FabSwingers.com forum: Concert prices

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Seem to be going up and up. Culture Club are touring again and the cheapest ticket £56 , God knows how much the Spice Girls are charging they were on tv last week and were utter shite. Wish the days of gigs with just a 1000 or less crowds for less than £20 would come back. No wonder all these old bands are coming back to tour

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By *hatYorkLadMan
over a year ago

York

I paid over £400 to see the Rolling Stones this summer (VIP ticket) and similar for Guns N Roses last year, and about £100 for AC/DC the year before that, it's not a cheap hobby! Got tickets for Metallica next summer too but don't know how much I owe my mate for that yet

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By *emini ManMan
over a year ago

There and to the left a bit

Whilst I agree prices do seem to be high and in some cases ridiculously so, I think they're pretty much in line with things like the theatre or even a Premier League football match - so by comparison, although I wish they were cheaper, I don't think they're completely out of line apart from a few extreme exceptions.

There are also bands that do seem to be committed to keeping prices in check - the real rip off is the likes of Ticketmaster and co who charge ridiculous booking fees and other extras like £2.50 for the "privilege" of printing your own ticket, using your own printer, ink and paper!!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I only tend to go to smaller gigs, I don't like big crowds. I generally pay around £20.

I guess it helps that the music I am into and the people I want to see generally don't do huge gigs or arenas.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"I only tend to go to smaller gigs, I don't like big crowds. I generally pay around £20.

I guess it helps that the music I am into and the people I want to see generally don't do huge gigs or arenas. "
I much prefer a smaller venue, better atmosphere

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By *radleywigginsMan
over a year ago

northwest

How much music do you buy?

Tour tickets and merchandise are pretty much the only way to make money in the music industry now.

Granted, the old boys get a steady trickle in from the royalties but for new bands writing new music they rely on fractions of a percent from streaming services.

Unless you strike lucky with an advert or a film score you’re fucked.

Try and see as many acts live as you can and as many differnt types of music.

Local gigs are usually less than a tenner.

I went to stones over the summer for £100.

Think of the cost of not going, how would you have felt if you’d have woken up the day after the gig you missed to find out one had died and you missed your last ever chance.

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By *raigStarrMan
over a year ago

St. Helens

Obviousl there are bands playing for under £20 to under a thousand people still. They don’t need to “bring those days back”. Get out there and see some of them. Take a chance on a wee band. Anyone else “big name” wise coming back and charging £50-60 quid are onviously shifting tickets so good luck to them, supply and demand.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"How much music do you buy?

Tour tickets and merchandise are pretty much the only way to make money in the music industry now.

Granted, the old boys get a steady trickle in from the royalties but for new bands writing new music they rely on fractions of a percent from streaming services.

Unless you strike lucky with an advert or a film score you’re fucked.

Try and see as many acts live as you can and as many differnt types of music.

Local gigs are usually less than a tenner.

I went to stones over the summer for £100.

Think of the cost of not going, how would you have felt if you’d have woken up the day after the gig you missed to find out one had died and you missed your last ever chance."

I’m on catch up at the moment because so many of the bands I really would have like to have seen are now defunct because of members dying or are too old now to gig. I should have seen them years ago. However I’m now of the view that if the opportunity to see a band I like is there, then within reason, the expense is worth it.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I only tend to go to smaller gigs, I don't like big crowds. I generally pay around £20.

I guess it helps that the music I am into and the people I want to see generally don't do huge gigs or arenas. I much prefer a smaller venue, better atmosphere"

Very much agree. I'm off to a tiny venue tonight and it's about £17 including booking fees. Intimate gigs feel a bit more special.

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By *hatYorkLadMan
over a year ago

York

Just ten minutes ago I went and paid another small fortune for Rammstein tickets for next July in Milton Keynes as well

but it's the only UK date they're doing on the tour and they rarely come here!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I paid £27.50 for Heaven 17 tickets (I saw them last Friday) but then spent another £50 on merchandise

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I only tend to go to smaller gigs, I don't like big crowds. I generally pay around £20.

I guess it helps that the music I am into and the people I want to see generally don't do huge gigs or arenas. I much prefer a smaller venue, better atmosphere

Very much agree. I'm off to a tiny venue tonight and it's about £17 including booking fees. Intimate gigs feel a bit more special."

I've seen Foy Vance four times, each time in a quite small venue. He is so good live, but part of the charm is his interaction with the audience.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I do agree its a bit mental for tickets i usually go for gigs about the 20-30 mark depending who it is tho my ticket to see ozzy next year is nearly a ton

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"I paid £27.50 for Heaven 17 tickets (I saw them last Friday) but then spent another £50 on merchandise

"
We know

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I only tend to go to smaller gigs, I don't like big crowds. I generally pay around £20.

I guess it helps that the music I am into and the people I want to see generally don't do huge gigs or arenas. I much prefer a smaller venue, better atmosphere"

Except for that one pillock who sings along too loud

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By *ocks99Man
over a year ago

Reading

"How much music do you buy?

Tour tickets and merchandise are pretty much the only way to make money in the music industry now.

Granted, the old boys get a steady trickle in from the royalties but for new bands writing new music they rely on fractions of a percent from streaming services.

Unless you strike lucky with an advert or a film score you’re fucked.

Try and see as many acts live as you can and as many differnt types of music.

Local gigs are usually less than a tenner.

I went to stones over the summer for £100.

Think of the cost of not going, how would you have felt if you’d have woken up the day after the gig you missed to find out one had died and you missed your last ever chance."

^^^^

Primary douce of income in a downloading world. Me, I like the feel of hard copy, CD or whatever, so pay doubly so. Some venues (usually smaller) are better, but mechandising is still steep, and don't get me started about handling/shipping fop off fees....

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I only tend to go to smaller gigs, I don't like big crowds. I generally pay around £20.

I guess it helps that the music I am into and the people I want to see generally don't do huge gigs or arenas. I much prefer a smaller venue, better atmosphere

Except for that one pillock who sings along too loud

Errrmmmm... yeah... so hate THAT guy...

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By *etite HandfulWoman
over a year ago

Chester

Ticket prices have gone mad but the bands don't sell as many albums/singles so they make profit where they can. However that said its a ripoff when asked for more than £100

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By *ust RachelTV/TS
over a year ago

Horsham

I have paid £80 to see Rammstein, once at the O2 and Wembley arena.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I’m going to my 3rd gig in 4 nights and a regular gig goer. I would say most are on average £30-40 now. I’m not talking about boy bands etc.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I only tend to go to smaller gigs, I don't like big crowds. I generally pay around £20.

I guess it helps that the music I am into and the people I want to see generally don't do huge gigs or arenas. I much prefer a smaller venue, better atmosphere

Except for that one pillock who sings along too loud

Errrmmmm... yeah... so hate THAT guy...

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I only tend to go to smaller gigs, I don't like big crowds. I generally pay around £20.

I guess it helps that the music I am into and the people I want to see generally don't do huge gigs or arenas. "

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By *hatYorkLadMan
over a year ago

York

In the last few years I haven't minded paying daft money to see big bands like those I mentioned further up as they are unlikely to tour for much longer and bands like the Rolling Stones and AC/DC are not going to be repeated. I wouldn't expect to pay more than £40 for a young band who tour constantly though.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"In the last few years I haven't minded paying daft money to see big bands like those I mentioned further up as they are unlikely to tour for much longer and bands like the Rolling Stones and AC/DC are not going to be repeated. I wouldn't expect to pay more than £40 for a young band who tour constantly though."

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By *evil_u_knowMan
over a year ago

city

Saying its okay the concerts are a ripoff because the league is a ripoff is a bit mad.

Loads of fans cant go to matches anymore, leave it to the tourists. Fans from europe are often shocked at UK ticket prices.

I don't blame the bands, or the teams, or whatever, but it 100% is a ripoff.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Football ticket prices are ridiculous about 4 years ago I looked into taking my other half up to Manchester to watch a match with a couple of nights hotel and train tickets the price was unbelievable so I took him to Berlin for four days and the flights hotel B & B insurance and parking at the airport was cheaper!

Most I paid for a ticket was Coldplay at Wembley in 2016 and got them cheap as someone couldn’t go and paid 60 pounds for standing & unallocated seating

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By *elma and ShaggyCouple
over a year ago

Bedworth

"Seem to be going up and up. Culture Club are touring again and the cheapest ticket £56 , God knows how much the Spice Girls are charging they were on tv last week and were utter shite. Wish the days of gigs with just a 1000 or less crowds for less than £20 would come back. No wonder all these old bands are coming back to tour

My sister saw culture club last week in Nottingham for free! She got an email from a website that she’s registered with offering free tickets for the first 500 people to respond. We saw guns n roses via the same site a few years ago too.

When Bon Jovi announced their tour I looked at getting tickets for th Ricoh arena gig. When I saw that it would cost £120 each I decided I didn’t like them that much after all

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I used to think concert prices where expensive until I worked a Beyonce concert and saw what it took to set up the stage etc. So much work and effort goes into these concerts. It took 5 days to set up for Beyonce... it's amazing to see what the tech guys do.

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By *orkie321bWoman
over a year ago

Nottingham

When Bon Jovi announced their tour I looked at getting tickets for th Ricoh arena gig. When I saw that it would cost £120 each I decided I didn’t like them that much after all

It wasn't entirely free - I had to pay a £3 booking fee

I've had tickets for loads of events over the years. Cinema screenings, musicals, concerts, Shakespeare plays, circus etc. All either free or with a small booking fee.

I would love to be able to afford to go to concerts but the prices are out of reach for me because I have a very limited income due to being a carer. Being offered freebies this way means I get to enjoy myself occasionally

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By *he Mac LassWoman
over a year ago

Hefty Hideaway

As the mama of an emo kid who lives for her next gig... I hear ya sister!

Jeez this is going to bankrupt me.

I loved the days where you rocked up to Andys Records and bought your £8 gig ticket.

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By *ady LickWoman
over a year ago

Northampton Somewhere

A lady who I work with got her daughter 2 tickets to see the Spice Girls at Wembly ~ £107 each!!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

You can thank the Advent of digital music downloads for this!

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By *elvet RopeMan
over a year ago

by the big field

"You can thank the Advent of digital music downloads for this!"

You can also thank the fact that most people now seem to expect 'a show'- not just a band playing some tunes.

They want a fantastic lightshow and amazing sound.

They want to go to an arena or stadium gig and to be able to see the people on stage wherever they are in the venue.

They also expect to be able to go home at the end of the night in one piece.

All that technology (sound/lighting/video/set) costs hundreds of thousands and even seven figures in the case of some of the video walls and staging systems i've seen.

The cost of shipping, building and crewing is also pretty huge- not to mention design, R&D, backroom staff, insurances etc

Getting you through the show safe and sound also takes huge effort and resources from security teams- from making sure some d*unken numpty doesn't go round punching people to making sure you're not a victim of terrorism.

The average tennancy duration of a large show from load in to load out is around 19 hours- most of these will use 40-400 people depending on the time of day (obviously increasing to the higher figure for the 6ish hours a venue is open)- you'll be enjoying the luxury of at least a minimum wage- so will they, people aren't cheap!

The larger venues run at around 40-50% tennancy average- so they also need to make sure they have the cashflow year round through dark days, to keep operating for that one night a year your favourite band turns up...and everyone involved wants to be paid/make a profit or it just won't happen.

Music isn't actully the biggest cost/profit ratio earner- comedy is the real money maker as the overheads are significantly reduced but the tickets for bigger acts aren't.

If you really want to see bands for under £20, stick to the small venues, up and coming bands or go find your local buskers and drop them a couple of quid.

If you want to see more than a few sticks of truss and some par cans, or not hear sound out of a mid range PA system that hasn't been acoustically mapped to the venue by and expert sound engineer given the best equipment and time to set up to the best ability, or not spend half the gig stood behind the 6ft4 bloke, catching the occasional glimpse of the band on stage, not a giant screen- pay what it costs to put on such a show...and finally, if you're happy to download or stream music for free- shut the fuck up whinging as you're effectively stealing money off the same bands you're complaining about

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By *dward_TeagueMan
over a year ago

wolverhampton

I don’t mind paying to see acts that I like or sporting events that I want to see. I always buy two tickets so I don’t have to go alone.

I saw the Stones three times in the summer, I went to three days play in a test match and also a T20 international. Total cost in excess of £2k.

For next year, I’ve got Ashes tickets for 2 days which cost £400. No gigs booked yet. It’s a good job that I’ve fallen out of love with football then!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I tend to avoid larger venues and also head out to Bedford and Cambridge rather than London if I can. And luckily cam sometimes get freebies for the O2 so that gives me my fix of big gigs without the expense. Not drinking helps when you cam pay 6 quid for a can of strongbow. I do avoid some gigs due to cost, I won't go to Hyde park as it's expensive, huge queues for a drink and shit sound. But I get that bands rely on gig revenue rather than sales so don't begrudge the cost but like I say I have my own opinion of value

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By *ogerNesszonesMan
over a year ago

Northern England

"I only tend to go to smaller gigs, I don't like big crowds. I generally pay around £20.

I guess it helps that the music I am into and the people I want to see generally don't do huge gigs or arenas. I much prefer a smaller venue, better atmosphere

Except for that one pillock who sings along too loud

...or even worse, the individuals who constantly chatter throughout the performance. Grrrrrrrr.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

i work in the music industry, the digital era has massively increased my revenue ... the gig prices are to do with a massive tech company like AEG and Live Nation buying up evety aspect of music that they can .... they are killing entertainment wholsesale ... google them

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By *obyn GravesTV/TS
over a year ago

1127 walnut avenue

uk subs plus two supports was twenty quid on the door last saturday..im really not into those big arena type gigs so would never pay over 40 quid for a ticket

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

top californian band 'Here Lies Man' played in cardiff over the weekend for £11 .... such a bargain ... and they allow free acces to their music ... i bought the vinyl album as a result

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"top californian band 'Here Lies Man' played in cardiff over the weekend for £11 .... such a bargain ... and they allow free acces to their music ... i bought the vinyl album as a result

here's the links for both albums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoLRS13M378

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyh-V_icbA8

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By *lueWonderMan
over a year ago

Preston.....ish

2 spice girls tickets at my nearest venue were £148......each

Safe to say I didn't make a purchase. I wanted to see Pink but that was equally ridiculously priced.

Think I will spend my money at smaller venues.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I paid £27.50 for Heaven 17 tickets (I saw them last Friday) but then spent another £50 on merchandise

We know

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By *emini ManMan
over a year ago

There and to the left a bit

"You can thank the Advent of digital music downloads for this!

You can also thank the fact that most people now seem to expect 'a show'- not just a band playing some tunes.

They want a fantastic lightshow and amazing sound.

They want to go to an arena or stadium gig and to be able to see the people on stage wherever they are in the venue.

They also expect to be able to go home at the end of the night in one piece.

All that technology (sound/lighting/video/set) costs hundreds of thousands and even seven figures in the case of some of the video walls and staging systems i've seen.

The cost of shipping, building and crewing is also pretty huge- not to mention design, R&D, backroom staff, insurances etc

Music isn't actully the biggest cost/profit ratio earner- comedy is the real money maker as the overheads are significantly reduced but the tickets for bigger acts aren't.

If you really want to see bands for under £20, stick to the small venues, up and coming bands or go find your local buskers and drop them a couple of quid.

In a nutshell....this

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I'm just weaving my way back from an absolutely blinding teeny tiny venue and an awesome gig! Well worth every pound I paid and I'm chuffed to bits that I got tickets for it

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By *ctionnotwords69Man
over a year ago

ENFIELD

Paid about £12 to see Boy Azooga at The Scala recently....best value gig been to in a while....great night out!

Also saw Joan as Policewoman back in the summer at the Omeara...that was £25...but that was a quality gig too.

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By *hips n FursMan
over a year ago

Huddersfield

Don't bother going to see any of the so called big rock bands anymore. I saw most of them when they were at there peak and at there best for a fraction of the price.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

It’s a shame I love gigs and music. I play my own gigs and enjoy them but have always adored seein my heroes play live.

I payed £100 each ticket for u2 I understood was going to be a big show, however Bryan Adams played arenas and still only charges 40-50£ amazing his prices stayed same for yrs and yrs yet a new band have cheek to charge double when play less songs.

I understand the arguments for prices and if I pay the money I wana be wowed, the fees have gone out of control but it frustrating when I hear people moan about prices (as they always have about prices) yet small venues have to close due to lack of people going to watch small cheap and free gigs.

I’ve been in bands since I was 16 (26 yrs ago hehe) and played to packed venues mid to late 90’s to empty clubs in past 5-10 yrs cos people don’t wana go that type club rather do dance clubs and moan why venues shut and big bands and venues hike prices up.

Support local and new music or pay the price and enjoy

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By *oncupiscentTonyMan
over a year ago

Kent

"Wish the days of gigs with just a 1000 or less crowds for less than £20 would come back. "

Tunbridge Wells Forum, 250 capacity with sweat running down the walls, tickets from £8 for a band you've never heard of (and probably won't ever again) to £15 for someone who's had a mention on NME or Kerrang. Admittedly this isn't much help to you up in the republic of Geordieland but at least you've got the football to look forward too

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