Rant!

u2 who played here last september (I think) were equally expensive, it's a rip off I agree but not only from BJ. As long as they sell out stadiums they will sell expensive.

Fact is, a scalper wouldn't make £1500 on a front row ticket, so having a VIP ticket which throws in a bit of food and drink is ridiculous.
A GA ticket shouldn't be more than £40 and seats no more than £60, regardless of location.

The whole "Gold" has always been a complete farce. In 2003 we had Gold seats at Wolverhampton and they were the worst in the venue!!
Likewise at Twickenham in 2008, though fortunately we found someone to complain to and ended up stood right behind the Gold Circle on the pitch.

I haven't been in the fan club since they dropped the wristband part of it. Now you can only take a buddy if they are a fan club member??!? You want to go in the GC with your wife and 2 kids but have to pay for 4 memberships AND extortionate ticket prices.

The problem is that there are plenty of people who will pay through the nose for that moment. I admit to having done it last year at the O2. Paid £200+ per ticket for the front row outside the Diamond/VIP pit. Would NEVER do it again, regardless of how good it was.
All that happens is you a case of the have's vs the have nots. You get a Diamond Circle full of people who are there purely because they can flaunt their money, not because they love the band or it's music. I seriously hope Jon likes looking out at that bunch of people not singing along!

BJ aren't the only ones to blame though. JLS & Olly Murs have a gig at Stadium:MK next month and are charging £60 per ticket!!!

In times as financially hard as they are, when we're looking at 10-20% increases in gas and electric bills, followed by subsequent petrol and food cost rises, for me, a 3 hour concert at £75 just doesn't go into the equation. In fact, at the moment, if it was £20 it still wouldn't work.

For most people it comes down to making a choice between 3 things:
a) Can't afford it, so don't go
b) Save up throughout the year and go
c) Can't afford it, but chuck it on a credit card

For me it's choice A, and it will continue to do so until BJ lower their prices and pick better venues in the UK.

Nice post. My OP wasnt about Take That as much as Bon Jovi. I know Matt's answer to this is, "we have tickets that everyone can afford" but again that is punishing those fans who arent rich enough to buy DC/packages but have spent the last 10, 20 years sleepinging outside stadiums and queuing in all weathers to see them. Some thank you that is by pricing them out.

Incidentally, and completely unrelated - I'm originally from Bradford.....

Other bands do manage to keep the majority out of scalpers hands and not charge the high, high prices of those front tickets.

I would rather pay a scalper higher prices, then pay the NEW SCALPERS, the higher prices. It sat better to pay a regular scalper, then it does to pay the band themselves. They could very well charge decent prices and keep the majority out of scalpers hands, as I said other bands do.

Some bands do charge higher prices for those seats, but no where near what BJ is, and there is no difference in price between front row or 10th row. GA tickets are a flat price, and a reasonable flat price, as are the lower tier seat tickets, no VIP package tickets in this area like BJ. There is not 2 GA sections with one being higher then the other.

Sure there are bands that do as BJ does, but there are others that can charge these prices and don't.

Its easily done - any tickets you buy from the FC you pick up on the day anyway with photo ID, problem solved. If Michael Eavis can prevent touts at Glastonbury and sell 200k tickets every year then I'm sure Bon Jovi can manage it too. Its purely an excuse to raise prices and sell silly packages where you get to take home the chair you sit on and take a picture of his toothbrush backstage.

Every time something like this surfaces, I can't help but go back to the way the Red Hot Chili Peppers did it on their Stadium Arcadium tour. $67 for every ticket in the stadium in the US. The floor area was GA which took the advantage away from scalpers of charging excessive amounts for close seats. First come first serve for the floor and best available.

I understand the different pricing strategies and the pro and cons for fans and the band alike but I feel as though Bon Jovi take it too far. Anthony, Flea, John and Chad made enough money on that last tour to live comfortably, maybe not enough to buy an NFL football team but maybe there in lies the problem.

All hail RHCP. New album August 30th and can't wait! They're a band I will travel up the East Coast to see and play rarities in the US.

Didn't someone like Linkin Park do similar on their last arena tour?! All seats the same price.....

I can't say I really follow Linkin Park to give you a definitive answer.

I don't know where you get that "fact." I've perused scalper sites for years and assure you they can easily make that much on a front row ticket. I've seen tickets selling for $5000 or more EACH and not even front row.

Personally, I preferred the way the show was in Atlanta when there was no opening act. I'd rather not sit through someone I don't care anything about seeing just so they can delay what I came for for another hour and a half. I loved it that Bon Jovi came out and that was that.