Here Today... Gone To Hell!

The latest prices for this tour is a joke.  Unless they lower the prices this tour will be a total failure imo.  Without anything new and Axl not sounding as good as he used to, a lot of people will not be going

I'm concerned about that too and that they are playing a stadium.  Doesn't matter if there is new music or a full blown reunion.  Not paying high prices for bad seats where you are watching the show on the big screens.  I think my strategy is to wait for a price drop closer to the concert.  Might lose out on getting tickets.  If it works out we'll enjoy an evening under the stars watching GNR on the big screens with friends.  Looking forward to it, hoping I don't have to pass on it.

I don't think it will be a failure cause people will go in any case, but the thing that strikes me the most it's like they don't feel embarassed about it. I mean, 6/7 years of touring milking the cow (and the last 5 years with awful vocals) and u still charge people like you haven't had enough yet? And no new music? I know ticket prices it's not completely up to them, but c'mon now.  :confused: :nervous:. If u want to be a memorabilia touring band it's ok, but raising the ticket prices all the fuckin times is just sad,

You do realize everything else has gone up in price right? It costs more to buy a hot dog at the venue. It costs more to transport the gear from one venue to the other.




/jarmo

It's true that everything has gone up but in some venues pit prices have almost doubled if I'm not mistaken. I think a few years back the regular pit ticket in the US was around 250$ and the early entry round 400$. In Boston, pit is almost 450 and EE almost 700$. It's Fenway, not some small venue with limited seats...

If pit is so expensive we should get rid of it altogether. In my opinion it would be better if they had arena tickets ( no distinction between front of stage and the rest) and whoever gets there first can go to the front. Like the good old times.

In some venues in Europe there are no golden circle/FOS tickets so it might have to do more with the promoters than the band itself.

There's a lot that goes into pricing from many different sources.   Gives those math people something to ponder.

I look at those VIP packages and think is that really what you think is a good time?  You could get a week on a cruise ship for that price.  Then again a week on a cruise ship is not my thing.   :hihi:  If you think the price is worth it, you go.  It's not something you have to have or is going to have a major effect on your overall life.

I 'm mostly referring to the regular pit tickets. I don't really care about the VIP packages because, as you say you don't have to have them and personally I have bought the early entry only once. But what if you want to be close to the stage so that you can actually see something instead of looking at the screen? 400+ is still very expensive for the average person.

Sure but they are making milion dollars, is not that they are starving to death  :rofl: :rofl: , cmon now. I don't think the sales will be a flop, but i think they are risking a lot with this one. I'm the one who don't care about the money, but a lot people obviously does. Considering that they are clearly overpricing everything they sell, I don't think is a good move if u see this from a casual fan perspective. But you know, this is my point of view.

I'd like to be there too but not as much as I'd like to keep that money in my pocket.   :hihi:  Average people do average things, like whip out a piece of plastic and run their debt up on shit they shouldn't really be buying.

My point is that seeing your favorite band live shouldn't be a privilege for those with higher than average income. This is how it used to be. Check any video from the 90s from GnR or any other group and it's mostly young kids in front of the stage. They could afford to be there which would be unthinkable with today's prices ... No wonder that the pit in the US is haf empty.

Sometimes prices are high because there's a limited number of tickets.

There's only so many seats that can be in the first row.

GA can either be split with different prices and VIP packages, or first come first served. There's really no way to make it 100% fair for everybody.




It's the music business. That's how it is. I think every company in the world always wants to do better than the last quarter.



/jarmo

For Montreal, the price is actually lower than in 2017 for general admission tickets.

From what i saw the prices were very similiar comapred to last year.

In Europe, not in the US.

prices for Paris, France :

Fosse - Debout Placement Libre: €89,50
Fosse Or - Debout Placement Libre: €122,50
Catégorie 4 Côté de Scène - Assis numéroté: €67,50
Catégorie 3 - Assis numéroté: €84,00
Catégorie 2 - Assis numéroté: €100,50
Catégorie 1 - Assis numéroté: €155,50
Catégorie Or - Assis numéroté: €177,50

(pardon my french  :hihi:)

so yeah, very expensive

And compared to say Metallica?




/jarmo

Actually the Metallica tour is two shows and it was basically the same price as the one gnr show and the Metallica show has Pantera. Metallica continues to put out new music. GNR doesn’t.

Oh, so they have an opening act who got their shows canceled in Austria and Germany? Ok. Not sure how that affects anything.

The question wasn't about who the opening act is or who puts out new music. It was about ticket prices for comparison.






/jarmo

I bought my tickets for 99dollars same as Billie Joel. I think the prices are a little high but I last saw GNR in 2012. I can finally say that I saw my favorite band play live. Going to get a hotel in that I live in Maryland and the show will be on untill 11.

I just looked up Nightrain presale prices for a Pit ticket in Hershey, PA. After ticket price + taxes/fees + fan club membership fee, the total was ~$520 for one ticket.

To compare, I recently got the two-day pass for Metallica at MetLife Stadium for Snakepit tickets (you're literally inside the middle of the stage). This includes Pantera, Five Finger Death Punch, Ice Nine Kills, and Wolfgang Van Halen as opening acts. The total was $610 (after taxes/fees). Even if I tacked on a 89 membership fee (which I didn't have to pay for in order to get these tickets even though I bought them in the initial presale), I am still under $700. And, even though I am just speculating here, I suspect that MetLife Stadium tickets are generally more expensive than Hershey Stadium tickets (although, I could be wrong).

Even in an age of everything being more expensive, this GNR tour still seems particularly expensive, especially without a big-time opening act being advertised. With that said, I don't think the tour will be a failure and I am sure people will go in large numbers.

I just checked, it's Stade de France

it's a two days package so we have to divide the prices by 2 if I'm correct  :hihi:


SQUARE GOLD
€ 261.50
CATEGORY 1
€ 239.50
CATEGORY 2
€ 179.00
CATEGORY 3
€ 161.40
CATEGORY 4
€ 126.20
SNAKE PIT
€ 608.00
PITCH
€ 223.00

But they sell one day tickets too. At least they did here. They first announced the two day tickets, and later put single day tickets on sale as well.




/jarmo

correct, found it :

Carré Or   
161.00 EUR

Catégorie 1   
150.00 EUR
Catégorie 2   
111.50 EUR
Catégorie 3
100.50 EUR
Catégorie 4
78.50
Pelouse
139.00 EUR

last time I saw GNR was in 2012, prices were around 50-70 euros.
well, Putin's and his stupid criminal war & inflation don't help I suppose.

From what I remember back in the day, if you wanted those up front seats you had to camp out over night and be first in line to buy tickets.  And if you didn't do that, you paid a scalper the higher price.  But going to a concert or even a sporting event has become a major expense for people.  It shouldn't be that way in my opinion either but it is.  People keep paying so it's not going to change.

I'm registering for every contest in town for tickets.   :hihi:  And betting there will be a price drop right before the show.  I may just pull the trigger before.  It's a night out with my daughter and that's priceless to me.  Wouldn't want to miss out on that.  Of course, it's my treat so I'm buying two tickets.

It’s what’s called dynamic pricing. If it doesn’t sell well and I really don’t think it will the prices will come down.  As far as I’m concerned it’s not a big deal for me I can certainly afford it. I just feel bad for the regular fans that don’t make a lot of money and it also makes it hard for the younger generation to afford these prices. I know jarmo was talking about Metallica but those shows have pretty much already sold out so it’s not a fair comparison. I do get though since he works for guns he feels the need to defend them

Just a comparison to my favorite football (soccer) team. Back in the days the tickets for a game were around 50/60 GBP. Nowadays they are around 100 GBP. Hell, from what people say in early 90's the tickets were around 20/30 GBP and yes, it was a shitty football and a shitty performance. People complained and still are that the tickets are expensive for the production they see but that's the way it is. That's why I don't think it's fair to blame the band here. Don't get me wrong, I do agree that it's a lot of money for a concert, football or pretty much any kind of ticket for major act but it's not the band to be blamed. Different times I guess, everything is much more expensive now than it used to before.

an interesting article about it :

https://financebuzz.com/price-of-concert-tickets-by-genre

Classic rock was the most expensive music genre to see live. On average, concert-goers paid $119.14 per ticket to see a classic rock performance. The second most expensive genre was pop at $100.65 per ticket.

Springsteen on Broadway tickets were the most expensive tickets on average in three different years, 2017 ($496.16), 2018 ($508.93), and 2019 ($506.39). Those were also the three most expensive overall ticket costs in the entire analysis.

Among the 800 tours analyzed, the most common genre was pop, with 137 tours (representing over 17% of all tours evaluated).

Pop concerts generated nearly $5.3 billion in total ticket sales over the last five years, averaging just over $38.6 million per tour. That makes pop the most lucrative genre in the analysis on both an overall and per-tour basis.

That versus Fosse Or - Debout Placement Libre: €122,50





/jarmo

yep that's a way better price. don't know how they justify such a difference, promoters? venues?

does Ticketmaster still has some kind of monopole? I don't know much about how that works these days, but I remember Pearl Jam fighting against it back in the days...not sure if 30 years after the situation is better...

It's the music business. Everyone in the chain wants to make money. Venue, promoter, artist.

I guess some venues are more expensive than others. But at the end of the day, it's about what's available and what makes sense for everyone.




/jarmo

It’s worse. Now, they own the resale market too. They own live nation. They own everything. They are such a monopoly they can get away with having basically no customer service (try finding a way to call them on the phone… you won’t be able to). They charge 25% fees to the buyer. On resale, they charge fees to both buyers and sellers.

It sucks.

For the Busch Stadium show in St. Louis, ALL available tix are "resale."  How is that even possible? 

Because the tickets aren't sold through Ticketmaster. You have to go through MLB. Ticketmaster is only reselling tickets.

https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/tickets/concerts/guns-n-roses




/jarmo

Of course I posted in the wrong thread before.   :hihi:  I'm okay with the ticket prices for the area I wanted to be in, closer than I thought we'd be.  Even the kid was surprised and okay with it.

Congress just recently held hearings over Ticketmaster's monopolistic practices. This clip of a musician's testimony went pretty viral, if anyone hasn't seen it:

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

Well, for Athens, Greece tickets are from 55€ (seats in the stands, far away from the stage) to 165€ (Vip seats).
Of course, there are tickets as gold/silver VIP packages.
Arena is 88€ and there is no golden circle.
That s pretty fair. From what I hear, everybody were expecting much more expensive prices...

Olympic Stadium is a massive venue (75k seats), it was sold out back in 2010 for U2 's 360o tour, in the middle of the recession back then (more than 85k attended that gig).

Also, in 2011, Bon Jovi was sold out (+65k).
So, i m pretty sure that the GnR concert will be sold out too .. the worst case scenario is +50k tickets ...
With the current pricing, many people - not die hard fans - will attend the show, just because of the name of the band and the fair-to-cheap pricing..
22nd of July is Saturday, so Greek summer day and on weekend? I bet that it ll be the biggest night of the European tour  :peace:

I'm Greek but I live in the USA. The prices for Athens are indeed very good. And it's the only venue where the arena is not divided in pit etc
The prices here are X5.

We got tickets for St Louis, cheaper then the last time and closer to the stage.  Checked on what the cost would have been if it was a ball game and it would have been double the price.

I have never seen dynamic pricing cause prices to come down. The whole concept is a scam. The prices spike when there is high demand but I believe promoters set a floor with TicketBastard to ensure they don't drop to next to nothing. True dynamic pricing would mean tickets could sell under face value.

I had tickets to the canceled Toronto date but there is no way I can justify paying these prices sadly. The one thing I'm hoping for is a promo code or some sort of discount down the line.

155 € for 2 nights (in Gothenborg) with access right to the stage. Not FOS/GC bullshit, which for example in Switzerland, costs 220 €. Nevermind that Metallica has the Black ticket, which on their last tour cost around 700 and now is called I disappear, costs 1000 € and let's you attend every single show on a given tour leg including early entry. So, whenever you try to compare to Metallica, GNR will lose. Also on those 2 nights there will be 2 different setlists with no song played twice. It's no wonder though you would defend the GNR ticket prices, which frankly, have been a disgrace ever since the 3 got back together and are only offset by the fact that they give extremely long concerts.

Has nothing to do with Putin. Once the reunion was confirmed, they (at least) doubled their prices.

Right. Because the band plays for free and has absolutely no say in what is going on around them. You're kidding yourself. For one the band gets what they demand, for the other they absolutely could take an interest in what the fan actually has to pay to get into these shows. But like most other bands, they don't really give a shit about that and when someone touches the issue they blame the promoter.

You forgot to mention that the Snakepit ticket is way more. So even though they don't have the "FOS/GC bullshit", they do offer a premium GA/standing ticket. Over 300€ for one show. So there you go....

I'm not defending anything. Just pointing out that it's 2023. Compared to 2016, everything has gotten more expensive. Call it defending if you want, if it makes you feel better.  : ok:

The ticket prices for stadium concerts aren't necessarily cheap. Not everybody will be able to afford the most expensive tickets, or even tickets.





/jarmo

Yes. The Snakepit tickets. But for one, GNR have no Snakepit, so there is nothing to compare, so why mention it? For 2, being inside the Snakepit doesn't nessesarily enhance the experience. Having the choice being inside the ring and seeing their asses, when they play towards the stadium or outside and see them from the front most of the time, personally I prefer to be outside. Especially if I can get an I disappear pass and see 10 shows with early entry for 100 € a piece. Snakepit is not a must for a good spot. Golden Circle is a must for a good spot. And Early Entry is, if you want to have a shot at front row.

Yes. You are defending and deflecting and "Look what other bands charge". Things did not get in the amount more expensive than what they have gotten more expensive with GNR (which did get expensive with the reunion). Before that shows were relatively cheap and more people could get good spots for affordable prices. That went all out the window when the reunion happened and the money train started. And the bigger the places, the cheaper tickets should get, as more people will be there. But your last sentence just shows the lack of interest on whether fans will make it to shows because they can't afford it (or can't afford tickets that would get them to the seats/spots they are accustomed to). Fuck them, right?  ;)

Because you made it sound like their most expensive ticket was cheaper than a GC/FOS ticket. It's misleading.

Both are aimed at certain fans who want to be as close as possible to the action.



When I saw them, I was in the so called Snakepit. Wouldn't call it a band spot.




Call it whatever you want. So what?  Whatever makes you happy.

Saying tickets for a show are expensive when other tickets obviously cost about the same, is called a comparison.


You are comparing prices from like 2012 to now. How much did you pay for a burger and a beer then?

Also, the show changed. The venues changed. Everything has changed.


Your idea that the more people a venue holds, the cheaper the ticket should be, is interesting. Why do stadium shows cost more than club shows? Or is that only GN'R?

I paid 38€ to see a band in a club last summer. Why are Metallica nosebleed seats almost 70€? Shouldn't they be cheaper if they can fit tens of thousands of people into the venue instead of hundreds? Or wait, could it be that costs go up when venue sizes go up? Instead of a couple of security guys, you need a lot more? Maybe you need more people working in a stadium than a club? Maybe you can't have a tour manager who also mixes the sound and drives the truck with the gear, if you are touring stadiums?


The concert industry changed once people started thinking paying for music is stupid. It sucks that people can't afford tickets. Unfortunately that's how things are.




/jarmo

Just for reference, if we take $50 and simply adjust for inflation since 1999, that is equivalent to $87.50 in 2023 dollars.

No. It's absolutely not misleading. I compared ticket sections that are comparable. A general admission ticket at Metallica gets you to the same spot than a Golden Circle ticket at GNR. That there is section that supposedly gets you "closer" (and I explained why it really doesn't), is irrelevant, if we want to compare, since GNR has nothing like that. But what's interesting is, that you still haven't acknowledged that for 1000 € I can see every Metallica concert on the given leg at the very same spot, which costs 350 to 450 € per show if I want to get there at GNR (and to get there I need an early entry ticket).

So Metallica tickets clearly do not cost the same.

Like I said before, prices for other stuff did not go up the same way prices went up once the reunion started. And I'm not so sure what about the show and venues, other than the venues being bigger and a different song here and there has really changed. 2 original players is the biggest change.

As for the rest, I don't believe I was talking about clubs. Obviously cost goes up, but instead of 10,000 -15,000 people in an arena, you can have 40,000 - 70,000 people in a stadium. That should offset whatever it costs more to rent a stadium.

Right. Blame it all on the fans. Fans are the enemies after all. ::) Artists either don't care and live in their own bubble or are greedy and use whatever excuse they can get to make more money (and apparantly not only artists think like that, also people working in that industry). It doesn't have to be like it is. This is a choice.

Again, you don't seem to understand the reality. If one part of the explanation is called inflation, and another part is called a different production compared to 2012 ticket prices, then you'd assume you can understand that both can play a part. You don't seem to understand that there can be multiple explanations.




It was the most extreme comparison I could make for you, for you to realize that things aren't that simple. Once again, you're not able to look at the whole picture. Did you know for a stadium show, the stadium is blocked from hosting other events for days, but an arena it's just a day?






I'm not blaming fans. What's this poor me mentality that you have? Record sales dropped, the music industry found a way to make up for the loss. Are you angry about that too?




/jarmo

I went to a couple of big concerts in 86, 87. Tickets were 20 and 25  pounds and beer was £1.10.

I looked up Tickets there, and I can get a ticket for 89 pounds, and beer is 4.30 a pint.

So, overall, it looks comparable

I went to that Abba 3D thing in London last year, got charged 8 pound for a pint. I was charged 14 pound for a pint near Elephant and Castle, 22 pound in Holborn. There's a place in Brixton with over £100 a pint for a craft beer.

Lurpak was 85p when I lived in London in the 90s, that's over £5 in Lidl now

As the Dead would say, welcome to shakedown street.   :hihi:

I'm confused.  I went through the GNR site to order tickets right from the stadium.  I'm seeing adds from Ticket Master.  People were telling me ticket prices before they went on sale that were much higher.  Did they get those prices from Ticket Master and are those prices through them higher?

Looks like some of the baseball venues sell tickets through their own ticketing site, and Ticketmaster is just reselling tickets.




/jarmo

The prices are too much and I make a good living.  I won't be going.  The cost to go to Fenway Park between tickets, parking or train, food, etc it's just not worth it.  If some new music is released then maybe I'd go but for now it's a hard "no"

What I paid $125 for, Ticket Master bumped up to $298.  And they have a statement on their site that their tickets maybe more than face value.

Yes, reselling tickets. I think it even says so on the page. If you look at Fenway Park or Busch Stadium tickets on Ticketmaster, and choose a section it clearly says Resale Tickets.





/jarmo

Their site has something about other buying options and their ads say go to GNR's site to get tickets, all the cheaper price.  They've covered their ass.  But they've also shown their ass to me and I'm highly unlike to buy tickets from these bandits in the future.  Not that they care.   :hihi:

something I noticed....I bought 2 pit tickets through the fan club presale for Hershey for 325 bucks each before service fees and taxes. I happened to look on the day of the regular public on sale and the same pit tix was 345.....So did I/we get a small discount for being a member of nightrain?

I'm not aware of a specific Nightrain discount.

Maybe they have some kind of dynamic pricing where prices go up once there's more demand? Like when you book an Uber.




/jarmo

It appears all of Hershey's ticket prices went up right around the time the public sale started.

I think you are looking at the price increase once it hits those companies that sell the tickets.  They priced them around what that ticket normally sells for other events in that venue. I noticed on mine the TM price was just a little bit below what you would pay if it was for a ballgame even though it was more than double what the venue was selling it for.

Alan Cross, Canadian radio broadcaster and music journalist, presented a two-part show on Ticket Prices for his podcast, "Ongoing History of New Music". Check out episode 979: "The weird history of concert tickets, part 2". From historical research, he explains why the prices seem so excessive these days compared to "back in the day" when you could see Alice Cooper for $5 including a free drink ticket.

https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-ongoing-history-of-new-music-episode-979-the-weird-history-of-concert-tickets-part-2/

Personally, I know I'm paying more for shows these days, but I'm also paying a lot less for the music itself and memorabilia. I used to spend hundreds if not a thousand or more/year on albums, tapes, CDs, posters, t-shirts, magazine subscriptions, and so on. Now, I listen and read online for next to nothing as it's a shared membership and I still own the memorabilia and don't need/buy more. I agree with Alan Cross and what /Jarmo/ posted earlier - bands gotta make up the money somehow.

I can understand not going to the show because it's unaffordable for you, but not going because there's no "new" music is short-sighted. Live music is new music and you're also experiencing it for the first time in that particular place in time. Sure, I've seen November Rain played live several times, but not like I did in Guadalajara with a young couple I just met and that was their wedding song - was very touching to see. Not to mention, hearing Coma (was it) while watching a young woman in that all-too-familiar wedding dress get carried off by security for rushing the stage in Monterrey (think she was hyper-ventilating). I'll add the sound of NIghtrain - I've heard live plenty, but it was new-sounding to me - the time my dad and I had to rush out of the venue so that we could break out of the parking lot before the crowd rush - the last time I saw him/we hung out before I was shipped off to Korea for a year. Think about it - Live music is new music.

 :peace:

I think it's lost on some of you that Guns N' Roses is now a legacy rock band.

Meaning, most of their fanbase is older and more affluent.  Certainly more so than when they toured in their prime.

Look, I'm 45.  I'm no millionaire, but I make a nice living.  A $300 ticket is not going to break me.  They know that and price it accordingly.

Most places look pretty full in clips I see.  You guys might have a better argument if they had to black curtain off unsold seats.