I think this discussion leads to the point that a lot of die hard stones fans will pay the price for a ticket. But people who would just like to see the Stones once or just to see them might not throw up the cash for a ticket. And these people will be missing to fill the stadiums for surely in Germany, though prices are not comparable with Japan.
It is simply that you can do a week holiday in Turkey with all inclusive for the same price you get 2 hours of the Rolling Stones. I know that this is a very bad comparison, but a lot people take this comparison. And I must admit even myself which paid by now thousands of either Euro or USD or CHF, it doesn't matter anymore comes to a point where you must say: is this all worth it?
For me it is and it was during the concerts I saw in the US. Because it's not only the Stones it's also the wonderful people you meet from all around the world. And that's more worth than the ticket sometimes...

Very good points. When I told one friend how much I had paid for my ticket for Friday night (about $1200 for a pair), my friend asked "wouldn't you rather take your wife on a charter package to Guam?"

My answer was no, but I think that for many people the answer would be yes.

I hear Sapporo and Nagoya show in Japan have more empty seat than Tokyo.

It would seem that for some gigs on the current tour, the Stones may have mis-judged their market in terms of the numbers of people willing to pay top bucks for tickets. This is not the first time either.

At their Manchester show during the Licks tour, hundreds of fans stood in line from the early hours of the morning in a quest to secure the CHEAPEST SEATS. They were sold out within minutes, whereas the expensive seats in the front blocks took about two months to eventually sell out.

The situation has been compounded on the current tour by an increase in the actual proportion of seats that are within the top category, leaving many people to think twice about paying such high prices for what is effectively 90 minutes of entertainment. The Stones know for sure that this is the market (middle-aged with money) that they need to attract (hence the oldies setlist), but outside of the big cities, these people are becoming difficult to budge.

> With all due respect, the Japan shows have not sold well

you must be wrong drbryant. The Stones sell out every show!

And you should know that they need the money as the aim of the tour is not to please the fans with affordable tickets but to make more gross than U2!! (from time to time you have to watch out to not make to much money before tax so you have to give aaway some amount for charity events, that's how business works!).

Now THIS is insane. The latest word from Sapporo is that they are giving away tons of tickets any way they can. Starting over the weekend, Tower Records and other CD retailers were offering a pair of tickets to see the Stones to anyone who buys a CD or DVD, and they do not have to be Stones-related! I don't think that this is entirely a ticket price issue; promotion was late and poor, and Sapporo as a venue was a huge question mark. The promoters are idiots. Fans on the local boards are pissed off because they realize that the audience at the show will suck big time. And the people that are really hurt are the financially-strapped fans who forked over $80 for the nosebleed seats, only to see first tier seats given away to anyone who buys a CD. Jeez. . . . .

Is that true???????

man i wish i lived in saporro (assuming that is true..and its so crazy you have to wonder)...

that would NEVER happen in the US.. EVER.

my new theory: tickets not mispriced in the US....mispriced Japan.. europe?

stoned_in_dc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> man i wish i lived in saporro (assuming that is
> true..and its so crazy you have to wonder)...
>
> that would NEVER happen in the US.. EVER.
>
> my new theory: tickets not mispriced in the
> US....mispriced Japan.. europe?


Next time promotors in Europe will be much more careful I think. Cohl won't have an easy job next tour.

stoned_in_dc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> man i wish i lived in saporro (assuming that is
> true..and its so crazy you have to wonder)...
>
> that would NEVER happen in the US.. EVER.
>
> my new theory: tickets not mispriced in the
> US....mispriced Japan.. europe?


I agree with this. There seems to be two markets-North America and elsewhere. The Montreal show was completely sold out with the whole lower bowl (about 9000 seats) at $350. The other two shows I saw Vegas and Denver were at least 98% sold out with tickets in the $400-$450 range and ticket brokers getting much more.

In any event the days of $50 tickets seem long gone.............

Montrealsuperfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I agree with this. There seems to be two
> markets-North America and elsewhere. The Montreal
> show was completely sold out with the whole lower
> bowl (about 9000 seats) at $350. The other two
> shows I saw Vegas and Denver were at least 98%
> sold out with tickets in the $400-$450 range and
> ticket brokers getting much more.
>
> In any event the days of $50 tickets seem long
> gone.............


And if you think about it, even $50.00 are expensive. Together my wife and I live a pretty normal middle-class life together, but even $50.00 per person coupled with the added costs of an evening out makes for a really expensive night.

I just saw Billy Joel is coming to Frankfurt (don't laugh and please don't flame! I do like the guy), but the cheapest seats are €75.00 for BEHIND THE STAGE! Granted, he plays with his side to the audience, but any normal seat is €85.00 and above.

I paid €60.00 to see Springsteen on the Rising tour in 2003 in Ludwigshafen. He came back to Frankfurt last year and was charging more for a SOLO show. I opted out this time around.

Funny thing is, I'm going to see the Eagles in Hamburg - the first group to go over $100.00 during their hell freezes over tour in 1993 - 1995 - and I paid €55.00 for the seats.

It's not a Stones thing, however, tickets for Christina Aguilera or Shakira or Justin Timberlake (who have all been to Frankfurt in the past 2 - 3 years) have all been right around the €50.00 range.

I don't know what it is, but it just kind of goes against this idea we have about what music is. I remember paying $19.00 to see Alanis Morrisette in 1996 after her first album came out and she was more popular than she ever has been since then. You'd have to pay well over €50.00 to see her nowadays. It just seems to be a cash cow industry. Performers take advantage of their fans and the fans are stupid enough to buy into it.

The best shows I've seen, however, were the $15.00 Gov't Mule shows at the Newport in Columbus or the $25.00 Bob Dylan shows I saw at Vets. Even if I were making a lot more than I am now, it would still hurt paying that much money for a show because you know it isn't part of the spirit of rock and roll.

Having said all that, however, I've still got tix for the Stones in Frankfurt and I'm stoked! Probably will only get to see them once, however.

Take care and peach out . . .

Do you know what I'd like? I'd like all tickets to be priced between, say, £20-40 and whatever price they decide to charge, to have ALL tickets at the same price. Getting great seats should be purely based on a first come, first serve basis. I don't think you can get much fairer than that.

love the stones. don't we all...

but basically; those kind of ticket prices flat out suck and are disrepectful.

i know; supply/demand alla that... spare me...

stoned_in_dc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> man i wish i lived in saporro (assuming that is
> true..and its so crazy you have to wonder)...
>
> that would NEVER happen in the US.. EVER.


yeah it does. There were varying numbers of giveaways at some of the slower selling US shows on this tour. Most notably Detroit.

well i can stand to learn something every day but......

what do you mean by giveaway? i mean i've heard of radio stations giving callers tickets when its not selling out (happened with the ray davies show i was at last week) BUT for a say tower records to give cd buyers of any cd a free ticket to the rolling stones, i have to say, i do not believe has happened...

Harm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is that true???????


It is all over the Japanese language Stones boards, so unless there is some mass hallucination going on, it is. I do know that 2 weeks ago, you could still buy seats on the field for $170.

stoned_in_dc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> well i can stand to learn something every day
> but......
>
> what do you mean by giveaway? i mean i've heard of
> radio stations giving callers tickets when its not
> selling out (happened with the ray davies show i
> was at last week) BUT for a say tower records to
> give cd buyers of any cd a free ticket to the
> rolling stones, i have to say, i do not believe
> has happened...
>
>


It did. Cohl will always make sure a stadium looks reasonably filled one way or another. Detroit was a very slow seller (the joke at the time was that at one stage it looked like the Stones would have more people on the stage than theyd have in the audience). Everyone knew that show would struggle because of the economic problems in the area...they only had an outdoor show because Cohl priced the band out of an arena show in Auburn Hills by asking for a guarantee too high for any promoter to make a profit. There were lots of corporate and other type of giveaways and various ruses to fill the venue. Probaly happened to a lesser degree at some other places too

Common sense is the collection of prejudices or one-sided views acquired by age eighteen.

Un common sense is the collection of prejudices or one-sided views acquired after age eighteen.




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-03-28 05:49 by Toru A.

I would only agree if they let people in under 18 years old.

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> stoned_in_dc Wrote:
(the joke at the time was that
> at one stage it looked like the Stones would have
> more people on the stage than theyd have in the
> audience).

is that why matt clifford got the boot?

In Japan Sapporo and Nagoya have more empty seat than Tokyo.
Local people have more common sense than urban area about ticket price.
Urban people have extra money to waste.




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-03-28 17:05 by masatoshi.

Tokyo Dome was full. Pretty full. Both nights. I was there. I saw it. May be there were a few rows like 50-100 seats empty but who cares. And the one far top nosebleed I saw some empty seats. Plus a few very few may be 500 on either side of the wings. I have been to a few Stones shows so i know how it looks when it is not full. During the show. Sure they had 10 meter space on both sides of the B-stage etc but who knows why they did that. The floo seats don't really make up the numbers when you have chairs. It is typically 4,000 on the floor and 40,000 in the stands i.e. the real seats. So missing a few hundred on the floor and a couple thousand in the regular seats doesn't mean it is a disaster.

Also, the good news are the fans in Sapporo and Nagoya can now get to see the Stones in their city. When did that happen last time?

Bjornulf

It is better to give your money through taxes to government social programs than waste it on the Stones. Europeans should be happy the fruits of their hard labor are better spent on their behalf and not wasted on trivial things like music. It is all part of the superior system of government. Be glad you don't live under Bush and have disposable cash for $450 tickets. Consider yourselves lucky!

Japan is in Europe?

I sympatize with those who don`t have enough money to buy tickets. The world is not fair. I know this would`nt help those without tickets, but there`s a lot of people around the world who does not have money to food.
I don`t like the prizes either, but my choice was to buy one. To me the trip always cost more. this time I have to travel 800 km, but to make it cheap I travel with 4-6 friends and we will use lavvo ( tent) to stay over the nights. You can also save some money, for example don`t go out once or twice or earn some extra...
I`m not rich, but I can clear my head a little bit if I really want something.

Everyone posting to this thread lives in Japan?



You know, I really want a Ferrari F430. I have loved loved Ferraris all my life. I had posters of Ferraris on my wall as a child. I can buy a brand new Chevy for under $20,000. Why doesn't Ferrari care about it real fans? They only cater to snobs and suits while the real fans can't afford them. It isn't fair. I am going to piss and moan until they lower their prices. If I moan often enough they will lower their prices. If Chevy can do it so can Ferrari. Ferraris are a work of art and should therefore be given away for free with no regard to market value. I am a real fan. I will keep the car clean. Rich people won't appreciate what they have. They will let the car get dirty. Damn, I really hate rich people. Life really sucks. I am glad I have a place where people understand where I am coming from, sympathize with my torment, and appreciate my comments.

Steven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>>
> You know, I really want a Ferrari F430. I have
> loved loved Ferraris all my life. I had posters
> of Ferraris on my wall as a child. I can buy a
> brand new Chevy for under $20,000. Why doesn't
> Ferrari care about it real fans? They only cater
> to snobs and suits while the real fans can't
> afford them. It isn't fair. I am going to piss
> and moan until they lower their prices. If I moan
> often enough they will lower their prices. If
> Chevy can do it so can Ferrari. Ferraris are a
> work of art and should therefore be given away for
> free with no regard to market value. I am a real
> fan. I will keep the car clean. Rich people
> won't appreciate what they have. They will let
> the car get dirty. Damn, I really hate rich
> people. Life really sucks. I am glad I have a
> place where people understand where I am coming
> from, sympathize with my torment, and appreciate
> my comments.

I think we all have to understand the direction that the Stones have headed. I went to my first concert in 1972 and have made every tour until this one. Yes I can afford the seats but the value for your dollar has changed. Beginning with the SW Tour the band went from a rock 'n' roll concert to a stage production. I would gladly pay the ticket prices of today for what I heard and saw during the 1970's and early 1980's. Todays concerts are borderline Vegas Shows and not what I've come to want from the boys. Yes I overpaid for the club performance on the Licks Tour and it was well worth it but I no longer can accept paying the current price for a watered down 60,000 seat outdoor arena with all the bells and wistles. That isn't what I want.

Don't you think it's sometimes wise not to grow up.
rsk45