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Upon initial inspection, the report of two individuals in New York taking legal action against Madonna for her two-hour delay in starting a concert at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center may elicit an involuntary eye roll. The manner in which their dissatisfaction is described seems somewhat pitiful. Let me get this straight, you attended a concert and became upset because it ended later than expected, causing you to have to wake up early for work the next day? And to add to that, you had limited public transportation available for your journey home?
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This argument may not hold much weight with those who, like the claimants, can remember a time before added luxuries such as golden circles, exclusive glamping areas at festivals, corporate packages, VIP suites and lounges, viewing platforms, and “ultimate bars” became commonplace at concerts. In the past, attending a concert often meant enduring some discomfort and inconvenience. This attitude seems to suggest a sense of entitlement from the audience, treating musicians as if they were part of the service industry and demanding that their wants be met because they have paid for a ticket.
It is ironic that a significant portion of the Madonna show that led to the lawsuit is a reenactment of the artistic and post-disco culture of early 80s New York, which is where the singer originated from. This includes a dancer portraying Jean-Michel Basquiat and a recreation of the entrance to the Paradise Garage club. It is unlikely that attendees of shows by Basquiat’s noise-rock band Gray or those who came to hear the talented but drug-addled DJ Larry Levan at the Garage would have thought about suing because of a delayed start and limited public transportation.
However, those who have attended concerts in the past when discomfort and inconvenience were the norm did not have to pay the exorbitant prices that people are expected to pay for tickets nowadays. The cheapest tickets for Madonna’s London shows cost £50, while the most expensive were priced at £432.25. This is assuming that one did not miss out on the initial sale and had to resort to buying resold tickets from sites like Viagogo, which were being sold at a staggering £1,870 each. Unfortunately, this is a common pricing practice for large arena shows. Spending nearly a thousand pounds on just a couple of concert tickets can create a sense of entitlement, and if attendees have to leave early to catch the last train home, they may feel cheated and frustrated. This, one could argue, is at the heart of the issue: it is not a matter of modern concert-goers being ignorant or making unreasonable demands on artists, but rather a simple matter of economics.
Source: theguardian.com
