Longrunning Bruce Springsteen fanzine Backstreets has announced that after 43 years it will cease publication, citing a “three-part predicament: [Springsteen] concerts that we can hardly afford; that many of our readers cannot afford; and that a good portion of our readership has lost interest in as a result.” Basically, “hardcore fans in the Backstreets community” can no longer afford to see their hero live, thanks to Springsteen opting into Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing model for his 2023 tour.

Back in July, ticket prices to Springsteen’s 2023 tour inflated as high as $5k, angering fans. At the time, Springsteen defended his choice to Rolling Stone, telling the magazine that “most of our tickets are totally affordable.”

As for Backstreets, publisher and editor-in-chief Christopher Phillips wrote in a lengthy note:

We hear and have every reason to believe that there will be changes to the pricing and ticket-buying experience when the next round of shows go on sale. We also know that enterprising fans may be able to take advantage of price drops when production holds are released in advance of a concert. Whatever the eventual asking price at showtime and whether an individual buyer finds it fair, we simply realized that we would not be able to cover this tour with the drive and sense of purpose with which we’ve operated continuously since 1980. That determination came with a quickening sense that we’d reached the end of an era.

Know that we’re not burning our fan cards, nor encouraging anyone else to do so. In fact, as diehard music fans, we have every hope of rekindling enthusiasm for what we’ve always believed to be a peerless body of work. If any of this is to reflect on Bruce Springsteen here at the end of our run, we’d like it to be that his extraordinary artistry inspired an extraordinary fan response that lasted for 43 years. That’s extraordinary.

Phillips added that “work at Backstreets HQ will continue for some time,” citing a forthcoming final print issue. Read Phillips’ full note to Backstreets fans here.