Jeri Rowe: Blue-Collar Bard, White-Collar Ticket Prices

JERI ROWE, Go Triad Editor
(Thursday, July 28, 2005 9:08 am)
The Greensboro News & Record

Ask anyone. Bruce Springsteen comes across as the country's blue-collar bard who sings about the underside of America, those people who live paycheck to paycheck and survive on hopes and dreams beyond their union card and wedding coat. You definitely felt that Tuesday night at his one-man show at the Greensboro Coliseum. He ambled onstage in a dark jacket, worn jeans and a western shirt you could get at Blumenthal's, and for two hours and 20 minutes, he made the big arena feel like a small coffeehouse. On a spartan stage, bathed in moody light, he used a piano, a pump organ, a harmonica and three guitars to bring his thoughts and his three-dimensional characters to life.

He pushed for a more humane immigration policy and plugged the People of Faith Against the Death Penalty. He also urged people to give to the Greensboro Urban Ministry because, as he said, "They help the struggling citizens of Greensboro." After that brief plug, the Greensboro Urban Ministry received $850 in donations at its table on the coliseum concourse — a testament to Springsteen's conviction and vigor. Yet, can Springsteen continue to be the country's Voice of Everyman when he charged $75 and $85 for each ticket?

It made me wonder. I mean, coliseum officials expected a sell-out crowd of 9,000. Only 5,000 people came to Tuesday night's show. Maybe it was the absence of the E Street Band. Or maybe it's the price of the ticket, especially in a region where job security is shaky and the unemployment level has risen to 5.6 percent.

Meet Valerie Connor, a 44-year-old design assistant for a furniture company in Winston-Salem. Connor is the daughter of a letter-carrier father and a furniture-worker mother. She says she always has felt that Springsteen's songs such as "Racing in the Streets" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town" spoke to her. She has seen Springsteen twice. But she couldn't on this solo tour supporting Springsteen's new release "Devils & Dust." She couldn't afford it. "To me, he's the blue-collar bard, he's the Arlo Guthrie of our generation," she says. "I think he still is. He has spoken out about Iraq and Bush's politics. Yet, here are these extremely expensive ticket prices for a one-man acoustic show. I know he has to put kids through college. But jeez."

Then there's Norma Sink, a 54-year-old international reservation agent for US Airways. She sat in the third row, dead center, with her younger sister, Martha Johnson. The two sisters had seen Springsteen at least seven times, and on this particular night, they scored the best seats they've ever had. The two sat transfixed — Sink leaning forward, Johnson propping her elbows on the chair in front of her. They watched every move Springsteen made. To Sink, a longtime concertgoer, Paul McCartney has sold out. So have the Rolling Stones. (Tickets for the Stones' Oct. 8 show at Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium start at $60 and go as high as $160.) But not Springsteeen. To Sink, he's like the guy next door with an incredible gift. "I'm not wealthy by any means, and that is a lot to pay, especially with the job situation at US Airways," she says. "Who knows where we'll be tomorrow? (The Springsteen ticket price) hurts. I don't have the money to burn. But to me, he's worth it — to write those kind of lyrics that really touch you — you understand where he's coming from."

According to Pollstar, the litmus-test magazine of the country's concert industry, fans have accepted high ticket prices for big-name acts, particularly veterans. And those acts are charging higher prices because they are raking in less money in CD sales and other forms of recorded music. In 2003, the last year available, the top 1 percent of artists represented 56 percent of all ticket revenue. And in that particular year, Springsteen was the country's top-grossing act, with $115.9 million in ticket sales.

Talk to die-hard Bruce fans, and they'll tell you The Boss is worth it. They also don't believe Springsteen will ever go the Stones' route and charge more than $100 a ticket. That's a good thing. Still, his ticket price will keep some fans out of the arena. Fans such as Connor. "It pains me to criticize the man," Connor says. "I just love him dearly. I think he's a real human being, and maybe the criticism is not directed at him. I still love Springsteen, and I'm not mad, and I won't go away. He just won't see me in the audience."