tours, the best I have seen Springsteen has been in Milwaukee. On this particular night in September 2003 Bruce and the band were thrilling to the point of exhaustion performing scorching versions of "Candy's Room", "The Fuse", Who'll Stop The Rain", "My Love Won't Let You Down", "Because The Night" which complimented the rarities "Across The Border" and "Kitty's Back" before a blazing finale consisting of "Rosalita", "Dancing In The Dark" and "Cadillac Ranch" took an already ecstatic crowd to heights I've rarely witnessed in my life. The band blew the roof off the ballpark. The 32,000 in attendance experienced a phenomenal show, but sadly, 8,000 people did not experience it at all because the cheapest ticket with service charges was just under $70. As we were walking out one friend told me that he would have paid double the ticket price for just the last thirty-minutes while another friend came up to me, put his arm around me and professed "I saw NONE of the songs I wanted to see�but I saw ALL of the songs I needed to see". I'm not sure if I have ever heard a more profound statement in regards to a concert experience. Here was someone who wanted to see all of 'Born In The USA' and instead walked away with a deeper appreciation of who Bruce Springsteen was as an artist and his deep, rich and profound catalog. No "Today Show" performance could encompass this type of power. A few months later my first friend had copies of 'The River' and 'The Rising' on his cd shelf which had not been there months earlier and the other friend had gone out and bought six Bruce albums he had no intention of ever buying�and one of them was the four-cd box set 'Tracks'. What this proves is there are greater and more important rewards to be reaped in the long run rather than guaranteed up-front cash. They wouldn't own any of these albums if not for the live performance and sadly, because there are no fairly priced lower tier tickets, they've passed on the last two Bruce tours and will be skipping this one because $80 for a nosebleed seat is just too much in their mind, despite having the income to afford it. Springsteen's tickets overall appear to be cheaper than most artists of his caliber, but that only applies to the high end prices. By charging $110 for nosebleeds, the price might as well be $300 because the average worker in New Orleans, Kansas City, St. Louis and possibly Milwaukee can't afford it either way.

We live in a world surrounded by darkness and at its core it is a very ugly place. It attempts to beat us down and drain every bit of sanity and hope from us daily. In order to make it through life, we need reminders of the beauty that can be found in this world. Despite the nastiness we all experience, I'm reminded of the splendor life brings every time I enter a remarkable art museum, walk through a thousand year-old church in Europe, see a profoundly moving movie or hear music that soothes and resurrects your soul. My question is why should only the wealthiest people afford to witness something as miraculous as a Bruce Springsteen concert? If the current prices roll over into future legs of the tour including a rumored stadium run next summer, I can guarantee you there will be a lot of empty seats. Each empty seat represents a consumer who didn't pay for parking, concessions, concert merchandise, exposure to your new music and the list goes on and on�but most importantly, it's one less person who could be transformed and comforted by the magical experience that is Bruce Springsteen in concert. By not having a fair and affordable lower tier ticket price, it will alienate and drive away thousands of potential customers and this will be a heavy financial and artistic price to pay.

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and can be found at The Screen Door

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