barbra streisand

so barbra streisand is doing another tour, and some people consider the prices of the tickets to be a little on the high side. 500 quid for the top end, more than the stones and madonna. the sunday times has a profile of her this weekend here. in the final paragraph it says:

"For her London concerts she may have greater need than ever of the 120 bath towels she demanded on her recent US tour. The media are already raining on her parade over the eyewatering ticket prices. Pop stars are meant to belong to the people, not price themselves as high culture."

hmmm. when i bought a ticket for her absolutely last concert ever ever ever, in sydney in 2000, for $95 (aus) i got a seat in the very back row at the top at a football stadium. they said the seats down on the grass in front of the stage were going for $5k. about half-way through the concert, it began to pour with rain. the posh people down there got absolutely soaked. we were sitting under the overhang, and remained quite dry.

on the one hand, it was not the spectacle for which i had hoped - the guy next to me lent me his binoculars and it looked like she was reading her ad-libs from the prompter. on the other, at the time it seemed terribly cool to be there, live, at her last concert. i think i'm kind of over her now :-)