Opinion: Jay-Z/Kanye West Tour Ticket Prices

I like Jay-Z. I’ve seen him in concert twice. Once at the Pemberton Festival in 2008 and once at Coachella in 2010. I also enjoyed Kanye West when he headlined Coachella earlier this year. The two of them performing together should be pretty incredible. How often do you see two of the top rappers performing together at one show? But is it worth the $76 – $271 price tag per ticket for their show at Rogers Arena in Vancouver?

To me it’s an emphatic NO. Today, I searched for seats in the pre-sale and for $76 you’re looking at the nosebleeds in the back of the arena. For $97 it’s upper deck around section 310 a little towards the middle but still on the back half. $128 gets you something similar to section 325 which is upper deck side stage. $169 will get you in the lower bowl in the back half of the arena. Finally $271 gets you on the floor.

Here’s my view on the value of a concert. I’m there to SEE a show LIVE. For me to pay $76+ to sit in the nosebleeds and stare at nothing but ants and big LED screens there damn well better be every possible “surprise” guest imaginable to make it worth that much money. The same goes for the premium floor seats. $271 for maybe a 2 hour headlining set with Jay-Z and Kanye plus whatever opener. Think about this for a second. For roughly around that price, give or take $20-$30 (because really, once you get that high who cares about another $20?), you would have been able to get a wristband for Coachella ($269). That’s a THREE DAY festival with 100+ bands to choose from and had both Jay-Z and Kanye headline on their own with 1.5 hour sets the last two years. Jay-Z even had Beyonce perform with him for a song at Coachella.

Also for the around the same price of the floor seat, you could get a VIP wristband to this year’s Rifflandia Festival ($275). Rifflandia is FOUR DAYS with a pretty solid lineup, plus you’re getting the VIP perks.

Even more comparison. Tickets to Pearl Jam in 2009 at Rogers Arena were a flat rate of $69. The floor for U2’s 360 Tour, which probably has one of the most expensive stage setups ever, was $55 at BC Place Stadium. For $55 I had Bono and The Edge walking across a bridge sweeping over top of my head. I was that close.

So, you tell me. Are floor seats worth the price of a multi-day festival pass? Is watching a couple moving dots or gigantic “TV” feed worth $76 to you to be in the same building as two of the top rappers around? Again, I like Jay-Z and Kanye and have enjoyed their solo shows before, but for that price I’m kind of expecting Tupac and Biggie to be resurrected from the dead.

Here’s some of my video of Jay-Z and Kanye at their Coachella performances.
Jay-Z (feat. Beyonce)- Young Forever

Kanye West- Power & Jesus Walks