Bonnaroo Music Festival Wants Big Bucks

The Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee is truly a giant in the world of music concerts. Not just because of the crowd (which last year was around 80,000), or the length of time (four days spanning from June 14 to 17), or even because of the 100-plus bands on 13 stages. It’s a giant because of the ticket prices.

According to The Charlotte Observer, the first block of tickets, priced at $184.50, already went on sale and sold out. The second block is on sale for $199.50; rumor has it that they are also accepting arms and legs.

Furthermore, organizers warn that prices of tickets will increase as the festival approaches, which is fine for those willing to sell a kidney on the Chinese Black Market to help pay the entry fee.

Also available are pairs of VIP tickets going for a measly $1121.75. These tickets supply affluent concertgoers with such luxuries as a private entrance and a Commemorative Bonnaroo Package.

Luckily, for the financially challenged who are still short on cash after selling off their first-born son, the nice folks at Bonnaroo have devised a payment plan. Available for the first two weeks of ticket sales (ending March 9), you can split the cost of a ticket into two payments. After one payment of $144.10, the purchaser has only a smaller second payment of $107.25, making the full price $251.35.

These prices are a far cry from the $18 advanced ticket price for the original Woodstock festival in 1969, or even the $135 price for tickets to the 1994 Woodstock festival.

Bonnaroo will be playing host to the newly reunited band The Police. After more than two decades apart, the band with the law enforcement name is ironically set to steal the show at the four-day festival. Other bands include Tool, the White Stripes, Roots, the Decemberists, Franz Ferdinand, the Flaming Lips and Widespread Panic--which the organizers are praying is an actual band and not an invitation for pandemonium.

Like any great music event, Bonnaroo will also have stand-up comedy--because nothing says "rock ‘till you drop" like humorous observations about everyday life.

The hefty ticket prices may well lead to a higher class of concertgoers … or maybe just concertgoers who are higher.


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