I’ve been going (and will be going) to quite a few concerts recently - Coldplay, Ben Lee, Belle and Sebastian/New Pornographers, Sigur Ros, Snow Patrol, etc (not the Arctic Monkeys, though, sadly). The one thing each show has in common is that I paid out the nose (except for Sigur Ros, where Helen paid out the nose) through Ticketmaster for various and sundry fees, handling charges, we-don’t-like-our-customer taxes, and so forth.

$46 worth of tickets for Snow Patrol, for example, ended up costing me $72.27. Two tickets for Coldplay? I really hope kidneys grow back, since I had to sell one to cover Ticketmaster’s fees.

It shocks and dismays me that they have a hammerlock-like grip over the concert scene in this country. I believe it’s high-time that someone or some company lessens Ticketmaster’s over this situation. It’d be worth a fortune, I’d imagine…