What have you done for me lately?

I was THISCLOSE to going to see Janet Jackson tomorrow, but alas, someone finally came to their senses and bought the tickets WAY below cost. It was the minimum amount I would have taken, but even I have to admit, she was grossly overpriced. It's funny, when I snagged these babies, I thought I was in for an easy sale. The Janet I remember could fill a 10,000 person stadium with little effort given her strong performance skills. (I always saw shades of Michael in her dancing and her songs seemed suited to her voice)

That said, I think her management team picked the wrong venue. Her tour is labelled "Up Close and Personal" so I guess they were going for that "cozy" feel when picking this location who's seating capacity reaches a mere 2200 people. Why couldn't she sell the place out? I'll give you a hint, top price was $215 per ticket and even my "middle' orchestra seats had me salivating at the potential return, $165 each. Clearly, the decision was made to soak as much out of a small group of people as they could, in exchange for a more "intimate" concert experience. They failed miserably. Last week, Row A was still coming up on ticketmaster and my tickets sat up on the selling boards crying out for a serious buyer. I don't know if it was greed that propeled this choice, or a lack of understanding of the market in this town. Hamilton is an industrial town, making it's living off of the steel mills. They won't spend that kind of money for one night, I don't care who it is or how talented they are. My buyer ended up coming from Oakville. (Mom's town twenty minutes away) They have more disposable income so it's not such a tough sell. Even good old cash rich Toronto (one hour away) wasn't going to help me out on this one. After I sold my set, I had an offer come in that was nothing short of insulting:-)

Anyway, a note to all of those "big wig" performers out there, everybody has their limits, we can't all have unlimited resources and big bank accounts, you might want to consider the masses before your next performance or be prepared to look past the bright lights to a bunch of dark, empty seats.

Josh Groban said it best "You guys paid big bucks to see me tonight, boy did you pay. I promise to sing my ass off for you tonight, I'll try anyway."  Soon, even the promise of a focused effort may not be enough, as people struggle to make ends meet in a time when prices continue to soar. It seems Janet might not be the only one asking "What have you done for me lately?" Her fans want to know too.