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?
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
All the more reason to support smaller acts who don't take their audience for granted.
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.
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!
It's ridiculous Riverwalk
Oh, I'm so envious!
I really wish I had gone; it would have to be Freddie though.
Nobody else would do.
I have seen Freddie Mercury/Queen live five times and would pay anything now to see him again.
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!
Yes Riverwalk They all do that now.
Taking bookings and charging for an event more than a year away is also a money-making exercise!
The ticket price is not just for the artist but also for anyone else involved in the concerts from the roadies, security, arena staff etc
The price of concert tickets has jumped incredibly over the last few years though- I always wonder why there are still people that seem to be happy to pay for tickets on the secondary market that are 2 or 3 times the original price!
Perhaps prices have gone up because there were no performances due to covid and performers, their entourages and venues lost a lot. However in my experience once prices go up they rarely go down again.
Dh paid over £200 for us to see Justin Timberlake,and £180 for us to see Bruno Mars and it was worth every penny.
As Dh says,we rarely go out so we deserve a treat.
If you can afford it,you should treat yourselves imo.
It depends on what you mean by 'rely'. I believe Rod has several mansions, with swimming pools, football pitches. He has 8 children and several exes. I suppose he needs to pay for the upkeep of all this. Can't blame him I suppose.
Musicians rely on concert takings these days as they don't get so much from record sales.
The costs go to all the staff, the technical equipment and the transport, so it's not as if the performers themselves are money-grabbing.
Mind you, when I hear that Barbra Streisand (whose concert tickets have eye-watering prices) has had a shopping mall built in her basement, I'm not sure this applies to everyone.
I once bought tickets for a joint concert with Elton John and Billy Joel. I thought that was a dream combination. It was in Munich, but I figured I'd cross that bridge when I got to it. The tickets cost me DM200 (before the Euro).
There was some speculation that they weren't getting on with each other, then Billy Joel dropped out, allegedly because he had flu.
I had seen Elton John on his own a couple of times, so I didn't go in the end. Never bothered getting the money back.
I paid ten bob to see The Beatles in the 60s!
When Fonteyn and Nureyev were dancing in the 1960s, I used to pay very silly money to see them. I was still a student and really couldn’t afford it. I would go without meals to do it, and stay up all night to get a ticket. I wasn’t alone. There used to be adverts in the papers begging for tickets, “any price paid”. They weren’t the official prices (which were bad enough), but tickets sold on by touts who knew they could charge anything. Possibly illegal.
It was worth every penny.
Blimey nina Maybe Rod's not so bad!
No I wouldn't pay it, much as I love him.
I just commented on this to DH he said "that's cheap" it's £568 to see Adele in an open air concert ??
I would ask for money towards the tickets instead of presents, I think.
I actually prefer Rod now rather than when he was younger.
All these years of practicing have improved his voice, I think.
Registering is free, easy, and means you can join the discussion, watch threads and lots more.
Register now »Already registered? Log in with:
Gransnet »Get our top conversations, latest advice, fantastic competitions, and more, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
