How Much Is Rilo Kiley Worth To You?

Rilo Kiley is playing at the Riviera on September 15. I find them to be kind of intriguing so I thought I might check it out. I get on the web and see that tickets are only $22.50. I click the “next” button and hold my breath knowing what’s about to come. And sure enough, by the time TicketMaster finishes wielding their concrete dildo a single ticket is $36. I don’t like it when people complain about TicketMaster. And I hate TicketMaster—and admittedly catch myself complaining about them often. But complaining about Ticketmaster has become so mundane and choir preachy you might as well just pontificate about how much it sucks when someone kicks you in the balls. That said, there’s something about a ticket markup of over 50% that calls for a reaction no matter the audience. One of the extra charges was the obligatory “Total Building Facility Charge”. What the hell is a Total Building Facility Charge?!? This same sort of madness is happening right now with the Download Festival on Waverly Island (the Shins, Band of Horses, Snoop Dogg, and a slew of others). Huge ticket markup and one of the extra charges is a “Parking Fee”. Parking fee! I'm going to ride my bike!!! As for Rilo Kiley, had the tickets only been $30 I probably would have been fine with it. Somewhere in that extra six dollars I just couldn’t pull the trigger. I’m not crazy, right? Rilo Kiley isn’t worth $36. Perhaps I just hang out in poorer circles. Or maybe had the original price been $30, the harmless six dollar markup would have made the final price justifiable. Or maybe envisioning some forty-seven year old dad driving his teenage daughter and all her friends to the show while he sits in the car and reads a book is actually the root cause of this hostility. (Is that the typical Rilo Kiley scene or did I just completely make that up?)

Btw, speaking of teenage girls and musical acts with R and K influenced initials, apparently R. Kelly is still making those “Trapped in the Closet” videos:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/44893-r-kelly-trapped-in-the-closet-chapter-15-ft-will-oldham