The problem with live shows nowadays
 

Ok this might apply only to the UK where I live, but here's an example of what seems like becoming a trend here.

I saw a poster that said Alice Cooper was going to be performing in Guildford (only 30 mins drive from me) and thought hey cool, I gotta see that. Except when I phoned to book tickets - £90 a pop. Umm why? Because its not just Alice Cooper, its a 3-day event including unlikely team-ups like Atomic Kittens. WTF? The commonality is like 0%.

Buy the bundle or no act at all. Does it need to be that way?

What are your thoughts?

that seems to be a summertime trend in the US. Package tours like Lollapalooza, Oz-fest and Summer Sanitarium rule the arena scene.

mixing styles can't be too bad. my boss (44 year old female) went to see Coldplay and she came back raving about Jurrassic 5.

Yup, not all bad. You can get exposed to others genres of music or just other bands you are not familiar with.

Last year I was able to talk a girl into going to Chicago with me to Ozzfest because she wanted to see Rob Zombie and System of a Down, but then all she talked about on the way home the next day was how awesome Mushroomhead and Hatebreed were.

IT MUST BE BECAUSE WE ALL STEAL MUSIC FROM THAT DAMNED INTERNET!!!!!

dumbasses.

lckUber: YES! Hell, if it werent for the net I wouldnt even <b>know</b> about half the music I love!!

Another problem is that some people sing hideously off key live compared to the cd...

It's a good idea to a point. They charge so much more for a concert, and the act/acts you want to see only play 1 set, and it's short at that. But you are exposed to groups that you normally wouldn't have gone to see, and you might like them, and buy their CD. I've been to many of these type of concerts, and have been turned on to many groups I normally wouldn't have listened to.