Concert ticket prices?

[DizRotus]

Elton John will be at Little Caesars Arena (LCA) in Detroit in May.  Two concerts sold out quickly, so they added two more shows.  Tickets went on sale to the public yesterday.   I figured they’d be expensive, but I know my wife would enjoy a final opportunity to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so I checked them out.  She could not enjoy a concert knowing it cost more than $600.

 

The least expensive tickets are more than $300 each for bad seats in a hockey arena.  Our older son works for LCA and gave us free tickets to Hall & Oates last year.  We had great seats if we were at a Red Wings game, right at the centerline about twenty rows back, but terrible seats for a concert.  The sound was awful.  Even for FREE I was disappointed.

 

Those same seats at Elton John would be more than $500 each.  Perhaps Elton has better sound people, but I have a hard time imagining any seat in a hockey rink can be worth those prices. Who pays these prices?  Am I just a tightwad curmudgeon?

 

 

[Davis]

Thanks to this nice little Ticket Master scam

 

What is Dynamic Pricing?

Dynamic Pricing is when an event has tickets that are “market-priced,” meaning the ticket price and fees can change based on demand. Airlines and hotels also utilize dynamic pricing depending on busy travel seasons. You may notice ticket prices going down as the event date nears, because less people are buying tickets. On the other hand, popular rival sports games or an anticipated concert tour might drive ticket prices sky high.

 

How Does Dynamic Pricing Work?

 

Dynamic pricing can affect ticket prices in real-time, sometimes in a matter of minutes. It works as a strategy to boost revenue. For example, ticket prices for a sports team can fluctuate depending on holidays, the team’s record, player injuries, even the day of the week or weather forecast.

[rockhound]

All I know is they are stupid high just like college football, pro football or just about any sporting event. Almost impossible to get good seats the minute the tickets go on sale unlike the good old days. Going to live concerts is one of my favorite things to do but at these prices it is making it harder and harder for me to justify the cost and don't get me started on beer prices at these events.

[WillyBob]

I used to go to concerts.  Like @DizRotus, it's hard to enjoy the show knowing how much it cost.... and then there is the sound systems.

 

  I balked at GeoHarrison, BillyPreston and RaviShankar costing $25. That was a while back... duh! 

[WillyBob]

27 minutes ago, rockhound said:

Almost impossible to get good seats the minute the tickets go on sale unlike the good old days

 

kinda makes ya want to "bean" these enterprising individuals [scalpers], doesn't it?

[avguytx]

I think the last concerts I paid to go see was the Eagles in Dallas on the Reunion Tour in '96 and also KISS on their reunion tour the same year at the Pyramid in Memphis (before they quit using it).  I remember the Eagles being around $150 but forget what KISS price was.  I went to concerts all the time from about 1976 till 1996 but haven't "paid" to go see anyone since.  My dad owned 6 or 8 radio stations scattered about and an advertising company in Ft Collins, CO for years, before dad and step-mother divorced, and would get free tickets to shows in various areas.  I also won some tickets from radio stations through the years.  I just have no desire to pay that much to see anyone these days...just not worth it to me to pad their wallets in retirement.  I'll buy the CD or DVD.

[The Dude]

Did you go through Ticket Master or the box office?  Ticket Master, Stubhub, and others will charge exceptionally high prices.  Some shows (such as Sir Elton John), will sell out at the box office in seconds.  If you can get in, you usually don't pay that high.  KISS was around $70, Slayer was around $35.00.  I am not sure what Ticket Master charges, but this was through CHI arena box office.

[jimjimbo]

In many cases, the "Box Office" does not exist.  For the Clapton Crossroads Festival recently in Dallas, tickets were only available through Ticketmaster.  Same for the Billy Joel concert at Notre Dame stadium next summer.    These are not isolated occurrences, and Davis is absolutely correct regarding Dynamic Pricing.  It's the way of the world.  If you really want to see someone live.....pay up.

[carlthess40]

I’m with all of you guys in this
Last week my wife tried to buy a pair of tickets to a up and coming pop artist
The general admission tickets were 1000. Each. Yes 1k each and the nose bleed seats were 300 each. This is f’ing crazy
The managers and all the other greedy people that are in and around the artist are driving up the prices
I’m all for the band making a great living for their music, and most of them don’t even know what’s going on with the ticket prices
A few of them have found out about these things and made the ticket vendors refund some of the money.
The bottom line here is that the artist, for the most part , is not the one driving the prices up, it’s the scum bags that handle and can put their hands into the cookie jar
One way to help stop this ???
STOP PAYING for these tickets



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[Dave1290]

^^^^^^^^^^ what he said!  BUT there's ANOTHER way if you pursue it and get lucky.  You may save some money and you may not but you're taking a chance anyway right?  Today isn't yesterday and promoters want every nickel they can get when a show hits the venue.  Logistically they're all the same but OCCASIONALLY staging winds up with area's where they can jam a few more seats so they do.  Show's sold out yet there are 40 extra seats now available down front center or stage right or left.  Call the venue ticket office early on the day of the show and ASK (kiss butt, cause ur NOT doing them a favor) if they have anything that's opened up.  Price?  Maybe high dollar maybe not but you're in.  This does NOT work all the time because the tour has already laid out the show down to every square foot of space in the venue.  Hendrix "Are You Experienced" tour seats were $4,5 and 6.  Those days are long gone.  Everyone is older and raping the masses and will as long as they can tour.  TicketMaster?  Hahaha.  They control things because they guarantee every show's income and WE'RE the ones picking up the slack.  One more thing.  Make SURE you tell EVERYone about this so you can cut your own throat down the road!

[DizRotus]

Ticketmaster is the box office.  Through American Express, tickets were available prior to the “public” sale, but they were not less expensive.  I suppose I’ll explore the secondary market as the concert dates draw near to see if someone needs to unload tickets at the eleventh hour, but I’ll not hold my breath.

[Dave1290]

Understand @DizRotus, put the kid on it!  hahaha  I just look at it this way many times.  Crank it up it's cheaper and less hassle.  If someone's into home theater they buy the cd later anyway then crank it.

[Wolfbane]

We went to see Cher here in the spring. Xmas gift for the wife who used to watch her TV show. We sat right up by the stage and for an old gal she put on one Hell of a show. No singing on top of any battleship guns but the fall from one of these would kill her even if we could have floated one into the Saddledome from Hawaii, Texas or the UK.

 

She somehow managed to drag back Sonny's voice from the grave for part of her show that night and he still sounded just as good as he did in the movie Ground Hog Day. He and Ringo Starr should have hooked up for a short tour years ago. 

 

Wb

[BigStewMan]

@DizRotus -- the problem lies within you ... why would you want to see Elton John?  That’s like going to a Bruce Springsteen show.   I only paid $149 for a ticket to see David Gilmour at the Hollywood Bowl. For $300 per ticket, i hope you’re at least getting a Meet & Greet and other perks. I once saw The Guess Who in Grand Haven for free --- they played the Coast Guard Festival. 

I say it’s worth it if you like Elton that much. One of the drawbacks of being married ... you have to buy two tickets. 

 

[DizRotus]

The wife would like to see Elton.  Now we understand why you’re single @BigStewMan. 😉

 

Saw the Byrds (post Mr. Tambourine Man) at Grand Haven roller rink and ballroom.  Couldn’t have cost more than $5.

 

 

[carlthess40]

How about people stand firm and not pay these outrageous prices and when they see that their attendance are dropping they’ll start dropping their prices
let’s night bash one another because of what one person wants to see or not see who they like or don’t like and as for the comment ( I now see why you’re single ). I know it’s just joking around
my philosophy is ( happy wife happy life)
and I have a very happy wife and a very very happy and fulfilling life
But stand up and be firm
Don’t buy these outrageous and overpriced tickets for under performing artist I’m all for an artist being paid and making a good healthy 11 it’s just way too many people that are leeches off of these people and make so much money because of the talents of our performers that are out there


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[BigStewMan]

16 minutes ago, DizRotus said:

The wife would like to see Elton.  Now we understand why you’re single @BigStewMan. 😉

Hey ... i sat through the movies On Golden Pond and My Favorite Year (well, most of that one) ... i can take one for the team when necessary.  I would have suffered through the entirety of My Favorite Year; but the husband of the couple we were with at the movies, puked in the theatre -- right there in his seat. His wife was so mad and told him that he couldn’t sit around and drink beer after work anymore.  He claimed that it wasn’t the beer; but that the movie was so bad it made him sick.  I think he had a point.

[WillyBob]

I was going to pop for tickets to a Beatles tribute band, for the wife. Things come up and I got off the hook. No idea what they cost. $50+, I imagine.

 

There are reasonably priced shows. I saw LittleFeat at the county fair, for the price of admission to the fair. Santana used to play it.

[Islander]

I’ve got mixed feelings on the subject.  A few years back, I headed to the Royal Theatre here, a ~3200-seat venue, to buy tickets for Beck (Beck Hansen, not Jeff Beck), and expected to see a lineup at the box office.  Instead, I was the only one there.  I thought I must have got the wrong day, but then a few others arrived.  I got 3rd row, so that was great.  What was not so great was that by the third song, the whole audience was standing, and they kept standing without a break until the end of the show.  Okay, that’s a separate topic, but I thought I’d throw it in.

 

When Ringo Starr, and later, Elton John played here, the tickets were around $450CAD (about $350USD) per pair.  I took my nephew to see Ringo, since it would be his first rock concert (he was 14), and I took his dad, my bro-in-law, to see Elton.  Sure, the prices were crazy high, to me at least, but we had good seats, and the experiences were really, really, good.  Both Ringo and Elton acknowledged the audience throughout the show, unlike the aloof style of some performers in the past, and that made it extra special.  They thanked us for coming to see them, although Ringo grumbled that nobody buys his CDs, so he has to tour to get his music out.  He has released quite a few post-Beatles records, but they have not sold well, unfortunately.

 

Yes, you used to be able to see Pink Floyd for $6 at one time, but the minimum wage was around $1.50 an hour back then, so it’s partly relative.  Ticketmaster and the others are gougers, so my response is to only go to one major concert a year, or sometimes two years.  This is a huge contrast to the old days.  In October of 1971, or maybe 1972, the complaint among the concert-going public in Toronto was that there were too many concerts.  In that one month, there was a major international rock act performing every other day!  

 

The general feeling was that it was too much, that if you wanted to see every concert, you’d be broke before the end of the month.  I think my gf and I caught three or four of the shows, since at around $5 a ticket, it was affordable, but at our low wages, fifteen $10-per-couple events was too much for us.  Most months, though, we could catch one or two top acts, while making little over minimum wage.  Now, I have more money, but my stereo is something beyond my wildest dreams, and we have DVD and Blu-ray concert videos and big-screen hi-res TVs, so staying home seems like much less of a sacrifice.  We can even watch overseas performers who never come to our town.  That said, I’m still kicking myself for not seeing Prince when he played here 8 or 10 years ago.

 

So I agree, most of the big names have priced themselves out of the reach of most of their audience.  Even so, they can still fill arenas, so they’re still laughing.  They just don’t get my money, most of the time, anyway.  Luckily, we get lots of second-tier touring acts coming through town, and I can see them in a smaller concert hall, or even in a bar, and the prices are far lower, often under $20.  And you can often buy the tickets at the door, not three or four months ahead.

[WillyBob]

1 hour ago, Islander said:

What was not so great was that by the third song, the whole audience was standing, and they kept standing without a break until the end of the show.

 

you mention PinkFloyd.

it was at one of their shows, that they stopped mid-set to tell folks to sit ... so the folks behinds them could see.

 

convincing folks to sit at a PF show isn't too tough. They're pretty stoned [for the most part] and are open to suggestion.... lol