Rant!

Yesterday made me see how much fans of Bon Jovi are getting ripped off on this tour. I saw Take that and paid £55 for a 2 and half hr show with a support act (Pet shop boys - before you mock they played 45 mins of well known hits here). We also got loads of special effects, fireworks, massive crew etc.

We turned up at 1pm and managed to get 3rd row next to the ramp on a normal priced ticket. Then I get a text from Kev to say there are 4 pits at Bon Jovi, DC, FC GC, GC and GA. Insane. For on average £90 a ticket Bon Jovi can't even provide us with a support act.

Now before you all say: go and see Take That x amount of times then - obviously I prefer BJ's music and wouldnt see multi TT shows - it just made me see how much fans are getting short changed. Regardless of what you TT's music, they have sold out over 20 nights in the UK and could easily have a shitty front pit and charge £200 a ticket - but they don't rip off their fans like a certain other band.

Take note Jon - sack your money grabbing brother and have one universal ticket - join the FC and get a wristband like the old days. Give something back to your fans who have followed your band for the last 30 years.

Rant over!

Take That are a bunch of fat pub singers who can only play shows in The UK, they don't have the luxury of charging extra.

When they've toured the world for over 27 years come back but until then your crying looks silly.

Take That

Read the post properly. It's not just Take that though is it? U2 I saw 2 years ago £60 a ticket - amazing effects, stage set up etc, ONE ticket for all no money spinning pits and packages.

Yes they may only popular in the UK (although judging from yesterday there were loads of overseas fans at the gig) - they could take adavantage of that but don't.

Forget TT, Why is there no proper support act? Local bands are fine but what happended to the great bands that have toured with Bon Jovi like, Live, MB20, Nickelback etc?

Jon doesn't want to be outdone by an opening act that actually gives a damn about the performance......

According to this article Mr. CEO is to blame.

CEO’ Jon Bon Jovi all about business
The Business Journal - by Mark Kass
Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 9:33am CDT


Mark Kass
Editor
Email: mkass@bizjournals.com


The first clue that you get that Bon Jovi is much more than a legendary rock band is when one of the group’s crew members said lead singer Jon Bon Jovi is the group's “CEO.”


“Jon is a fascinating business man who has built this band into an operation that is run like a business,” said Mike Savas, who handles VIP experiences for the current Bon Jovi tour.
Savas was talking several hours before this past weekend’s show in Milwaukee, a concert that would draw a sell-out crowd to the Bradley Center, even though Bon Jovi has performed in Milwaukee seven times since 2003.


There are very few bands that work harder than Bon Jovi. In the past year, the band has played 74 shows in 15 nations, grossing $203 million in ticket sales and $20 million in merchandise.
Most bands have a manager that runs the group and the tour. But Jon Bon Jovi is the group’s leader on stage and off, Savas said.


“He recognized that he knew the industry as well as anyone else and wanted to determine the direction of the band,” he said.


One of the things Bon Jovi recognized in recent years is that scalpers and ticket brokers were making all the money from the front row tickets at the band’s shows. To keep that revenue, Bon Jovi has put together several VIP packages that include the front row seats.


The band added six rows of seating close to the stage with 200 seats that are separated from the rest of the crowd. The prices for the first row tops out at about $1,500, which includes pre-show hospitality, parking and gifts, and allows fans to take home a custom Bon Jovi chair that they sat in at the show.


“Rather than the money going to the scalpers, it goes to the artist, which is the way it should be,” Savas said.


In all, Bon Jovi shows have up to 20 different price points, including special packages. Admission tickets in Milwaukee ranged from $127.50 down to $17.50.


Many other major artists have followed Bon Jovi’s lead and are now selling VIP packages.

The Business Journal was given exclusive access by the Bradley Center and Bon Jovi for the day to chronicle the business of putting on a major rock concert from how the tour transformed the Bradley Center for its show to how it maximizes its ability to earn revenue through VIP packages.

I know, instead of dealing with problem of ticket touts, lets just put the prices up by 500% and punish all the fans.

And there is the problem, as long as there is a secondary market, the expensive prices to be close won't go away as they will be charged by the artist or the scalpers will buy the tickets and still charge more than what the artist would have charged. As a fan, yep, it sucks Bon Jovi doesn't have less price points for being close yet as a business person I do get not wanting to have a scalper profit.

I also think its a bit of a copout though Deb. I guess with seated tickets thats different but with GA there really is no excuse for it. in 2001 (sorry to Terri and the Sebstage group I already told this to) a GA ticket was £35, FC members got two wristbands per person and the only thing that determined your spot was how long you queue for. The only difference is that instead of the scalper being the average person on the street it is now MattBJ and his buddies.

But, we know fans are weak and they continue to feed the monster. It comes back to supply and demand..I don't disagree Carli with your point.

I thought Bon Jovi were a more pricey than most others until I realised Def Leppard are pretty much charging the same amount for their upcoming tour here in Australia.

Price range is $200 to $99 which I think was the same as Jovi. But then again, the support act is Heart, and not some local band who won a competition.