Coachella is now a festival for the rich

[JOEJOEJOE]

seriously...$250 (+ ass rape service charge) for a 3 day pass, and thats not including cost of travel, place to stay, and food/drink/party supplies.

GV figured it out. now they can make more money off the same amount of bands by spreading it out. Now its 3 days, and they somehow charge more for each day, even though there are less bands per day, and they make way more money. GV, i thought you were different, but now i see you are just the same as everybody else. good job you blood sucking assholes.

dont get me wrong, i love coachella, but partly cuz it used to me more about quality music and less about the almighty dollar that dominates the rest of the entertainment industry. but now it seems to be evening out. still a great lineup, but way too expensive.

thank god i make decent money or i wouldnt be able to enjoy all this good music. sucks for the hard core music fans that dont have the luxury of being rich (not that i am, but i live comfortably, until april. then i eat top roman for a couple months). not everybody has an extra $500 (at the very least) to go see a good festival. i liked it better when it was 2 days, $75/day, and just as many bands, and i only had to take 1 day off work, not 2.

as a staple of the coachella lineup once said...

"cash in now honey!"

$$$$$$$

You make it sound as if GV is denying people food and shelter....this is a 3 day festival....no one is guaranteed to be able to afford entertainment in life....its discretionary!

No one is forcing you or anyone else to attend all 3 days..........going to Coachella and having enough money for "party supplies" is not a right, nor are your required to attend.

Keep in mind that GV incurs a risk every year.....the first Coachella almost put Goldenvoice out of business......would you have kicked-in a few extra bucks to help them absorb the losses that year?....they are far from "Blood sucking assholes"

Instead of hoping them to keep the ticket price down at your level, why not worry about being able to increase your income so that you can come up to their level?

[suprefan]

Adding an extra day adds a lot of expenses for GV. Staff and security are probably the biggest costs. They have to pay for it somewhow, my guess is with the extra cost from tickets. But you sound like you've been going to this for a while. This will be my 5th, and I've figured out how to significantly reduce my costs for the weekend. If my math is correct, I will spend right around 400 (and that is rounding up, also not including merch) for the 4 days I will be out there. This includes tickets, lodging for 4 nights, food, water and gas. It's possible. Also, if you save for it all year, it becomes less of a burden on your wallet when ticket purchasing time rolls around.

Yeah 5th time too, you learn the ropes pretty quick if this is something you plan to do every year. Back in 2004 I started a savings account with ING that had high interest and put money in there and had some nice change when tickets went on sale for 2005. So like little things such as that help. Also I had put $20 aside each paycheck since November last year, so that was enough to cover my ticket cost right there... I'm taking about $400 just to spend, luckily I have a Civic so 1 tank of gas is plenty for the entire trip..

[gaplus]

I stay up till 3am perth time.....

$671.75 US for a pair of 3 day passes and a pair of camping passes

thats 77.75 US in inconvenience charges, facility charges, order processing and delivery fees. Thanks ticketmaster .

Add the fact that I need to convert that to the Aussie dollars (thanks credit card for the 1.5% conversion fee to put the nail in)

that hurts...it really hurts

[tessalasset]

lol

[Sexecutioner]

You make it sound as if GV is denying people food and shelter....this is a 3 day festival....no one is guaranteed to be able to afford entertainment in life....its discretionary!

No one is forcing you or anyone else to attend all 3 days..........going to Coachella and having enough money for "party supplies" is not a right, nor are your required to attend.

i never said entertainment is my right. i said its becoming so expensive that a lot of people probably can't afford it now, and that i liked the 2 day format better for cost reasons.

Keep in mind that GV incurs a risk every year.....the first Coachella almost put Goldenvoice out of business......would you have kicked-in a few extra bucks to help them absorb the losses that year?....they are far from "Blood sucking assholes"

haha, i wouldn't exaclty call coachella a "risk" anymore. sure, it was the first couple years, but after it established itself as one of the premier music festivals in the world, i dont think they have had to worry much about making money. now its just a question of how much they will make. and they can choose wheather they limit their profits by doing certain things to make it a better concert going experience for everybody (like limiting tickets to less than 50,000 or so, keeping ticket prices down, etc), or they can just choose to cash in as much as possible at the cost of us, the attendees.

thats what used to seperate them from the rest of the festivals out there. they went the extra mile to provide the best experience for us. now it seems they are losing sight of that a bit. who knows, i dont work there, maybe im wrong, but id wager that they make quite a bit, and could lower prices and still make quite a bit.

Instead of hoping them to keep the ticket price down at your level, why not worry about being able to increase your income so that you can come up to their level?

wtf? you think im not trying to make more money? who isnt? that was a retarded comment.

Oh and I was looking at my Coachella poster thats on my wall for that info, so thats pretty reliable.. And I plan ahead b**ch... Take the scalper comment back.... You know you still luv me

what? what poster are you talking about? ive never seen ticket prices on the posters. lol, you're alright, but i dont know if i can take the comment back quite yet. you gotta prove yourself.

Yeah 5th time too, you learn the ropes pretty quick if this is something you plan to do every year. Back in 2004 I started a savings account with ING that had high interest and put money in there and had some nice change when tickets went on sale for 2005. So like little things such as that help. Also I had put $20 aside each paycheck since November last year, so that was enough to cover my ticket cost right there...

yea, thats good planning. i used to always get a nice tax refund that would cover most of my trip, but the last couple years i didnt get shit cuz i think i make a lot more than i used to (see joejoe, im comin up, so dont you worry about me, bitch).

[suprefan]

i
what? what poster are you talking about? ive never seen ticket prices on the posters. lol, you're alright, but i dont know if i can take the comment back quite yet. you gotta prove yourself.
).

I'm trying to prove myself by helping everyone else out on here and answering questions so Dani doesnt need to like hold everyones hand. Yeah the bottom of all my Coachella posters has the pricing and stuff on it...

[John Peel is My Co-pilot]

I guess the thing that stings for me about the price is that I got tickets for Lollapalooza in 06 for $45 for the 3 days through a presale!

Kinda puts the $2500 for 4 days at Coachella a little in perspective...


And I wouldn't sell the tickets for twice as much!

[Mystagogue]

I'm trying to prove myself by helping everyone else out on here and answering questions so Dani doesnt need to like hold everyones hand. Yeah the bottom of all my Coachella posters has the pricing and stuff on it...

Seems like half of your posts are answering questions and the other half are filled with unnecessary flaming.

[suprefan]

Seems like half of your posts are answering questions and the other half are filled with unnecessary flaming.

So you combed through almost 400 posts? OK somebody doesnt have a life....

[Mystagogue]

So you combed through almost 400 posts? OK somebody doesnt have a life....

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

Obviously I didn't sit there and read EVERY post...I'm talking about posts of yours I've seen, there's a lot of flaming mixed in with some good information.

It's cool that you're trying to help people, but next time you're writing something, think to yourself..."Am I being an asshole?" If yes, don't post it.

[tnordy]

[tessalasset]

and they can choose wheather they limit their profits by doing certain things to make it a better concert going experience for everybody (like limiting tickets to less than 50,000 or so, keeping ticket prices down, etc), or they can just choose to cash in as much as possible at the cost of us, the attendees.

if only you knew what you were talking about.

[Sexecutioner]

if only you knew what you were talking about.

yea, sometimes i wish i knew what i was talking about too.
but seriously, why do you say that? i said i could be wrong, and if you know something i dont, why dont you enlighten me.

oh, and since the 1 day ticket prices were the same last year, i guess i am partly full of shit. but i'd still like to save 100 bucks and cram it all into 2 days.

[tallboy52483]

Coachellacard...

$337.00 for tix and camping and service charges.
$30.00 for water for the entire weekend.
$30.00 minimum for food. (you have to be a tweaker to spend that little)

Seeing Rage Against the fucking machine: priceless


end of story

[tessalasset]

but i'd still like to save 100 bucks and cram it all into 2 days.

ok so this is the gist of what you're saying then. all im saying is, if you don't know the full story, don't assume they're raising the ticket prices/spreading the days out just to get more money. there could be a lot more to it than we could even imagine. (that's not me being cryptic; i really don't know how many expenses actually go into this festival).

[Sexecutioner]

all im saying is, if you don't know the full story, don't assume they're raising the ticket prices/spreading the days out just to get more money. there could be a lot more to it than we could even imagine. (that's not me being cryptic; i really don't know how many expenses actually go into this festival).

You are right, only GV knows. I'm just taking a guess based on what I've observed from attending throughout the years. It's like a lot of things in entertainment I guess. It starts off good, then as it gets more popular and mainstream, it makes changes to accommodate all its new fans, which usually causes it to lose some of what made it so different and special in the first place.

[downingthief]

Everything goes up...just the nature of the Beast that is a consumer world. As long as there is value in what I am "purchasing", I am ok with it. I love music, I've enjoyed every Coachella, and this year's lineup is amazing. So, that fits for me. True, if you are a starving student a three day pass may be tough. BUT, what about just going 1 day...2 days?

[boyalien0]

i am a little peeved at GV saving a buck by double booking artists for both this festival and stagecoach. if i wanted to see nickel creek or willie nelson, i'd go to freaking stagecoach. keep your festivals separate, dammit!

[airguitarvet]

i got raped- but i liked it.

[pascual]

I said it somewhere else: If Manu Chao knew that this is just a bunch of rich american kids, he would think twice about playing there.
I've been to 3 coachella weekends, and it breaks my heart to not go this year, but what they are charging, plus ticketmonsters fees is like being raped in the ass with no lube or spit or anything.
The world is hungry and i don't want to be part of this american bullshit bubble.

[DeltaSigChi4]

like being raped in the ass with no lube or spit or anything.

aoh my.

E

[dualmoodswings]

Coachellacard...

$337.00 for tix and camping and service charges.
$30.00 for water for the entire weekend.
$30.00 minimum for food. (you have to be a tweaker to spend that little)

Seeing Rage Against the fucking machine: priceless


end of story

agreed and i´ll eat grass...

For me (as an outsider of the U.S) is a must-live experience, yes, is kinda expensive (about 650 dlls, now translate it in pesos, A FUCKING LOT) this is my 5th coachella, and gets better every year, economically talking, i plan my trip much better. Im not gonna lie, the first time was a fucking hell... with a beautiful soundtrack (Pixies and Radiohead in ´04).

so dude... is NOT expensive. you have time to save some money.

[crazzz2007]

i am a little peeved at GV saving a buck by double booking artists for both this festival and stagecoach. if i wanted to see nickel creek or willie nelson, i'd go to freaking stagecoach. keep your festivals separate, dammit!

do you really think willie nelson is playing both festivals for the price of one? what world do you live in? obviously, he is being paid for both appearances. gv is not saving a buck by double booking artists.

[Yablonowitz]

Another thing to remember is that Coachella, relative to other festivals like Lolla, relies on less corporate sponsorship, advertising is not crammed down your throat and each stage isn't named after some big bucks corporation. If it were, I think a bunch of people would be bitching about all the corporate sponsorship and how commercial the festival is.

Coachella is worth the money. You probably can see about 6 full sets a day. Average ticket prices for a show are...what...about $25? That's $150 a day, $450 for the three days. Almost double what you pay for the festival. The quality and eclecticism of the lineup and the awesome location of the polo grounds make this a can't miss event.

Living in the boonies like I do means there is no way I'll get to see even three good shows in my hometown in a year. This here is a no brainer is what it is.

[Alchemy]

If you don't want to go to Coachella, then you can go watch all these bands on their individual shows for the end price of a bagillion dollars.

[deadguy]

The world is hungry and i don't want to be part of this american bullshit bubble.

You know I used to think that way. I couldn't bring myself to support my local non-profit radio station because 'the world is hungry' and there were way better NGOs to give to than some hipster organization for indie snobs.

The solution was not to stop supporting independent music. It was to give MORE money to the right organizations that I think do help the world. There will always be a better place for you to spend your money. As long as you contribute enough there (with time or money or whatever) you can allow yourself this luxury. Give more, not less.

Another thing to do is replace an expense that you'd have anyway to save up for this - I stopped driving my car and take the bus to work.

[Alchemy]

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

[Ardentbiscuit]

So how do you feel now that Coachella tickets are 269 + 3 charity fee + service charges?

[captncrzy]

Random bump

[fatbastard]

I wish Coachella would charge 600.00 for 3 days. It would be worth the price to have less people there. I want to lay out on the grass without anyone stepping on me!