Bon Jovi Ticket Prices Make Me Smirk!





18 Years and $104.30 Later: A Bon Jovi Ticket Story

Early in 1987 Huntington, WV was rocked by the news that Bon Jovi would headline a show at the rarely used Huntington Civic Center. Without a doubt this would be the hottest ticket in the River Cities since Elvis was slated to open the facility in 1977 (he died before the show, though). Bon Jovi was sitting atop the charts with "You Give Love A Bad Name" and the album Slippery When Wet was a must-have for everyone aged 8 to 38, give or take a few years either way.

Sometime in February of that year my dad dropped off me and a friend at Scratch & Tilt, Huntington's most famous arcade and official ticket outlet. These were the days before Ticketmaster, ticket brokers and elaborate schemes bilk fans of hard earned money. About 200 of us gathered to draw numbers for the chance to buy tickets. I vividly recall pulling number 15 out of the hat. Jean jacket clad teenagers, Marshall students and some older "kids" our parents warned us about formed an orderly line.

A few minutes later I plunked down $15 for a ticket to see Bon Jovi in Huntington, WV. I couldn't believe it. The biggest band of the year was going to play the 9,000-seat Huntington Civic Center. My parents couldn't believe I was spending a week's worth of lawn mowing money to see them.

Fast forward almost twenty years -> -> -> -> Staying true to the marketing push behind Bon Jovi's latest effort Have A Nice Day, I couldn't help but have a smirk on my face as I hit "Purchase" on Ticketmaster's web site yesterday morning. I had just spent $119.30 for two upper level seats to see Bon Jovi play Columbus' Schottenstein Center. Who would have believed on that cold morning in 1987 that two decades later I'd spending $104 more to see the aging rockers crank out their arena friendly hits?

Had I opted to purchase the lower level or floor seats for the November 9 show, I would have had to shell out more than $200 after facility fees, handling charges and Ticketmaster "convenience" charges. Since I just purchased a new home and realized this would be my 10th time seeing Bon Jovi, I rationalized the upper level "cheap" seats would be more than acceptable.

The funny thing about this story is I saw Bon Jovi two more times on their tour in support Slippery When Wet. They returned to the Huntington Civic Center that summer for an encore performance. I spent another $15 to the same songs and the same opening act (Cinderella) on July 19, 1987. A week or so later I caught them in Pittsburgh, PA for show that was encore performance in that city.

All three shows cost me less $50. There were no additional fees. No Ticketmaster convenience charges. And no assigned seating. Concerts always seemed to be general admission. I recall only a handful of scalpers. And once in a while you'd hear someone in the halls at school trying to dump a ticket to make some extra money.

The times have changed. The concert business has changed. Ticket prices have soared. But Bon Jovi continues to fill arenas and churn out arena-friendly anthems and cigarette lighter-worthy ballads.

"Have a nice day."


Visit Bon Jovi's SmirkWatch.com here.

Read more about the Huntington Civic Center, now the Big Sandy Arena, here.

Posted: Fri - September 30, 2005 at 03:47 PM      

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