The Dynamic

 You know Bruce Springsteen. He of the cars and girls and workingman's plight? I have, on so very many occasions held up his words and actions as something for which we can all reach. "Nobody wins unless we all win," is a quote that has served me well for decades now. 

Well, Bruce Springsteen could be declared a winner by certain measures. His current net worth exceeds seven hundred million dollars. Not enough to buy Twitter, but certainly enough to keep him in denim and boots for a good long while. "The Boss," as he has been labeled by his bandmates for his attention to the business of the group, has long ago passed the level at which he was collecting money and paying for a good night of rockin'. He has people now. People who take care of him and the fortune he has amassed. 

It would be easy enough then to point fingers at those people for the acceptance of "dynamic pricing" for tickets to see Bruce and the E Street Band. Those people who have allowed ticket prices to leap to the somewhat ridiculous strata of five thousand dollars a seat. 

Five thousand dollars? Mister Springsteen has been asked to defend this, to which he replied, “I know it was unpopular with some fans. But if there's any complaints on the way out, you can have your money back.”

Uh, yeah, Mister Springsteen? Yes. Me in the back here with the tour shirt from 1985. What if you don't necessarily have the money to pay in order to be involved in that guarantee? Every time you hit the road, since 1981, I have rattled my piggy bank and cut back on whatever items I might need to save on in order to come up with the price of a ticket to your shows. 

Every time. 

When I got married I bought two. When our son was old enough, I bought three. And yes, I can say that those experiences were not anything I would trade. I'm happy to have paid the price.

Five thousand dollars? Apiece?

Sorry. I'm a fan. Not the biggest, but I do know all the words and I buy the shirts and I sing along. And I have defended you in the past. I am also a school teacher. I don't take home each month what it would cost for me to take a date to a show like that. I confess that I had, once upon a time, a flinch point of seventy-five dollars a ticket. 

So please don't take my word for the distress. Instead, hear this: “Six months after the onsales, we still faced this three-part predicament: These are concerts that we can hardly afford; that many of our readers cannot afford; and that a good portion of our readership has lost interest in as a result,” This was the response that came from the fervent and loyal fans, the editors of the fanzine Backstreets, which has decided to stop their presses as they have come to "the end of an era." This is the Boss's fan club speaking. 

Currently, there are no California dates scheduled for this tour which makes it a little easier for me to take a stand alongside the folks at Backstreets. I will not say that I will never go to another Bruce Springsteen concert, but rather that I will only attend those shows which are affordable. For me. Not for "The Boss."