Plus, we look at how much a night at Red Rocks costs you at three different budget points.
byParker Yamasaki
Updated
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The first concert Jonathan Kahn ever attended at Red Rocks Amphitheatre was Loggins & Messina in July 1976. Nearly 50 years later, Kahn is parked in the lower south lot of the iconic outdoor venue, sitting in the doorway of his Sprinter van with a Snarf’s sandwich, waiting for a storm to blow through before he heads inside to hear Hiatus Kaiyote and Masego.
Kahn said he had been to five Red Rocks shows this year, shaking his head slightly — that number used to be a lot higher.
Kahn isn’t the only one who has slimmed down his annual concert intake. Overall attendance at cultural institutions across the state is down, according to the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts. In a survey of 285 cultural institutions, attendance between 2019 and 2022 decreased by 15% in metro Denver and 22% in Colorado outside of metro Denver.
Some of that dip is due to the fact that some people still don’t — and may never — feel comfortable attending events with large crowds after the pandemic. But more of that dip is attributed to the fact that entertainment is “a want not a need,” said Brian Kitts, Denver Arts and Venues spokesman. People adjust their spending according to what they feel they can afford. And when the cost of living is up in every other aspect of life, the amount that people are willing to spend on tickets to concerts, plays and museums goes down.
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In 2018, the share of a person’s overall expenditures on arts and entertainment was 6.1% in metro Denver, significantly higher than the national average of 5.1%. In 2022, that percentage was 4.9%, lower than the national average of 5%. In dollars, this equates to roughly $500 per person per year less in spending.
Some experts anticipated a post-COVID price jump that artists and promoters would use to offset lost revenue from the pandemic. That was true in 2021, when ticket prices increased about 15% at Red Rocks and nearly 45% at the Denver Coliseum. But this year the average price decreased from 2022’s averages, indicating a leveling-off of ticket prices.
Still, the increase in the average ticket price over the past five years is significantly higher than year-over-year inflation rates. For instance, the average price of a ticket to a Red Rocks concert has grown 31% since 2018, while inflation for metro Denver is about 24% over that same period.
The most dramatic change to ticket prices comes from the introduction of service fees. Prior to the 1980s, when Ticketmaster launched, venues paid the ticketing servicer. But Ticketmaster flipped that model, paying venues in exchange for being hired to handle ticketing and then passed the costs on to customers in the form of service fees.
Since these fees are somewhat arbitrary — hashed out in negotiations between the ticketing service, the concert promoter and the venue — service fees as a whole have generated a new rising cost for concert-goers independent of inflation or post-pandemic economics. The opaque charges add to the frustration of spectators upset that outside forces are gouging their entertainment budgets.
Below we’ve pulled together some of the ticket price trends over the past five years, and laid out the cost of a night at Red Rocks based on three different budgets.
| Ticket prices | Cost of Red Rocks | Service fees | Heard in the crowd
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Arts & Entertainment Spending
Although Denverites tended to spend more of their overall expenditures on arts and entertainment compared to the national average, that percentage has gone down since 2018, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Bellco Theatre saw the biggest ticket cost increase at 52.8% in the past five years. Note: Data for 2020 was not included as venues closed due to the pandemic.
Capacity for each venue:
Red Rocks Amphitheater | 9,545 |
Bellco Theatre | 5,000 |
Denver Coliseum | 10,000 |
The Black Sheep | 450 |
Change between 2018 and 2023 for each venue:
Red Rocks Amphitheater | 31.0% |
Bellco Theatre | 52.8% |
Denver Coliseum | 14.5% |
The Black Sheep | 34.33% |
Denver annual inflation:
2018 | 2.7% |
2019 | 1.9% |
2020 | 2.0% |
2021 | 3.5% |
2022 | 8.0% |
1st half 2023 | 5.6% |
Cost of a night at Red Rocks based on three budgets
How much do you have to spend on the night?
UNDER $100 (barely) |
---|
Ticket: $64.80 + $23.32 in fees |
Transportation (RT from Union Station): Drive Gas: $2.22 |
Tailgate: King Soopers 6-pack of Modelo: $8.99 + tax |
Merch: Who needs it? Free |
Bites: Ate dinner at home Free |
It’s raining: Brought a rain jacket Free |
Drinks: Snacks made you thirsty, fill up the reusable water bottle that you brought from home. ** Free |
TOTAL: $99.33 + tax |
$100-300 |
---|
Ticket: $64.80 + $23.32 in fees |
Transportation (RT from Union Station): Shuttle RRX Shuttle: $50 |
Tailgate: King Soopers 12-pack of New Belgium Voodoo Ranger IPA: $17.99 + tax |
Merch: Band tee Short-sleeved T-shirt: $55 |
Bites: Hot dog Hot dog: $6.50 |
It’s raining: Buy a poncho Poncho: $4.78 + tax |
Drinks: The hot dog made you thirsty, think about buying a water bottle, but then see it’s 50 cents cheaper for a Red Bull. Go with the energy drink. Red Bull: $5 |
TOTAL: $227.39 + tax |
$300+ |
---|
Ticket: $64.80 + $23.32 in fees |
Transportation (RT from Union Station): Rideshare Uber Black: $151.68 + tip |
Tailgate: Terminal Bar at Union Station 2 co*cktails: $26 + tax and tip |
Merch: Band tee and a record Short-sleeved T-shirt: $55 |
Bites: Ship Rock Grille* Chimichurri Steak Tacos: $13.50 |
It’s raining: Stay at the grille, order another round of co*cktails. Another round: $12.50 + tax and tip |
Drinks: Had a co*cktail with dinner, but…what’s a loaded lemonade? Order a double. Loaded Lemonade: $18 |
TOTAL: $422.30 + tax and tip |
UNDER $100 (barely) |
---|
Ticket: $64.80 + $23.32 in fees |
Transportation (RT from Union Station): Drive Gas: $2.22 |
Running total: $90.34 |
Tailgate: King Soopers 6-pack of Modelo: $8.99 + tax |
Running total: $99.33 + tax |
Merch: Who needs it? Free |
Running total: $99.33 + tax |
Bites: Ate dinner at home, brought snacks Free |
Running total: $99.33 + tax |
It’s raining: Brought a rain jacket Free |
Running total: $99.33 + tax |
Drinks: Snacks made you thirsty, fill up the reusable water bottle that you brought from home. ** Free |
TOTAL: $99.33 + tax |
$100-300 |
---|
Ticket: $64.80 + $23.32 in fees |
Transportation (RT from Union Station): Shuttle RRX ShuttleShuttle: $50 |
Running total: $138.12 |
Tailgate: King Soopers 12-pack of New Belgium Voodoo Ranger IPA: $17.99 + tax |
Running total: $156.11 + tax |
Merch: Band tee Short-sleeved T-shirt: $55 |
Running total: $211.11 + tax |
Bites: Hot dog Hot dog: $6.50 |
Running total: $217.61 + tax |
It’s raining: Buy a poncho Poncho: $4.78 + tax |
Running total: $222.39 + tax |
Drinks: The hot dog made you thirsty, think about buying a water bottle, but then see it’s 50 cents cheaper for a Red Bull. Go with the energy drink. Red Bull: $5 |
TOTAL: $227.39 + tax |
$300+ |
---|
Ticket: $64.80 + $23.32 in fees |
Transportation (RT from Union Station): Rideshare Uber/LyftUber Black: $151.68 + tip |
Running total: $239.80 + tip |
Tailgate: Terminal Bar at Union Station 2 co*cktails: $26 + tax and tip |
Running total: $265.80 + tax and tip |
Merch: Band tee and a record Short-sleeved T-shirt: $55 |
Running total: $365.80 + tax and tip |
Bites: Ship Rock Grille* Chimichurri Steak Tacos: $13.50 |
Running total: $391.80 + tax and tip |
It’s raining: Stay at the grille, order another round of co*cktails. Another round: $12.50 + tax and tip |
Running total: $404.30 + tax and tip |
Drinks: Had a co*cktail with dinner, but…what’s a loaded lemonade? Order a double. Loaded Lemonade: $18 |
TOTAL: $422.30 + tax and tip |
* Temporarily closed
** You are allowed to bring water bottles in as long as they are empty when you arrive, airport style.
Those pesky service fees
Here’s the thing: Service fees are notoriously — and purposely — difficult to trace. According to a comment to the Federal Trade Commission provided by the American Economic Liberties Project, the description of what a service fee covers (in their case, specifically a Ticketmaster service fee) has “little to no clear relationship to costs incurred by the ticketing services.” In other words, they argue, the fees are little more than arbitrary profit generators.
In the FTC comment, an analysis shows the average service charges as a percentage of ticket price for 13 national ticket servicers. For the purposes of our data, we applied the average AXS service fee of 36%, since AXS is the primary ticket servicer of Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Heard in the crowd
What do you think is the biggest change in the live music industry in the past ten years?
Johnny Joy: Consolidation.
Event producer and former artist manager
“The first real thing that started changing was probably in the late ‘90s or 2000s, where venues and promoters at the club level on up started adding in what they call the facility fee,” Joy said in a phone interview. “And to me, that was the beginning of the downfall.”
But Joy added that a lot of those early fees were only seen internally. By increasing the ticket price slightly, these extra fees for the facilities and promoters remained baked into the price of a ticket. From Joy’s viewpoint, two major shifts occurred that catalyzed the ticket-buying experience we know today: the turn to digital ticketing, which made fees more visible, and the merger of Ticketmaster, the nation’s largest ticket marketplace, with Live Nation, the nation’s largest production manager, in 2010.
Combined, these elements led to what Joy sees as the biggest change to the industry in the past decade: “Consolidation — consolidation of companies to strengthen their numbers, squeezing out independents” Joy said.
Geoff Brent: Production.
Owner, The Black Sheep
“Everyone’s kind of one-upping each other as far as who can put on a cooler show,” Brent said. Brent is the owner of The Black Sheep, a music venue in Colorado Springs that holds 450 people. He estimated that 10 years ago, nearly every band that came in to perform used the in-house lighting setups; now about half of them are traveling with their own production equipment.
As far as economics goes, Brent doesn’t name one big change, but the accumulation of smaller price increases. “People are definitely talking about how expensive it is, but it’s like, did you drink seven beers? Was the ticket expensive, or was it the service fee? Like, was the shirt you bought too much? More likely just all of those things went up incrementally. Honestly, like band merch has gotten way more expensive though.”
Brian Kitts: Artist revenue.
Spokesman, Denver Arts and Venues
“The rise of streaming has meant most artists won’t make much selling music through downloads or physical sales,” Kitts said in an email to The Sun. “Hitting the road is the way artists get paid now and every part of the concert industry is affected. But, touring isn’t an inexpensive proposition either, so prices increase and, so far, fans are willing to pay for a cool experience. As we saw during COVID, I think we’d taken for granted the ability to get together for music, arts or sports — we really value those things more now.”
Kitts is a director at Denver Arts & Venues, which oversees Red Rocks, Bellco Theatre and the Denver Coliseum. He has watched the number of events at Red Rocks grow from about 75 in 2012 to over 200 in 2023, with ticket prices increasing along the way. But what Kitts and many others thought might be a massive spike in ticket prices after COVID, as artists and venues try to recoup the past year’s losses, was not as drastic as he’d expected. “The thing about entertainment is it’s a want not a need, so that discretionary income spending and pricing tends to be a little more thoughtful.”
Jonathan Kahn: Professionalism.
Manager of cabinetry company
“Aside from the inflated costs,” Kahn wrote in an email to The Sun, “I do think the professionalism of the musicians has increased. The bands seem tighter musically, and the sets are more elaborate. I suspect musician’s personal revenues are tied much more to concert proceeds than when they sold albums. They need to make sure they put on a good show so word of mouth will ensure greater attendance down the road.”
Photos courtesy of Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Design by Danika Worthington.
Parker Yamasaki covers arts and culture at The Colorado Sun as a Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellow and former Dow Jones News Fund intern. She has freelanced for the Chicago Reader, Newcity Chicago, and DARIA, among other publications,...More by Parker Yamasaki