Blur

[Suprefan]

57 minutes ago, Sparticus said:

Just checked my purchase history. Green day (Huddersfield gig) was £82.50, £7.50 booking fee and a couple of quid transaction fee for the total order. 

The difference between that, and recent pricing... £150 for Blur, £100 for Blink 182, £90 for Paramore is killing my love of seeing big bands live. The whole thing is utter greed sadly. 

You know inflation is a thing, right. It just happened with Glasto and theres going to be an entire 2023 of gigs experiencing it now. And when did you buy your ticket? 2019? Even if you bought it in 2022 it was still on the mostly safer side of all the financial crisis stuff. Greed is the Taylor Swift tour when you see what happens to the prices tomorrow. This, is not that.

[Muppetmark]

16 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

You know inflation is a thing, right. It just happened with Glasto and theres going to be an entire 2023 of gigs experiencing it now. And when did you buy your ticket? 2019? Even if you bought it in 2022 it was still on the mostly safer side of all the financial crisis stuff. Greed is the Taylor Swift tour when you see what happens to the prices tomorrow. This, is not that.

fall out boy and weezer are far bigger than any band on the blur bill. Green day also did a first come first serve golden cirlce rather than a paid £50 extra. even if theyd have wacked prices up for it for 2022 it would still be a good deal in comparison to blur.

[Sparticus]

13 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

You know inflation is a thing, right. It just happened with Glasto and theres going to be an entire 2023 of gigs experiencing it now. And when did you buy your ticket? 2019? Even if you bought it in 2022 it was still on the mostly safer side of all the financial crisis stuff. Greed is the Taylor Swift tour when you see what happens to the prices tomorrow. This, is not that.

June 2022, about a fortnight before the gig. I understand Glastonbury'position as a non profit event, however when bands are literally doubling their prices from their previous tours (Blink 182, for example), then I'm going to argue greed is the dominant factor, not inflation. 

[Hugh Jass II]

20 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

You know inflation is a thing, right. It just happened with Glasto and theres going to be an entire 2023 of gigs experiencing it now. And when did you buy your ticket? 2019? Even if you bought it in 2022 it was still on the mostly safer side of all the financial crisis stuff. Greed is the Taylor Swift tour when you see what happens to the prices tomorrow. This, is not that.

Charging an extra £45 to stand about 20 feet closer is greed.

Pure and simple.

[chazwwe]

47 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

You know inflation is a thing, right. It just happened with Glasto and theres going to be an entire 2023 of gigs experiencing it now. And when did you buy your ticket? 2019? Even if you bought it in 2022 it was still on the mostly safer side of all the financial crisis stuff. Greed is the Taylor Swift tour when you see what happens to the prices tomorrow. This, is not that.

Just because the USA prices are crap doesn't mean you should hand wave the UKs issue. People who want to go to gigs are now getting priced out and these price's aren't getting lower. It hurts young people from going to gigs.it stops families going. 

[t0paz]

They’ve said on 6 music they’re not playing as they’ve already headlined 3 times.

[NoBuses]

they also said they'll be warm up shows for the fan club

[Hugh Jass II]

25 minutes ago, NoBuses said:

they also said they'll be warm up shows for the fan club

Might wait then...

[daclown28]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Charging an extra £45 to stand about 20 feet closer is greed.

Pure and simple.

Id like to agree with you but as im getting older. I think its more like 45£ to hold your spot. Anyone can get down the front. But for me it's a waste time cos my Mrs will always drag me to the toilet or bar right before the bands come on . For me 45£ to be near the front and then go get a beer and not start right at the back seems like Good value. I can imagine it being a bit soulless though.  Also when you look at 80£ for cheapest seating which at Wembley will be absolutely miles away and almost pointless compared to double it for garunteed front of the stage standing again it seems almost reasonable 

[henry bear]

These tickets are a lot of money, but unfortunately it's what to be expected these days for a stadium show. It'd be a lot more expensive to be at the front for the Stones and the like. It'll be interesting to see how it sells, compared to Pulp's successful ticket sale. I'll probably succumb though as, bizarrely, my son's a big fan.

[clasher]

1 hour ago, daclown28 said:

Id like to agree with you but as im getting older. I think its more like 45£ to hold your spot. Anyone can get down the front. But for me it's a waste time cos my Mrs will always drag me to the toilet or bar right before the bands come on . For me 45£ to be near the front and then go get a beer and not start right at the back seems like Good value. I can imagine it being a bit soulless though.  Also when you look at 80£ for cheapest seating which at Wembley will be absolutely miles away and almost pointless compared to double it for garunteed front of the stage standing again it seems almost reasonable 

This.

The miles away seats are far too expensive for what you get and the golden circle premium is what you have to pay for the comfort of not having to queue for hours to get a good spot and then having to choose between going for a beer and the loo or actually keeping that place you spent the last couple of hours queuing for. You can argue this favors the people with more money as opposed to "true fans", but how do you measure that, willingness to queue, more money spent on merch, more gigs attended previously?

Obviously you could do same price, first-come-first-served type of thing, a ballot, fanclub/buy the record presale, multiple smaller venue shows, etc., but each has it's own drawbacks (enough for a separate discussion).

The gigs are sadly getting ridiculously expensive and pricing people out, but I'd be careful with simply calling the artists greedy. For that we'd have to know how much the artists are actually getting from those gigs. After all the production costs (that have gone up considerably), booking and transaction fees (that have also gone up considerably) and inflation, I'd be surprised if the artists made double the money compared to a few years ago. And even then you'd still have to consider how the artist's appeal has changed in that time.

[Hugh Jass II]

20 minutes ago, clasher said:

This.

The miles away seats are far too expensive for what you get and the golden circle premium is what you have to pay for the comfort of not having to queue for hours to get a good spot and then having to choose between going for a beer and the loo or actually keeping that place you spent the last couple of hours queuing for. You can argue this favors the people with more money as opposed to "true fans", but how do you measure that, willingness to queue, more money spent on merch, more gigs attended previously?

Obviously you could do same price, first-come-first-served type of thing, a ballot, fanclub/buy the record presale, multiple smaller venue shows, etc., but each has it's own drawbacks (enough for a separate discussion).

The gigs are sadly getting ridiculously expensive and pricing people out, but I'd be careful with simply calling the artists greedy. For that we'd have to know how much the artists are actually getting from those gigs. After all the production costs (that have gone up considerably), booking and transaction fees (that have also gone up considerably) and inflation, I'd be surprised if the artists made double the money compared to a few years ago. And even then you'd still have to consider how the artist's appeal has changed in that time.

Not sure how big the golden circle is, but let’s say for the purpose of conversation it’s 5k. That’s an extra £235k for no extra effort.

That is greed.

[Skip997]

1 minute ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Not sure how big the golden circle is, but let’s say for the purpose of conversation it’s 5k. That’s an extra £235k for no extra effort.

That is greed.

Yet again I find myself agreeing with you.

It's a funny old day.

[brettredmayne]

8 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Not sure how big the golden circle is, but let’s say for the purpose of conversation it’s 5k. That’s an extra £235k for no extra effort.

That is greed.

It’s actually £40 on the face value, see are pretty much charging 8 quid extra booking fee fir the golden circle 

[scatteredscreens]

1 hour ago, daclown28 said:

Id like to agree with you but as im getting older. I think its more like 45£ to hold your spot. Anyone can get down the front. But for me it's a waste time cos my Mrs will always drag me to the toilet or bar right before the bands come on . For me 45£ to be near the front and then go get a beer and not start right at the back seems like Good value. I can imagine it being a bit soulless though.  Also when you look at 80£ for cheapest seating which at Wembley will be absolutely miles away and almost pointless compared to double it for garunteed front of the stage standing again it seems almost reasonable 

No system is perfect, but charging people nearly 50 percent more for a bit closer is a piss take. Nosebleeds being 80 quid is also shit, both scenarios can be bad. But if you're second guessing it and think it's reasonable then the pricing structure has successfully worked into making you think it's a better deal, when in the end all of this is in their hands. Golden circle could be a random ballot/first come first serve, and the nosebleeds could be cheaper, they just chose to make some extra cash.

 

[brettredmayne]

Just seen this on ticketmaster 

Sustainability Per Ticket Fee
As England ’s national stadium, we are fully aware of the impact that large scale events can have on our planet.
So, in 2023 we will be adding a sustainability fee to the cost of tickets for events held at Wembley Stadium. The additional cost will be £2.75 per ticket.
We are committed to delivering the highest levels of sustainability at Wembley.
We proudly became a zero- waste-to-landfill venue in 2010 and were the first sporting venue to achieve the Carbon Trust Triple Standard in 2014. In 2018 we achieved the prestigious ISO 20121 international standard.
All monies raised from the sustainability fee will enable us to continue with this work and deliver more sustainability projects across the stadium.
This will ensure Wembley remains a world-leading, inspirational venue at the forefront of sustainable stadia.
Below are just some of the sustainable initiatives we currently operate across the stadium:
• Long-term use of 100% renewable energy at the stadium
• All lighting is operated on energy efficient LEDs, including Wembley’s arch.
• We use organic fertiliser for pitch maintenance.
• To reduce plastic water bottle consumption and water use, we have installed 16
water bottle refill stations around the stadium and low-flow technologies across our
bathrooms.
• We work closely with transport providers to encourage visitors to use lower impact
options
* The Promoter shall pay to WNSL an amount of £2.75 (inclusive of VAT) per each ticket sold by or on behalf of the Promoter for the Event (“Sustainability Ticket Fee”). The Promoter shall be entitled to charge ticket purchasers the Sustainability Ticket Fee as an additional fee payable by all ticket purchasers at the time of purchase, and the Promoter shall ensure that the Sustainability Ticket Fee is clearly and transparently shown as an additional fee in accordance with all applicable laws (including the display of explanatory wording to be agreed between WNSL and the Promoter). The Sustainability Ticket Fee is not payable in respect of those tickets purchased by the Promoter and/or Artist for internal use or in respect of any complimentary tickets

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scatteredscreens]

1 minute ago, brettredmayne said:

Just seen this on ticketmaster 

Sustainability Per Ticket Fee
As England ’s national stadium, we are fully aware of the impact that large scale events can have on our planet.
So, in 2023 we will be adding a sustainability fee to the cost of tickets for events held at Wembley Stadium. The additional cost will be £2.75 per ticket.
We are committed to delivering the highest levels of sustainability at Wembley.
We proudly became a zero- waste-to-landfill venue in 2010 and were the first sporting venue to achieve the Carbon Trust Triple Standard in 2014. In 2018 we achieved the prestigious ISO 20121 international standard.
All monies raised from the sustainability fee will enable us to continue with this work and deliver more sustainability projects across the stadium.
This will ensure Wembley remains a world-leading, inspirational venue at the forefront of sustainable stadia.
Below are just some of the sustainable initiatives we currently operate across the stadium:
• Long-term use of 100% renewable energy at the stadium
• All lighting is operated on energy efficient LEDs, including Wembley’s arch.
• We use organic fertiliser for pitch maintenance.
• To reduce plastic water bottle consumption and water use, we have installed 16
water bottle refill stations around the stadium and low-flow technologies across our
bathrooms.
• We work closely with transport providers to encourage visitors to use lower impact
options
* The Promoter shall pay to WNSL an amount of £2.75 (inclusive of VAT) per each ticket sold by or on behalf of the Promoter for the Event (“Sustainability Ticket Fee”). The Promoter shall be entitled to charge ticket purchasers the Sustainability Ticket Fee as an additional fee payable by all ticket purchasers at the time of purchase, and the Promoter shall ensure that the Sustainability Ticket Fee is clearly and transparently shown as an additional fee in accordance with all applicable laws (including the display of explanatory wording to be agreed between WNSL and the Promoter). The Sustainability Ticket Fee is not payable in respect of those tickets purchased by the Promoter and/or Artist for internal use or in respect of any complimentary tickets

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are committed to delivering the highest levels of sustainability at Wembley. But you're paying for it obviously, not us.

[brettredmayne]

2 minutes ago, scatteredscreens said:

We are committed to delivering the highest levels of sustainability at Wembley. But you're paying for it obviously, not us.

That’s life these days isn’t , everyone pays for things apart from the people that can afford it 

[scatteredscreens]

Just now, brettredmayne said:

That’s life these days isn’t , everyone pays for things apart from the people that can afford it 

I'm sure Wembley will be sure to mention all the people who helped pay for their sustainability changes when they want to get some good press/adverts from it...

[clasher]

4 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Not sure how big the golden circle is, but let’s say for the purpose of conversation it’s 5k. That’s an extra £235k for no extra effort.

That is greed.

Firstly, the "no extra effort" argument simply doesn't hold. Get rid of the tiers entirely then. Where's the "extra effort" for standing tickets being more expensive than the seats far away? If anything, it should be the opposite, as you'd have more "extra effort" to provide sound and security for the seats further down.

Secondly, is it 235k more in the pocket of the artist, or perhaps to offset some of the other costs? Be it either, having no golden circle but spreading those 235k among all the tickets would be worse IMO, having the same price but also dynamic pricing even more so. I suppose there's a way to have cheaper tickets, but I don't know nearly enough about all the factors one has to consider in a case of such a gig to simply call the artist greedy.

Where are the lines between an artist breaking even, making "just enough" profit and being greedy? An where on that spectrum fall Blur, provided they sell out at these prices?

[charlierc]

I mean, I'm half expecting this to sell out anyway even at that cost.

Could've been interested in it but that ticket price... crikey. Especially as the budget I'm playing with is more interested in anything that seeps through onto Twickets for Pulp as the preferential priority. I'm not a fan of paid-for golden circles anyway but that jump is undeniably a lot to stomach.

[scatteredscreens]

2 minutes ago, clasher said:

Firstly, the "no extra effort" argument simply doesn't hold. Get rid of the tiers entirely then. Where's the "extra effort" for standing tickets being more expensive than the seats far away? If anything, it should be the opposite, as you'd have more "extra effort" to provide sound and security for the seats further down.

Secondly, is it 235k more in the pocket of the artist, or perhaps to offset some of the other costs? Be it either, having no golden circle but spreading those 235k among all the tickets would be worse IMO, having the same price but also dynamic pricing even more so. I suppose there's a way to have cheaper tickets, but I don't know nearly enough about all the factors one has to consider in a case of such a gig to simply call the artist greedy.

Where are the lines between an artist breaking even, making "just enough" profit and being greedy? An where on that spectrum fall Blur, provided they sell out at these prices?

You reckon Blur are scraping by on these costs for the gig? I'm no organiser but given the prices, size of venue and the fact it's a one off shows it's clearly quite a big pay out. Being a big pay out is fine, but ripping fans off with Golden circle is just greedy. The extra effort argument does hold imo because other gigs have had 'golden circle' and just given it to first come first serve for no additional cost. So somewhere down the line has thought "we can skim a few grand off this", and it doesn't NEED to be spread across the rest of the gig tickets at all. Not saying Damon's sat there and done the calculations but the artist I'm sure could have something to say about it. Not sure why dynamic pricing is brought up, it's also a shitty practice, but just because it's more shitty doesn't mean we can't call this stuff out.

[thatTFBguy]

3 hours ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Charging an extra £45 to stand about 20 feet closer is greed.

Pure and simple.

Blink-182 splitting the standing at area gigs actually angered me. Thankfully not a thing where I'm seeing them but had it been, I'd seriously have been conflicted about buying tickets. 

[scatteredscreens]

I've sat and thought about it and I'm not paying this money for it, sure it'll be a great gig and all but I'll just wait for them to tour in 2024 at some EU fests and see them there for far cheaper.

[briddj]

8 hours ago, gigpusher said:

When they first introduced golden circle it was to reduce crushing at big gigs but there was no extra charge for it.  Dedicated fans queued all day to get in there. The fact that they (not just Blur but people in the industry in general) see it as a way to get extra money bugs me. 

Oasis at Wembley in 2009 had the "Golden Circle," but first come, first served for all general standing ticket holder. So get there for doors open and you got in there. The dedicated got the front circle rather than the loaded!