Dave Matthews enters into a firesale

You might remember there was a lot of excitement a couple of weeks ago when a series of high-end gigs in The Hamptons were touted at three grand a piece. It was effectively justified at the time along the lines of 'if touts can charge crazy prives, we can, too' and Don Passman was on hand to suggest there was no longer a stigma about asking absurd prices for tickets.

This morning, Bob Lefsetz got an email which suggested that, while there may not be any stigma about demanding stupid money, it doesn't mean you'll get the cash back:

Greetings from the Warehouse [Dave Matthews fanclub]:

We are pleased to invite you to join Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds for a once-in-a-lifetime concert experience this Saturday evening, July 28 in East Hampton, NY. As many of you may have heard, Dave and Tim are performing a semi-private benefit for the Ross School in East Hampton. We have just been offered a limited number of specially priced tickets for the benefit concert which we are offering to Warehouse members that have purchased Randall’s Island VIP tickets. The all-inclusive ticket includes luxurious seating, world class food featuring the BBQ stylings of executive chef Adam Perry Lang, a top shelf open bar, plus pre and post show entertainment. The tickets are extremely limited and will be sold first come-first serve at $250 per ticket/$500 per pair. All proceeds from this special ticket sale will benefit charity with half of the proceeds to benefit Dave Matthews’ Horton Foundation and the other half to benefit Ross School. Dave and Tim tickets may be purchased by calling (800) 803-6644 and mentioning the access code "Trax". For more information about the concert, please visit www.discoversocial.com."

That's not half price, then, or even quarter price. One twelfth of the original price - so the question is, how manyt of the 1000 tickets must have they have left over if they're that keen to try and flog the remainder at what surely has to be a loss?

Loads, we bet.