Post by Nunya on Jul 12, 2023 16:28:43 GMT 1
N=now, T=then (anytime from 1982 to 1992 or so. For price comparisom, I'll use minimum wage in hours $3.35 then, 7.25 now, rounding used.
Discovering a show
T-listening to local radio, checking the entertainment section of local paper, or posters outside the venue.
N- Online, you can see show dates before the tickets go on sale. Blabbermouth let me know Blatt was playing near me.
N wins
Finding/buying tickets
T- usually at the venue box office. Local drugstore sold tickets, but either they had preprinted stack of them, always shitty seats, or ran out quickly. Avg tix price wa 7-10 hours minimum wage
N-Venue will sell tix w/o service fees, but still a drive to Ft Wayne. Honeywell in Wabash sells thier own tix online, other venues is ticketmaster/stubhub,etc. Avg price for a 'name' artist like kiss is about 30 hrs minimum wage for coliseum, 12 hrs for theater/club.
Win to N. I bitch about prices, but I can buy in my recliner while watching the news.
Pre game / tailgate
T- show up at 6 for a7:30 curtain. Drink Ice cold beer in car. Turn car into a smoke chamber.
N- 6 pm Dinner at little diner/bar near venue.
Parking
T- only high parking back then was for Hoosierdome. In 86 I paid 26 hrs min wage ($80) to park in a multilevel garage. Fuck street parking in Indy. Otherwise, most venues had lots for 2-4 hours min wage.
N-3-10 hrs min wage for parking at ANY private lot/big venue lot. Deer Creek charged me $50 last year.
N wins - I'd rather pay than walk blocks. And due to I guess liability laws, lots are patrolled by armed cops.
Entering Venue
T-Basically not allowed to carry in large objects.Remember the Dead shows, the parking lot scene? I could buy a sheet of purple micro dot for $50 and sell it for $3 a hit within an hour once I got home.
N-Metal detectors, wanded, sometimes drug dogs all over. I wrap my vape in cellophane and put it in my wallet. Theyre allowed to search you, but not to open your wallet.
N wins. I'll deal w/ it to be safer.
Merch
T-Maiden shirt in 1982 (1983?) w/38 special headlining, was 4 hours min wage.
N- Kiss shirt was 7 hrs min wage.
T wins
Food/Drink.
T-A flat warm 32 oz cup of Miller Lite wa 2.5 hrs min wage. Nachos about the same.Soda was 1 hr min wage apiece.
N- Miller lite 24 oz can-3 hrs min wage. I bought my wife a mixed drink and myself a gatorade, at the local theater, it was 2 hrs min wage. At a Komets game, I paid 4 hrs min wage for same thing. (by mixed drink, I mean one of those giant slushie things in the foil bag.)
TIE The slushie was 3 hrs wage, the soda 1, in both cases.
The actual show
T-Usually 3 bands. A d lister like Tuff, a true up and coming, like GnR, and a star, like Motley. If 2 bands, sometimes the star did over 2 hrs. Usually 5 hrs from first note to last.
N-Either 4 locals and the star, or 1 local, 1 DIY band like Station, and star, who, within 'our' era, will usually do 90 minutes. BBS had 1 opener for acoustic tour and did 2.5 hrs.
Win to N 5-6 hours is just too long. IDK how I lasted at all day/evening festivals 10-12 years ago. Loud constant bass that long gives me a headache right at the rear above the neck.
The people
T- People believed in showering back then. Folks may have told me to fuck off, but were more polite AFA lines,etc. ANY rock show had at least a few teens that were so drunk they puked on themselves, and were placed in a lobby chair and abandoned. The local easy pick up sluts were all over. It was a thing, like cruising main drag in your car, to walk around the venue looking at everyone else doing the same thing.COuld just hold up a $5 and have someone trade it for 2 joints.
N-Always one drunken meth head looking idiot who not only hasn't showered, but if youre not lucky, either has the worst gas attack ever or just shit his pants. The people are verbally more polite, but physically more agressive. They'll say 'Excuse me' while trying to cut in front of you or pushing you out of the way to get by. Any teens at a show are with a parent, or are actually fairly well behaved, usually. No slut pick up area noted, likely b/c Im married, and we go in right before show time and leave before the final encore. No 'cruising' anymore. Everyone sneaks a vape hit in the bathroom.
T wins for entertainment value alone
Leaving the show
T- not till the headliner's crew starts the teardown. If at a shed, figure 2 hours to get out to the road. Sit in car and party. Get home at 2am, sleep 4 hrs, go to work.
N- Leave before encore. Spend 5-30 min getting out to road. Home by 11 generally.
Discovering a show
T-listening to local radio, checking the entertainment section of local paper, or posters outside the venue.
N- Online, you can see show dates before the tickets go on sale. Blabbermouth let me know Blatt was playing near me.
N wins
Finding/buying tickets
T- usually at the venue box office. Local drugstore sold tickets, but either they had preprinted stack of them, always shitty seats, or ran out quickly. Avg tix price wa 7-10 hours minimum wage
N-Venue will sell tix w/o service fees, but still a drive to Ft Wayne. Honeywell in Wabash sells thier own tix online, other venues is ticketmaster/stubhub,etc. Avg price for a 'name' artist like kiss is about 30 hrs minimum wage for coliseum, 12 hrs for theater/club.
Win to N. I bitch about prices, but I can buy in my recliner while watching the news.
Pre game / tailgate
T- show up at 6 for a7:30 curtain. Drink Ice cold beer in car. Turn car into a smoke chamber.
N- 6 pm Dinner at little diner/bar near venue.
Parking
T- only high parking back then was for Hoosierdome. In 86 I paid 26 hrs min wage ($80) to park in a multilevel garage. Fuck street parking in Indy. Otherwise, most venues had lots for 2-4 hours min wage.
N-3-10 hrs min wage for parking at ANY private lot/big venue lot. Deer Creek charged me $50 last year.
N wins - I'd rather pay than walk blocks. And due to I guess liability laws, lots are patrolled by armed cops.
Entering Venue
T-Basically not allowed to carry in large objects.Remember the Dead shows, the parking lot scene? I could buy a sheet of purple micro dot for $50 and sell it for $3 a hit within an hour once I got home.
N-Metal detectors, wanded, sometimes drug dogs all over. I wrap my vape in cellophane and put it in my wallet. Theyre allowed to search you, but not to open your wallet.
N wins. I'll deal w/ it to be safer.
Merch
T-Maiden shirt in 1982 (1983?) w/38 special headlining, was 4 hours min wage.
N- Kiss shirt was 7 hrs min wage.
T wins
Food/Drink.
T-A flat warm 32 oz cup of Miller Lite wa 2.5 hrs min wage. Nachos about the same.Soda was 1 hr min wage apiece.
N- Miller lite 24 oz can-3 hrs min wage. I bought my wife a mixed drink and myself a gatorade, at the local theater, it was 2 hrs min wage. At a Komets game, I paid 4 hrs min wage for same thing. (by mixed drink, I mean one of those giant slushie things in the foil bag.)
TIE The slushie was 3 hrs wage, the soda 1, in both cases.
The actual show
T-Usually 3 bands. A d lister like Tuff, a true up and coming, like GnR, and a star, like Motley. If 2 bands, sometimes the star did over 2 hrs. Usually 5 hrs from first note to last.
N-Either 4 locals and the star, or 1 local, 1 DIY band like Station, and star, who, within 'our' era, will usually do 90 minutes. BBS had 1 opener for acoustic tour and did 2.5 hrs.
Win to N 5-6 hours is just too long. IDK how I lasted at all day/evening festivals 10-12 years ago. Loud constant bass that long gives me a headache right at the rear above the neck.
The people
T- People believed in showering back then. Folks may have told me to fuck off, but were more polite AFA lines,etc. ANY rock show had at least a few teens that were so drunk they puked on themselves, and were placed in a lobby chair and abandoned. The local easy pick up sluts were all over. It was a thing, like cruising main drag in your car, to walk around the venue looking at everyone else doing the same thing.COuld just hold up a $5 and have someone trade it for 2 joints.
N-Always one drunken meth head looking idiot who not only hasn't showered, but if youre not lucky, either has the worst gas attack ever or just shit his pants. The people are verbally more polite, but physically more agressive. They'll say 'Excuse me' while trying to cut in front of you or pushing you out of the way to get by. Any teens at a show are with a parent, or are actually fairly well behaved, usually. No slut pick up area noted, likely b/c Im married, and we go in right before show time and leave before the final encore. No 'cruising' anymore. Everyone sneaks a vape hit in the bathroom.
T wins for entertainment value alone
Leaving the show
T- not till the headliner's crew starts the teardown. If at a shed, figure 2 hours to get out to the road. Sit in car and party. Get home at 2am, sleep 4 hrs, go to work.
N- Leave before encore. Spend 5-30 min getting out to road. Home by 11 generally.
