Ticket prices. This is not for you (the fans).

mace1229

PJ_Soul said:

I'm a bit appalled myself. I happened to see my old 2013 10C tix in my account. A PAIR of GA tix for $156 CAD. Holy fuck.

My first show in 1998 was $28. The difference between then and your 2013 show is about the same time between 2013 and now. There was an even bigger jump from 1998-2013.

Ledbetterman10

mace1229 said:

chrisdrake88 said:

mace1229 said:

$200 probably is normal for a band of this caliber. Obviously there are lots of well known bands you can see for less. But the trend is to charge more for shows, and people are willing to do it.
Honestly, who here wouldn't?
Would anyone here open a restaurant, sell out every single night, have huge demand, and not raise prices when you are turning away customers every day? Or make a little extra money so your kids can continue the same lifestyle you've given them even after you're gone? The price sucks, but I don't blame them for it. 

The ticket sales speak volumes. $200 in America might be acceptable, but £160 in London definitely isn't.

And if thats the case, my guess is bands will stop touring over seas. Why do all that travel and added expess of traveling over seas for half the pay?

Well to make up for any lost money, they'll charge $400 for a nosebleed seat to their next tour.

Personally, I've felt that PJ's greed over the past decade and half is tied to the fact that they left a LOT of money on the table in the 90's. From not promoting albums with music videos, to choosing weird lead-singles, to missing out on touring revenue during their fight against Ticketmaster. They probably made a boatlad of money in the 90's, but not nearly what they could've made. So they're making up for it all now. 

AB285441

Ledbetterman10 said:

mace1229 said:

chrisdrake88 said:

mace1229 said:

$200 probably is normal for a band of this caliber. Obviously there are lots of well known bands you can see for less. But the trend is to charge more for shows, and people are willing to do it.
Honestly, who here wouldn't?
Would anyone here open a restaurant, sell out every single night, have huge demand, and not raise prices when you are turning away customers every day? Or make a little extra money so your kids can continue the same lifestyle you've given them even after you're gone? The price sucks, but I don't blame them for it. 

The ticket sales speak volumes. $200 in America might be acceptable, but £160 in London definitely isn't.

And if thats the case, my guess is bands will stop touring over seas. Why do all that travel and added expess of traveling over seas for half the pay?

Well to make up for any lost money, they'll charge $400 for a nosebleed seat to their next tour.

Personally, I've felt that PJ's greed over the past decade and half is tied to the fact that they left a LOT of money on the table in the 90's. From not promoting albums with music videos, to choosing weird lead-singles, to missing out on touring revenue during their fight against Ticketmaster. They probably made a boatlad of money in the 90's, but not nearly what they could've made. So they're making up for it all now. 

If I am them, I am tired of dealing with the BS, so I am leaving it up to my managers and lawyers...I don't see them have the green disease

PorchgirlCO

I’ll be sitting this one out as well. It’s such a shame prices have gone up so much that some long-term fans can’t afford to go now. Bummer.

mace1229

Ledbetterman10 said:

mace1229 said:

chrisdrake88 said:

mace1229 said:

$200 probably is normal for a band of this caliber. Obviously there are lots of well known bands you can see for less. But the trend is to charge more for shows, and people are willing to do it.
Honestly, who here wouldn't?
Would anyone here open a restaurant, sell out every single night, have huge demand, and not raise prices when you are turning away customers every day? Or make a little extra money so your kids can continue the same lifestyle you've given them even after you're gone? The price sucks, but I don't blame them for it. 

The ticket sales speak volumes. $200 in America might be acceptable, but £160 in London definitely isn't.

And if thats the case, my guess is bands will stop touring over seas. Why do all that travel and added expess of traveling over seas for half the pay?

Well to make up for any lost money, they'll charge $400 for a nosebleed seat to their next tour.

Personally, I've felt that PJ's greed over the past decade and half is tied to the fact that they left a LOT of money on the table in the 90's. From not promoting albums with music videos, to choosing weird lead-singles, to missing out on touring revenue during their fight against Ticketmaster. They probably made a boatlad of money in the 90's, but not nearly what they could've made. So they're making up for it all now. 

Yeah, I've thought something that too. Not about the making it up now part, but how they played the 90s.
I can get not wanting to be idolized when you just want to make music. But they must have left a lot on the table from not promoting themselves and the singles they picked.
Of course, the money they lost in 1992 is probably made up in 1 Wrigley show. 

PJ_Soul

Ledbetterman10 said:

mace1229 said:

chrisdrake88 said:

mace1229 said:

$200 probably is normal for a band of this caliber. Obviously there are lots of well known bands you can see for less. But the trend is to charge more for shows, and people are willing to do it.
Honestly, who here wouldn't?
Would anyone here open a restaurant, sell out every single night, have huge demand, and not raise prices when you are turning away customers every day? Or make a little extra money so your kids can continue the same lifestyle you've given them even after you're gone? The price sucks, but I don't blame them for it. 

The ticket sales speak volumes. $200 in America might be acceptable, but £160 in London definitely isn't.

And if thats the case, my guess is bands will stop touring over seas. Why do all that travel and added expess of traveling over seas for half the pay?

Well to make up for any lost money, they'll charge $400 for a nosebleed seat to their next tour.

Personally, I've felt that PJ's greed over the past decade and half is tied to the fact that they left a LOT of money on the table in the 90's. From not promoting albums with music videos, to choosing weird lead-singles, to missing out on touring revenue during their fight against Ticketmaster. They probably made a boatlad of money in the 90's, but not nearly what they could've made. So they're making up for it all now. 

Perhaps.... but it is kinda interesting to see that the poorest members of the band have net worths of about $70 million, lol.

BF25394

Wilco87 said:

False_Belief said:

mace1229 said:

guypjfreak said:

As a disabled person I've had to pay for 2 tickets as Ticketmaster doesn't seem to recognise the disabled button.. Incase you didn't know if I are disabled...walking.....you can email the ticket companies and they should automatically let me buy 2 tickets and one free for my career..as it is I'm up a bit but got tickets so hey ho . lolol
Tried to get Barcelona tickets but that was Fubar 

A free ticket for your career?

They obviously meant ‘carer’.   Stop being weird.  

I don't think it was "weird". I was just as perplexed. Makes more sense.

On a side note, if the "care giver" role requires extremely minimal medical knowledge/training and limited physical effort, I would love to pursue a side hustle as a "care giver" to take those wishing to attend a show (or sporting event).

I think I first came across the term "carer" in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, which I recommend.

Henderson7

Not defending it because the whole thing is gross but I think part of this is bands are starting to say screw it we are charging x and we are getting the money instead of charging $90 lets say and some other person is taking that ticket and charging $180. Theya re almost trying to outprice the resale market in a way. 

gettingright

PorchgirlCO said:

I’ll be sitting this one out as well. It’s such a shame prices have gone up so much that some long-term fans can’t afford to go now. Bummer.

If you don't already know them, check out Black Belt Eagle Scout; playing Globe on March 26th for $28 (including fees) with two local openers. 

BF25394

Abe Froman said:

The prices are ridiculous. It’s really hard to defend PJ here knowing what they’ve stood for all these years. They have changed. Pearl Jam is a brand now. Other than the make up Indy show which I already have tickets for, I too am sadly sitting this tour out. I didn’t think I would ever be typing this. So many things have added up slowly and has dampened my excitement about PJ. 

Here’s a few:
- ticket prices
- no more fan club t or vinyl
- much shorter shows
- the insane merch frenzy and lines
- shipping prices through 10c
- vinyl price of Dark Matter

I get the “reasons” behind most of this and the band has certainly earned the right to do whatever they want but it doesn’t change the fact of how some of us feel that have been here since the beginning. It bums me out. I do love the new single and I’m excited to hear the rest of Dark Matter but I can’t help all the negative feelings I’ve been having surrounding my favorite band of all time. 

I can see why the first three things might bother you (although the shorter sets are fine by me; it's quality, not quantity, I'm after). But with the respect to the last three things:

Don't give a shit about merch, and that will solve one of your issues. Are you a PJ fan for the merch, or for the music?

Don't buy vinyl, which is a luxury item given that the same music is available on CD for a lot cheaper, and that will solve another one of your issues.

Don't buy from the Ten Club, but from your local retailer or record store, and that solves another one of your issues.

mcgruff10

TN49724 said:

The saddest part about the complaining is that the band does not care.  Not one bit.  They are wealthy beyond their wildest imaginations.  These are not the same youthful rebels everyone fell for 30 years ago.  

bingo

chiefnjk

When does F2F start?

AlaG

BF25394 said:

Abe Froman said:

The prices are ridiculous. It’s really hard to defend PJ here knowing what they’ve stood for all these years. They have changed. Pearl Jam is a brand now. Other than the make up Indy show which I already have tickets for, I too am sadly sitting this tour out. I didn’t think I would ever be typing this. So many things have added up slowly and has dampened my excitement about PJ. 

Here’s a few:
- ticket prices
- no more fan club t or vinyl
- much shorter shows
- the insane merch frenzy and lines
- shipping prices through 10c
- vinyl price of Dark Matter

I get the “reasons” behind most of this and the band has certainly earned the right to do whatever they want but it doesn’t change the fact of how some of us feel that have been here since the beginning. It bums me out. I do love the new single and I’m excited to hear the rest of Dark Matter but I can’t help all the negative feelings I’ve been having surrounding my favorite band of all time. 

I can see why the first three things might bother you (although the shorter sets are fine by me; it's quality, not quantity, I'm after). But with the respect to the last three things:

Don't give a shit about merch, and that will solve one of your issues. Are you a PJ fan for the merch, or for the music?

Don't buy vinyl, which is a luxury item given that the same music is available on CD for a lot cheaper, and that will solve another one of your issues.

Don't buy from the Ten Club, but from your local retailer or record store, and that solves another one of your issues.

One of the upsides to the shorter shows from my perspective is that I can finally take friends who are mildly interested in attending a Pearl Jam show with me without asking them to sit through a marathon!

And yeah...the band has been performing way better since set lists got shored up a bit with Gigaton. It needed to happen at some point and they're finding other ways to deliver imo.

SHZA

Henderson7 said:

Not defending it because the whole thing is gross but I think part of this is bands are starting to say screw it we are charging x and we are getting the money instead of charging $90 lets say and some other person is taking that ticket and charging $180. Theya re almost trying to outprice the resale market in a way. 

Absolutely. Why should a ticket broker who does nothing but flips make more money than the actual artist? 

Ledbetterman10

mcgruff10 said:

TN49724 said:

The saddest part about the complaining is that the band does not care.  Not one bit.  They are wealthy beyond their wildest imaginations.  These are not the same youthful rebels everyone fell for 30 years ago.  

bingo

AlaG

SHZA said:

Henderson7 said:

Not defending it because the whole thing is gross but I think part of this is bands are starting to say screw it we are charging x and we are getting the money instead of charging $90 lets say and some other person is taking that ticket and charging $180. Theya re almost trying to outprice the resale market in a way. 

Absolutely. Why should a ticket broker who does nothing but flips make more money than the actual artist? 

I think a lot of artists have begun thinking this way. I think what they need to figure out though is does it just set the prices even higher for regular people? Apparently for some folks there is no upper limit on what they are willing to pay.

CaliforniaSun77

Henderson7 said:

Not defending it because the whole thing is gross but I think part of this is bands are starting to say screw it we are charging x and we are getting the money instead of charging $90 lets say and some other person is taking that ticket and charging $180. Theya re almost trying to outprice the resale market in a way. 

Except, you can strongly curtail resale over face in most areas. Ticketmaster can require all resale happen on their site for face value. It won't eliminate it but it reduces it a ton. I will never forget them testing the live barcode at a Black Keys show at the Wiltern. People had done the usual PDF of the ticket resale, and were shut out. It was chaos. This is now standard and works well.

bigbiggzy

It does beg the question - what is the future of live music / concerts?  

Post Covid - it’s been nuts. Clearly not sustainable for the long run. 

hadrielia

I think blaming re sellers for the prices is just an excuse. Easy way to stop them is F2F sale and enforce buyer ID when entering the venue. Biffy Clyro in UK has done this in the past for exclusive gigs with success. Yes it has downsides if you cannot attend for whatever reason you lose the money.

I guess it is better to be paid $800 per ticket, that doing what's right.

AB285441

bigbiggzy said:

It does beg the question - what is the future of live music / concerts?  

Post Covid - it’s been nuts. Clearly not sustainable for the long run. 

My colleague said he purchased a VR headset and connected it to his streaming service and watched an NBA game live, courtside.  Said it was just like being there...not the experience I would seek, but where are we going....