Rolling Stones 2019 U.S. Summer Tour

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Bowie Fett, Nov 15, 2018.

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  1. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    Yes, BB still had 10 rows of $99 arena tickets (Hello, Baltimore!), but that tour was a mix of stadium and arena, and I think they started shaving in the stadium shows. Pretty sure that party was over for the US stadium shows in 2015. The "Golden Circle" concept took its time in becoming a part of American concertgoing, although Springsteen and U2 brought it here easrly and often.
     
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  2. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    You have to monitor the Stones' website and social media. Special links become available on the Stones' website ONLY. You cannot find the LDs from a Ticketmaster tour page.

    The only tour I recall the first five rows (arenas)/ten rows (stadiums) at $95 was the 40 Licks tour, when I managed to get them twice (Chicago Comiskey [front row, wide out, didn't use them because we couldn't see anything] and Oakland Arena [front row center for a hot, HOT show]). As I recall, you specifically had to change the TM search criteria to get the $95 tix -- they were not the best available floors which most people went for (and cost $350).

    Don't know how I would have missed those tix for No Security (saw 2 shows in Boston, 2 in Chicago and one in Memphis) or Biggest Bang (saw 2 shows in SF).

    2013 GA Pit VIP was $1750. Some of the 2013 arena shows were $750 for all floor and lowers, until they started flexing!

    Craziest ticket buying was my wife getting theater tickets in 2002 for The Wiltern (LA) and Aragon (Chicago) on the phone with TM. I can remember those out-of-state phone calls like it was yesterday.
     
  3. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member

    Mine was getting a wake-up phone call at 3:30AM to log-on to get tix to the 2002 Orpheum/Boston theater show, fearing all the while that I would be so sleepy that I'd screw up the log-in and purchase process somehow.

    Easiest big theater show tickets I ever snagged was the 2003 Stockholm Cirkus concert...IIRC, tix went on sale late afternoon, Boston time!

    This latest tour? I'm likely to just dig deep into my wallet and buy a VIP ticket to one show. The Stones are a marvel to be still playing, but there aren't many musical surprises anymore from them. I'll go for old times' sake.
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2020
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  4. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    Did I make the call? :)

    My wife and I had spent days like zombies taking it in turns to watch the Stones' fan-club site waiting for the tickets to drop. We finally took a break, and that's when the on-sale happened. We managed to get Orpheum, but LA and Chicago (our planned destinations) had all gone, but NYC and Philly were still available. I can remember having this intense conversation with my wife about better to have the security of NYC and Philly tix rather than gamble, but she wasn't having it (which fortunately worked out for us via phone calls to TM!). We then called a ton of people on the East Coast and Mid-West to alert them. I can remember one of my wife's friends saying, "Thanks, I'll check in the morning when I get up." Like the tickets would still be there!! You couldn't make this up! :)

    I can remember the Chicago and LA theater show tickets listing for $6,000 each on StubHub, NYC, Boston and Philly were $4,500-$5,000. I seriously thought about converting our $50 tickets into wads of cash, but my wife would probably have killed me! :) Besides, Orpheum was my birthday, and I got a shout out from Mick! Woo hoo!

    Indeed! I can remember being asked by a Dutch girl at Vredenburg (Utrecht) how come there were so many Americans at the show, and I had to explain that the on-sale had started at something like midnight local time in Europe, so for those of us based in the US it was like shooting fish in a barrel. We got Utrecht and London that way.
     
  5. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member

    No, it was Debbie T.

    BWA HA HA HA

    But if you get wind that the Stones have added Flight 505 to the 2020 setlist, CALL ME. Mick ignored my shouted request for it in Stockholm. Bortniker...
     
  6. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    So Charlie didn't just practice the (rim) shot eh?
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2020
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  7. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    It was definitely up to 1st 10 rows in 1999. It was at least 6 rows for a "Bigger Bang" arena show in Baltimore.

    And going way back to 1989, at least the first 8 rows in Atlantic City were $39.50 ($10 above the tour's standard $29.50) whereas seating behind that went up to the then jaw-dropping $250.

    What was face value on allegedly available face value pits in 2013?

    Maybe in the bay Area; Definitely the NY-market anniversary shows at the end of 2012 in Brooklyn and NJ were $750 for that seating. I think they dialed it back down to $600 for most markets on the 2013 tour. (I'm guessing Vegas might have been an exception, too, but IIRC they didn't push it to $750 face in 2013 like they had for those few shows in 2012.)
     
  8. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    I don't know, I'd have to ask the wife whether she has her tickets here somewhere (her filing system is toss everything in a drawer, so don't hold your breath!).

    My mistake, I was thinking of the NY-area shows, which were December 2012.

    Don't recall what the top (non-VIP) price was in the Bay Area in 2013, but I do remember that the second price level was around $495 (incl. fees).
     
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  9. SoundAdvice

    SoundAdvice Senior Member

    Location:
    Vancouver
    I think it was the "Sid Bernstein Calling" book. IIRC, he quietly sold tickets early to pay their advance because he was low on liquid cash.

    I heard a similar story about a 3 Tenors show in Japan about 25 years ago where no tickets were sold directly to the general public.

    A newspaper in Nashville did an expose that only 7% of tickets to a local Justin Beiber show were sold to the general public.
     
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  10. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Okay, you're right - pricing did change from "platinum" for pit/good field.

    I was thinking only about pricing for pit/good field dropping below regular/non-platinum pricing.

    That's what I didn't see for NJ1...
     
  11. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I brought a $2 poncho for the show. I stayed dry the whole show! :D
     
  12. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    And for me, the answer is increasingly "yes".

    Depends on the venue and the artist.

    For the Stones, I was willing to Dip because I knew I'd see them up close at least once on that tour - that made me more willing to chance it for the other shows.

    Also, the difference between my $30 Dip ticket and a $500 pit ticket is extreme. Factor in fees and the difference was like $520.

    $330 pit? I probably don't bother with Dip, but that extra $170 just seemed too much more than once - and the frickin' fees for the 1 pit I bought added $100!
     
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  13. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    "Security" was definitely pricier than "Bridges" - at least the stadium leg of "Bridges".

    The handful of arena "Bridges" shows were more expensive, but I think the stadium shows avoided severe tiers of pricing. I think good seats were the same price as meh ones.

    The $60 standard "Bridges" ticket price wouldn't buy you anything good in 1999!
     
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  14. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    What fees do you cop stateside?
     
  15. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I got front row center for the Stones 1989 because they added a second show!

    I'd camped out at RFK for Night 1 and still ended up with mediocre tickets.

    When I drove home, I decided to stop at the nearest ticket outlet. I'd heard they often added a 2nd show when the 1st one sold out, so I decided I could pop in there and see what happened.

    The line for Night 1 still had like 15 people in it when I got there. Right when I got to the front, they announced Night 2, so I was able to land primo seats!
     
  16. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Depends on the location and the ticket price.

    As noted, I paid $100 in fees for my $500 ticket for a show in Maryland.

    However, it appears New Jersey limits the fees. I checked for $500 tickets there and those fees were much lower - maybe $50 or less?

    Still a lot of money, but more reasonable.

    I think my Philly Dip tickets charged like $20 in fees for $30 tickets! The NJ Dip tickets had lower fees.

    That $100 for the Maryland pit ticket is the most I ever paid in fees for one ticket!
     
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  17. adm62

    adm62 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Fees that are a percentage of the ticket price is the biggest scam ever.
     
  18. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Sounds just like legal theft, appalling!
     
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  19. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block

    Yeah, I read the same thing about that Beiber concert in Rolling Stone also.
    What a scam.
     
  20. footlooseman

    footlooseman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Joyzee
    grab that cash.....
     
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  21. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Sounds humane to me if the other 93% were not!
     
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  22. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Yeah, I would have to agree. It doesn't cost TM any extra to sell me a $500 ticket vs. a $10 ticket, but they'll charge much higher fees for the latter.

    But on the other hand, if they went with one fixed price - say, $20 - then people who buy lower-priced tickets will have a cow.

    "I paid $20 in fees for my $10 ticket!!!"

    I'm fine with %age up to a point. They should cap it at a max of, say, $50...
     
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  23. adm62

    adm62 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    More like $5
     
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  24. Experiencereunited

    Experiencereunited Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland
    Fees are the biggest crock and hidden cost to fleece the consumer at the last minute ever invented. They should be incorporated into the ticket price up front as part of the ticket price and then done.

    Artist gets so much, ticket service gets so much, venue/promoter gets so much from the agreed to ticket price and then finished.
     
  25. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Up until recently some online airline bookings, attracted an unexpected & high fee just as you completed your transaction.
    That practice seems to have been outlawed now in Australia.
    I guess all one can do is continue to make noise about such things.
     
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