Apparently, that slot opening the Grammys is a good one. The Police announced their first tour in more than 20 years the Monday following a pretty darned smokin' version of the perennial "Roxanne" at the top of the Grammy television broadcast. Sadly, no Buffalo date showed up on the itinerary - yet, that is.
The July 22nd show at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto went on sale last Saturday morning. It sold out in 3 minutes. That's something in the area of 20,000 ducats purchased in 180 seconds. With remarkable prescience, the band sensed a BIG DEMAND, and slapped a second show in that venue, slated for July 22nd, on sale by 10:15 a.m. Those tickets went in something like 10 minutes. So the Police sold nearly 40,000 tickets in less than half an hour.
Many of you have written inquiring about the possibility of a Buffalo date being added. Though there is a little bit of wiggle room around the Toronto dates, it seems doubtful that Sting, Stewart and Andy will be hitting the Nickel City. We are, after all, still considered a secondary concert market, which is tough to interpret as anything other than an insult. Several letters asked my opinion on what can be done to rectify this lack of Police date. No clue, really. Petitions have worked in the past with other bands, however. That's up to you.
Of course, with a top ticket price of $225 per seat, for the best spots - no, that's not a typo - the gods of tour-routing might have deemed Buffalo a market unable to support such extravagance.
I'd love your thoughts on what seems to be an incredibly inflated ticket price. The Police reunion is sure to be a great show. But at what price greatness? Say you and your significant other wanted to make a date of the Police concert. Even if you only bought one beer each during the gig, you're looking at $500 for the night. Want a commemorative t-shirt or two? Make it $600. Time was, that kind of money could cover a good portion of your summer concert budget.
Is it worth it? Rock music used to present itself as "the people's music". Now, unless those "people" are in Donal Trump's tax bracket, that wouldn't seem to be the case.
How much is too much?