To ask if you've refused to pay ridiculous prices for concerts?

Agree! I've not been to see a big name band for years now. I suppose I'm living in the past, when I paid £4.50 for a ticket in 1981 to see my favourite band,who were really big at the time. Even taking into account inflation,£4.50 is about equivalent to £20 nowadays!

Yeah, I sometimes see a gig coming up for someone I like, eg Pulp last summer, and think , 'I like them, but not enough to spend that much'

The money doesn't all go to the artist. These huge concerts are expensive - loads of people working on them on and off stage, tech crew, sound, lighting, drivers, all the admin and management, marketing, musicians, catering, and so on.

But yes, I do have a limit. I was in the Oasis queue as were all my siblings and we all tapped out when they went over a certain amount. Had friends who went but they spent hundreds. I don't have that much money to spare.

Stop trying to get tickets for the big stadium artist gigs. I got to brilliant gigs recently for artists like pulp for about £50. Plenty of great live music out there to enjoy

For me, I’d like to go and see some artists but not enough to pay silly money and spend hours waiting in online queues so I usually just don’t go or buy resale tickets late from people I know if I see them offered.

Agree with PP, they’re priced like this because it’s what the market allows. There are enough people who can afford £300+ per ticket that organisers don’t need to worry about those priced out. The events sell out (at record speed) and the likes of Swift and Styles aren’t performing to empty stadiums.

Same with the World Cup. Eye-watering ticket prices, add to that flights and hotels (which are obscenely priced throughout the tournament), and it’s a small fortune. Yet hundreds of millions of people applied for the 7 million tickets available….

My ABBA ticket in the 1970s would have been £40 in today's money.

Edit: In those days people would make a loss touring as the increased record sales made up for it.

Aw thank you - that gives me hope!

@Oopsylazy I’ve used Viagogo loads of times and never had an issue. Enjoy The Cure 🤘

@Ioweyounothingnothingatall same here! But I did absolutely kick myself for not paying it once the gigs rolled round and I was seeing videos from people I knew who went!

Live music is my therapy, so I pay the prices.

I spend thousands of dollars a year on raves and festivals. Got 5 festivals booked so far for this year.

Worth every penny to me. 😊

Just go to tribute bands. They are excellent, reasonably priced and so much fun

This is the thing. Some bands manage it. I admit some of my favourite bands are not super-famous, but they are bloody brilliant. If Belly and Alabama Three can afford to play medium-sized London venues and charge well under £50, a lot of the other artists who were famous decades ago could do the same. I even saw Robert Plant for less than £25. Brilliant gig.

I go to a lot of gigs and agree pricing has got out of hand.
I was going to treat my daughter to one of the six Harry Styles Wembley gigs until I saw the pricing - £280 for pitch standing. (According to Time Out, and I’m not sure if that’s inclusive of fees)
It’s madness, and I hope people do vote with their feet - but given HS has already booked out six nights I doubt that will be the case.
I also don’t buy the argument that it’s not the artist setting the pricing. They must have a say in it, Paul Heaton (Ex The Housemartins/Beautiful South) always sets his pricing to reflect what fans can afford (£35 at Coop Live in 2024 with The Zutons and Lightening Seeds as support for example) and it sounds like The Cure do too. Too much greed is the problem from artists, promoters and venues. I appreciate streaming has meant a reduction in revenue for artists but that’s more of an issue for the up and coming acts, megastars are not short of a bob or two, fleecing fans is never a good look.

We managed to get through the Oasis queue but dynamic pricing had kicked in and we refused to pay it.
We ended up paying almost as much by buying tickets on Viagogo once the tour started though. No regrets at all.

Can I ask why you wouldn’t touch viagogo? Most reviews online say they received the tickets and were fine? I can’t get resale tickets for the Cure anywhere but there and StubHub (who I’ve never heard of). So I went with viagogo and crossed my fingers?

Do you think I’d have a better chance of waiting nearer the time and trying ticketmaster? It’s not until August.

I know there are cheaper seats available but will have to book quite far ahead now.

Was it good?

I wouldn't pay more than £50 a ticket. If a band charges more I wouldn't go. I'd rather pay a couple of hundred for a festival ticket instead and see a number of bands instead.

I'm glad to see some artists like Harry Styles are charging a levy to the ticket price of the stadium tours to give directly to small venues too.

I tried to get tickets for Akon today and it was priced at £577 for two seated tickets, just mental!

For me, it means I only buy tickets for my absolute favourite artists. But even for them, I wouldn't pay £300.

Also, there are several bands or artists I like who are just better suited to a more intimate venue or a festival atmosphere. Most of the best gigs I've been to have been in smaller venues.

Well I am the opposite - in my youth I could never afford to see any bands and now I can see many more - mostly costing between £15 and 30

the big bands do seem to rake it in but may smaller bands are struggling to make a viable living even touring regularly

i can’t blame them for making hay while the sun shines though - these mega bands do sell out so it’s not like everyone cant afford them

edit spelling

Jazzy type vocal with a heavy baseline.

I never go to stadium gigs. They're expensive and I hate the crowds. Go to some grass roots gigs - they're still very affordable. Once a band I like gets to stadium level, they are no longer for me to see live (although I will still buy their records).

I think the last 2 years has got particularly bad. I won entry for up to 4 tickets in the ballot for Taylor Swift in Cardiff and paid about £145 each, halfway up the stands to one side. Brilliant view. I bought those tickets in - I think - May 2023 or so? Prior to that I saw Coldplay in 2012, £40. Foo Fighters in 2018, £55. Alanis Morissette in 2022, £75. Now I would log into a stadium tour and expect anything from £250-£800. You can get hospitality tickets for football/rugby cup finals for less!

I agree, a certain 90's artist is touring this year just at reasonably small venues, and a standing ticket was over £70.00. They've been kicking around for years, but aren't mainstream by any stretch. I expected £45-ish maybe? I shall not bother.