In an era when concert tickets are often resold at sky-high prices, limiting access to the wealthy, Billy Joel is doing things differently. As one of the best-selling artists in history, with over 150 Madison Square Garden shows and 150 million records sold worldwide, Joel could easily cater to the rich. But in a 2014 interview with Billboard, he shared that he purposely avoids selling front-row tickets to ensure the “real fans”—not the wealthy who treat the seats like status symbols—get up close to the stage.
The 75-year-old artist explained that these “gold chainers” tend to sit at the front, barely engaging with the show, alongside their “bouffant-haired” girlfriends, acting like big shots. Joel admitted he grew frustrated seeing the same disinterested crowd at every show, asking himself, “Who the hell are these people? Where are the real fans?” His team found that the true fans were stuck in the worst seats, far from the stage.
As an additional measure, Joel said that his team sometimes holds off selling the tickets until the last minute, limiting the amount of tickets people can get, to beat the scalpers. “My theory is there’s a lot of tax revenue in those secondary ticket markets, these guys selling tickets for $500 to $1,000 gotta pay tax on it, and a lot more goes to the government than there would be based on my ticket prices. So why should they enforce the scalping laws,” he said.
Now 75 years old, the “She’s Always a Woman” songwriter confessed that he loves to play for “young people.” They make the best audience; they are the most enthusiastic, and they cheer wholeheartedly, unlike the gold-chainers, who are filtered out from a young audience by Joel’s team. In an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Joel referred to this team as his “road crew.” He said that the “road crew” finds the people at the back seats, and then brings these kids to the front row. According to IMDb, Joel loses almost $20,000 per concert for refusing to sell the front row seats.
Commenting on his video, @notelpatss, who claimed to be one of those escorted to the front row at a Billy Joel concert, wrote, “In 2003, I was one of those kids! A man stopped me, asked me where my seats were, and then personally escorted my boyfriend and me to the front row! One of the best nights of my life.” Another woman @amoreenaofficial added, “We had the seats all the way up in the last row and the road crew took my entire party to the front row! We were all women!”
