"Y17,000 ($170) for Concert Tickets?"

I almost never go to concerts (although I would like to), but just about all musicians seem to come through Tokyo at one time or another, so I probably should make more of an effort (although competition for tickets in 30,000,000-people Tokyo can be really intense). On February 21st & 22nd, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck performed at the Saitama Super Arena, which is in... er... Saitama.

I haven't been to a concert in a long time - so I would expect to be a bit out-of-touch regarding ticket prices and whatnot these days, but still - when I heard a friend say that they had spent Y17,000 (about $170) for a concert ticket, I was... not exactly flabbergasted, but definitely surprised. (It turns out there were four(!) different ticket prices: Y10,000, Y13,000, Y15,000, and Y17,000.) Actually, I can't even remember what I paid for concert tickets back in the deep, dark ages, long-long ago, when I fairly regularly went to concerts... in... (why am I ashamed to say it?) the mid- & late 1970's and then a few in the 1980's and fewer still in the 1990's, and just a few (classical) concerts in the 21st century.

Anyway, back to the Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck concert. A friend went to one of the two concerts and was still buzzing with concert joy when I talked to them a week later. Looking on-line, I found a review ("Eric Clapton & Jeff Beck: Two Legendary Guitarists Share Stage In Saitama, Japan"), which states:

"Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck - legendary guitarists and former Yardbirds - performed their first co-headlining concert in Japan at Saitama's Super Arena on Saturday 21 February. This was the first time they have shared a bill as co-headliners in an arena show. The 20,000 people in attendance witnessed an event that lasted between two and a half and three hours."

The full review is here:

http://www.whereseric.com/tour/winter-tour-2009/22-February-2009_eric-clapton-jeff-beck-saitama-super-arena-saitama-japan.html

Looking at a concert pamphlet for the Clapton-Beck concert, there's a flier inserted for Deep Purple, indicating that they'll be playing at the International Forum (right by Yurakucho Station) on April 8th & 15th. Ticket prices are listed as Y10,000, Y11,000, and Y12,000. It would be interesting to see them, but I'm not sure I can budget in the ticket price. My hours at work are being cut (due to the economic free-fall), so this is not a good time to be spending money unnecessarily.....

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon