Rolling Stones release new cheap tickets for Staples concert

Maybe the Rolling Stones were inspired by their recent cheap Echo Park club gig. Or maybe even their longtime fans have an upper limit on what they can pay for a show these days.

Ahead of the band’s Staples Center “50 and Counting” show Friday night, the promoter AEG announced that a new block of more than 1,000 $85 seats (some of the cheapest on offer) will be made available for last-minute purchase.

AEG told Reuters that the price cut came after a final walk-through of the stage design revealed that more unobstructed seats were available than previously thought.

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But fans looking for a last-minute Stones ticket might be surprised that the set from the oft-declared “biggest rock band in the world” is, well, not at all sold out.

As of Thursday, a lot of seats were still available in the $250-$600 range - exactly the high-rolling sections that gave the Stones their past eye-popping ticket grosses. The band grossed $550 million on their last tour in 2005-07, with more than 144 dates.

The new $85 seats will be placed, according to AEG, all around the arena, including in the prime “tongue pit” spot near the stage.

Earlier this week, music-biz spitballer Bob Lefsetz published a scathing take on the Stones’ undersold tour, saying “It’s a disaster” and detailing the many prime seating options still available a week before the show. “The bloom is off the rose, there’s no story, people just don’t care.”

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It’s hard to imagine the Stones - famous for triple-digit concert tickets and elaborate tax-avoidance plans - are suddenly offering a whole batch of cheap seats out of a burst of empathy for working-class fans.

But if you got left behind at the El Rey and didn’t want to sell your plasma to make it to Staples, now you might have some options - even if it comes with a small side of humble pie for Jagger and Co.

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