The cost of Adele

[SteveDave]

I suppose Adele's manager knows her audience though - nobody will be arsed about seeing the stage, it'll be about selfies and socials and BEING THERE.  Most of the audience will probably leave a few songs in, like Rolling Stones concerts these days.  Prosecco producers will be the real winners in this.

It's entirely this. Photos with faces right next to each other and their backs to the stage with a tiny Adele in the background and a big screen showing the bass player mopping his brow #adelelive #livemusicisback #hydepark #bsthydepark #proseccooclock #friends #family #bringbackhanging

[Shit Good Nose]

asked the crowd if he was a better guitarist than Mike Rutherford. well I mean. no question there really.

Bit of an unfair comparison - Rutherford is primarily a bass player (and an underrated one at that) who is also able to play guitar.  Most of the flashy guitar work has been handled by Daryl Stuermer (who was Jean-Luc Ponty's guitarist before Genesis poached him) since Steve Hackett left.  Rutherford has never considered himself nor claimed to be anything more than capable on guitar.

[gilbertharding]

Just a note to say that this is the artist who people on this forum were noisily pointing out no-one had heard of when they made that new episode of Goodnight Sweetheart a few years ago:

https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,54336.420.html

As someone on twitter has pointed out, you can go to Hyde Park, ring up an ex-girlfriend and get your shortcomings as a person told you for much less money than they're charging for that.

[Butchers Blind]

It would be reasonable for a smaller venue, but £90 base price scaling up to £500 when they're selling 65000 tickets is a grand level of piss-taking.  I suppose Adele's manager knows her audience though - nobody will be arsed about seeing the stage, it'll be about selfies and socials and BEING THERE.  Most of the audience will probably leave a few songs in, like Rolling Stones concerts these days.  Prosecco producers will be the real winners in this.

This. Most people paying for this probably aren't arsed about whatever music Adele is performing it's all about "Look where I am 😀. Please like" on their socials.
Having never been to one of these Hyde Park things, what's the sound quality like?

[Glebe]

I am Adele I am a really huge star now so you are going to have to getting fucking fleeced to see me.

[gilbertharding]

This is, essentially, a victimless crime. You can't cheat an honest [person], as they say.

[Tikwid]

merzbow also v spenny

Kenny vs. Spenny reboot introduces surprising, ear-splitting twist

[Pauline Walnuts]

https://twitter.com/adeledailynet/status/1452957504820887555?t=QD4LSwwyChDTGO1eWkBlrQ&s=19

I am a bit old, but as someone who once paid $13.50 and sat 2nd row center to see The Alarm and The Pretenders, I oppose this on moral grounds. Also, the first act on stage was Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Desolation.

[gilbertharding]

I've just looked at the internet to find out the prices I paid to go to gigs in history.

£6.00 for Mudhoney plus support (Nirvana and Tad) at the Astoria in 1989.
£32.40 for three days in Reading, earlier the same year.
£22.50 for the Rolling Stones at Wembley 1990.

I honestly can't see what the fuss is about. The VIP area is S4C, obviously, but it's not as if seeing Adele is a basic human right, is it?

[SteveDave]

This. Most people paying for this probably aren't arsed about whatever music Adele is performing it's all about "Look where I am 😀. Please like" on their socials.
Having never been to one of these Hyde Park things, what's the sound quality like?

A few years ago I went and sat outside the fence (facing the stage) for some Radio 2 thing where it was Blondie supporting ELO and you could hear everything clear as. Took our own booze and food and had a lovely time not looking at the withered faces of Debs and Chris and Jeff.

[JaDanketies]

We're paying about £85 a head plus about £15 in fees to see Alanis Morisette doing a Jagged Little Pill anniversary tour. I also once lost about £100 on unused Sigur Ros tickets and £120 on unused  Camel tickets, the Sigur Ros tickets because there was some confusion and someone else bought us all tickets for the previous day (I went to both shows), and Camel because it clashed with my dad's wake.

Mark Knopfler was like £50 a ticket and it was shit tbh

Also we booked tickets to see Cage the Elephant in Paris and then the guitarist broke his arm, and we'd already bought plane tickets, Air BNB etc. We went to Paris anyway.

[gilbertharding]

Cor!



Lend us a fiver mate?

[peanutbutter]

You're probably getting your moneys worth with the base tickets at 90. 8 months of looking forward to a thing (without remotely questioning whether it's worth the anticipation), having a day out and ending it chatting with your pals and taking photos through the gig.

I imagine a huge chunk of the next tier up (275 a ticket) will be christmas gifts by husbands and boyfriends, which I guess is worth it if you can afford it to free yourself of the grief of finding a christmas gift.
You'll be able to get one of those 275 tickets for the general admission price on the day, I'm sure. Loads of those relationships will have ended between now and then.




Think the most I paid for a single gig was about 50 to see Bruce Springsteen on the Magic tour, that album was perhaps his last remotely decent one, the crowd was a decent mix, Clarence was still alive and Springsteen was energetic as fuck so it def felt worth the money. I'm sure he's still pretty good live, mind.

[imitationleather]

I went to see Blur, The Specials and New Order do a 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony thing at Hyde Park. Immense line-up, but obviously totally crap atmosphere. Also by the time the headliner comes on they turn it down so much due to complaints from nearby residents that people can comfortably converse with the person next to them without even needing to raise their voices.

Never go to the Hyde Park for a gig.

[Magnum Valentino]

We're paying about £85 a head plus about £15 in fees to see Alanis Morisette doing a Jagged Little Pill anniversary tour. I also once lost about £100 on unused Sigur Ros tickets and £120 on unused  Camel tickets, the Sigur Ros tickets because there was some confusion and someone else bought us all tickets for the previous day (I went to both shows), and Camel because it clashed with my dad's wake.

Mark Knopfler was like £50 a ticket and it was shit tbh

Also we booked tickets to see Cage the Elephant in Paris and then the guitarist broke his arm, and we'd already bought plane tickets, Air BNB etc. We went to Paris anyway.

Camel?! That's a hundred twenty for ten tickets though right? I absolutely love Camel but in what universe can they command prices like that?

[Icehaven]

even tool are asking like 60 to 100+ quid for seats now. but it sells. market forces and all that. and we're not buying CDs like we were.

I saw Tool in 2001 for £12.50. fuckin hell

Yep I've still got my ticket stubs from a few NIN gigs in the late 90s/early 2000s, about £15. I used to go to loads of gigs around that time, some in smaller places like Wolverhampton Civic, and some larger ones like the NEC, mostly 90s indie and rock bands (Manics, Mansun, Therapy?, Blur, Muse, Marilyn Mason etc.) and I don't think I could ever have paid more than about £20 for a ticket as I simply couldn't have afforded to. I know that was twenty-odd years ago but even so, the difference between what else you could do with £20 then and now is much smaller than the difference between paying £20 for a concert ticket then and paying £100-£150 now.

[JaDanketies]

Camel?! That's a hundred twenty for ten tickets though right? I absolutely love Camel but in what universe can they command prices like that?

I think it was £30 a ticket for four tickets. I guess Camel are one of those bands that can ask for a high price, even if not many people turn up. They were in some fancy venue too, playing Moonmadness. I should've been more involved in my dad's funeral arrangements in order to ensure that I got to see Camel

[sovietrussia]

Think the most I paid for a single gig was about 50 to see Bruce Springsteen on the Magic tour, that album was perhaps his last remotely decent one, the crowd was a decent mix, Clarence was still alive and Springsteen was energetic as fuck so it def felt worth the money. I'm sure he's still pretty good live, mind.

The Boss is of course notorious for his concerts' dizzying longevity, so £50 probably works out around £7.30 in real terms.

[checkoutgirl]

The most I've ever spent was for Genesis a few weeks ago - £180.

Ouch!! That hurt my arsehole just reading that. That price would be expensive if Phil Collins wasn't a complete cripple. Was £180 the cheapest price?

[Steven88]

About £900 for a decent one.
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/desktops-and-all-in-ones/sr/desktops/xps-desktops

[checkoutgirl]

oh! philip glass opera. 45 quid

They only paid you £45 to go? I would have held out for 50.

[Captain Z]

A friend of my parents works at a nearby venue and can sell them last-minute returns of corporate tickets for a nominal fee of around £2, as long as they are prepared to only have about 24 hours notice. They saw Genesis for that price just the other week, similarly Madonna, Take That, Springers in the recent past.

[checkoutgirl]

We're paying about £85 a head plus about £15 in fees to see Alanis Morisette doing a Jagged Little Pill anniversary tour.

I'm the 100% owner of a bridge in London that you might be interested in buying.

[Butchers Blind]

I remember my sister went to see Robbie Williams at Knebworth back in the early 00's. Can't recall how much she paid back then but it wasn't cheap. She told me from where she was in the crowd she couldn't really see him and the sound was so-so and she described the whole experience as 'alright I suppose'.

[H-O-W-L]

Only gig I've ever been to was War of the Worlds in '09 and it was £50 a ticket but well worth that honestly. Delight of a show to see.

[Shit Good Nose]

Ouch!! That hurt my arsehole just reading that. That price would be expensive if Phil Collins wasn't a complete cripple. Was £180 the cheapest price?

No, initially the cheapest was about £120 if memory serves, which went down to about £80 after a few months and days before each gig you could get tickets for about £55 (I think everyone assumed they would all sell out immediately, but I don't think any of them so far have sold out).  But obviously those cheaper tickets were right at the back of the arena.  We were sat on the floor area 18 rows back, so we could actually see them without having to rely on the jumbotrons.

Although £180 is still a LOT of money, and arguably too much for a couple of hours of entertainment, my justification for it was that this will be the last time they'll ever perform live and they are my favourite band so, regardless of Phil Collins' ability (and the fact he can't play drums anymore), it was my duty to see them in the best possible way I could.  It was also fortunate that when the tickets first went on sale (what feels like decades ago) I had £160 already saved up and set aside for a very expensive blu-ray box set (which I finally ended up getting after saving for another year), so most of the money was there waiting.  My expectations were set VERY VERY low early on, and I even thought Phil might not live long enough to actually do the tour, and they went even lower when that rehearsal footage was put on YouTube.  But I - and many many others - were pleasantly surprised by how well he managed.  Yeah, he's not got the range or the power now, and can't drum (he can barely move), but he can still hold a tune. 

I'm glad I went and, if I had the money (which I don't) I would definitely see them again for the same price, no hesitation at all.

Ricky Gervais - who I paid £60 to see (without really knowing anything about him other than The Office) in Bristol back in 2003 - is another matter entirely...

[checkoutgirl]

my justification

The justification is you could afford it and wanted to go. That's it. They priced their tickets at the limit of what they though the market could bear and if it sold out they were right. When icehaven saw Therapy those tickets were also priced at the limit of what they thought the market could bear I imagine, 15 quid.

I think a combination of Spotify and people going stir crazy at home for nigh on 2 years means we'll get 200, 300 and 500 quid tickets for Adele and I can see more expensive tickets too.

Imagine what Take That or Abba could get in this climate. They'd do a fucking bomb.

[JaDanketies]

Although £180 is still a LOT of money, and arguably too much for a couple of hours of entertainment, my justification for it was that

Money's like the wind, you only feel it when it's moving. #yolo

That's all the justification I ever need to spend money. Also it might feel like a tonne of cash, but how much is a meal for two in a restaurant and a bottle of wine these days? It's only the cost of two of them.

Oh shit I forgot I actually spent even more on a Billie Eilish ticket. I bought one for like £50 when she was up-and-coming, and then COVID happened and she cancelled and I got a refund. And then she toured again, officially up-and-come, and the tickets were like £100. I'd already got amped about seeing her so I bought one, and only one. Me and the fiancee are seeing Alanis together though, so that's an expensive night.

I don't just go to expensive concerts though. Actually I used to go to like two £20 concerts every month, so I've got a big backlog of cash in my 'concert fund' pile.

[WhoMe]

Not a concert, but since my Mum really wants to go we entered the ballot for Commonwealth Games tickets next year, found out last week we were successful. £125 each for the evening sesh of Athletics. Add train to Birmingham and potentially a hotel and it's a heavy one. You better bloody enjoy it, Mum.

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Think the most I've paid is about £90 for Rammstein in some park in Latvia. I balk at more than £50 but it seems that bands playing Brixton Academy (generally about as large a venue as I go to) are heading above that price.