Think I might be the only one who doesn't care about the Chicago show. It's great and all, but like… whatever? He's having fun in Chicago with his friends. So are the fans. Hopefully they won't be jerks, but people can suck sometimes, so who knows. Case in point, everyone acting like he owes us something, like he hadn't been touring practically all year last year and most of this year already.
here's my thoughts. sorry i'm using your ask to post this rant. it's not an attack on what this person said -- it's just my thoughts that have been brewing all day.
i'm happy he's having a chicago show. i feel like that's really important for him. chicago is the birthplace of his friendship with the guys and where he filmed his audition for ST and where they started music stuff, etc. so, the shows in chicago are probably always reallly fulfilling.
the partnership with chase is honestly just really common. a lot of celebrities do partnerships/sponsorships like that. it's part of the gig.
joe likely has zero, or very little, control over planning and prices. his team likely handles it all for him. he does so much that he cannot possibly keep track of it all. being a celebrity is just being carted around to different events and interviews and being told what to do or say and when. it's exhausting for them. even if they love their job, it's exhausting.
and let's not forget -- this is his job. he used ST money to help fund his music. but, at the end of the day, he makes money doing this, which helps support him in life.
we cannot forget that the stuff celebrities do are their jobs.
yeah, i think the prices are steep. i can't afford them. a lot of people can't. and that's really on inflation and greed under capitalism. his prices are honestly cheaper than a lot i've seen. joe doesn't set his prices. his team has more control over it. but even then, they have to cover expenses -- travel, food, security, renting location, hotel fees, gas, cars, drivers, etc. the list goes on. they use that money to pay for everything that helps joe be there.
scalpers are the worst. there are only so many protections that can be put in place to prevent against them. we should still use those protections -- absolutely. being a chase bank member is a protection. but, dedicated scalpers always find a way. they can spoof ips super easily these days, which makes it so easy. and yeah, they can try to set things on the sites to prevent reselling. i think that there should be more action on trying to make scalpers less successful, but it's hard.
and, the people who are mad that they paid $200-250 for VIP on tour and didn't meet him and the people paying $150 now are getting to meet him -- why? why are you mad?
i'm happy for these people! they get to meet joe as advertised. the VIP packages didn't promise meet and greets (to my knowledge).
are you just mad that you paid more and didn't meet him? because, that's kind of not cool. and you know what it reminds me of?
"back in my day, we paid $x for college/rent/etc. so why should you get your student loans/debt forgiven? that's not fair"
hey! that pov is kind of shitty! i'm happy for these people who get the VIP. i'm happy for those who get to meet joe. i'm happy for those who get limited edition merch. i'm happy for the fans who get to engage with the media of their favorite artists.
just because i don't have something doesn't mean someone else shouldn't have it.
just because i paid more for something doesn't mean someone else shouldn't get the chance to pay less.
if you're going to be upset at something or someone, be mad at the capitalistic system that perpetuates this. be mad at the scalpers. focus your energy on trying to make change there. don't focus on being mad at fans or at the celebrity (within reason).