Sonic Price - an open letter
 

Hi,

I’ve been a Sonic Youth fan for years and I appreciate the band’s regularity in organizing live shows in Belgium.

I decided however, as did a lot of other Belgian Sonic Youth aficionados I know, not to attend their concert scheduled December, 11 & 12 at the Halles de Schaerbeek.

On December, 12, I will indeed be at the Botanique, approximately 500 metres away from the Halles, where a multicultural, multiskilled, talented and promising young band named The Guillemots (You must have heard of them !) will be performing live…

Perhaps Sonic Youth’s not aware of this – That’s what managers are for, right ? – but one single ticket for their venue costs no less than 30 €.

Both dates were sold out almost instantly, so why bother fixing a lower entry price ? you might ask. To allow everybody, independently from their revenue level, to enjoy Sonic Youth’s “compact potency of rock ‘n’ roll enlightment” (as stated by the new album’s promo one-liner) and to make (so called independent) culture accessible to all !, would be my reply.

I think the Sonic Youth fan base is large enough to allow the band to consider avoiding to increase Live Nation’s worldwide monopoly on live performances.

Pardon my irony, but after all, they’re Sonic Youth, they’re not The Rolling Stones, are they ?... Are the ‘indie’ years really “passé” ?...

Regards,

sy arent the rolling stones thank fuck but they are certainly a long gone from being indie, indie bands probably dont really exist..

€30 aint bad for a sy ticket, try living in ireland, €30 is relativly cheap!

There's been worse prices. I paid $70.00 to see them this summer with the flaming lips and bush tetras. Oh, and SOV

Word. I paid almost 60 quid to see the Flaming Lips. 30 Euro is pretty much a bargain for a band of SY's stature here in Ireland. I know London ticket prices are the same, if not worse.

The Guillemots?? Did they suck? Worth the tenner in?

Don't be a bitch. Go and see Sonic Youth, it's worth 30 (euro?). I paid $30 canadian and didn't regret a single penny of it, plus, you have to keep in mind the price of renting a venue these days. They have to rent it, then other applicable service charges, etc.

Did you go to the Go! Team one or Osheaga? I wanted to go to buth but Toronto's a lot further than montreal ,and I had no place to stay either

London ticket prices? I saw SY in London for £14 which included a booking fee. This was 6 years ago, mind. What's 30 Euros? About 20 quid or something? That is pretty fucking steep. I'd still pay it but I'm a weak little whore.

I saw SY for 14 pounds too, Whorefrost, but that was in Glasgow so I spent quite a bit on hotels/trains.. two years ago.

30€ is nothing...consider that you don't only see sy at the show on 11th.......fucking BARDO POND is with them....two great bands for 30 € which makes 15 each.....how inexpensive is that

Bardo Pond are worth that on their own!

With bullshit Ticketmaster service feees, I paid $40 Canadian to see SY in Toronto, and about $55 American to see them with Ween and Flaming Lips at the New York State Fair, both this past summer. Each of them were 2 of the best nights of my life, and I don't regret spening a single penny from either show.

To cut a long story short: you'll probably be able to see this new local band again, and I'm going to bet that you'd have a better time at Sonic Youth, who probably don't come around as often. Go see Sonic Youth.

Go suck a dick for cash. There's no way that you can complain about a band around for 25+ years for wanting to make a profit, in fucking Belgium or whatever country they're playing when they should be playing in California.

And fuck the Guillemots too.

W/ the Go! Team.

Why should they play in California? The objective of a band is to tour and play to people who want to see them. Don't be a selfish cock-ass.

Cock-Ass. That's a new one I haven't heard. Is there some Algebraic equation for combining two 'insults' and making a new one? If so, go kiss my fuck-dumbass. (yeah, that wasn't as good as cock-ass)

I was actually referring to an inside joke that Bollocks and I have, where the RR Tour played in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Portland (all of which I would have been able to attend) but couldn't due to family issues, so I was pissed off.

My overall point was to show that Sonic youth can play anywhere, but can't do it for 10 bucks like this guy wants them to.