Musing on the RS/RSs piece by Junior a week or so back, I got to thinking how much would I pay for a decent Stones ticket. Or anyone for that matter. And I am appreciating that it isn’t always the music that calls the tune, sometimes there being other tugs on our consciences to put on the glad rags and barefoot it into town, any town, and catch some live. (Hell, with a 2016 like it’s been, reaping grimly at our individual bucket lists of bands to see, names now impossible drawn through, there’s added pressure.)
I used to see the Stones every tour for a while, 80s through 90s, up until the Voodoo Lounge tour, 1995, but it all got silly priced after that. Shame, as that was, for me, the best show I had experienced, the coalescence of better sound, and better preparation. (Knebworth, best for cred kudos, was pretty shite, I recall….) I still look at the prices, despite the increasingly derisive and/or sycophantic reviews, but nah. But still I wonder.
So my question for youse is who would you consider paying over the odds to see and why?
How much? What’s your limit?
by 57 Comments
I’m assuming this is confined to current touring acts or at least still recording not retired or dead artists?
So to answer it sort of retired but sort of not
The Allman Bros with Derek. Trucks sitting in.
Greg toured with Govt Mile a couple of years ago but pulled out with a crook wrists. Derek’s a regular but not the full outfit so yes I’d pay overs
Last tour here Steely Dan were £100, which is £200 after travel and hotel. Too much for me, though they are on my “list”. Pixies playing Leeds this month – couldnt get a £35 ticket and am refusing £69 on resale market. Have paid £40 for Radiohead back in the day. I guess that puts me somewhere around the £50 mark.
Oops looks like I am answering how much not who. Well Dan and Pixies I guess, maybe Radiohead
I’d definitely pay over the odds to see The Dan.
I saw the Dan about 8 or 9 years ago. I had tickets for them in about 1976 or whenever Pretzel Logic came out but the gig was cancelled because Fagen had Laryngitis. I had waited all that time and they were oddly disappointing. Would still go and see them again but not sure would pay £100.00.
Most expensive ticket was this years ELO which was about £86 incl booking fee although think Family in December is similar.
Just as an aside to the Dan comments I am going to see Nearly Dan in January for £12 and apparently they are fab.
It was 1974. I had tickets for Liverpool Stadium. I’d just love to see Becker and Fagan on stage together, in the flesh.
Me too. Except I’d like to see them in a production of The Sunshine Boys. Don as the Walter Matthau character.
“Pokedy-poke-poke-pokedy-poke”
That would be more than good enough.
Thumbs up for Nearly Dan Steve, you couldn’t get a more professional, good humoured set of musicians literally playing tribute to, without slavishly copying, the mighty Dan. For just over £10 for 2 hours plus.
Agree, I always go to see ND when they are local.
I’ve seen SD twice in Sydney, both times they were superb. I’d love to go to one of their concerts where they do a whole album, wouldn’t mind which one although Aja would be fabbo.
I was in London in 1974 and spent all my money on going to gigs, concerts. I didn’t really know their music then, just the singles, and though I was tempted I’d been out every night that week and was suffering a bit from overload. So I didn’t go, and have regretted it ever since.
Personally I am baulking at having to pay £22 to see Half man half biscuit. One of the reasons I’ve stopped going to gigs is the price, who h when you add I travel (and paying for Mrs Paws’ ticket) can easily come I at £100 for a night out.
If Simon & Garfunkle buried the hatchet again I’d be tempted, but not sure where exactly the ‘odds’ level is now! I paid around £120 each (I think) for the Led Zep 2007 gig at the O2, which seemed a lot at the time, but feels cheap now! I did pay over £200 for theStones 50th at the O2, which was an awful lot, thinking about it.
Paid 75 quid to see S&G with Everley Brothers as interval act in 2004. Worth every penny
Yes. Same here at the Manchester Arena. Wept like a baby when they played “America”. Wonderful concert !
Me too.
This is on my mind this weekend. The Sisters Of Mercy are in Bristol next week. I love the girls, and I haven’t seen them in over twenty five years, so it should be a no brainer. But aside from the fact that I suspect they won’t be any good, it’s £34 (plus fees) a ticket, in a venue where I’d normally expect to pay only just over half that. I want to see them, but can I justify it to myself?
Having just paid the highest I`ve ever paid, £70 inc. booking fees, to see Van Morrison (well worth it) I doubt if I will ever pay £70 to see anyone and I know that is cheap. £100+ to see a show? F$@k that. I saw Ryley Walker earlier this week (£13), Show Of Hands (£22) and Wilco last night (£17) a pretty hectic week for me but all tickets at reasonable prices. £25 is the highest I am paying from now on, just booked for Nearly Dan, 14 quid that`ll do me. £100+ b@ll@cks!
Hey Baron if you only paid me £17 for the Wilco ticket you owe me another £18 you chiseller!!
You on drugs again? If you bought my ticket and accepted £18 less than the ticket cost, from me, it was not you who acquired my ticket.
£35 each matey. If you only paid £17 you have robbed me. Meal on you next night out!!!
I think £20 to see Lloyd Cole the other week is about my limit – I paid that without blinking. Otherwise £8 – £12 appears to be my average. Small venues, standing only and up close to the stage. And Big Jeff obviously. Oooh – Honeyblood/PINS this week(both repeat visits) and Monochrome Set next Saturday (did I mention their lovely new album? :))
@anton
`Ave an ^ anton, a man with sense.
much obliged your grace
@Kid Dynamite
we are all Big Jeff
love the video – all my fave venues – never thought much of this band but like them more for this
nice one @anton. My wife’s a big fan of (the recently split) Augustines, and so I knew they’d done a video with Big Jeff, but I didn’t realise just how Bristolcentric it was. Made me feel quite proud watching it.
me too
I think I would have a hard time resisting just about any price I could actually afford if Talking Heads decided to have one last hurrah I know I’d have a hard time justifying anything over £100 to myself let alone to my wife. The same would be true if Rockpile wanted to make a bit of cash. I don’t think I’d pay big money for anyone I hadn’t seen before.
As I’d rather see people in small venues, I’m keen to see people on the way up and you get quite a bit of bang for your buck doing that.
I paid an awful lot of money to see Leonard Cohen play Liverpool in 2009. Sat bang central in the second row, made eye contact several times with the great man, worth every penny.
The most I’ve ever paid to see an artist is 900 kronor (£79) to see Paul McCartney at Globen in Stockholm a few years ago. It was the only time I’ve ever seen the great man, and he put on a superb 3-hour show. I didn’t think the ticket price was too excessive.
In about 1993 I baulked at paying a lot for a ticket to see Tom Waits live at Cirkus in Stockholm (I can’t remember exactly how much the tickets were) and didn’t go. I’ve regretted that ever since. Ol’ Tom doesn’t exactly tour every year.
Who would I pay a lot to see? Well, I’d be prepared to fork out a fair bit to see Keith Jarrett again, especially if it was a decent seat in a good venue.
“a decent seat” too right. You wouldn’t want to be in the mosh-pit at one of them wingdings.
One wouldn’t want to be in the front row for a Keith Jarrett gig. Imagine what would happen if you had a coughing fit when Keith was doing a tip-top bit of improvising. The great man would be apoplectic with rage!
It’s nice to have a few names where you can say “I remember paying a fiver to see them” – but most of my faves seem to peak at the pre-stadium level. The Louisiana featured in video above has a fine list of bands who played their 100 capacity upstairs room – the National played to 20 apparantly.
Thinking back, my uncle who was 8 years older than me got us tickets to see The Beatles in
St Helens for about 5/- (that`s 5 shillings) each. That`s about 55pence in total in today`s money.
how does that compare to say the cost of an LP at the time? ….I think I date all my value judgements from the costs of the first few LPs I bought (£2.45) and what my dad told me he earned £30 a week – although inflation has made both figures a bit meaningless I still like the idea of getting (second hand) CDs for less than £2 – and am shocked at how much it would cost to see (say) Elvis Costello.
You could buy a pint of beer (1965 for example) for about, in today`s money, 8p, an LP cost £1.58p. So do the maths, then, say you could buy almost 20 pints for the cost of an LP! Today I reckon the average price of a pint is £3.75 and an LP £18. As Nigel T says music, CDs & LPs are very cheap in comparison to the `60`s.
5/- is 25p. Assuming that was in 1965 or so, LPs were 32/6d…£1.62.5p.
Records are way cheaper these days in real terms.
The most I’ve ever paid for a ticket was £145, through one of those greedy scalping sites as I couldn’t get a ticket through the official channels (probably because the scalpers had bought them all) and I was really dead set on going.
I can’t imagine that I would have used that money much wiser had I refused to buy the ticket, and I did get a great night out with friends and saw AC/DC well before the decline (and before Axl!)
However, I’m single and childless, so when I decide to piss away my money, it upsets nobody! 🙂
But usually I find myself paying £25-55.
A couple of weeks ago I paid £110 for a pair to see John Cale do the first VU LP in Liverpool next year.
That’s the most I’ve paid for tickets since I took the boy to see the Stones at Twickenham 10 years ago, and I resented every penny of that.
I go to a gig in London most weeks it’s usually £10-20, with maybe once a month in the £20-30 bracket.
There’s also a surprising amount of good stuff that’s free.
I paid £85 to see the Stones and Primal Scream at Twickenham. It was largely pointless and then kettles in afterwards to get the train home – didn’t enjoy it. I wouldn’t pay over the odds to see any heritage acts, I’ve seen who I’ve wanted to see. Now, £10 – 20 at small venues is my maximum; £20 to go and see Ebbot Lundberg in Dec, I know now it will be value for money.
I present the Gig Guide on radio here in Devon – usual prices are around £10 for good local acts, £15-£18 for tributes, £20-25 for decent names, £30+ for top names, but some acts are asking daft money these days.
I’d pay top dollar to see Gerry Rafferty, he hasn’t played live for a long time.
Anything north of fifty quid had better be a once-in-a-lifetime type experience. And those sorts of gigs are rarely in the North East so there’s travel, hotels, eating out, childcare, kennels etc to be factored in too. I was sorely tempted by Kate Bush a couple of years back and had the tickets in my basket and just about to pay up when I realised that the whole shebang would have cost very nearly as much as a modest family holiday.
A holiday with Kate…and you turned her down..!?! Tsk….
In the frenzy of excitement around the live return of Kate Bush, having gulped at the prices and weighing them up against the sheer desperation of needing to be there, I was sober enough to swear that I would never pay over £100 to see anyone, even the blessed Kate. As it turned out, I missed out in the initial scramble/lottery, but was fortunate enough to have a friend who has a friend who happens to be the manager of the Hammersmith Apollo…yay! A ticket with my name on!
But over the summer I kept being drawn by a siren-like fascination onto the Eventim ticketing website, until it popped up. One ticket for the last show, £135 (plus booking fee, of course). Ridiculous…Extortionate…Utterly mad…I know, I know! And I’ve already got a ticket…I know! But, but…it’s the last night! It’s the event of the year! It’s Kate Bloody Bush, after 35 years! So, inevitably…I went through the booking rigmarole and closed my eyes as I pressed ‘confirmation’. And hell, it was worth it. I’ll never experience the like again.
Most I have ever paid is $350 Canadian to see CSNY from the 2nd row. That’s unlikely to happen again so I guess I don’t regret it. Was a great show too.
Been to many many shows that cost between $100 and $250. Kate Bush must be the most expensive though as I flew to London to see it. Think I would pay anything to see Scott Walker live.
Paid £24.50 at Kings Place in London tonight to see Bugge Wesseltoft’s New Conception Of Jazz, supported by saxophonist Hakön Kornstadt duetting with an accordionist. A great gig despite the terrible sightline from my balcony seat (couldn’t see the left-of-stage tabla player at all, unless I craned forward and made the person to my right’s view even worse). Lunchtime I volunteered a £5.00 donation to see More Is More (improvisation from alto, tenor & baritone saxes plus one-man-band-style drums), Cevanne & Crewdson (harp, female vocals & electronics + electronics & male vocals) and Woodpigeon (acoustic guitar & vocals with loops). On Friday night I paid £13.50 to see our own Retroman’s gig at The Half Moon in Putney (his last for a while), with The Masonics, The Baron Four & The Beatpack. Tomorrow I’ll be seeing saxophonist and author Simon Spillett and band at Chandos Arms Jazz in Colindale for £7.00.
A much busier weekend than normal, it must be said.
I don’t always get out that much in a month, let alone a weekend.
I can’t remember paying more than £40 for a gig ever.
I won’t go and see bands in arena-size venues anymore, as they invariably cost a fortune and I never seem to enjoy the experience, even if the performer/s are particular favourites. I might have made an exception for Leonard Cohen, but that temptation is now gone forever.
Weird where I live.
Emmy Lou and Rodney Crowell – so so show, over $100 a head at the Birchmere
Lyle Lovett and Emmy Lou at Wolf Trap. Great show, $45 a head.
I don’t have many acts in the $100 range. She’s one; Knopfler, Bruce, and that’s about it I think.
Most I’ve paid is 300 Aussie to see Prince in fact I’ve seen him 3 times and each time he created a new purchase price record. If he had toured again id still shell out.
In that context, it’s even more amazing that he priced the legendary 21 Nights O2 shows at £31.21 per ticket.
Interesting range of opinions. I certainly agree with the pleasure of a small venue for that up close and personal. Problem is that so many of the acts I love don’t play ’em, and haven’t for a decade or 2. Waiting for them to fall down the slippery slope is one solution, and the likes of Brum’s various O2 venues, often in the other rooms from the main stage, can be quite good for that, usually round the £20 mark. Likewise catching ’em on the way up. But there are still those who remain stadium fare whom I wish to catch before the one of us die. I hate, say, the NEC, slightly less so the NIA, the 2 big arenas round here, not least their prices (usually £40 – £70), carparks and unambience, but will still fork out for on occasion. Symphony Hall and Town Hall tend to be between £25 and £50, but are both handy, Symphony Hall being possibly the best sitdown gig in the country.
Without being as big a fan as Ganglesprocket, I would like to see U2, and Radiohead, for that matter, just to see whether they can each convince me as to their worth. Festivals can sometimes deliver on that sort of front, but I’m not going to Pilton for that privilege.
No festivals for me – never seen the appeal of 3 days in muddy fields, although have enjoyed Blondie and Suede courtesy of Forestry Commission at height of English summer….thinking about it they were both more than £20 but the wife’s choice so didn’t have to “justify” it 🙂 Fortunately at the moment I’m still OK to stand/lean for a couple of hours and sway appreciatively….maybe when the bones start to give I will welcome a nice comfy seat.
Forestry Commission? You went to a gig in a treehouse?
Cooool!
Ha! – Just found this video – and I’m in it. It was a great night.
The folk lot are rarely over £15.
Comfortable, great view, no queues, attractive women, loads of usually very strong beer/wine in glass, not plastic, glasses…e.g. Wizz Jones, Michael Chapman, Martin Carthy (in a Penzance church last week).
The average age of acts I’ve seen this year plummeted when Seth Lakeman rang up our new village hall and said he’d do a concert to open it as his father, a journalist, had worked on the Penlee Lifeboat Disaster story in 1981. That was £10.
I don’t understand this obsession with seeing acts for huge sums.
I wouldn’t spend a tenner on The Rolling Stones (in 1963, yes – not now), I’d prefer to go to a Folk Club or see a young group in a pub.
Why, when it was cheap to see acts, did people lump on hugely expensive CDs, and now recorded music is as cheap as chips, do they lump on wildly expensive concerts? Why did Arsenal and Tottenham get crowds of 20.000 when it was £3 to get in? Bizarre.
Paul McCartney/David Bowie/Stones (too polished/over-rated/fabulous) tickets in 1990, when I saw all three, were all cheaper than a volume of “Now That’s What I Call Music”!!!