Easy on our pockets Bono

[antmccarthy]

Very well said Cori.


Miraslova: I was hilighting the fact that when people go to a concert they have much more to consider than just the ticket price. And I know that we dont have to go if we dont want to pay.
I am a U2 fan.
If things keep going as they are then on their next tour my seat and many more real fans seats will be bought up by companies wanting to bring their uninterested clients for a night out. Because many of the grass roots fans simply won`t be able to afford it.

 

[MTEdge]

As for the U2.com premium service vs. Interference premium service, I've certainly been getting my money's worth here. I wouldn't have gotten $40 of value from U2.com, had I spent the money. I was able to find face-value tickets elsewhere without the pre-sale, and the other stuff they're offering doesn't equate to $40 in my eyes.

I'm not sure how you can knock U2.com's premium membership if you aren't a member, and haven't had the opportunity to take advantage of the premium benefits that U2.com offers. By contrast, I do feel I can compare the two even though I am not a premium member of interference.com (since U2.com offers more benefits than what interference offers).

My point is that U2.com offered a chance to get pre-sale tickets (yeah, I know the pre-sales were a mess, but most ended up with four good, if not great, tickets for two different shows), a 25% discount on U2 merchandise, an email account without restrictions as to volume (as far as I know), access to bulletin boards, full videos, and special behind the scenes footage and diaries, etc. While interference offers some of those benefits (including this amazing forum), it's utterly unfair to say that U2.com charging an additional $28 is excessive (given the additional benefits provided by U2.com), as was claimed earlier in this thread. FWIW, as a former Prop member, I was able to get GA's to NJ1 and MSG3 (Oct. 8).

Also, I'd be curious to know for which location you got face value tickets. Were they during GA's purchased during general sales?

 

[corianderstem]

Fair point about judging U2.com while not being a member. From my point of view, and weighing how useful/valuable those things are to me, I'm still not sorry I signed up.

I got face value tickets in the pricey section during the Ticketmaster sale ($160, but they were great seats, and Seattle 2 was such an awesome show, so it was totally worth it), then got a single nosebleed seat for face value off Ebay (actually paid less because the girl was desperate to get rid of it), and lucked out via Craigslist and got a GA ticket for face value. I also bought a GA ticket for the December Portland show for face value, from a gal in England who had an extra ticket. Oh, forgot about Vancouver - got a GA ticket for face value on Ebay. I think it went for cheap because it was an eticket.

So, yeah, if I'd stuck only with the Ticketmaster route, I might have ended up wishing I'd signed up for the pre-sale. But everything worked out for me in the end, and I ended up with a bunch of great tickets that I didn't have to buy from a scalper or ticket broker.

In hindsight, yeah, I'm glad I didn't spend the $40, because I got tickets anyway and the features of the paid membership aren't worth it to me. If I hadn't been able to find cheap, good tickets? Yeah, I'd probably be regretting not shelling out the $40.

 

[trainspotter]

If things keep going as they are then on their next tour my seat and many more real fans seats will be bought up by companies wanting to bring their uninterested clients for a night out. Because many of the grass roots fans simply won`t be able to afford it.

Very good point, this was what I was trying to say in my posting about them being fashionable at the moment, in the UK Madonna played indoor arena shows last year that sold out immediately, and more than half of the tickets were £150 ( $280) each.

not wanting to drift this thread, there are many p1ssed off man utd fans, worried about possible ticket price increases due to their takeover. Some have said that they will boycott their club, but the reality is , unfortunately, that for every one that does that, their are two more that would love to buy their seat.

 

[Mirrorball Man]

after having a few enjoyable pints of Guinness

Are people being forced to drink and enjoy Guinness now? Bloody Irish....

 

[Lukeskywalker]

I have to agree with the sentiments of the original poster here. U2 are going too corporate on this tour. The programme is crap. The access to tickets, without going to the touts, is difficult and overall, the show is unoriginal. It feels like Rattle and Hum all over again.

 

[Mirrorball Man]

the show is unoriginal. It feels like Rattle and Hum all over again.

I didn't go to Popmart because of the 'safe' setlist for it. For me they took a step backward then and I could see the shows becoming set in there ways - ie the 'standard' songs and accoustic set (urgh). And it was the same on the Elevation tour. I went to see them this time because they've dropped the accoustic boredom and dug up a few gems. But still, when I saw them at Cardiff it was my second gig after Twickenham. And when Bloody Sunday started I couldn't wait for the encore. Gone off topic there....

 

[cmb737]

I have to agree with the sentiments of the original poster here. U2 are going too corporate on this tour. The programme is crap. The access to tickets, without going to the touts, is difficult and overall, the show is unoriginal. It feels like Rattle and Hum all over again.

Agree, cautiously...but agree...

 

[Lemonfix]

Oh, were the vintage U2 tees at the shows made by Edun? If so, I didn't know that, and it explains why they're $90. If not, I'm talking about the vintage tees that were $90. There were cheaper shirts, and I bought one of those, but I just can't see spending $90 on ANY tee shirt, no matter whose name is on the label.

At the MSG show last month I was amazed that the people around me at the merchandise counter were totally set on buying the $90 vintage shirts. Then I went to Nordstrom a few weeks later and saw that they were selling "vintage" rock shirts for around the same price. It just goes to show that U2 must have noticed a niche in the market that they could take advantage of.

 

[Lukeskywalker]

There's something not quite right on this tour (for me). The show is great and I'm grateful to see them playing with such gusto and committment. However, this show offers nothing new. It's simply a distillation/compilation of all the tours that have gone before and despite everybody's enthusiasm I find this a bit disconcerting.

 

[claytons edge]

Didn't bother with program or t shirt's,but i paid 170euro for saturday and monday and probably more on drink,infact i know about 275euro on alcohol,then 70 or so on food an taxis,but for me it was worth it and i will pay it again in 2007 when they tour again

 

[Lukeskywalker]

Next album in 2008. Next tour in 2009.

 

[caragriff]

i think many of the complaints here are at least reasonable.
but as has been pointed out in this thread:
U2 is NOT asking for people to donate money via text. they are asking you to text your support for a campaign that pressures government to spend the tax money you have ALREADY paid and use that money to support life rather than death.
that is all.

 

[BVS]

Bono does not ask for money. In fact at the shows I was at Bono made a point of saying he is not asking for your money he is asking for your voice.

Anyone that says that Bono asked for money was not listening to him.

I'm glad you brought that up, makes me wonder if this person was really there.

 

[stevec]

Sorry Liv but I was trying to highlight my case which you can bet is repeated thousands of times by fans on every night of the tour.

I would travel to the end of the earth to see U2 but we must at some point start to question the amount of money our favourite band is trying to make out of us.

I don`t have a problem with the ticket price. Its an expensive production and worth every penny.

But these little extortions like the programmes, t-shirts, u2.com etc are a bit of a let down. Especially when Bono thanks us for giving him and the band such a great life.

You made good commetns and did it without ranting, which earns you extra bonus points too

T-shirts. Yeah that's a sticky one for sure. I saw some of the so-called classic shirts (War, October, etc) for about £80 or so and thought "fuck off!" They maybe weren't selling fleeces, but there sure was a lot of 'fleecing' going on!!

To keep my costs down I started saving money every month from January, so that I would have enough to buy pretty much whatever I wanted. I'd advise anyone with major cost issues to consider doing that in future, as it really did help me immensely.

What I would say tho is this (and I mean no disrespect) - If the cost/travel/accommodation were really too much for anyone to cover, I suspect they just simply wouldn't go to the concert. The fact that you did, suggests that it probably wasn't too much of a hardship in the long run.

Fair comments tho!!

 

[claytons edge]

Well at croker 3 he said hold out your mobiles even if you didn't want to donate which the lady did, but at croker 2 i had far to much drink in quinns to remember what he said.Doe's anyboby remember droping me home,because me an the lady on saturday and monday cant remember getting home,haha fuckin great, i love when the misses can remember less than me so i can make up bullshit

 

[Lemonfix]

There's something not quite right on this tour (for me). The show is great and I'm grateful to see them playing with such gusto and committment. However, this show offers nothing new. It's simply a distillation/compilation of all the tours that have gone before and despite everybody's enthusiasm I find this a bit disconcerting.

That maybe, though I have only seen one show so far and can't really judge as of yet. However, when that thought creeps into my mind I have to remind myself that very few bands, 25 years on, are still touring, AND, touring to support new music, AND actually playing 8/9 new songs, most of which are actually liked by the audience. Not to mention with the same line-up they always had. This makes me feel lucky to be a U2 fan. Many bands of their stature would be broken up by now, or playing a Greatest Hits Tour.

 

[Hawkfire]

I'm surprised how many people feel of like mind here...something is not right in the garden of Eden (or U2). If is walks like a duck, talks like a duck, quacks like a duck...well, you know the rest.

Believe me, it hurts. This is my all time fav band here. I scooped up 6 POP import singles and every PopMart T-shirt, for goodness sake. I followed them to Slane on Elevation (and brought my middle aged parents to boot!).

But U2 is cringe-worthy now. The CONSTANT self-promotion. The price-gouging. The over-the-top caricature politics. This tour is lacking the spark. The new album is totally competent but nothing inspiring, nothing particularly original, apart from maybe Love & Peace. A U2 paint-by-numbers.

The same with the tour. Hey, it's Bullet the Blue Sky, culled directly from Rattle & Hum! And now, The Fly, straight from ZooTV!! Let's dial up a tired rehash of Sunday Bloody Sunday that adds nothing from previous incarnations! The fans love it!!! Even a song as powerful as Streets has become a limp aging boxer trotted out now on as if on an oldies circuit. U2 is turning into the jukebox. The new songs all have that "where have I heard this before" slogan...Sometimes You Can't Get Stuck In A Moment. Blinding Lights With No Name...etc. No musical risks to be found, the saddest thing is that this from a band that just 12 years ago was making revolutionary records as daring and brave as Zooropa.

As far as U2 in the new millenium,
we've seen this model before and they are called The Rolling Stones, friends. A corporate behemoth perhaps unmatched in size and certainly unmatched in raking in $100 millions in tours, merchandise and sales. Why is U2 touring the states 70% of the time these days?

I gotta ask Bono, is it for Love or $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$?

I'm scared to answer, because I think I know....

 

[Liesje]

I gotta ask Bono, is it for Love or $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$?

I'm scared to answer, because I think I know....

Yes, b/c I'm sure BONO is the one that sits down and designs all the merchandise and finds people to manufacture it and weights the benefits/costs and decides what is a good price based on demand....

if you don't like it, don't buy it...how hard can it be?

 

[Hawkfire]

Does Pearl Jam charge $90 for T-shirts? Will they ever? Do they charge $150 for seats? Will they ever? Of course not. They care about their TRUE fans and their FREE website and fanclub routinely get their fans the best seats

C'mon...saying the band has no control is a cop-out. Especially U2...they are borderline micro-managers right down to Larry overseeing the T-shirts. Haven't you read Flanagan's Until the End of the World?

 

[redsox04]

You pay for value. Ever try getting a decent ticket for the Sox at Fenway Park? Or an NFL game? Or a Broadway play (sorry, the old lady makes me go)? Good entertainment aint cheap these days. And it I were to ever tally up my bar tab for a year, U2 would be a bargain.

 

[walkon11]

When a band is blamed for its fans buying the $90 dollar shirts it puts for sale, while offering tees for a third of the price at the same merchandise booth...

We have a problem with the fans.

 

[corianderstem]

No, I just have a problem with $90 tee shirts.

I was glad they had cheaper shirts and bought one, but come on. I would have preferred one of the vintage shirts, because I found them more appealing than the rather dull $30 ones.

I'm sorry, but $90 for a piece of cotton with sleeves and a neckhole just boggles my mind.

 

[matt_tx00]

I agree with everything you all are saying. However, there seems to be no problem with supply & demand on this tour. And other artists like Paul McCartney are still charging more than U2 for tickets.

Every one of these shows is sold out. And its not like U2 is doing just one or two shows in each city. I mean, what, 7 shows at MSG, five shows in Boston, four shows in Philly? Even the October Philly shows which were relatively "cheap" a couple of months ago - I've actually seen the brokers raise prices in the last few weeks and even some of the mediocre seats that they were selling for high prices have sold.

At least the two shows I went to fans seemed to be eating up the $90 t-shirts.

Until we stop going to these shows, and buying these t-shirts why would U2 ever lower the prices?

 

[Liesje]

C'mon...saying the band has no control is a cop-out. Especially U2...they are borderline micro-managers right down to Larry overseeing the T-shirts. Haven't you read Flanagan's Until the End of the World?

Yes, I have, and I've also read an intro level Economics textbook and like it or not, everything the band is doing makes perfect, logical sense.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I swear I've read in multiple threads and news articles that some shirts were more expensive b/c Edun was manufacturing them w/ organic materials in "fair trade" factories

 

[Hawkfire]

I have no problem with U2 making a lot of money for their concert tickets - they should. But when the pursuit of said money has come at throwing the longtime fans under the bus, something's amiss. And when you promise 4 magazines and ticket access to your fanclub for $20, only to turn around and not deliver stated magazines (nor ticket access, if you joined post 2001), and say you get absolutely nothing for your $20, but you can PAY an additional $20 for "premium" website access (to what would be a sh*tty ticket presale), that's called BAIT & SWITCH.

It's a PRICE GOUGE. No other way around it. I can afford $20, but out of principle I said this isn't right (and, based on the results of that mess of a presale, I thanked my lucky stars I did not participate). If you wanted to charge me $40 back in '97 fine, I can pay or not pay, that's my call. I've given thousands of dollars to line this band's pockets, and for being in their fan club I can PAY an additional $20 for diminished services (PROP came through at ticket time, more than can be said for U2.com)? Thanks, but no thanks.

It doesn't help that this price gouge for fanclub and merchandise is coming at time that their new music has absolutely fallen off the cliff, but I think it further emphasizes how far off the ball these guys are right now, sorry to say.

 

[corianderstem]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I swear I've read in multiple threads and news articles that some shirts were more expensive b/c Edun was manufacturing them w/ organic materials in "fair trade" factories

If that's true, I'll stop bitching about those damn shirts. But I'll throw in a slight whine that maybe they should have advertised that somehow in the merchandise booths.

 

[Liesje]

I have no problem with U2 making a lot of money for their concert tickets - they should. But when the pursuit of said money has come at throwing the longtime fans under the bus, something's amiss. And when you promise 4 magazines and ticket access to your fanclub for $20, only to turn around and not deliver stated magazines (nor ticket access, if you joined post 2001), and say you get absolutely nothing for your $20, but you can PAY an additional $20 for "premium" website access (to what would be a sh*tty ticket presale), that's called BAIT & SWITCH.

It's a PRICE GOUGE. No other way around it. I can afford $20, but out of principle I said this isn't right (and, based on the results of that mess of a presale, I thanked my lucky stars I did not participate). If you wanted to charge me $40 back in '97 fine, I can pay or not pay, that's my call. I've given thousands of dollars to line this band's pockets, and for being in their fan club I can PAY an additional $20 for diminished services (PROP came through at ticket time, more than can be said for U2.com)? Thanks, but no thanks.

It doesn't help that this price gouge for fanclub and merchandise is coming at time that their new music has absolutely fallen off the cliff, but I think it further emphasizes how far off the ball these guys are right now, sorry to say.

I'm still really confused as to why you're so bitter over this. No one held a gun to your head and FORCED you to pay for the fanclub, the tickets, the programme, the shirts, etc. I'm if you felt you HAD to in order to be a legit fan or something, but really, can't we just grow up and accept the fact that mistakes were made (talking pre-sale here) and I've heard the band apologize at the shows I went to and at other events given any chance to. It's time to let go....

 

[Liesje]

If that's true, I'll stop bitching about those damn shirts. But I'll throw in a slight whine that maybe they should have advertised that somehow in the merchandise booths.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-03-13-bono-clothing-line_x.htm

So, will U2 be wearing Edun clothes on their upcoming world tour, which kicks off in San Diego on March 28 and runs through December? Bono isn't sure yet, but U2 guitarist Edge "has been wearing Rogan's stuff, anyway," Bono says.

The band's concert T-shirts, however, will be made by Edun.

Says Bono: (Drummer) "Larry Mullen is hard to please in terms of quality, and for years, rock 'n' roll bands have been putting out T-shirts that fall apart, and we've always had good-quality shirts. So we had to prove to the band that this was better quality than what we're used to, and we did."

 

[walkon11]

I'm still really confused as to why you're so bitter over this. No one held a gun to your head and FORCED you to pay for the fanclub, the tickets, the programme, the shirts, etc. I'm if you felt you HAD to in order to be a legit fan or something, but really, can't we just grow up and accept the fact that mistakes were made (talking pre-sale here) and I've heard the band apologize at the shows I went to and at other events given any chance to. It's time to let go....

Good post. I joined Prop in 2001-2, got one magazine (I think) and then found out about it going under. Do I have reason to gripe? Maybe so. But what am I in it for? The freebies? The service U2 give me? I love the music, plain and simple, and it makes me forget all about whatever mishaps along the band makes along the way.