Moogfest is going to be the biggest music festival to Asheville since I don’t know what – the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam? Bele Chere? With 30 bands over three days across three venues on Halloween weekend, Asheville is going to be buzzing.
Now that the full line-up has been announced, it’s time to get over the excitement and take a little closer look. First off – ticket prices are steep. A single-day ticket costs $75, and a full weekend pass costs $149.50 (you tack on fees to both). An all-access VIP pass will cost you $349.50. That ain’t cheap. There’s a lot of music to be had for those tickets, but still… In this economy, that’s high.
The next issue is the money being donated to the Moog Foundation. The event is benefitting the foundation, with $1 per ticket sold going to the organization. With such high ticket prices, doesn’t a $1-per-ticket-donation sound a little weak? Couldn’t a little more of the cash being going to support the foundation?
Finally, with tickets going on sale on Friday, I’m hearing from lots of friends in Asheville wondering if they’ll be shut out. There have been some notable ticket-buying debacles in recent years for folks in Asheville trying to get their hands on tickets to music events here – namely the Phish concert and the Beastie Boys concert.
So, what’s the best strategy to snag tickets? Stand in line? Man the computers? Other ideas?
10 Comments
So… where do you buy moogfest tickets?!?! That is not addressed on the moogfest website. I understood that they go on sale tomorrow, but that you can only buy them by going to places (is Orange Peel one?) and getting in line. There is a box on the moogfest website that says buy tickets, but it cannot be linked to. I have to say, this smacks of not caring about accessibility to tickets and that’s annoying. That said, does anyone know at what all places you can buy the freaking tix? Thank you
I think the ticket price is fine considering what all one gets to see – although I shudder to be anywhere near downtown during this festival if I am not in attendance.
I don't know festival etiquette but the $1 donation seems remarkably small considering the whole name of the festival is dedicated to Bob Moog. I wonder what the ticket # capacity is as far as how much they can expect to earn from this mega-event.
If I was going to pick any one day, I would pick Saturday. Thievery Corp., Jonsi, Massive Attack.
The real score for the festival will be Caribou. We saw them (him) open up for Super Furry Animals a few years ago and he is hands down one of the best acts I’ve ever seen. You won’t believe that you’ve missed them for so long.
We are planning on all three days, but we now have braces looming on the horizon for our son, so we’ll see. Still, this is an amazing deal and the event many people have been waiting years for.
I personally don’t think the tickets are too steep. For example, Massive Attack and Thievery Corp are playing in ATL the Friday before. One ticket is about $66 bucks (relatively good seats). I don’t have to drive, pay for gas, or pay for hotel if I were to stay the night. 10 more dollars I get to see numerous other bands — one whole day worth of activities. I really want to see Massive Attack and Thievery Corporation. I’ll make sure I am in line to see them early enough to gain entry.
I second LCD Soundsystem. They are currently touring with Hot Chip and the sunday lineup seems a little bare compared to friday and saturday. Hopefully there is one more big lineup surprise in store for us.
I barely paid that much for Ultra festival in Miami. I agree, that is a little steep. But – they do have a lot of talent lined up for MoogFest.
I agree with mooger, both the number of bands and the quality of the bands makes this festival a bargain. Plus you can add on to that all the extra stuff that will be going on for the weekend. How about LCD Soundsystem performing though, they’d be perfect for the fest. I too am surprised by the small contribution to the Moog Foundation. It makes it seem like the entertainment company hosting the fest is just using the Moog Foundation as a way to sell the event, not as a fundraiser for the Foundation. I’d like to see someone involved with the Foundation comment on this.
mooger, good points all around. i think i’m changing my mind – price seems reasonable.
this isnt really that expensive as far as festivals go. chances are if you go all three days you will probably be able to see maybe 10 bands. seeing 10 concerts at the OP could cost you around $200 to $300 depending on the ticket price and i’ve bought many $30 tickets at the orange peel. plus there will be demos of moog stuff and films. i cant wait!
Either buy the ticket or not, I dont see this doing too well because of the high price of the tickets. Especially Moog purists that see that a measly $1 goes too the moog foundation.