The recession worried promoters, but Coachella turned out to be a "super happy" success this weekend, according to the music festival's organizers. The secret to selling $270 tickets in this economy?

Layaway: Some 18 percent of tickets were sold on installment plans, the first in the festival's 10-year-history. Buyers could put 10 percent down and then make two more payments, in March and April.

What sort of recession victim spends $270 for a ticket she can barely afford, for a show that requires travel and lodging to boot? Well, the New York Times found Xanthe, 26, and her boyfriend Chadderton, 29, from Vancouver. Xanthe is a sommelier, meaning she sells expensive wines to people in restaurants. Just the sort of recession-proof job (*cough*) that allows you to blow $540 on concert tickets without thinking twice!

Clearly, the housing crisis taught our country an important lesson about selling ridiculously popular products at inflated prices to people who can't afford them: Collect the money in advance. (Especially from hippies!)

[NY Times]

(Pics: Getty Images)

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