Todd’s Take: How Much Would It Cost To Bring Your Favorite Band to the Central Washington State Fair?
With today's announcement of the entertainment lineup at the Central Washington State Fair there was almost immediately -- and predictably -- a backlash about the lack of star power or current acts.
Here's a sampling of some of the comments from Yakima Mayor Micah Cawley's personal Facebook page:
What many do not realize other than the obvious -- no, Metallica is not coming to the fair this year -- is just how much it costs to bring in acts for 10 days that fair-goers get to see for free with their paid admission.
A couple of years ago, booking agency Degy Entertainment released a list of acts' suggested per-show rates that was published by Variety magazine. While obvious heavy-hitters like Madonna, Dave Matthews Band, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi command upwards of $1 million PER CONCERT, it might shock you to see how much even the lower-priced get paid for a night's (90 minutes) work.
How 'bout the Foo Fighters, Linkin Park or Green Day? They each run about $400,000-$500,000.
Might need to lower our budget a bit.