...to feel like I don't want the hassle of going to concerts any more?

@cheesychipsontheoche Oh dear, that doesn’t bode well for either of us, does it. I saw a video of the inside of it and was struggling to see what was so different or special compared to others of a similar size.

Well they've just had to postpone the first shows as the venue isn't ready. Are they refunding booking fees? No. Treated the staff who worked on the venue poorly. Food and drink prices exorbitant, still no realistic transport infrastructure... and on the grapevine unrealistic expectations of artists booked so far.

I've got a few gigs coming up there but I wouldn't be surprised if there were more issues in the next few weeks as they finally open.

One of the best gigs I saw was during Covid - New Model Army!
They had to postpone their 40th Anniversary tour to 2021 but did a live stream concert on 24th October 2020.
All the crew were wearing masks but the band weren't.
The tickets were good value, I was on the sofa in my pyjamas & reading glasses watching them live on my laptop!
People were tweeting about it so there was a good atmosphere about it.

I'd definitely pay for live streams of stadium concerts if it meant I could watch from the comfort of home & actually see the band on stage rather than a figure in the distance...

@1000umbrellas The one near me is banquet records in Kingston. Usually £14 including a copy of the cd! Gigs are mainly in pryzm nightclub.

My daughter loves them. Some really big names as well.

We saw Crowded House at The Roundhouse last year and they were fantastic so this year we're seeing them in Lincoln Castle. These big outdoor things can be grim but we've never been to Lincoln and are making a long weekend of it.
Small venues are so much better. We managed to get tickets to see Pet Shop Boys at Koko next month.

2000 people is the perfect size for a venue, IMO. Roughly the same size as Hammersmith Odeon. I haven't been since they've done it up, although I've heard great things, but I grew up in Bristol and went to the Colston Hall a lot. I saw AC/DC there, Thin Lizzy a few times, Oldfield. Used to go to gigs at The Granary too.
Nowadays the Cheese and Grain in Frome is fantastic.
Arenas are generally horrible... most of the time you're basically watching the telly.

Also joining mailing lists for pre-sale ticket access helps.

I’m with @cheesychipsontheoche on this one, bands need to make a living and I’m happy to support them, plus I enjoy the larger venues where they can have bigger stage productions and light shows. I have been to or have tickets for five stadium gigs this year, plus smaller venues. Rip off ticket merchants can get lost though.

@cheesychipsontheoche whats the problem with CoopLive please? We have something booked there so any advice would be appreciated!

I spend a lot of money and time on gigs. I'm registered with lots of ticket companies, mailing lists etc and this means I can usually get face value tickets for the gigs I want. There's often the opportunity for cheaper tickets for less popular stuff via some agencies as well. I prefer smaller venues but not averse to an arena or stadium - depends on the band.
I've got about 20 gigs booked at the minute. I want to see Greenday but the venue they're playing in Manchester is awful so I'll get a ticket closer to the time off a tout or another fan probably.
Being a musician is hard at the moment. Support acts are basically working for free sometimes or paying to be on tour. I always try to buy a cd or a bit of merch for the support if I can. I'd hate to see some of our incredible venues fail or bands quit because they can't make a living.

The new co op live venue in Manchester can GTF though, fleecing artists and fans from what I've heard so far.

If people just wouldn't buy at the inflated prices it would be fine.

The resale of tickets needs to be done officially, only through the venue or the initial ticket seller, with some form of digital id/passcode to ensure it's legitimate,

There needs to be a consistently used method for returning tickets you can no longer use, or for transferring names - this allows for buying gifts on behalf of others, not just children. Having the original buyer to have to show up just wouldn't work - many people buy for venues further afield, or even abroad.

Price of tickets has increased a lot but I think this is because it's now how bands can make money. It used to be for record sales - this has significantly reduced due to streaming services iirr.

We live near a small venue that went through a period of having bands like, snow patrol, kaiser chiefs, James. No queuing, reasonable ticket prices, we could walk from home. Seeing bands in a 1400 max venue kind of ruined us for big venues.

Yep totally pointless

I always found it not worth the hassle even when it was easier to get tickets. The need to stand around for AGES, queuing up for crappy drinks and toilets and it taking AGES to exit the venue and get home. I used to favour bands who didn’t bother with encores. And the sound quality sounds better if I listen to it at home in comfort. Just can’t be arsed, I used to go along with it when I was younger but secretly couldn’t wait to get back home. Not for me.

@Funkyslippers you made a good decision we went to something at Blenheim a couple years ago, we spent a good two hours in a traffic jam as the roads couldn't cope with the amount of traffic, it was poorly organised entering and by the time we got in there and were starving there was nothing to eat at the extortionate food stalls. The only ones that did have food had unbelievably long ques.

Apart from the issues with resale, prices are much higher in general. Partly that's because musicians make so much less money from streaming than they did in the past selling singles/albums. So the need to get back as much money as possible from live performance is greater. Plus higher insurance costs etc. Its a massive pity though because I can remember being a teenager (not that long ago I swear) with comparatively little money but we were still able to save and go out and see biggish bands at places like Manchester Academy as well as smaller bands at smaller venues. Now a lot of the smaller venues are closing down, and large concerts are both impossible to buy tickets for and super expensive.

I don’t think you’re unreasonable. I’ve paid over the odds to see some of my favourite artists/bands and had very good seats. That’s been face value too!
I consequently don’t go to as many gigs now.

A thing that has started putting me off going to certain gigs is the faff of getting there and getting out. I could have gone to see Blur last year at Wembley. I passed and let someone else go. No regrets. I saw them in Hyde Park in 2009 and they were great. I’d seen Fleetwood Mac at Wembley in 2018 and the sound was atrocious. There was a delay with the feed and you were hearing one lot of monitors “live” and others live+5 seconds. It lasted for ages, sounded dire and the reviews of the concert were consequently not that great. Weirdly when Chrissie Hyde/The Pretenders had been on the sound was fine (for Wembley standards).
Getting out of Wembley at that Mac gig was a ball ache. Luckily I was going in the opposite direction to most people but the queuing to get out of Wembley was just… shit basically. Vowed to never do a Wembley gig again.

I could go and see Billy Joel in my home town this year. Never seen him live, been a fan of his music for over 30 years but again the venue, getting out of it, getting to it etc. are all putting me off. Years ago I wouldn’t have given this a second thought but …I think the cost of tickets is starting to have an effect on me without me realising it!

Was looking at arena tickets for a comedian, £70. Now I understand the venue costs the same to run and staff whoever’s on stage. But a band is bringing crew, musicians, dancers, possibly a big stage set, special effects etc.

How is £70 reasonable compared to that?! Supply and demand I guess.

Your post surprised me because I lived in Cardiff - family still does - and for years and years I had to go to London or Birmingham because so many bands/artists didn’t play in Cardiff.

YANBU.
I am disabled and only go to venues that allow a carer. I find Birmingham arena (not the exhibition centre) is the best for keeping me safe. I can't do standing any more because I can't dance. I also prefer certain audiences-"for example I saw The Chicks last year and Depeche Mode this year and the former was my favourite in terms of audience.

I have tickets for Taylor Swift at Wembley and I'm nervous as there were no disabled tickets left (I'm ambulant disabled). After that I'm going to give up big concert gigs.

I've happily given up going to Glastonbury this year too, started working for my ticket in 2014, easy job, but I just cba any more, and am not well enough either. I wasn't upset though, happy to gracefully bow out and let someone else have a turn!

My favourite thing now is an acoustic open mic night or an acoustic set. Folk artists with respectful audiences like Kate Rusby. I'm done with druggy beery folk being in my face!

Many artists have presales, I rarely buy tickets if I haven't sorted out a presale ticket. Although they can also be chaos, looking at you Taylor.
But I agree public sale is usually a scalper's paradise.
You have to be logged on at the exact opening time presale or general sale.

This sounds amazing and I really want to know where it is!

Totally agree with this. We were at an arena show recently where the band literally stepped on stage, played the opening bars to the first song then had to stop, to alert security to someone in the front who was injured.

We were in a stadium where there wasn’t enough organisation for the inevitable queues to go to the loo/bars between acts. Far too many mostly middle aged blokes in a football stadium tunnel not designed for that amount of people, yelling at youngsters from security to let them into the stands. The pitch area was rammed too.

It doesn’t help that so many people get so pissed either. We spent the whole of one seated gig constantly standing to let people past to buy yet more of those mega-pint things and then they were back and forth to the loo. How they afford it or why they bothered going if they spent half the gig at the bar, I don’t know.

Simple way round this is ID and it can only be resold for what it was originally on sale for, then resellers wouldnt bother