Concert tickets. How much would you pay?

BigBertha1

We usually pay about £50 for a classical concert but have paid more for Covent Garden (only been once) or the Festival Hall - again only been once.
For a pop concert I would pay up to £100 UNLESS its was Eric Clapton or The Eagles.

We would have loved to see The Eagles too but always seemed to be away when they toured. We have to make do with a DVD of a live farewell show in Melbourne which is fabulous. We would also have liked to see The Rolling Stones but the tickets were way too expensive for us. The last concert we went to was Jules Holland at The Symphony Hall in Birmingham, it was just before Christmas, a great show and a wonderful venue and the tickets were only £25, it was about 7 years ago.

The ABBA ones for that price are for standing in the dance area that I saw, I may be wrong ?

We are sitting down! None of us would want to stand ?

MayBeMaw

Quote V3ra Wed 27-Oct-21 17:40:26
Back in 1975 we decided £1.80 was a bit much for tickets to see Queen in Coventry. (Jasper Carrot tickets were £2...)

I bet you were kicking yourselves in years to come!

Black and blue, MayBeMaw ??

2/6 to see The Cream at the London College of Fashion. It must have been one of their first gigs. Worth every old penny to see Eric and the others.

Quote V3ra Wed 27-Oct-21 17:40:26
Back in 1975 we decided £1.80 was a bit much for tickets to see Queen in Coventry. (Jasper Carrot tickets were £2...)

I bet you were kicking yourselves in years to come!

V3ra

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!

But am I not right in thinking this is not Abba “in the flesh”: ?
I expect the atmosphere will be amazing and hope you find it worth every penny.
But I think it is hard to generalise about concert tickets- venue, headline acts etc. The overheads must be huge and for those who prefer a more low key venue, there will be cheaper alternatives.
And for those who would not spend that sort of money on music- how much does a ticket for a premiership football match or a rugby international cost?

We were in Catalonia and saw a poster for the Rolling Stones concert in Barcelona the next night. By chance they had a couple of tickets left at silly prices. When I had seen the Stones before they weren’t even top of the bill. (It was a Little Richard concert.)
We went, had a ball, but I am unlikely to attend something like that ever again.

Rod has 8 children

Apart from the last two with Penny Lancaster, the others must be grown up by now, with children of their own I’m sure, as Rod must be a GF several times over.

Hope his concerts aren’t still having to support that lot.

Wouldn’t pay anything like those prices I feel sorry for the youngsters I saw all the 60 s groups live for peanuts in the 6Os
Could name dozens and dozens including the Stones I ve also seen lots through festivals over the years but no I think it’s extortion and wouldn’t pay into it at all
In modern days I ve seen people like rag and bone man George Ezra etc at a festival lovely atmosphere

I won't pay more than one hundred pounds to see anyone, even then it depends on who it is. I prefer smaller venues where possible. It's often promoters who push ticket prices up. I think concerts have got a ridiculous price and I only go if it's an act I really want to see.

V3ra

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!

The ABBA ones for that price are for standing in the dance area that I saw, I may be wrong ?

Not sure if I'm 'out of touch' - with what or whom? I do live in a slightly 'out of the way' place, but ticket prices are fairly standard within about an hour's drive. I'm nowhere near any of the big concert venues.

I have been to 2 concerts in the last month, and have 2 more booked before Xmas.
Tickets £15 - £20 (inc. booking fees where charged)
Car journey: from 10 - 40 minutes
Parking from £0 to £8
Drinks, from BYO to standard pub.

So dearest night out for 2 of us including say £20 for fuel, is under £80. Obviously more if we have a meal out as well. Our Xmas 'night out' will only cost £30 for the tickets - very little fuel, free parking and BYO.

Of course, this is just to our own taste, but here are the acts (hoping I'm not breaching any guidelines)

www.grannysattic.org.uk/videos/

ladynade.co.uk/

spiersandboden.com/home#videos

melrosequartet.co.uk/

www.megsonmusic.co.uk/videos/

I wouldn't pay that much. I did pay £100 three times to see Leonard Cohen. But I refused to pay the next time he came as even though I loved him I thought he was being greedy.
I thought the same about Cliff Richard, even more so because as a Christian I expect him to act differently.

I saw Pink Floyd in Hyde Park in 1970 for nothing!! ?

I saw The Stones twice in the 60s. First time my friend paid for me.as no one in our group liked them. We were Beatles fans. Second time I went as I loved Keith. A couple of quid for the ticket. X

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.

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!

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.

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 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.

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'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!

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.

Oh Ian Dury.
My teen crush!
I love his music.

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.