Ripping off the Aussie fans

First time i saw bon jovi in 2001, i was 14, time of my life, paid 40 something dollars as it was for the firefighting fund. 2002, i think we paid 90 something dollars for rumba and we ended up front row in front of richie, an exhilirating evening. 2008 i missed out on a ticket. 2010 i'm up in the rafters bc i don't have that kind of money. i love bon jovi but these ticket prices shocked me to hell. still going though but would've loved to have been closer...

I had already posted this but..

In regards of touring, i have worked for a touring company, once an artist indicates they are going on tour, various promotors worldwide submit propsals to bring the band to each region, they include how much artist will be paid for the visit either as a lump sum or per show performance, proposed venues, proposed dates and proposed show numbers, the artist and management company then look and reply to propsals, sometimes asking for more money, sometimes more shows or different venues and it is negoiated.

Now as for ticket prices, the promotor needs to make a profit, if they dont, they will stop bringing gigs to the country. Where I worked they submited a propsal to bring the rolling stones to Australia for 6 shows for $12 million, rolling stones said the offer was to low. If they could get 50,000 people at each show the artist cost was going to be $40 per person. On top the promotor needs to pay for the venue (Some venues are asking up to $1million), promotion (Full page ads in national papers are between $30,000 - $50,000 each), security, hotels, airfares, and make a profit, also the exchange rate at the time comes into play for international artist.

In regards to the $1000 tickets, i agree they are way over the top, but the more people buy the tickets, the more they will try and sell them. I think they may have learn a lesson at the 02 as they were moving people into the pit for free to fill it up. I personally would be willing to pay a premium price to be that close, but not $1000. i think 1/2 that would be acceptable.

I dont blame Bon Jovi alone for the ticket prices, it is a promotor/venue/exchange rate/artist/management issue. They have built a repuation as the best live band in the world, and i would think they could charge slightly more then other live bands.

As of this morning all of the $1800 front row packages had been sold out according to the daily telegraph. If people are willing to purchase them, then they will continue to sell the packages.

In regards to the comments about waiting until cheap seats go on sale, Australians have a love affair with Bon Jovi and live music, i would be highly suprised if the tickets are not sold out as soon as they go on sale as was the case in the lost highway tour. It remains to be seen if they add further stadium dates.

I agree everyone can have an view, to some of the views on this board the ticket prices are expensive, the $299.00 ticket for Bon Jovi is $699.00 for the egales, to other people the tickets are worth the money.

As for the refrence to work for the working man, that song was written after watchin a 60 min story on people out of work, i dont believe jon was writting it from his point of view.

I believe people should vote with there feet, if you think you are not geting value for money, dont buy a ticket or attend the show, if you dont like the cd, dont buy it.

Hey
Thanks for your response.

But we all kind of know that the promoter has to make a living with all his expenses.There's a tonne of things he has to pay for.

What im getting at is that JBJ would also have a clue as to how much his band is slugging each fan on this tour.Am i correct?

Garry Van Egmond brought out ACDC to OZ and Angus Young said there was no way he would allow for the band to the "promoter" to charge 200-300 buks a ticket.Tickets for the gigs were 99-149 dollars at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney.No wonder they sold out 3 shows.

On the other hand BJ seem to be the blue collar working band.My ass they are.Don't preach up on stage that times are tough.Times haven't been tough for Jbj since 1987.The guy is a multi millionaire what's economoically tough for this guy?

I don't want to pay out on the fans because they are just like me, Out to have a good time on a frid or sat night and watch there favourite band.It's the principle of it all.

These prices are a joke.People that are paying these prices are ruining the experience for everybody else.If this band ever comes back the next show will probably be somewhere between 150-400 buks.That's because of the people buying those expensive packages.

One person that i have always seemed to disagree with on this site is SEB.

But i'd like his opinion this time and his honest quote on this so called "peoples band" or working class band or whatever they call themselves on this pathetic attempt to rip off it's fans.

Prices HAVE been an issue for a long time, on this board and elsewhere. I honestly believe one of the reasons they pulled out some rarities at the O2 was because of the furore over ticket prices. That JBJ fanclub show was the same. In Australia there has been considerably less made of ticket prices, and I'm thinking that's largely due to two reasons: a) Bon Jovi hasn't come here regularly since 1995, and b) Aussies have been conditioned to believe that "ripoff" prices are acceptable.

The band does know how much the tickets are costing, but if the expenses of the band, promotor, venues, marketing etc are costing X amount of dollars, dvided by the amount of tickets sold, the tickets are then worked out on an average price. Obviously the closer you are to the front the more you will pay.

Breaking it down further, the production team will land in each venue, up to a week in advance to set up the Huge 45mtr back drop screen and prepare the electronice and sound, now im not saying that this should increase the ticket price, i havent seen The Circle Tour live, but was at the ACDC concert and paid the premium price for a ticket, to me all i could see where ants on the stage. the show was great, but i think the video production needed to be reviewed for big statium shows, from the You Tube vids of Bon Jovi in Medowlands, it seems even the people right at the back can see the big screen.

In regards to ACDC

"Tour co-promoter Garry Van Egmond estimates the 11-date Australian leg of the Black Ice world tour sold about 600,000 tickets at $100 and $150, grossing about $90 million"

Then we have the egales who will be touring AUS at the same time as Bon Jovi, if u excluded the packages for Bon Jovi the Diamond ticket is $299.00 as the most expensive GA ticket for Bon Jovi in Australia, then the egales gold ticket is $256.90. Not much of a difference and you are only getting an arena show, not a stadium production.

I remember when Bon Jovi toured for lost highway here, the tickets were cheaper, but i remember being disapointed as they never brought the stage they used in USA with them, in Australia it was a simple black stage at acer arena and they used the arena screens to show the video.

I guess we could all argue for weeks and weeks about the issue, i agree there are some items in the Bon Jovi packages that are way over the top. If i was paying $1800 i would at least want to shake the bands hand. I dont feel the GA tickets are over the top, i think they are inline with other artist who have toured Australia recently, but this is only my opnion and everyone is entitled to there own. If i had a different opinon i just wouldnt by a ticket.

As long as there are fans out there wanting to see the band and pay the prices that have been set, nothing witll change. As much as people have complained about the ticket prices on this tour, it will gross more then the lost highway tour, obvioulsy it has more shows then lost highway.

About the blue collar issue, i have never heard Jon say he is doing it cause he needs the money, or that he is crying poor. The songs such as Livin On A Prayer, Work For The Working Man, These Days, Dry County are songs about hard time people are having, not songs that reflect Bon Jovi's life as a band, Jon and Richie are song writers, would you like to have a song about them counting there money, or how happy jon is being married, all good songs and big hits are about a lost love, hard times etc, i am sure U2, Bruce have as much money or more then Bon Jovi, but they seem to be able to sing about these issues without much being said.

If i was Jon and read some of the comments on this board personally attacking bon jovi and jon bon jovi,i would have packed up the circus,went home and put my feet up and never recored or performed another song. We are all outsiders, i get shitty at things the band does, i think there should be more live dvd or dvd's of better quality, i think the promotion for the Circle was crap, but i dont know why these issues exist, what outside influences have made the band make decisions in the past, but as outsiders it is easy to be a critic of anyone when we dont know the reasons or the full story.

IMO Jon knows the prices are high and he won't lower them for one reason only.He wants to have the top grossing tour of the year to boost his ego and after disappointing album sales convince himself that he's still relevant.I don't think he cares about the money itself in this situation so much,he wants to be No.1.After all,tours are all that will be No.1 in the future for the band if they don't produce another mega hit,which is unlikely in this particular state of music...Though I personally believe that they could equal their tour income if they lower prices and add more shows,demand for Bon Jovi is very,very high,but prices put casuals off

Yes but Bruce doesnt have 1300 packages at his show does he.His ticket prices are much lower too.Pls dont go on about stage production as an excuse.You were at the acdc show there stage is much bigger than bj stage production thats for sure.

As for shaking the bands hand.They should be shaking our hands for free.Since when do u need to pay for to shake someones hand if you have already been part of the fan club that has made them millions.

Some people need to get a reality check.Im not paying 1000 buks to shake jbjs's hand and tell him how great he is.He should be shaking our hands for free and thanking us.

Obviously you didnt read the article, i was only stating the production team would be there a week out for the setup. Plus i also said that it shouldnt effect the ticket prices. I personal thought the ACDC set was boring. I never once said that the production cost was an excuse for high ticket prices.

Have you been to a Staduim show on The Circle Tour yet? I am not sure how you can say that ACDC would be better or worse if you havent experianced it first hand.

As for people getting a reality check, that is a very narrow minded view. If that was the case we would only have one option on everything we buy. If someone wants to buy a $100,000.00 car and i buy a holden worth $30,000.00 ur saying the people who spend more money need a reality check?? or if i buy a house worth $1,000.000.00 instead of buying a house worth $500,000.00 i need a reality check??.

If you have saved up the $ and are prepared to spend $1000 on a ticket to a Bon Jovi show then you have the right to do that. And all the packages are sold out, so the demand is there. As far as it goes if you personally dont think that the $1000 is value for money, dont buy the ticket.

Im not going to get into an argument about it, you are against the ticket prices for Bon Jovi, i am neutural on the ticket prices and am keeping and open mind.

NZ are not getting the circle stage and tickets are still expensive.

I believe if we had arena shows here tickets would still be this much. I dont think it has much to do with venues or stage set up here, but the fact that we will pay it.

Melbourne cost me $342 US thru the fanclub for LH and I think about $220 US for Sydney and Perth.

This time a regular ticket thru the fanclub is $310 US. So Melbourne was actually more expensive last time for the regular ticket.

I dont really care if he knows the prices are too high. He is not forcing people to buy them.

I find it pathetic that people can bitch and moan about the prices being so high, yet they go out and buy a damned ticket! Then start complaining again! I can understand if they were so expensive that the majority of people couldnt afford them. I am not the majority of people, I am on a low income yet I could afford the more expensive tickets because I saved for it.

If you cant afford a ticket, thats for one of two reasons: Either you have so many bills there is no way for you to save your money, or two, you left it til the last money and are bitching because you were too dumb to save your pennies.

Bottom line, stop whinging about tickets being expensive and then go out and buy one. If they were too expensive you wouldn't have been able to afford one!