Live Shows - Worth the Cost?

I recently sat down to watch a performance of Don Giovanni by the San Francisco Opera on my local PBS station. I thoroughly enjoyed the opera, but more than that it was the experience of watching it on a 52" HD screen with digital sound and in the comfort of my own living room. I didn't have to negotiate my way through downtown traffic, pay for parking, get hit up for spare change on the street, or pay $100 for a seat. And I could see the singers up close, noticing those nuances I would have missed in the opera house (sitting hundreds of feet from the stage), watching their facial expressions conveying what the words alone can't.

In this era of high-definition, big screen TVs, Blu-Ray discs and digital sound, is a live performance really worth the cost any more? I've read elsewhere how affordable, high-quality home theater systems may be responsible in part for declining movie theater ticket receipts, and I think live music performances may suffer from this as well.

There is something to be said about being with a group of like-minded people, gathered together to experience a performance of live music of any style. And I know that many musicians rely on live performances as part of their incomes, and that ticket prices for the opera only cover a portion of their production costs. I know and appreciate all of this, and there are still instances when I will pay to see a live show no matter the cost. But increasingly I find myself distracted by the more unpleasant elements of taking in a live show and am more and more inclined these days to stay home and pop in a DVD.

In the case of rock shows (and maybe it's just my bad luck), I always find myself seated either in front of or directly behind the most inebriated idiot in the house, and who makes it his responsibility (yes, it's always a "he") to let everyone in a 20-seat radius know exactly what he thinks of everything. As I get older that sort of thing just annoys me more and more and it distracts from my enjoyment of the music. Then there's the outrageous food/drink prices, parking hassles, and those "convenience fees" of at least $10 added to the cost of each ticket. Maybe I'm getting cranky but these things are making me become more choosy about which rock shows I will pay for these days.

I even recently decided against going to see Rush on their most recent tour. Now Rush is one band that I almost never miss; their live shows are incredible and I've seen them at least a dozen times. But I consciously skipped this tour because I can guarantee that there will be a Blu-Ray disc of this show released soon after their tour ends. Also, for probably 90% of the concert I find myself staring at the large video screens as I'm usually too far from the stage to see anything...so why not just do this at home?

Speaking of video screens, I find it interesting how the SF Opera has installed video screens in their balcony section so that you can see the singers and the translations up close as if you were watching the same thing at home on your HD screen. This serves a dual purpose, I suspect: I'm sure they film these performances as they appear on the video screens, so that they will have a DVD-ready performance to sell (or lease to PBS) long after the live performance. I'm sure the Don Giovanni that I watched the other evening was exactly what the folks in the balcony section were seeing at the Opera House.

Live musical performances can still be thrilling, and as I mentioned I will still pay to support my favorite artists or local musical organizations ... just not as often any more.