1. in 2015 I bought a ticket for around 100 euro. same section is now 195 euro for this tour..
  2. It is what it is. I understand people’s frustration but I’ve sort of accepted it. I wouldn’t have grudged paying the £200 but I would have missed a show because of it, not the worst thing in the world. I agree that maybe it is greed but that’s business it’s not about making a good profit it’s about making the best profit. We’d like to think the members of u2 are better than that and I think they probably are but with a contract signed and being in there mid 50’s it’s probably time for them to focus on the music and let management do the work for them. I think some of my previous suggestions would solve the problem but agree that these suggestions are unlikely to happen because of one thing money, and that is the world we live in I’m afraid.
  3. Originally posted by djparky:I think they've priced tickets on what they go for on the resale market. Beleiving that because someone is stupid enough to spend £200 on a level 4 ticket at the O2 via resale then everyone is- so that's the current price, but hey it sold out so clearly there are plenty of stupid people out there, willing to buy expensive crap tickets.

    U2 probably don't have much say in this - they are basically Live Nations employees nowadays.

    Aside from the obscene ticket prices, my massive frustration is they go out of their way to make it so hard for their actual fans to buy tickets- endless rules around presales, use of codes etc etc just makes the whole process a pain in the arse


    Great post, especially your first paragraph.The problem with face value pricing being pitched at reseller levels is surely then pushing up the secondary market pricing anyway,so where's the logic?If face value is,say,£100,the scalper will set the reselling price a lot higher-lets say £170 (before the crazy extra 'handling' shit that adds another £45 or so).But if the face value alone is £210,the scalper starts higher so a single resold ticket very quickly ends up being over £400.
  4. I think fans here have a right to moan all they want about the prices. Especially given that U2 have always portrayed themselves as band that respects their audience. Yeah, someone will bring out the 'their also a business' arguement but I think there's a bigger moral issue about fleecing your average music fan to buy tickets that used to be a quarter of the price. It's like tax avoidance (not referring to any of U2's issues here!) From big corporations - yeah okay it might be 'legal' and there are loopholes, but it doesn't make it right.

    I think this new ticketing 'model' is disgusting but not surprising as these companies have been ripping off music lovers through legitimate touting sites for a long time already.

    'Top band' or not, no band is worth paying that much for the 'best seats' and I don't think the average fan is willing to pay those inflated prices, whatever shit Live Nation pedal about the resale market. So for Manchester those top seats are currently on viagogo for near 400 quid a pop. I've no idea if many fans are actually the desperate or delusional to pay that sort of money (especially given I can buy one in the same block at face value still through ticketmaster). But by their logic, are we going to see these seats sold at 400 next time? I don't want to be part of this elite privileged club paying over the odds for gigs. Unfortunately things seem to be going the same way as football, pricing out ordinary fans.

    Not a fan of his, but Ed Sheeran partnered up with face value website twickets to help beat touts. The government could (and ought to) do far more than reeling out legislation to ban the use of bots. It makes no difference when they allow these companies to run their legitimised extortion resale sites as they know the demand is there. Personally I'd like to see less online sales and go back to more box office queuing.

    Music fans ought to demand better, from the band, ticket companies and the government - they're all complicit in this. I'm fortunate to have some disposable cash to go to see all the artists that interest me when they come around, but I know for others, gigs can prove costly anyway at a time when the purse strings are tight. I don't want to reach a time where I or others can no longer afford or justify enjoying my passion of live music. First world problems you might day and all that, but it really annoys me to see people exploited like that.
  5. I can spend £150 plus on a night around Manchester with food, drinks, taxis, etc. Paying that to see U2 every few years I have no problem with at all.
  6. If the demand for an artist is there (and everyone knows which gigs are going to sell fast - least of all ticket companies and promoters) add more dates, add more legs, upgrade venues, tour again... There are solutions. Solutions that still satisfy that ever important profit line for these people... But hey, why not just save the hassle and initial outlay and just let the fans with the deepest pockets decide the price and leave the rest to moan about it on internet forums...
  7. .
  8. Originally posted by zooropa93:I can spend £150 plus on a night around Manchester with food, drinks, taxis, etc. Paying that to see U2 every few years I have no problem with at all.
    Good for you.
  9. my posts seem to be multiplying.
  10. Originally posted by BelfastBoy:[..]


    Great post, especially your first paragraph.The problem with face value pricing being pitched at reseller levels is surely then pushing up the secondary market pricing anyway,so where's the logic?If face value is,say,£100,the scalper will set the reselling price a lot higher-lets say £170 (before the crazy extra 'handling' shit that adds another £45 or so).But if the face value alone is £210,the scalper starts higher so a single resold ticket very quickly ends up being over £400.
    I believe the prices were placed so highly to prevent shows being a sell out or at least to make them sell out a lot slower so that when the fan looked on ticketmaster an hour after the sale started there was still tickets available for £200 therefore you wouldn’t need to go to a resale site and pay £400. Remy posted something that explains this. However some of the European shows have sold particularly well especially in comparison to the US shows so the likes of Amsterdam don’t seem to have anything left expect maybe €500 tickets. The likes of London and Manchester still had £200 tickets left for quite some time so fans wouldn’t have to go to a resale site and the touts couldn’t charge too much for the £110 seats because they were in competition with ticketmaster. You can get a ticket for some of the US shows quite cheap at the moment on viagogo and you can get a ticket for most of the European shows on viagogo for around £150.
  11. I always wonder how much say U2 as a band / individuals (not Guy O) has in ticket prices / tour venues etc. While that 10 year "deal with the devil" LN no doubt made them even more wealthy than ever I imagine they gave up so much in terms of autonomy. It's sad though when you see what seem to be decisions focussed on short term profit damaging the brand - all the empty unsold seats in the US now because of over-saturation and the pricing model (although i noticed GAs still available in some cities ). Maybe LN makes as much money on a partly empty stadium with high revenue sold seats as a sold out show with cheaper seats, but cant imagine U2 like to see that.
  12. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    I believe the prices were placed so highly to prevent shows being a sell out or at least to make them sell out a lot slower so that when the fan looked on ticketmaster an hour after the sale started there was still tickets available for £200 therefore you wouldn’t need to go to a resale site and pay £400. Remy posted something that explains this. However some of the European shows have sold particularly well especially in comparison to the US shows so the likes of Amsterdam don’t seem to have anything left expect maybe €500 tickets. The likes of London and Manchester still had £200 tickets left for quite some time so fans wouldn’t have to go to a resale site and the touts couldn’t charge too much for the £110 seats because they were in competition with ticketmaster. You can get a ticket for some of the US shows quite cheap at the moment on viagogo and you can get a ticket for most of the European shows on viagogo for around £150.
    You can still buy £208 London seats and loads of them as well. i think that tells a story in itself.