Can Anyone Explain This?

So prices have been announced for The Swell Season's upcoming show at the Lincoln Theatre here in D.C. Face value of the tickets, before Ticketmaster fees and facility charges, is $40.00, meaning that the actual price will be at least $50.00.

This is absurd, people. Without even addressing the fact that The Swell Season only has about 15 songs in their catalog to choose from (meaning that this show will be the same show they played in July), or the fact that they're a new band without a track record to back up a $50 ticket price, the fact that kills me about this is that tickets for the D.C. show are as much as 60% higher than the rest of the tour.

By way of example:

11/5: Seattle (Moore Theatre) -- $23
11/10: Los Angele (The Wiltern) -- $25
11/17: Atlanta (Variety Playhouse) -- $22.50
11/18: Washington, D.C. (Lincoln Theatre) -- $40
11/19: New York (Beacon Theatre) -- $34 to $37
11/21: Boston (Orpheum Theatre) -- $25 to $32
11/24 and 11/25: Chicago (Vic Theatre) -- $24

Can anyone explain this to me? I understand the higher pricing in New York, but what justification is there for the fact that the HIGHEST price on the entire tour, by far, is in D.C.? If the answer is that the Lincoln Theatre (where they're playing here) has higher facility charges, why not find a cheaper venue? Or is the answer that The Swell Season's biggest audience these days is the "NPR set", and the biggest "NPR set" happens to be in DC? (i.e., they've decided to gouge the well-to-do.)

Either way, asking your fans to shell out $50 for a ticket is a huge step, and one that is going to price out a lot of people. And, even for those it doesn't price out, myself included, it's still going to earn you a lot of ill will.