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Justin
I'm sure that the young crowd was excited to see the Stones at the Isle of Wight Festival because younger fans are for the most part shut out of Stones concerts on tours because of the incredible prices. How can people ages 14-18 afford $450 floor seats by themselves? They can't really go with friends and have a good time when the price for tickets are that high.
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turd
I remember in the mid 80's being a 'closet' Stones fan - people thought it was laughable to really like the Stones, particularly young kids (as in teenagers, early twenties) that was most uncool.
Think today more young folks really like them - it's the old farts who bash them now.
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Lady JayneQuote
Gazza
The main thing that stops the Stones being seen as 'cool' by people under 25 is that their concerts are financially inacessible. Its significant that when the Stones played the Isle of Wight festival last year - which attracts a primarily younger audience to what they usually do - they went down a storm with an audience which, for the most part, was seeing them for the first time.
They received an outstanding reception at Wight (and gave an outstanding performance, IMO) but they were hugely anticipated by the younger than usual crowd. By that I mean there was no question who everybody was waiting to see which leads me to think their music is way more embedded in younger culture than we give credit.
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Lady JayneQuote
Justin
I'm sure that the young crowd was excited to see the Stones at the Isle of Wight Festival because younger fans are for the most part shut out of Stones concerts on tours because of the incredible prices. How can people ages 14-18 afford $450 floor seats by themselves? They can't really go with friends and have a good time when the price for tickets are that high.
I don't quite get where this over pricing argument comes from with the Stones - certainly in Europe. Sure I paid £200 for a floor seat in the first 10 rows at O2 last August, and I accept that youngsters couldn't afford that. But I also paid £70 for a side view second row first tier on the last night of the tour literally feet away from the band and a mere 90 Euros in Paris for similar. There were cheaper seats at both venues. That compares favourably with pricing for current artists (as well, incidentally, as most sporting events) - even a cinema ticket costs £10 in central London and believe me kids go several times a week.
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GazzaQuote
Lady Jayne
You 'dont get' where its coming from - and then say you paid £200 for a floor seat? Its not just most 'youngsters' who couldnt afford that.
There were not cheaper seats at the 02 as I recall. The cheapest seats were £70.
Most of the seats were £150, and the front few rows (which at other venues had seats kept aside at cheaper prices for presales/fan clubs etc as was the case in 2006) were reserved for brokers and Fan Asylum style packages. Only when those went unsold were some of them released to the public (but still at a higher price than the "£70/£150" 'official' price range)
£70 for a nosebleed (and thats what most of them were) only really compares with similar prices for the best tickets for most other established acts in the UK. Sorry, but the average ticket price for a Stones gig in the UK - and especially London - is WAY above that of pretty much everyone else...maybe Madonna is something similar, but I dont think so. As far as I recall, the average ticket price for the 02 shows was in the region of £115-120 (and that doesnt take into account the hundreds that were siphoned off for brokers etc)
Different pricing structure on the continent than the UK but even at that there was a considerably large increase from the shows in the same countries in 2006 - plus in places like the UK and Germany the Stones insist on the venues being all seated (when theres no legal requirement for them to be) to take advantage of an older (and therefore more affluent) potential audience. A similar concept to what theyve been doing in the US since 1999 (and occasionally in 1998).
The UK shows have followed the US lead since 2003, and some continental countries have been given the same treatment in 2007.
Well, I'll have to defer to your greater concert going experience on pricing. Having just had to stump up £80 for the god daughter to see Girl's Aloud, I still regard the Stones as a good deal. But you can't get away with blaming them for all seater arrangements in in door UK arenas. It most certainly is the law and not the Stones that insists on all seats at the O2.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-05-13 10:45 by Lady Jayne.
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Lady
But you can't get away with blaming them for all seater arrangements in in door UK arenas. It most certainly is the law and not the Stones that insists on all seats at the O2.
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Adrian-LQuote
Lady
But you can't get away with blaming them for all seater arrangements in in door UK arenas. It most certainly is the law and not the Stones that insists on all seats at the O2.
incorect.
there is no 'all seater' law at The o2.
the Stones insist on all-seater UK concerts, purely for greed.
Should they ever tour again , expect to be subjected to Ticketmaster auctions.
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Lady Jayne
But you can't get away with blaming them for all seater arrangements in in door UK arenas. It most certainly is the law and not the Stones that insists on all seats at the O2.
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Lady Jayne
Well, what could I know - I'm only a lawyer! Let me know if you are actually interested in the truth and I'll list the legislation and regulations for you!
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Adrian-L
So are you telling me, that the 'stalls standing' shows i've
attended, at the O2, were illegal?
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GazzaQuote
Adrian-L
So are you telling me, that the 'stalls standing' shows i've
attended, at the O2, were illegal?
I just heard that theres a warrant out for 36,000 Led Zeppelin and Springsteen fans for being part of an "illegal assembly" in December 2007!
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rebelrebel
Btw, Liza Minelli is playing Moscow this month for 90,000 roubles which is nearly £1,900.
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GazzaQuote
Lady Jayne
But you can't get away with blaming them for all seater arrangements in in door UK arenas. It most certainly is the law and not the Stones that insists on all seats at the O2.
It most certainly is NOT the law. Not at the 02, not at Twickenham. not at Wembley arena, not at MEN arena, not at Hampden Park, not at the Millenium Stadium and not at Don Valley Stadium
All UK venues which have staged all-seated Stones shows since 2003 and which have staged shows by other artists in that time which have allowed standing.
They had standing on the floor at the SECC in Glasgow in 2003 and that's the only arena or stadium shows theyve put on in the UK in the last tours which werent all seated.
The decision is theirs, and theirs alone. Likewise when they decided to make the German shows in 2007 all seated when they didnt so in 2006.Quote
Lady Jayne
Well, what could I know - I'm only a lawyer! Let me know if you are actually interested in the truth and I'll list the legislation and regulations for you!
Go right ahead, and I'll list several acts who have played at all of the venues listed above and whose shows WEREN'T all seated. Like many others here, I've been at some of the shows in question.
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Gazza
Any 'rock n roll' act who wants to cater to the sort of fanbase that Minelli, Streisand et al aim to attract deserves all the brickbats they get as a result.
£1,900 in a country where about 1% of the population have about 98% of the wealth to see that clapped out old fag-hag....
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Lady Jayne
Seating/standing arrangements in public places of entertainment are, in part governed by local government regulations. They differ from local authority to local authority, and usually according to size of venue and capacity. I'm sure you have stood at Twickenham (I have), Hampden Park etc - they are outdoor stadia and so you are not comparing like with like. Similarly talking about shows in 2003/4 isn't anything to do with O2 last summer, which was the original comment I queried. I note that Adrian says he stood at O2 but then talks about Indigo - a much smaller venue. I can only comment on what could and could not have been licenced in O2's main arena last year at full or near full capacity and can do so for professional reasons. You may have inside knowledge as to the Stones personal negotiations - I certainly do not, but whatever they did or didn't want I can say that they could not have performed to O2's main arena at capacity with standing of more than a handful licenced.