I'd love to go - I saw Carbon Leaf play at the same venue a couple of years ago, but the expenses can really add up when you travel to the Vineyard to see a show. You have to spend the night there because there are no ferries running after the show ends, unless you want to stay up all night and take the 4:30 a.m. Patriot Party Boat shuttle. For rooms, there are very few under $100/night, most places start at $200-300/night, and some have a 2-night minimum. There is also a Youth Hostel with a limited number of dorm beds starting at $32, and a campground which is $48/night for 2 people, $15 each additional person and a 4 person maximum per site. The ferry passenger fare isn't too bad, it's $15/person round trip from Woods Hole, but more from other departure points and even more if you take a fast ferry where one is available. If you want to bring a car, it's an extra $135 round trip on the Woods Hole ferry, and you'll need a reservation. If you leave your car parked on the mainland, you'll have to pay for two calendar days which will run $10-15/day, depending on where you park. A bus to the ferry is $42 round trip from Boston. If you don't bring a car, the ferries and accomodations aren't near the venue and while you can take buses to get there, the buses stop running before the show ends and you'll need to take a cab which will probably run you $20-30 plus tip for 1-2 people, more for additional people. On top of that, the show's on a Tuesday night so if you have a regular Monday - Friday job, you may need to take two days off to make the trip. Add in the cost of meals and drinks (not to mention gas prices increasing nearly every day so who knows what they'll be by mid-August), it makes the $30 plus service charges for a ticket to the show seem rather trivial!
When I saw Carbon Leaf, I stayed at the campground with a friend, and she had a friend who lived on the Vineyard who could go to the show with us and drive us around. Unfortunately, the friend on the Vineyard has moved away so it would cost significantly more to go this time. On the plus side, Martha's Vineyard really is a beautiful place, and Outerland isn't the kind of venue where people line up for hours to get a choice spot. If it weren't a 21+ show, I'd bring my nieces, but since nobody I know can afford either to make the trip or to take two days off from work, I can't justify the expense of going by myself. 