My sisters, who are in their 60s, are life long Rod Stewart fans. They have seen him every single time he has come to Birmingham since the 1970s when he was with The Faces, usually in small venues. Once the tickets were £1 each.
In latter years they have gone with their husbands and, as the tickets were over £100, you can imagine it was an expensive night with parking etc. Still, they love Rod and went. He is coming back in December next year and the tickets are in sale tomorrow. At £174 for reasonable seats. For the first time they can't (and won't) go. How sad. Would you pay?
Taking bookings and charging for an event more than a year away is also a money-making exercise!
Yes Riverwalk They all do that now.
More than a year ahead is taking the p*ss!
Kate1949 a couple of years' ago I paid about £120 each to take DGD to see Ariana Grande at the O2 Arena - but that was booked about 'only' six months ahead.
Talking of costs - it was £32 for two to take DGS to the cinema last week, and that included my oldies discount!
I have seen Freddie Mercury/Queen live five times and would pay anything now to see him again.
Oh, I'm so envious!
I really wish I had gone; it would have to be Freddie though.
Nobody else would do.
It's ridiculous Riverwalk
People can of course, spend whatever they want on anything legal!
But to me personally it is ridiculous. I go to small concerts at local venues with talented performers and we all have a great time!
I tend to pay £15 per concert, rising now to about £20. I can't say I've had a really bad night, but if I get something less than wonderful for every 10-12 concerts I go to, then I'm still quids in!
Most of the places I go to have reasonably priced drinks and free or low cost parking.
And I'm going to put in a plug here for one of my favourite festivals, under £50 for the whole line-up:
www.folkbytheoak.com/
I found out by accident that this is run by our very own Luckygirl's family, so many thanks to them!
I've just spoken to one of my sisters. She said she is annoyed more than anything. Do these 'stars' not realise that lots of people have lost income/jobs during the pandemic, some of whom are die hard fans? Probably not. They just want to get richer.
All the more reason to support smaller acts who don't take their audience for granted.
Kate1949
I've just spoken to one of my sisters. She said she is annoyed more than anything. Do these 'stars' not realise that lots of people have lost income/jobs during the pandemic, some of whom are die hard fans? Probably not. They just want to get richer.
It’s not just the stars though.
What about the round engineers, lighting technicians, set designers /fabricators, dancers, backing singers, venue staff none of these folk have been able to work during lockdown and they were the last industry to open up.
Yes I understand that GG but how many homes and how much luxury do these stars need? It's such a shame that people like my sisters who have supported him for around 50 years can no longer afford to go.
We paid £60 each to see Dave Brubeck some years ago. Billed as his last concert ever in Uk. I fell asleep ?
We didn’t go again when he came the next year
Back in 1975 we decided £1.80 was a bit much for tickets to see Queen in Coventry. (Jasper Carrot tickets were £2...)
Fast forward many years and we paid considerably more to see Queen, with Adam Lambert, in Birmingham.
We'd booked the Amplify hospitality package with drinks, a good meal and better seats, it was our Christmas present to ourselves and worth every penny.
Adam Lambert was superb in the role, and Freddie Mercury was shown on the background screen.
Roger Taylor's son did some of the drumming for him.
It was a real feel-good show and I'd recommend that line-up to any Queen fans.
To answer the question in the OP, I think it depends on the act in question. If you're going to spend 150 (insert currency of your choice here) to see someone you really like, may as well get a ticket for 200 £/€/$ and get a decent seat. I would like to draw attention to nannarose's suggestion though and recommend that people don't scoff at local, smaller concerts. Many performers are almost as good as the pro's but choose not to jump on the hamster wheel or celebrity. They provide equally good entertainment with the advantages of
? Cheaper tickets and cheaper refreshments in the interval
?cosier venues
?nearer home
?more chance of meeting the artist(s)
?no long queues to get out of the parking area
?you might even meet friends there - we have certainly been surprised to meet people we know and wouldn't have expected at this sort of event
The ticket companies charge for more than the venues themselves.
We thought of going to see Bill Bailey at Plymouth and TicketMaster tickets are £90 and £95 each. On the Plymouth Pavillions website they are £39.20 - £50.40 each.
Most I have ever paid was £60.
The income of most of us, being pensioners, is less than when we were in employment. I suspect that most of us are amazed at how much prices have increased. The last time I was in London, around 5 years ago, I looked in Russell & Bromley, a shop from which I bought shoes regularly when I was working. I was amazed at the prices - at lease twice the amount I would have paid, if I was treating myself.
Nannarose I think you may be out of touch. The smaller venues are disappearing very quickly (even before covid) because the landlords can get more money from redevelopment than renting to a club.
In my youth I saw (amongst others) Ian Dury's first outing as Kilburn and the Highroads at a pub in W Kensington. In the 60s and 70s there were dozens, if not hundreds of clubs and pubs with music rooms in and around London. Most of them have disappeared.
Oh Ian Dury.
My teen crush! 
I love his music.
I'd pay whatever it took if it was someone I really wanted to see and had the cash to do so. Not necessarily happy but certainly willing.
I'd never pay that much, no. But we've been to loads of gigs over the years and enjoyed them just as much from the cheap seats. We've seen Rod twice in Las Vegas, paying around 50 dollars, which still guaranteed a clear view, and of course the music is no different if you're near the back or on the front row. I've just checked and the same seats are still 50 dollars next year. When our children were small we'd take them to the theatre every other week - we bought tickets on the back row of the gods for £1 a head and had a clear view straight down to the stage. They all love live theatre and music still, but I don't think any of them go for the dearer seats either.
We still have plenty of small venues round here - they're always the best bet for live music, though I can't imagine we could see Rod in one of them!
People, including us, will always pay money to see performers who they love. Fortunately we like music of a less commercial kind. The most we've paid was something like £40 each a few years ago, and we had to travel across country.
Mind you. we once had a weekend in London and saw an African jazz sax player and his band at the Barbican, and that cost rather a lot. Perhaps my £40 above was on the low side!
I have seen Rod Stewart a few times and always found I'm brilliant.
Dh bought tickets to see the Rolling Stones for in the late 70s. He bought them from a tout and my father was disgusted saying they cost as much as his mortgage. I was unimpressed by the stones and even less impressed by the man who threw up all over my shoes.
I went to see if I could get ABBA tickets for their concerts. Hugely inflated, £300 plus! And it’s only a hologram! Definitely not.
I’m going to see rugby at £77 a ticket and war if the world at £86 both I think are worth it.
I think that many of us were lucky to have been around in the 60s and 70s when it was possible to see groups at small venues, nothing larger than say the Albert Hall Iwhere I saw Bob Dylan as a solo artist) or Finsbury Park Astoria (where I saw the Tamla Motown Road Show) or clubs like the Marquee.
This experience turned me off going to large venues and I only went to 2 - first to see Bruce Springsteen at Wembley Stadium and second to see the Stones at Roundhay Park in Leeds. At both one quickly became aware of the difference between the sound of speed and light. This was particularly obvious watching Bruce S. We were sitting opposite the stage (so the furthest away ) and noticed the arms waving changing as the sound reached the audience, moving back to the opposite end.
Ouch! We have tickets for Abba next June in London for £97 each ?
"War of the Worlds" is spectacular, I thoroughly recommend that.
And my husband agrees that the rugby is worth it!
Sago
I would pay anything to hear Freddie Mercury sing.
We did years ago. Magical. Such a showman. July 1986 at the old Man. City ground, Maine Road.
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