U2 vs AC/DC

[blueeyedgirl]

I'm going to see AC/DC next week at Wembley Stadium - GA ticket £55
I'm going to see U2 in August at Millenium Stadium Cardiff - GA ticket £55

I know now which is going to be the better value for money (I'll give you a clue: it ain't AC/DC)

I reckon I know at which one you'll be grinning more

"it's a long way to the top.... "

 

[U2girl]

I'm sorry, I was off by one tour/album - The Unforgettable Fire. Please forgive my U2 ignorance!

$10 mill/each for Zoo TV? "U2 by U2" actually mentions they didn't make much of a profit off the tour - in fact if they had raised the ticket price by $5 it would have been greatly successful according to Paul McGuinness. Just curious where you got that info - thanks!

T-shirt sales saved them from going bankrupt on Zoo TV.

 

[zwervers2]

T-shirt sales saved them from going bankrupt on Zoo TV.

It is beyond believe that a sold out tour with around 5,5 million people attending the shows still didnt make any profite. 30 dollar per ticket(boy those were the day ) means 165 million dollars without merchandise. You mean to tell me that in order to get that show on the road the had to spend 165 million dollars and broke even?? 157 shows. so 1 million dollar to stage the zoo a night? No Way. esp considering the fact that they played lots of cities twice or three times

 

[Shane Madden]

well if it cost between 1 and 2 million a week for the vertigo tour. Even back then it was probably more than the vertigo tour to stage that show.

Its hard to get to grasps with the cost of staging a show. U2 didnt earn a penny on Vertigo until after something like 60/70 concerts. Its a big money business

 

[Marko]

It is beyond believe that a sold out tour with around 5,5 million people attending the shows still didnt make any profite. 30 dollar per ticket(boy those were the day ) means 165 million dollars without merchandise. You mean to tell me that in order to get that show on the road the had to spend 165 million dollars and broke even?? 157 shows. so 1 million dollar to stage the zoo a night? No Way. esp considering the fact that they played lots of cities twice or three times

It was said during the ZOO TV tour that one gig costed them between 500.000 and 1M USD....

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

other than the very transparent need to bitch about not being able to afford U2 tickets, what exactly is the point of this thread?

 

[mj3600]

I think if they only had $250 USD seats then maybe you'd have a point about them being somewhat greedy. But the fact is there are seats for $35, $50, $90 and $250 plus Red Zone available on this tour. U2 realize they have fans in all disposable income brackets who want to see them live and they do a great job of making the shows affordable for everyone ( unless of course you unfortaunte enough to have no disposable income) . Not every artist is that concerned about their fanbase. If they were just greedy - would they be donating somewhere over $12million from Red Zone proceeds? Now relatively speaking, you might say $12Million is not that much when you think about how much this tour will gross - but that's $12million in pure profit that they could have put in their pockets.

I remember the ZooTV tour got some heat in the press because of $100 USD seats - but for some reason folks don't want to talk about the $30 and $40 seats that were available too (not 100% sure on the exact ticket prices but again they had price points for all their fans).

The lads aren't perfect by any means. And maybe some bands have better fan clubs, perks etc. But all in all, when you consider how the presales went and how the tickets are priced as a whole - I gotta say there's not too much I have to complain about. Other than Boots as their choice for a lead single - but that's a topic on another thread

 

[mikal]

other than the very transparent need to bitch about not being able to afford U2 tickets, what exactly is the point of this thread?

we've determined that ACDC is better than U2 because you can't work out to U2 songs.

 

[standrums]

This has got to be one of the worst threads I've ever read

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

lol, you haven't read too may threads, have you?

 

[Rob33]

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Was just checking for tix for Ac/Dc for a mate at Hampden. Why is it....Ac/Dc gig, its only £60 to sit in the same seats, at the same venue, that u2 fans are being charged £150 to do so.
Can anyone Justify this? Pure greed if you ask me......and its pretty shameful of u2 to take part in this

Ticket price is determined by Supply and Demand! U2 charges 150 pounds for those tickets because that is what their worth in the market. AC/DC charges 60 pounds for the same tickets because that is what they are worth in the market. If AC/DC could charge 150 pounds or 200 pounds for those tickets, they would, but the reality is that its well above market price and they would be unable to sell those tickets if they charged the same price as U2.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

It was said during the ZOO TV tour that one gig costed them between 500.000 and 1M USD....

Actually, the daily cost of the tour in 1992 dollars was only $125,000 dollars a day.

U2 makes the largest profits from touring in the industry. POPMART grossed 171 million dollars, but the band walked away with a profit of $100 million dollars, just from ticket sales. The Vertigo Tour grossed $389 million from ticket sales, but the band pocketed nearly $300 million of that figure!

U2 360 could gross as much as $700 million by the end of 2010, with the band walking away with perhaps half a billion dollars just from ticket sales. These figures are of course before taxes are taken out.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

This thread is a good showcase of the biased and delusional thoughts of u2 fans that occupy this forum. Many of you would instantly fail a debating class.

Of course, you have absolutely no bias or questionable thoughts.

Both groups have a comparable amount of worldwide dominence.

Depends on what you would consider comparable. AC/DC can't even sellout a single stadium show in the biggest US market, New York City. Their arena shows do not sell seats behind the stage. In most markets when it comes to concert tours, AC/DC is more on the level of Coldplay than U2.

-they take upwards of 5 years between albums. ACDC took 8 years because of a legal injunction prohibiting them from recording from their old record label.
.

U2 have NEVER taken 5 years between albums. AC/DC since 1990 has taken on average 6 years between albums. U2's average since 1990 as been 3.5 years between albums.

-Judging by ticket broker demand and prices it's hard to pick a winner for the current tours.

Actual ticket sales, not demand in the secondary ticket broker/scalper market determines success and the winner. AC/DC tickets on average are cheaper. They do not sell tickets behind the stage for their arena shows. They cannot sellout a SINGLE stadium show in the United States.

U2 by contrast is playing IN THE ROUND, for all 100 stadium shows they will play on U2 360 and will be setting the gross record in nearly every venue they play on tour as well as the attendance record. AC/DC won't be anywhere near U2 once both tours have been completed.

ACDC has used highly complex production in their concerts. Check out the train intro from the last tour.

AC/DC has never done anything on the scale of U2 largest tours, especially their current U2 360 production which is a first for a global stadium tour.

 

[hibricc]

Good God, 134 posts?!? and now I've gone and added one more.... damn.

 

[Marko]

Actually, the daily cost of the tour in 1992 dollars was only $125,000 dollars a day.

U2 makes the largest profits from touring in the industry. POPMART grossed 171 million dollars, but the band walked away with a profit of $100 million dollars, just from ticket sales. The Vertigo Tour grossed $389 million from ticket sales, but the band pocketed nearly $300 million of that figure!

U2 360 could gross as much as $700 million by the end of 2010, with the band walking away with perhaps half a billion dollars just from ticket sales. These figures are of course before taxes are taken out.

realy? than my memory is crap
than how come that they were "saved" by t-shirts only during ZOO? Or is that just a long ongoing myth?
And do you have some sources for these figures you mention? I'm not doubting but it seems extremely interesting. These numbers are something completely new for me so I'm interested do dig deeper if possible

 

[mikal]

if i go to an AC/DC concert, will i get to see this guy?

[insert guy with mullet here]

 

[phommel]

Eh...just a wee insight here....AC/DC has sold more records than u2. QUOTE]


that only counts for the US and is baed mainly on one album!

 

[mikal]

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

if i go to an AC/DC concert, will i get to see this guy?

[insert guy with mullet here]

 

[mikal]

 

[mikal]

 

[BVS]

May be too graphic for some audiences:

Spoiler

 

[mikal]

i wanna know these girls! yeah!

 

[blueskyzg]

Am guessing then....judging by the consensus, that everyone on here....if unlucky enuff, would have been willing to fork out £150/$250 per ticket, to see u2!

Go to AC/DC

Dont buy U2 tickets.

Problem solved.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Go to AC/DC

Dont buy U2 tickets.

Problem solved.

I can't argue with this logic

 

[Lila64]

Go to AC/DC

Dont buy U2 tickets.

Problem solved.

I think we have a winner!

 

[corianderstem]

I dunno, I thought the Bono mullet pic was the winner. We should have just closed the thread right after that and called it a day.

 

[Lila64]

I can't argue with that!

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

realy? than my memory is crap
than how come that they were "saved" by t-shirts only during ZOO? Or is that just a long ongoing myth?
And do you have some sources for these figures you mention? I'm not doubting but it seems extremely interesting. These numbers are something completely new for me so I'm interested do dig deeper if possible

Daily cost for ZOO TV and POPMART shows, regardless if there was a show to play on that specific day or not, was $125,000 for ZOO TV and $214,000 for POPMART. Those figures are in 1992 and 1997 dollars, and not adjusted for inflation.

This information comes from the Book: The Road To Pop by Carter Alan. It also appeared in the US newspaper, USA TODAY back in 1997.

GROSS figures for the Vertigo Tour come from Billboard Boxscore. The cost of the Vertigo Tour came from the Irish Times weekend edition the week U2 played Dublin in 2005.

Figures for U2 360 are an estimated projection based on the cost of past tours and the ticket prices, sales, and scale of the U2 360 tour known to date.