Here Today... Gone To Hell!

https://gnrcentral.com/2020/02/12/axl-rose-guns-n-roses-having-trouble-selling-tickets-for-their-2020-summer-tour/

I think the band are losing a lot of credibility once again and are no longer seen as a vital creative unit and rather a bit of a Vegas act. Most fans sentimental curiosity was satiated some time ago and it's really looking like
a cash grab which is sad. Hopefully the new chapter is a period of intense creative releases to combat that perception.

A show about five months away didn't sell out yet. Is that unheard of?

Don't think so.




/jarmo

There's so many problems with this "article" I don't know where to begin. And no, I'm not a GnR apologist, but this is ridiculous. First, the headline is misleading, making it appear that it's an entire tour when it actually only sites one venue in Canada.

Second, the author is a dipshit. He/She is looking at resale tickets. In other words, the show is selling well above what the article attempts to convey. The people who bought those tickets and put them on the secondary market have not sold them but they were sold and purchased. That's a big difference.

In the end, the scumbag scalpers will sell those tickets - and hopefully they'll lose money on them when they do sell them.

I mean, don't let facts get in the way of your clickbait.

Yes!  Very well said.
I am a radio guy...
In it twenty years.

I am on the air...
Also active locally
In the music scene.

I’m in media.
I can’t stand most media!
What has it become!??

I was in news/talk
For eleven years of it...
It’s become all spin.

Facts and research?  Yes...
But only if they support
Preconceived notion.

Our credo was once
“Trust but verify.” Sadly,
I don’t trust much now.

This is not to say
That intentions are not good
Just...research things, kids!

Splash

/Mike

Remember when headlines used to describe the actual article?  :hihi:




/jarmo

I can't speak for other locations but the show here in Arlington is selling quite well for only on sale a week. The majority of the stands is sold. There are sections with several rows unsold yet but overall it is selling well. Only the floor has any full sections unsold.

Price is a huge factor here. I expect a Groupon or some sort of ticket deal will be needed to really move seats for this one. The fans who really wanted to go, bought tickets right away. Anyone else, well, there are a lot of tours that come this way. Rage Against the Machine just sold out Toronto and Hamilton, and added a second Toronto date. Pearl Jam also sold out Toronto and Hamilton. For those not from Ontario, it's easy to get to either city, they're about an hour to 90 minutes apart.

You won't see a lot of spur-of-the-moment purchases on the night of the show with the prices they're listing.

"According to Ticketmaster, roughly two-thirds of the 48,217 tickets available for the July 13 concert at Rogers Centre remain unsold nearly one week after pre-sales began and three days after they went on sale to the general public.

As of Monday afternoon, roughly 60 percent of the $310.75 floor seats remain up for grabs and more than 80 percent of the cheapest tickets – seats on the 500 level priced at $108.50 – are unsold."

500 level tickets for over 100$ is insane, as is $310 floor tickets. I had general admission for the Rolling Stones last year for $250. The fucking Stones. No one should be charging more than them. This is pretty much on the promoters, not the band mind you.

Price is absolutely the main factor for me.  For Wrigley Field, two decent seats cost *at least* $600.00, more if you want an aisle seat. I've gone on LiveNation a couple times and selected seats, but always stop short once I see all the fees tacked on.

If I'm spending the better part of a grand on a show, it better fucking be something special.  Other than flashing "the next chapter" on those promos, they've done very little else to indicate that's going to be the case.  Right now, they're acting like they're the Stones who can gouge prices...just because.

1000%

It's expensive for tickets but I feel it is worth.  Nothing is guaranteed in life and who knows how long AXL's voice will hold up. I'm going on July 18 and am looking forward to it, no regrets.

That's how much they are?  The Stones priced me out of their concert and while the Dead tickets are less, they priced my friends who weren't all that into them out of the concert.  I'm finding just when life is allowing me the time to go back to attending concerts, I've been priced out.  Hope you folks who go have a really good time.

Yeah, that’s where we’re at now unfortunately. And while rich boomers can pay that kind of dough for The Stones and The Who, I’m not sure what GNR are doing charging that much. Hopefully they announce “something” soon that makes paying that much make a little more sense.

Aside from the occasional Pearl Jam or RATM, I don't hear bands protesting too much.

Wait, I'm a boomer and so are my friends.  We're not paying those prices.  We blame the fucking millennials for throwing money around instead of paying off that large student debt they ran up.  :hihi: 

I don't think it's the people buying driving up the price, they're the victim of the crime.  I don't think it's anyone entity that caused the problem.  Too many in on the pot and everybody looking to make a profit.  I wouldn't even say the profit to anyone group is all that extraordinary.  Don't really know but they've lost my business.  Wouldn't surprise me if the whole thing crashes and burns like the record companies did.

The first mistake was allowing a monopoly when George H.W. Bush allowed Ticketmaster to buy Tickettron.

I feel the same - I'm absolutely priced out by so many concerts now. I look back to when I was younger and realise how lucky I was- price was never an issue. Logistics was- I grew up in a remote place- but I never remember thinking 'that concert is just too expensive for me'. Now it's common, and I miss so many concerts simply because of the money. I've been replaced by the wealthy elite and those that don't care as much but have cash to throw around. You can see them at concerts, heads down on their mobile phone, chatting away to their pals. But they've got money, so everything is a-ok. And the sad thing is that those sorts of people are who bands now want to pay for- people like me, who eat sleep and breath music aren't wanted.

I've felt quite passionately about it for a long time now, and ALMOST come to terms with it- that live music, on a big scale, is a playground for the rich. I try and see the positives in that; going out to see new bands who don't feel the need to charge insane prices, and spending my money in other ways.

The problem is though, when these people with money who don't really care about what they're seeing move on, the band will struggle. And I think that's what I see happening now with these GNR shows. The rich, the 'picture for instagram holding a beer and wearing a bandana' crowd, don't care, and have moved on, which really just leaves people like you and I.....who find ourselves wanting to see bands we love, but being priced out.

People inevitably come up with 'oh it's a free-market' 'it's capitalist', 'bands charge what people will pay' and 'look what other bands are charging' etc. and I know ALL those arguments, but it doesn't make it any more OK in my view.

Who is to blame? Greed, people who believe music isn't something you should have to pay for (therefore encouraging bands to charge insane prices to claw back money) and, as another poster said, the monopoly that is Ticketmaster.

Will it change? Nah. Financial inequality gets bigger each and every day, and bands will continue to tap into this. Poor kids to the back, rich kids to the front.

Sorry- sounds like a bit of a rant!

Looks like The Rolling Stones didn't instantly sell out all their shows. Will this cause headlines?




/jarmo

It literally did, yes. And price was also cited as a concern.

https://wben.radio.com/articles/still-plenty-of-rolling-stones-tickets-on-the-market

There is a lot of competition this year, perhaps more than usual for rock fans.

Yes, lots of big tours taking place during the summer months.




/jarmo

🙄🥱

So...There's a glut of rock bands trying to charge $600.00 (or more) for a pair of tickets and they're having trouble selling out.  This is profound.  Quick, someone call Scotland Yard and let's get to the bottom of this.

Damn, seems like only yesterday $75 get you right next to the stage...

That was probably when people were paying $10-20 for plastic discs with music on them.....



/jarmo

Yeah it sucks.  Ultimately, it's the consumer who's punished by things going the way they're going in the music industry.  Those palatial mansions and helicopter rides to the shows aren't going to pay for themselves, and when concerts are the only things making that kind of dough for these artists it's the fans who pay the price.

Not every musician lives in mansions and ride helicopters to the venues. Jeez. And I bet it's not the artists who set the prices either. So... Your misguided finger pointing is once again off....


Everything is on a bigger scale these days. It's not cheap to keep a stadium tour on the road. In fact, some of the biggest tours didn't start making money until months into the tours (look at the 360° tour by U2 for example).

There's still a lot of places that don't get a lot of shows because it's not economically viable to bring shows there.




/jarmo

Axl does. And if the shoe fits...

LOL

Explain why ticket prices have changed even though he's lived in the same place for quite some time....

Your misguided remarks are just that. Misguided. Any chance you get to complain, you'll take.... :)



/jarmo

Jarmo, Jarmo, Jarmo....Man, for your sake, and for the credibility of this site, I really hope an album drops during this tour.  Honest, I do.  Because if it doesn't, you'll be sitting in the proverbial dunce chair with the word "misguided" stamped right on your forehead.

Ah, you can't prove me to being wrong so you try to insult me.  :D


The difference is that I'm not misguided. If that happens, I'll admit to being wrong!

Oh, and you can blame it on the artists' living costs....




/jarmo

Who's insulting who?  I think you're misguided, you think the same about me.  Admitting you're wrong once the album inevitably doesn't materialize won't have made you any less misguided.  It just makes you somewhat honest about how very wrong you were.  I could be wrong, but I'm not sure medals are rewarded for that.

The truth hurts.

yeah damn these crazy fees and tax. I got my tickets for the pit in Detroit on day 1. with all the fees it was 575 for 2 tickets face value. plus all the damn competition this year. I also just had to spend almost 200 with all the fees for pit to Megadeth/Lamb of God. It is no wonder these shows across the board aren't selling all that well just yet

I think it's those huge stadiums that sit there vacant most the year that have to be paid for in just a few uses.  Those employees it takes to run the place, serve food and provide security that require a weekly salary if you want them coming back to work even though they only work a few days a week.  You don't see those prices with Broadway shows because they work every night and stay put.  You do see high ticket prices on the sports events.  They priced me out of those too.

You get to the band and what it takes to move them around and all their equipment and the expenses are just piling up.  We get reports on the gross income, we never see the net.  I suspect it's not what we're led to believe.

Helicopter rides ended a few weeks ago.  Anybody want to get on a helicopter?  :no:

Axl has stayed put for around 30 years.  His place is either paid for or almost there.  If he didn't fuck up and take out a second, he should have a big old grin on his face where housing is concerned.  Yeah there is remodeling but he's not home enough to worry about it.

I guess it is the helicopter, snow packed roads or stuck in the desert sand.  :hihi:  I'm not really liking Axl's ride options but as long as he gets there, we're good.

Let me explain what exactly I object to, where I see no logic in your comments:

Misguided, when one think the ticket prices are due to artist's housing costs even though said artist has lived in the same location for decades, yet ticket prices have gone up during the same time.

I think it's just you being you. Having to find something to blame Axl for. So, of all things, it's his house that makes tickets expensive. 




/jarmo

When I checked the other day, I couldn't find any "original tickets" for Wrigley.  Looked sold out with only secondary market seats available.  Did they release more?

Edit: Just checked again...all resale tickets.

Guess you have to buy the original tickets directly from the venue?

TM actually has some better deals, resale, at the moment.

Foo Fighters just announced their tour as well. Sort of amazed how saturated the market is this summer.

Not on the same level but heard Faith No More & Korn are touring together as well

Yep.  Unfortunately, artists just don’t make money on albums like they used to.  Therefore, bands put a higher price on concert tickets, which then allows ticket companies to charge more as well.


OR...it’s all George H. W’s fault.  😁

Foo fighters, Faith No More/Korn, Nick Cave, and Def Leppard/ZZ Top all practically announced at the same time. I’ve never seen a summer like this one. Even The Rolling Stones are doing back to back North American Summer tours. Usually they go to Europe or sit out the summer.

Somewhere in a tanning bed deep inside a Whitehouse bunker, Trump just took credit for the explosive increase in this summer of tours
 :hihi:

😁

Weird combination.

If the year pans out right, it will be an extraordinary year for albums and for tours and Guns have to be a part of that. Exciting times  :beer:

I saw GNR in 2017 at US Bank Stadium, which is a football stadium.  It sold out at around 50k tickets, but it was a slow burn.   The show in my area this year will be at Target Field, which is a baseball stadium.   I thought baseball stadiums were good "middle ground"  between an Arena and a football stadium?   Meaning football stadiums are in that 40-50k range and baseball stadiums were in the 25-35k range.  I noticed this leg has more baseball stadiums and at least one arena (the FargoDome is an arena more than stadium). Even though the tour is being sold as a huge stadium tour, it seems the venues are smaller than 16/17 overall?  Maybe that is a sign "they"  know what they are doing?

Back in the faux GNR days,  ticket sales (or lack thereof) were always a big talker on the forums in those days (I don't visit the forums much anymore).  Funny how things haven't changed.  

If they keep touring,  I will keep going.  

Just remember that ticketmaster and Live Nation throttles their ticket sales.  What that means is that they have a marketing strategies on how to sell the most tickets for a venue.  Just because it looks like a lot of the tickets for certain venues are sold, odds are they are not to create urgency to the ticket buyer making them think that they need to hurry up and buy tickets immediately.  Then they will slowly release blocks of tickets until it gets closer to the event.  They will also start groupon deals or lower the ticket prices all together.  In most cases usually the ga pit tickets are the first to go having them still be available is a little strange for a lot of venues.   The only shows that are confirmed hard sellouts is the Billie Eillish tour.  Happy hunting!

So this doesn’t apply for the cities that aren’t selling well.  Kinda makes it even worse.

Agreed.  It's the  internet.  You can't truly believe anything, even the 2nd hand market seats are mostly owned by ticketmaster subsidiaries. The lack of buzz is a bummer for it.  I unfortunately can't help myself so I'll probably go anyways lol

 :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: "gnr central".  Nuff said.   :hihi:

Looking back at how things are selling in Philadelphia, a high portion of the cheaper seats have sold, it’s only when you get to the first level and floor when you start to see it really open up with availability.

I had the hardest time getting 2 pit tickets for Detroit......I just went on live nation and I could of bought 2 right now at face value???? how can this be

Tickets are often released in blocks. Even the pit is sometimes divided up into "sections" for the purposes of sales, even in cases where it's GA. Once sections fill up more are released. I've also seen cases where a block or two are held back and released late to combat scalpers but doubt that is the case so far out from the show.

I hear you. but I have seen every local show( near me) since the triad reunion. and this is by far the lowest buzz. I'm not saying gloom or doom yet, but something needs to happen to generate more Interest. In my opinion

Were you going through Live Nation initially?  I'm pretty sure any other source is secondary market.

The NA shows are close to 6 months away. That's half a year.  Most people dont like to make plans that far in advance.  Just because they aren't selling as fast as the 2016 shows, doesnt mean they are "having a hard time". 

I will literally wait until the week of the show then see what's available. No threat of it selling out. I don't think I am the only one in my age group who does that.

yes. I got 2 from the Nighttrain presale. I then looked the following 2 weeks and never were Pit tickets available again. then as of last night I randomly clicked on and could of gotten them for the face value. I guess they held some back for some reason? I see no other explanation