U2 tickets in 1981 and 2011: 30 years and $54.80 — the difference of three decades

What a difference 30 years makes.

Below: the $3.20 ticket to see U2 in Denver in 1981, side-to-side with the $58 nosebleed ticket to see U2 this past Saturday at Invesco Field. To put this in perspective, if we counted for inflation, that $3.20 ticket would be about $7.58 today, according to one inflation calculator, which shows that Bono and crew need to charge a little extra for show, which has grown in size (see the gargantuan, crab-like claw-stage) at about the same rate as ticket prices. Note that date for the recent U2 concert is July 2010; the band had to reschedule for May 21, 2011 and those original tickets were honored.