booking

as i have been going on about music most of this month i thought i would make a bit of a confession (and no it isn't that i like jedward): i don't go to as much live music as i should it is partly that i am lazy, it is partly that i don't like big venues and partly because everything seems to cost so sodding much.

anyway i bump into a pal the other day (he doesn't like his name being mentioned, mind you he never reads this anyway so: hello joel). he mentioned that ritchie blackmore's band 'blackmore's night' are coming to the uk. we both want to go in order to see the great man play guitar one more time - even if it is a lute. there is another part of us that views it like a total car crash scenario - more to do with looking at the oddballs than listening to the music.

i go look at tickets.
he is not playing london: not even croydon.
i try birmingham. a few tickets left. try swindon. website down. salisbury. they have tickets available but you can't see where there are. hold on something is wong.
ticket prices are £28 for the gig (and at all venues i have looked at) but the total is more than £56. oh silly me there is a booking fee. even worse they told me there would be a £2 booking fee. so that would make it £60. but it is still more.
why?
oh i missed this rider on the tickets "all tickets purchased online are subject to an additional £1.50 booking fee per ticket."
what the fuck? why?
when i get stuff from amazon it is cheaper - this is what the internet is supposed to do make things cheaper. it isn't like someone has had to take my call and so justify the booking fee (even though you would have thought that selling tickets in a venue would actually be a cost of business - it isn't like tesco and sainsbury's charge you a flat fee for entering the store. mind you give them time).
ok maybe using the internet has a 'cost' to it. so i make one purchase yet i get two booking charges. why? why? why? why?
oh i know why because they love to fucking rip people off.

i am a member of the south bank centre. i am not sure why anymore as the haywad has shown a bunch of shit in the last few years. i get 10% off most performances there. do you want to know what that 10% normally amounts to? you guessed it the booking charge. even when i go there and buy the fucking tickets in fucking person the fucking discount is the fucking booking charge. fucking wankers.

that is why i don't go to as many gigs as i should.
it is why i won't be trying too hard to see blackmore's night playing anywhere around the country.

and any excuse to show some ritchie bending the frets
this is worth it just for the end where you can see a look on his face that seems to cry out i want to strangle an electric stratocaster and make it sing songs of rock and roll passion.



and here is an even odder video. david coverdale singing to a select group of guests at the emi offices in tokyo. crikey i would have like to have been there (and yes just for the music).