Well, I guess I’ll weigh in on this topic as well. I certainly understand and agree that I don’t like this shortened set list. I’ve said many times before that I think the guys should be doing a three-hour show for the cost of their tickets. However, I’m also hoping that they are doing the shorter set list just for this leg of the tour. Right now, I think the band is in a transition period, and that, hopefully, they will put on incredible shows for their 40th anniversary year that will blow their fans away. As far as the ticket prices, of course, we would all love to pay lower prices, but that is just not likely to happen with this band. As I have maintained before, they are simply taking advantage of our capitalistic society and, sorry, but I don’t consider it to be illegal or immoral for them to charge whatever the market will bear. Nor does it make those who are willing to pay those prices bad people – it just makes them lucky as far as I’m concerned. At the very least, I don’t believe capitalism is evil and I accept that it is what it is and beyond my control. I also respect each individual’s decision about whether or not they want to go to any shows. However, I think it is very unfair to claim that these guys don’t care about their fans because of the price they charge for a show. I totally agree with Soda and ltl here - I’m one that happens to believe they care a lot about their fans.
As for the next issue – WOW! What a difference a few decades make … talk about some extremes in attitudes. We go from a time when it was considered cool to get totally wasted on alcohol and drugs and trashing hotel rooms to now where someone is considered a bad person for flipping the bird or requesting fresh fruit. It seems to me that there is room for some middle ground here. As I said earlier, these guys are rock stars and don't pretend to be anything more. If they had, then I’d be first in line to criticize their hypocrisy. I will say that I do have a far different standard for rock stars than I do for members of the clergy. But, without defending their behavior, as far as I’m concerned, all rock stars are created equal.