Genesis on tour

[monabri]

I see Genesis are on tour! I thought I might see if I could get tickets but I was astounded by the rip off costs. The cheapest ticket ( at Birmingham) would be £84. If you wanted to be in the middle and near the front , £258 per ticket.

A long time ago (1980?), my mates and I queued overnight for tickets for a Genesis tour ( venue Leeds) thinking that it would be difficult to get said tickets. In the morning when the box office opened there were about a dozen fans in total. We bought our tickets and drove home to Manchester. I think we paid a fiver. None of those rip off booking agents then!


https://www.viagogo.co.uk/Concert-Ticke ... n=g&ps_d=t

[swill453]

But back then they could make their millions selling albums. Nowadays they get threepence ha'penny from the streamers.

Scott.

[pje16]

Surely they still have some of their millions - do they REALLY need more

[Laughton]

Speaking as an ex concert promoter, I'm afraid that we have to get used to huge inflation in concert ticket prices.

As already mentioned, acts no longer make the sort of money they used to from record sales - it's now, and has been for a while, all down to income from live appearances. Add to that the fact that there has been no live entertainment for the past two years so they've been living on savings and big increases in costs of staging concerts (have you noticed what hotel rooms cost nowadays?).

I definitely wouldn't recommend purchasing tickets via viagogo - that just adds to the rip-off. First port of call should always be the venue or concert promoter website.

Tickets are priced at what the market will stand. With big tax rises around the corner prices are only going one-way.

[dealtn]

I see Genesis are on tour! I thought I might see if I could get tickets but I was astounded by the rip off costs.

Why is it a "rip off"?

If that's the going rate to sell out the venue then it's by definition not a rip off, surely? It's the appropriate rate (or less) that satisfies the demand for that limited supply. The fact the price is higher than your measurement of its value is something different.

As to booking fees etc., third parties, well that's another thing.

[pje16]

A fiver (or so) in 1980 is worth around £22 today
so rip off or not, it is a HUGE increase
Luckily I COULD afford to pay, but I choose not to as in my view it's not worth it
those will fill the front row will take a different view to me and that is their right

[Allitnil]

Get yourself a time machine and go back to 1971 when you could see Genesis, Lindisfarne and Van der Graaf Generator all for 6 bob. That's under a fiver even allowing for inflation!

Looking back now, it's not easy to comprehend either the amount of record company subsidy or that Genesis and Lindisfarne were the support acts...

[pje16]

6 bob - that's 30p for the young un's
sure I've still got an old Bowie ticket with 5s on it somewhere

[CliffEdge]

How on earth do they persuade people to pay to listen to their drivel. Phil Collins yes. Genesis, the battle of Epping forest, what a load of tripe.

[monabri]

At almost £900 for 2 tickets and an additional handling fee of ?? ( I didn't bother to find out!)...I think that's excessive! But, maybe someone else is willing to shell out that sort of money?

Oh well, at least the 2 tickets would be together..

Source of quote.
https://www.viagogo.co.uk/Concert-Ticke ... /E-4647403

[pje16]

Not such high fees using Ticket master
Front block at Leeds

[Watis]

Get yourself a time machine and go back to 1971 when you could see Genesis, Lindisfarne and Van der Graaf Generator all for 6 bob. That's under a fiver even allowing for inflation!

Looking back now, it's not easy to comprehend either the amount of record company subsidy or that Genesis and Lindisfarne were the support acts...

And, looking back, who, among us gig-goers in the 1970s, would have believed anyone who told us that, in the 21st century, venues would be filled with people prepared to pay to listen to rock 'n' roll performed by pensioners!

Watis

[pje16]

In the 70's you didn't see most of the big stars of the 50s and 60s they had mainly overdosed, crashed cars, or planes

[BobbyD]

Tickets are priced at what the market will stand. With big tax rises around the corner prices are only going one-way.

If tickets were priced at what the market will stand there would be no highly lucrative secondary market. Tickets are priced at what the artist's long term relationship with the fan will stand which is considerably lower in many cases! I've often wondered what percentage of tickets in official hands find their way directly in to unofficial channels, and why people would rather that the artist's and promoters who bring the talent and bear the cost of putting on the show only receive £50 a ticket and Trevor T. Tout bakes £200 a ricket for inserting himself in to the chain than the artists and promoters charge £250 from the off.

[mc2fool]

Get yourself a time machine and go back to 1971 when you could see Genesis, Lindisfarne and Van der Graaf Generator all for 6 bob.

Sounds like an all-nighter at the Lyceum.

Indeed, the first time I saw Genesis was at an all-nighter at the Lyceum, and they were third on the bill -- below Audience and Van der Graaf Generator! I don't remember the ticket price but I do know it was affordable for a schoolboy whose only source of income was a couple of quid a week pocket money!

I saw Lindisfarne at the Lyceum too....

[gryffron]

There was a govt investigation into concert prices a few years ago. They had a survey and invited comments.

My suggestion was that they directly auctioned the front couple of rows, and then used an airline type pricing strategy to sell the rest. i.e. Initial high price for the best seats, reducing until they started selling, then either reducing or increasing for the remaining, depending on demand.

If tickets were truly sold at the "market price" in the first place, this would basically kill the tout market completely.
Individuals would be free to trade or gift tickets if they wanted, removing the need to take id to concerts.
All the tickets should sell (at some price) so bands wouldn't have to play to half empty venues.
Poor people would get to attend unpopular concerts.
The venues (and surely ultimately the performers) would get the benefit of their true value, rather than all of it going to the touts.
the traditional sale method of first come-first served suits ONLY the professional touts. Who can use their call centres to jam the ticket lines and block true fans.

Gryff

[Gostevie]

I was never a Phil Collins fan (apart from his drumming) but seeing him like this is a bit heartbreaking


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DoB9uyBMa7Q

[BobbyD]

There was a govt investigation into concert prices a few years ago. They had a survey and invited comments.

My suggestion was that they directly auctioned the front couple of rows, and then used an airline type pricing strategy to sell the rest. i.e. Initial high price for the best seats, reducing until they started selling, then either reducing or increasing for the remaining, depending on demand.

If tickets were truly sold at the "market price" in the first place, this would basically kill the tout market completely.
Individuals would be free to trade or gift tickets if they wanted, removing the need to take id to concerts.
All the tickets should sell (at some price) so bands wouldn't have to play to half empty venues.
Poor people would get to attend unpopular concerts.
The venues (and surely ultimately the performers) would get the benefit of their true value, rather than all of it going to the touts.
the traditional sale method of first come-first served suits ONLY the professional touts. Who can use their call centres to jam the ticket lines and block true fans.

Gryff

The best thing the government could do its to keep it's nose out of private enterprise. How private property is sold is a matter for the owner and the buyer and the one thing politicians looking to get 'for the people media coverage' out of the system are guarentted not to do is improve the situation. Next thing you know they'll be shaming football clubs for putting their staff on furlough while handing off billions of pounds of public contracts to their mates with no bidding process or oversight mechanism via Whats App messages which have since been deleted....

It also suits promoters who want to put a ticket price on the poster which won't cause most of their artist's fans to flounce in indignation but needs somewhere else to sell the bulk of the tickets for the concert at the best price... I find it very hard to believe that multi-billion dollar international promotion empires are actually selling £350 seats for £80 in any significant number...

Isn't that the opposite to an airline system where seats start cheap and go up as demand drinks supply? It's the right way around for this though.

[Laughton]

The days when ticket prices were put on a poster are well and truly gone.

Many/most shows now use "dynamic ticket pricing" where prices can be "adjusted" depending on intial and on-going demand.

Promoters and venues are already trying to get rid of the touting business (promoters and artists' managers really do hate the fact that touts are making more money than they are). Buy a ticket from viagogo and don't be too surprised when told it isn't valid when you arrive for the show. The venue will give you a letter confirming and you can use that to get a refund from viagogo - but is it really worth all the hassle?

[Charlottesquare]

How on earth do they persuade people to pay to listen to their drivel. Phil Collins yes. Genesis, the battle of Epping forest, what a load of tripe.

So not a fan of "Lamb Lies Down", "Selling England by the Pound", "Trick of the Tail", "Then There were Three", "Duke" etc,

I always enjoyed Genesis, it was Yes that started to make me want to kill myself.