Gigs and concerts

[SuperBacon]

Not trying to defend it, but I suppose its no different to different pricing tiers for football games. You pay more for a better view. 

I'm actually starting to think there is no tipping point to concert and gig prices. Clipse charging 65 quid at Kentish Town forum? Christ almighty. 

I got well excited at that Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham tease the other day (probably just an album reissue) and then thought of the prices of a potential Fleetwood Mac tour and nearly cried.

 

[Chest Rockwell]

I mean, yeah it's a lot more money.. but I haven't bought the album or Pusha's last couple solo efforts that I listened to death because of Spotify. So I'm spending the same amount of money as a whole and they gotta make money somewhere. 

I fucking hate that Spotify get my money though. 

[SuperBacon]

5 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

I mean, yeah it's a lot more money.. but I haven't bought the album or Pusha's last couple solo efforts that I listened to death because of Spotify. So I'm spending the same amount of money as a whole and they gotta make money somewhere. 

I fucking hate that Spotify get my money though. 

Or course mate, and I've just justified to myself as well as a mate has just got us tickets, but it's mental.

I paid 25 quid each recently for tickets to see The Smyths! A bloody cover band!

[Ironic Indie Lad]

34 minutes ago, Harry Wiseau said:

No there hasn't. I've never really been one for massive outdoor gigs but Guns n Roses at Milton Keynes in 93 didn't have it, Reading 95- 04 never had it and phoenix and Glastonbury around the same time didn't. The first I heard of it was when my brother in law did security at robbie Williams at knebworth and he was working the one in one out system at it. It makes sense for a security thing I guess but they really take the piss with the pricing for it. 

Ok, I will rephrase it.

It has been a thing at outdoor shows for decades. 
 

If there isn’t a front circle there’s a good chance there will be a divide down the middle.

[Merzbow]

6 minutes ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

If there isn’t a front circle there’s a good chance there will be a divide down the middle.

How are you meant to mosh side to side and spin kick your mates faces on either end?!?

[Ironic Indie Lad]

10 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

How are you meant to mosh side to side and spin kick your mates faces on either end?!?

You can’t but it makes it easier to just be on your phone! Every cloud…

[Onyx2]

8 hours ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

There has always been golden circles at major outdoor gigs and / festivals.

I've been watching Live Aid '85 on iPlayer and those helicopter shots of Wembley make me think "yep, definitely need some spacing in there to prevent surging." 

[Egg Shen]

17 hours ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

There has always been golden circles at major outdoor gigs and / festivals.

 

Nah there hasn't. 

They may have been dotted around here and there but in general I can't recall outdoor shows/festivals having them until quite recently.

Download has one now for example, but you don't need to pay to get into it, it's simply a crowd control thing.

Paying for the upgrade is a newish thing. I'm finding the upgrade sections are getting bigger over time too. It's a no brainer for the promoter, they sell as many "Golden Circle" tickets as they can, then any space they don't fill they just offer free upgrades to whoever's bought a standard ticket. Bastards.

Another thing about tickets, Seating tickets always used to be more expensive that standing too, they've flipped that now, the cheaper option is in the seats and standing tickets (which there are more of) have been jacked up as the more expensive ticket.

Edited July 22, 2025 by Egg Shen

[Egg Shen]

13 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

Not trying to defend it, but I suppose its no different to different pricing tiers for football games. You pay more for a better view. 

 

 

Concerts never used to be like that. If you paid a standing ticket to slum it on the floor you could literally get on the rail and have the best view in the place. Seating tickets used to be the more expensive option.

[SuperBacon]

22 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

Concerts never used to be like that. If you paid a standing ticket to slum it on the floor you could literally get on the rail and have the best view in the place. Seating tickets used to be the more expensive option.

Yeah, really interesting (well, not at all) to see it flip like that. I suppose they see getting involved and being near as being better, whereas at my (and all of ours) age, I prefer a nice sit down.

[Ironic Indie Lad]

I suppose I may have worded my original post poorly

It has been common for golden circles / front standing at major outdoor or stadium shows for decades now.

In my experience, it used to be less common for front standing access to be a paid thing. Using Metallica in 2007 for example, the first several thousand in the queue for standing got a front standing wrist band. Other times, like when I went to Rock Werchter in Belgium, there was a front circle but it was more of a one in, one out type of thing.

It seems way more common to have this ticketed seperately now given that people will clearly pay a huge premium for the privilege.

I know its mainly for safety but it does look a bit shit at times. I went to see Metallica at the Etihad in 2019 and was in the front circle. Crowd was really, really sparse at the very front for Ghost.

 

Edited July 22, 2025 by Ironic Indie Lad

[Ironic Indie Lad]

One of my friends pointed out some lower tier seats to Deftones in Glasgow were £150 face value.

Prices just continuing to go up at a rapid rate. That is more than I have paid for a single ticket to a headline tour for any band ever. 

[Chili]

The cost of any big act at the moment means I'll probably never go to a gig again of that level out of my own pocket. 

Anyway I think that crowd control thing is actually a great idea, but it sounds like some cunts have monetized it. 

[Ironic Indie Lad]

You can now buy single night tickets for Metallica European dates.

Previously only available as a package for both nights of their no repeat weekend gimmick. 

[Tamura]

Saw Kylesa at the Underworld in Camden last night. Obviously their near decade long hiatus got in the way a bit, but hadn't seen them since 2012 in Leeds. Support band Telepathy were really good too.