Upcoming live concerts.

[Grizzly]

I don't think the issue has ever been selling out venues - in 30 years of going to gigs (if you discount the night Therapy? played Manchester on the same night as England had a World Cup match) I don't think I have been to more than a handful that were sold to massively below the venue capacity. The issue is more the rapid escalation of ticket prices to those shows (and of the additional fees that the likes of Ticketmaster believe they are justified in charging on top f the escalating ticket prices).

This is not hugely scientific, but the cost of a show in Hyde Park in 2004 was £29.50. In 2014 it was £44. In 2024, £129 (and between 14 and 24 the venue had gone from open entry with a small fan club enclosure at the front to tiered entry - the top tickets were over £250) - so the first decade saw basically a 50% increase, the second nearly 300%.

Those numbers don't go through the whole market - a show at the Electric Ballroom (being the only other venue I attended in all three years) went, if you go for the most expensive each year, £14 to £23 and then to £45, though that £45 is the outlier (Kerry King) with three other shows coming in around £30. The basement end, where new acts cut their teeth, has stayed around the £10 mark throughout.

Conclusion, Ticketmaster get rich, and the creative arts get shafted...

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Right here…right now…I’m watching The Hunna play an indoor festival in Bristol….here randomly…unplanned until yesterday evening. Pretty good.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Probably all reasonably priced tickets were sold out via presale. Nowadays there are multiple presales to selected groups (often with paid membership) before anything goes on general sale.

Don’t event start me on the “VIP” packages, they give you half decent seats and a poster and charge 5x of normal prices.

The new Imagine Dragons show has a package that cost over £5K - do you think you’d meet the band for this… Not a chance!

Doesn’t matter where you are in the queue - dynamic ticket pricing is based upon the number in the queue. If you are 10th in the queue and there are 100,000 ‘behind’ you in the queue the cost of your ticket will be the same as if you started 10,000 in the same queue with 90,000 ‘behind’ you. Of course the 100,000 don’t know the cost of the ticket will be when it comes their turn to buy - so they stay in the queue and the cost stays based on that demand. And as long as people join the queue while tickets remain at the same rate as they are sold, the cost stays the same. And of course for the biggest acts the tickets are all sold well before the queue length starts to drop off.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I’ll add…my lad has no issue with likes of Oasis and Coldplay doing dynamic pricing and charging Sky high prices as they have done the hard miles over 20+ years - they deserve the big paydays. He has less time for likes of Taylor Swift. Btw…The hype he talks around such as Oasis and Coldplay is actually around social media ‘needs’ not the bands themselves - nobody needs to hype them up.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I’ll add…my lad has no issue with likes of Oasis and Coldplay doing dynamic pricing and charging Sky high prices as they have done the hard miles over 20+ years - they deserve the big paydays. He has less time for likes of Taylor Swift. Btw…The hype he talks around such as Oasis and Coldplay is actually around social media ‘needs’ not the bands themselves - nobody needs to hype them up.

“Likes of Taylor Swift” ? Is she not the 3rd highest record sales for solo females. And for the hard miles - her tour is 150 concerts across 5 continents and will be the highest earning tour in history. She may not be my choice of music but it’s clear there are millions around the world who are huge fans

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Up next…Rory…no…me neither

 

[hairball_89]

I don't think the issue has ever been selling out venues - in 30 years of going to gigs (if you discount the night Therapy? played Manchester on the same night as England had a World Cup match) I don't think I have been to more than a handful that were sold to massively below the venue capacity. The issue is more the rapid escalation of ticket prices to those shows (and of the additional fees that the likes of Ticketmaster believe they are justified in charging on top f the escalating ticket prices).

This is not hugely scientific, but the cost of a show in Hyde Park in 2004 was £29.50. In 2014 it was £44. In 2024, £129 (and between 14 and 24 the venue had gone from open entry with a small fan club enclosure at the front to tiered entry - the top tickets were over £250) - so the first decade saw basically a 50% increase, the second nearly 300%.

Those numbers don't go through the whole market - a show at the Electric Ballroom (being the only other venue I attended in all three years) went, if you go for the most expensive each year, £14 to £23 and then to £45, though that £45 is the outlier (Kerry King) with three other shows coming in around £30. The basement end, where new acts cut their teeth, has stayed around the £10 mark throughout.

Conclusion, Ticketmaster get rich, and the creative arts get shafted...

as much as I agree, some of the cost increases are necessary. I have a mate who foots the bill (roundly speaking) on a 3 day festival, c. 5000 people in attendance. free, local park kinda vibe. his fuel bill for the generators this year was the same as the bill for the whole festival in 2019. the number of stages/artists hasn't increased, the calibre of artist is the same.

not quite the same, but the costs involved in a theatre run, even one in the same building for 13 weeks, are astronomical. my previous theatre cost £4000 a day to have open, when I was there.

 

[Grizzly]

as much as I agree, some of the cost increases are necessary. I have a mate who foots the bill (roundly speaking) on a 3 day festival, c. 5000 people in attendance. free, local park kinda vibe. his fuel bill for the generators this year was the same as the bill for the whole festival in 2019. the number of stages/artists hasn't increased, the calibre of artist is the same.

not quite the same, but the costs involved in a theatre run, even one in the same building for 13 weeks, are astronomical. my previous theatre cost £4000 a day to have open, when I was there.

Oh, I agree that some are. But a band I saw this time last year have just announced a date in the same building next May, with an unknown support band rather than a known act, and doubled the ticket price. Suffice to say I won't be going!

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Saw Limehouse Lizzy with @Imurg on Friday at Wycombe Town Hall, boy were they good.
My first ever gig was Thin Lizzie at Hammersmith so Lizzy holds a special place in my being.

Excellent musicianship, bought back lots of memories, a very good night although standing for nearly 3 hours killed both our legs

Today: Sunday I’m off to The Cavern, Raynes Park. SW London to see Albert Bouchard founder member of Blue Oyster Cult and responsible for writing many of their early tunes.

Doing a one man show tour, really looking forward to this. Half expecting to see @richart there, but he might be in warmer climes

A great weekend for live music

 

[rudebhoy]

Oh, I agree that some are. But a band I saw this time last year have just announced a date in the same building next May, with an unknown support band rather than a known act, and doubled the ticket price. Suffice to say I won't be going!

There was a Springsteen tribute band on at my local theatre this weekend. I got an email last week saying they were now doing 241 on the tickets. I clicked on the link, selected 2 seats and the cost was £40. I thought that can’t be right, went on the theatre’s own website (which wasn’t doing 241), only to find that the cost of a single ticket was indeed £40. For a tribute act!

 

[Grizzly]

There was a Springsteen tribute band on at my local theatre this weekend. I got an email last week saying they were now doing 241 on the tickets. I clicked on the link, selected 2 seats and the cost was £40. I thought that can’t be right, went on the theatre’s own website (which wasn’t doing 241), only to find that the cost of a single ticket was indeed £40. For a tribute act!

Pretty mad, isn't it.

On the value side of things, I managed to get tickets through a Seat Filling site to see former Queensryche singer Geoff Tate on Thursday. For £6, that was fun.

 

[cliveb]

Just back from Steve Hackett at Bristol Beacon last night. First half was a selection of his solo stuff, second half was highlights from Lamb and SEBTP.

There was about 10 minutes of unnecessary w**kery involving bass, sax and drum solos (first time I've ever seen that at a Hackett gig), but apart from that, the usual excellent concert.

 

[SteveJay]

There was a Springsteen tribute band on at my local theatre this weekend. I got an email last week saying they were now doing 241 on the tickets. I clicked on the link, selected 2 seats and the cost was £40. I thought that can’t be right, went on the theatre’s own website (which wasn’t doing 241), only to find that the cost of a single ticket was indeed £40. For a tribute act!

If it was the Springsteen sessions I would say that it's worth it, absolutely brilliant night when i saw them a few years ago in a small venue. And thats coming from someone who has seen Bruce himself numerous times.

On a wider note, I agree that ticket prices for headliners have rocketed so much that I can't justify them anymore. I love live music and have been lucky enough to see quite a few of my favourites over the years, but today's cost is prohibitive.

I'd love to see Billy Joel in Liverpool next year but daren't look at the price, and suspect demand will almost as high as Oasis given its his only UK gig.

I am going to Lytham Festival next year though - never been since we moved to the Fylde Coast, but wife has got me and daughters tickets for Alan's Morrisette

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

There was a Springsteen tribute band on at my local theatre this weekend. I got an email last week saying they were now doing 241 on the tickets. I clicked on the link, selected 2 seats and the cost was £40. I thought that can’t be right, went on the theatre’s own website (which wasn’t doing 241), only to find that the cost of a single ticket was indeed £40. For a tribute act!

How many were in the band? Divide up what the band get and it might not be that much each…and if they are good and experienced musicians…most are…and have put a lot into the gig and getting playing Springsteen and the ESB just as we know…then why might we expect to get in for £10, £20 or whatever. TBH £40 full price doesn’t feel excessive. After all we don’t get onto too many golf courses worth their salt for that.

 

[rudebhoy]

If it was the Springsteen sessions I would say that it's worth it, absolutely brilliant night when i saw them a few years ago in a small venue. And thats coming from someone who has seen Bruce himself numerous times.

It wasn’t them.

This lot are called The Sound of Springsteen.

 

[rudebhoy]

How many were in the band? Divide up what the band get and it might not be that much each…and if they are good and experienced musicians…most are…and have put a lot into the gig and getting playing Springsteen and the ESB just as we know…then why might we expect to get in for £10, £20 or whatever. TBH £40 full price doesn’t feel excessive. After all we don’t get onto too many golf courses worth their salt for that.

If you think £40 for a tribute band isn’t excessive, we will have to agree to disagree.

When I looked the night before the gig, around 75-80% of the seats were unsold. Price would be a big factor in that, hence the decision to go 241.

 

[IanM]

Seem to nothing but tribute acts doing the rounds near here in the next few months. I'm not paying to decent money to watch impersonators.

When did this become a thing?

 

[Imurg]

Seem to nothing but tribute acts doing the rounds near here in the next few months. I'm not paying to decent money to watch impersonators.

When did this become a thing?

The bunch we saw the other night, Limehouse Lizzy, formed in 1993 and have been doing the rounds ever since..
Only cost 20 quid for a 2 hour show....decent value even if the beer was....well, I'm not sure it was actually beer...

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

There was a Springsteen tribute band on at my local theatre this weekend. I got an email last week saying they were now doing 241 on the tickets. I clicked on the link, selected 2 seats and the cost was £40. I thought that can’t be right, went on the theatre’s own website (which wasn’t doing 241), only to find that the cost of a single ticket was indeed £40. For a tribute act!

Checked with my lad. Very much depends. If the venue was a small standing venue cap 200-300 and the band aren’t offering anything different/special in their show, then £40 is highly excessive for a basic tribute band - but if it’s a theatre as opposed to a club venue, venue cost jumps significantly. Bottom line is that it’s the band who choose the venue and set the ticket price according to how much the see themselves being worth.

If the venue is a theatre or the band are offering a greater experience than just covers…see for instance The Musical Box…a band that meticulously re-enacts Gabriel era Genesis concerts and you are in a big theatre such as they normally play…then £40 is very good value.

But as in all such things…a high ticket price is only a rip off if you don’t get what was advertised or that you expected for your money.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Saw Limehouse Lizzy with @Imurg on Friday at Wycombe Town Hall, boy were they good.
My first ever gig was Thin Lizzie at Hammersmith so Lizzy holds a special place in my being.

Excellent musicianship, bought back lots of memories, a very good night although standing for nearly 3 hours killed both our legs

Today: Sunday I’m off to The Cavern, Raynes Park. SW London to see Albert Bouchard founder member of Blue Oyster Cult and responsible for writing many of their early tunes.

Doing a one man show tour, really looking forward to this. Half expecting to see @richart there, but he might be in warmer climes

A great weekend for live music

How was it in my old hood. Lived about a mile away from The Cavern so seen a lot of good bands in there.
The Half Moon in Putney use to be the other great pub type venue. I think Stillmarillion are doing an all day even there for Marillion fans and they are excellent live