Here in NoVA and vincinity we are blessed with many outstanding music venues ranging from small clubs to large sheds. For 30+ years Elizabeth and I have enjoyed ample use of them, live music being one of our indulgences. But reviewing this summer’s entertainers and prices, we’re forgoing the big acts coming to Wolf Trap. Everyone complains about ever-rising ticket prices, but at several hundred dollars each for the seats we prefer, costs have reached our pain point and irritation threshold.

We’re also realistic: the entertainment in seeing old favorites who no longer sing or perform very well is joyless. But even those who still provide a decent show aren’t worth four or five hundred bucks for the two of us.



There’s a recent YouTube video circulating where a guy claims that audio waveform analysis confirms accusations that Don Henley has been using a vocal backing track at past Eagles’ shows at the Las Vegas Sphere. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but imagine paying a few thousand bucks to see only one original Eagle lip sync. Is this what we’ve come to? It can’t even be rationalized as harmless, albeit expensive, nostalgia. It’s lunacy.

ARTWORK: Steve Lasko via AI