r/australia • u/FearTheMomerath • 1d ago
no politics The price of concert tickets is nutso
Christ on crutches. I spent about 45 minutes in the Powderfinger pre-sale through telstra, and the cheapest tickets are standing, close to $200 each and on a goddamn Monday evening at 5pm. Is this normal??? The last concert I went to was The Chicks at the entertainment centre about 2 years ago, and that was $180ish for seats in the middle-back.
I know it's pricey to put these gigs on, I get that. But there are international acts not trying to squeeze blood from the stone. Are the boys taking the piss, is our economy really that cooked, or am I just an old lady yelling at clouds?
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u/Stratosphere_doggo 1d ago
I’ve stopped going to see big acts because of the price of tickets. Most of the time they are in shit venues anyway. Instead I get my concert fix by seeing up-and-coming diy bands in small venues and promoting the next gen
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u/Ferovore 1d ago
music is community. I’ve seen acts 10x better than powderfinger in garages and community churches
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u/TwistieSmuggler 1d ago
How do you become aware of such gigs occuring? I'm not big into the scene at all.
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u/MrSomethingred 1d ago
Depends on the music you are into, but looking at your local venues and rocking up to a local act you know nothing about can be fun.
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u/Stratosphere_doggo 1d ago
What music are you into? I just found a band I liked, followed their socials and saw them and the support acts live.
In my experience, members of that band all play in multiple bands playing similar music so now I got ~15 local bands I like and gig on every week
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u/LunchboxDiablo 1d ago
If you’re in Melbourne you can follow Sticky Carpets on IG; if you’re elsewhere I’m sure there’s a similar account promoting local gigs!
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u/Avid_Tagger Pingers 1d ago
I find a lot of new music through Instagram, and then often I go to a show and find out if I also like the openers
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u/Meowmaowmiaow 23h ago
if you have tiktok it’s actually really easy. just search “gigs” and the major city closest to you.
it can definitely be harder to find them if you’re not engaged with your local community and don’t live near a cbd though→ More replies (1)2
u/OpalisedCat 17h ago
Subscribe to the newsletter of the venues that put on music in genres that you like. Follow them on socials and interact with their posts so that the algorithm starts showing you more ads about local music and cultural events. This worked out beautifully for me, to the point that it keeps advertising to me cool jazz shows in other states too and I'm constantly tempted.
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u/Stratosphere_doggo 1d ago
Hell yeah, diy emo in community churches is what I live for
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u/JackeryDaniels 22h ago
Sure you have bro.
I couldn’t name a single Powderfinger song, but regardless, the premise of your post is nonsense.
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u/opackersgo 1d ago
Definitely this. Plus a lot of the time you can actually chat to them before or after the gig.
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u/StinkyMcBalls 1d ago
Yep, 100%. I generally go to at least one gig a fortnight and the best stuff I've seen in the last five years has cost $35 or less.
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u/rolodex-ofhate 1d ago
That’s pretty stock standard for an arena show these days
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u/SolarVortex44 1d ago
I don’t believe they’re arena shows though, they’re inside a tent
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u/Connect_Fee1256 1d ago
It’s pretty much the same price as Radiohead… jeeesus
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u/FearTheMomerath 1d ago
Oh no, really??? I mean, it's thoughtful that the show starts at 5pm (means I can be in bed by 9) but that's a lot of money to stand in the back of the showgrounds jammed in with 1000 other people
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u/_Windbreaker_ G’day G’day 1d ago
Thinking you’ll be in bed by 9 is hilarious
Entry at 5, first support band at 6, second support at 7, Powderfinger from 8-10:30/11 is my bet→ More replies (6)27
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u/rolodex-ofhate 1d ago
It’s also a Live Nation event who are notoriously scummy when it comes to ticket prices.
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u/Orionswhiteshirt 1d ago
$200 is like starter prices for big name bands. I was dead-set on going to Pearl Jam in late 2024, but lost interest really fast when I saw the cheapest available tickets were around $500. Madness.
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u/IceDonkey9036 1d ago
I went for about $240-ish. You must have been looking quite late.
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u/CoffeeWorldly4711 1d ago
Yeah, I got standing tickets for 230/240 or so. Pricey but given the set and how nice the weather was that night, it was probably money well spent. I am seeing killswitch for about half that price next month so it does depend on who you're seeing and where it is
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u/Esquatcho_Mundo 1h ago
Yeah I skipped system of a down because good things as a festival was about the same and there’s at least 8 bands that I’m keen to see over the day… they probably all gonna clash though 😂😭
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u/friedandprejudice 1d ago
No disrespect to Powderfinger, but I think those ticket prices are a bit much for them. Can sort of understand the higher prices if it's a big international act playing at a large stadium/arena.
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u/No_Stick5577 22h ago
They were Australia’s biggest band for the best part of a decade and have been gone for 16 years. Think they are a bigger name than many international acts. Rapid pace of sales suggests they haven’t overvalued themselves.
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u/pistola 1d ago
They've sold out all their shows, so by definition the price point was correct (or perhaps too low)
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u/Classic-Rise-37 1d ago
Assuming this is their last tour and dont pull a Farnsy Im guessing if your a fan it will be worth it.
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u/IceDonkey9036 1d ago
Being jammed in with thousands of other people is literally the concert experience. What are you after? Seats? Some of the shows have seated sections I think.
It's all supply and demand. If they are still selling out shows at $200, why would they ever reduce the price?
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u/Shadowlance23 1d ago
Because people will pay it. Simple as that. They've done the modelling, they know how many tickets they can expect to sell so they will price them according to what they believe is the maximum they can get while still filling the stadium (within a certain risk envelope).
If you've got 30000 tickets to sell, then you price it so that only 30000 people who want to see the show can afford it.
They also know that scalpers will buy up the tickets and flip them if they price too low so they're getting the slice of the pie that scalpers would otherwise take.
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u/OkThanxby 1d ago
If you've got 30000 tickets to sell, then you price it so that only 30000 people who want to see the show can afford it.
Actually if they still easily sell out big shows all the time so the tickets are actually in many cases significantly underpriced going by this strategy.
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u/professor_buttstuff 1d ago
The scalpers excuse is pretty weak. Its not difficult to put on a matinee or a few days of shows once your setup for 1 to match demand.
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u/jettyburps 1d ago
People keep complaining about ticket prices but concerts keep selling out….
While people still climb over each other to buy stupidly inflated tickets they’ll keep jacking the price up.
Stop buying stupidly expensive tickets.
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u/Tarchey 1d ago
I complained about system of a down ticket prices and still came out $330 poorer.
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u/OddPatienceGiraffe 21h ago
After Pearl Jam a couple of years back I have refused to sit at the back of a stadium and watch the big tv. So looked at seats in the first third of stadium away from the stage for System... $400... that was the day I found my limit. A shame. I saw Faith No More 15 years ago and it was one of the best live shows I've ever been to. Was bummed.
Maybe there will be something popup with Lasttix.
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u/Cyclist_123 1d ago
It's going to sell out so arguably they could charge more
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u/clarky2481 1d ago
6 dates in Brisbane, presale sold out in like 30 mins for all. Supply and demand, also costs a bomb to run a big gig these days.
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u/Gay_For_Gary_Oldman 1d ago
No hate on the band or their fans, but I was astonished that they announced so many dates. I'd be shocked if that many dates could sell out, or even get close. I know Powderfinger are/were a big Aussie band, but I didnt think they were "multiple dates in all major cities" level big. This is as many dates as Blink 182
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u/No_Stick5577 22h ago
Powderfinger were bigger here than Blink 182. We still have a level of cultural cringe that says international success must be worth more.
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u/Gay_For_Gary_Oldman 20h ago
Fair play to the band then, i remember it being big news when they retired. I'm in my late 30s so remember the Odyssey number 5 and Vulture Street era well, I know those songs were huge I just didnt think they were that pervasive. Good for them.
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u/anotheruser86 1d ago
Blame Live Nation (the promoter) on ticket pricing. Have a google about the monopoly they have on the world.
Yes, putting on shows is expensive but Live Nation are notorious for price gauging.
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u/JohnMonash87 1d ago
Never been happier to be a metalhead. I'm seeing Lorna Shore w/ Whitechapel and The Acacia Strain in a couple of days, ticket only set me back $120. Killswitch Engage tickets seem to be going for around the same as well.
For non-metalheads, these are all massive international bands in the metalcore/deathcore scene, not some random up-and-comers by any stretch.
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u/Suipants 22h ago
I saw Metallica back in 93 with Kyuss opening, cost me less than $50.
And more recently, I saw Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath tours and they were about $150 each... And in metal, you really can't get bigger than that. $200 for an Aussie band is insane to me. When I was in my 20s, I'd go and see local shows(as in Aussie, not just Melbourne) a bunch, and they'd cost $20 or $30 max. Bands like Blood Duster, Dreadnought, Beanflipper, Damaged, Stiff Meat, Alchemist, Psychrist, Earth, Destroyer 666, Nazxul... Even international band weren't that expensive. I think Morbid Angel, Fear Factory and Napalm Death were less than $60 each, and those were the bigger bands. I saw I'm sure both Nunslaughter and Exhumed cost much less!
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u/JohnMonash87 21h ago
I was also at Maiden's '24 show, $150 does sound about right. Given that they're almost THE metal band worldwide $200 bucks for a comparatively much smaller band is nuts.
I would kill to only pay 60 bucks to see Napalm Death today, that's a cracking deal!
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u/Suipants 21h ago
That was just the normal price then. Great show too! Hung out with ShaneEmbury and Jesse Pintado in their hotel room for a while after the show.. Cool guys! RIP Jesse :/ ) While I did go to that '24 Maiden show, I was referring to an earlier tour, maybe 7 or 8 years prior? That was the last show that I personally bought a ticket for. My wife got us both tickets to see the '24 tour. She's also got us both tickets to see Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity in January :D
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u/AntikytheraMachines 20h ago
TISM at Monash Uni in 90 was $15 for non-students.
Violent Femmes with Nirvana support act in 92 was $20
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u/Jumpy_List_6326 17h ago
Ah i just paid $174 for trivium/lamb of god, and $250 for soad rear standing
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u/bringbackfuturama 1d ago
well great news there's a free Radio Free Alice show in Marrickville this Saturday
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u/universe93 1d ago
Powderfinger is going to be one of the most in-demand tours in Australia this year so it was always going to expensive
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u/techb00mer 1d ago
Live nation event?
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u/nugstar 1d ago
Yep, livenation. Wild pricing for a tent show. Literally costs more than Radiohead.
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u/blahblahgingerblahbl 1d ago
i remember initially balking at $40 to see Bowie on the glass onion tour *sigh\*
i live under a rock but recently crawled out to see nouvelle vague, and am now thinking that was quite a bargain at $~100!
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u/Ed_Starks_Bastard 1d ago
My Radiohead ticket cost me $375. I have ummed and ahhhhed about selling it but they are my fave band and this my best/only chance of seeing them. Brutal though they are good tickets.
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u/Jakeyboy29 23h ago
I was surprised to see RH charge so much for tickets given they are a band that have given albums away for free in the past and very progressive
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u/cuddlepot 1d ago
The Melbourne tickets also have to account that they’re choosing to do this in an outdoor tent and not one of the arenas at Melbourne Park, which is really silly.
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u/dlanod 1d ago
They're all in the tent - Showgrounds, Domain, Cazaly's, etc. My wife is equally dubious.
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u/MoranthMunitions 14h ago
Oooh I thought they were using the arena at the show grounds. This explains the floor plan being rectangular / how they could manage to do 6 shows.. I was like this is a 30k person venue, but also they have been tearing down the stands for the Olympic Village. I hadn't put 2 and 2 together.
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u/AlannahM99 1d ago
It was part of the appeal for me. If I’m going to go to a home grown QLD turn of the millennium nostalgia act, it may as well be on a hot and potentially stormy day in a festival tent to really give that 90s Livid Festival vibe. I’ll draw the line at XXXX being the only beer available though.
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u/Polaris_au 1d ago
I was hoping for a more Homebake/BDO main stage vibe. 2001 Sydney BDO, when My Happiness had just won the top 100, is a great memory.
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u/FearTheMomerath 1d ago
Yeah, Brissy are at the showgrounds in September. That's a bit of a roll of the dice (tho not as much as Melbourne!!)
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u/No_Stick5577 23h ago
This is the new normal, probably in part because there’s no money being made in album sales. Legacy stadium bands like Pearl Jam, Oasis and Radiohead are charging $300 average, modern arena sized bands like Fontaines DC are $150. The least you’re gonna pay to see an international act on our shores is $99 (Holly Humberstone, for example).
Believe it or not, $140 for Powderfinger seating is reasonably priced.
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u/Aloha_Tamborinist 22h ago
This is spot on. There’s also just not that many newer “big” rock bands. Fontaines DC, Wolf Alice and…? Solo acts are dominating the charts and popular culture.
Legacy bands are able to absolutely cash in as they head to retirement, both on the fact that there’s not much competition for them and the nostalgia factor. A lot of fans (myself included) are seeing some of these tours as their last chance to see their fave bands. Fuck, I’ve paid over $1K to go to three Radiohead shows next year.
I go to 30-40 shows a year. I’m pretty sure concert tickets are my biggest expense after the mortgage. I’m in my early 50s with no kids, so that’s what I’m spending my Adult Money on.
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u/Serious_Plant8443 21h ago
Being at a different stage of life is significant. Over the last 5 years I've added quite a lot of live gigs from bands I loved as a teenager that I simply wouldn't have been able to afford back then. I agree they're expensive, but I'm glad I do have the option to go, where I simply didn't as a kid from a family with very little disposable income. Also helps I now live in a capital city.
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u/MoranthMunitions 14h ago
The least you’re gonna pay to see an international act on our shores is $99
Beg to differ. I got the band camino for $90 earlier in the year. Boundaries for $50 but it was a side show so that were already here. Spite, Hawthorne Heights both $85. Catch your breath $90. Escape the Fate $96, Descendants $80, poison the well $95, Sanguisugabogg $75, Wage War $96, Bury Tomorrow $85, Brother Ali $70, Cascada $55, Joost Klein $77.
All this year. I have more, but you get the point. In saying all of that I agree that the pricing was reasonable enough, cause the above are all on the lower end of ticket prices for sure.
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u/3163560 21h ago
Thankfully smaller metal bands are still quite cheap.
Candlemass was $95
Elder next year is $88
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u/SuspiciousLettuce56 19h ago
local metal/hardcore shows are 10-20 bucks and i love it.
converge at lucidity festival next year is 100 bucks
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u/aninstituteforants 1d ago
Just go see King Gizz tonight instead.
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u/FearTheMomerath 1d ago
If I could, I certainly would - trust and believe! I've heard their shows are great fun
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u/GlitteringSpace236 22h ago
Are the boys taking the piss, is our economy really that cooked, or am I just an old lady yelling at clouds?
Don't forget everyone else needs their cut as well.
And lets be honest - they're not coming back for a tour because they missed playing with each other, they're back for a good pay day.
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u/Teedubthegreat 1d ago
200 seems extreme but tovket prices being overly expensive is pretty normal now.
I saw parkway drive recently and they were nearly 200 as well, and they used to pride themselves on selling tickets as cheaply as they could.
Inflation and just the general cost of making a show happen had gone up considerably id say
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u/Stratosphere_doggo 22h ago
Wow 200 for parkway drive is crazy
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u/Teedubthegreat 22h ago
I think it was close to 160, but still, way more than id ever seen parkway tickets before
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u/MoranthMunitions 14h ago
Mustn't have bought a Parkwaves ticket. Also really as if you didn't go both nights, so more like $320 lol
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u/ShibbyShibby89 1d ago
I looked up Linkin Park tickets back in January for interest sake. $400 for general admission… they used to be like $80-$110.
They ended up canceling their Adelaide show too.
Its abhorrent.
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u/GrapplingBrisket 1d ago
There was a time when I paid $35 to see Pearl Jam at Flinders Park. It was a bit pricey, but I managed to save up for it.
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u/Defiant-Sandwich-718 1d ago
Courtney Barnett is $89 at the Tivoli in Brisbane in November…tickets still available!!
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u/IamtheWalrus9999 1d ago
Go look at the prices of Nickleback next year (not that I’m going) but be astounded 😮
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u/andthegeekshall 1d ago
I remember paying around $20 in 1999 to see their Internationalist tour at the ANU Canberra.
Part of the price increase over the years is public liability insurance but mostly it's corpo greed and fees for everyone involved.
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u/Aggravating-Back9378 1d ago
it sucks. i've wanted to go to concerts when i'm not a big fan of the artist, just a casual listener but just to go to a concert it's a whole investment. cheapest tickets i've seen was $90 lowerbowl which was pretty restricted view. even $90 for that view is steep
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u/weinertorn 1d ago
I mean, I used to pay 100 or 130 bucks for an international band GA ticket or nosebleed seat back in my heyday of the late 90s through to early 10s. The fact the prices have doubled is unsurprising and in fact quite reasonable.
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u/No-Top-772 1d ago
$182 for B reserve GA in a big top 🎪
You can bet you’d get stuck behind a pole. No thank you, I can see You Am I three times for that lol.
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u/Aloha_Tamborinist 21h ago
Correction: You Am I at the Opera House next Sunday, tickets are $99
You can see them twice!
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u/No-Top-772 21h ago
At the Opera House! With a string quartet! Suck it, ‘finger.
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u/Aloha_Tamborinist 20h ago
I'm going too, can't wait :)
I missed out on Powderfinger tickets, but I always more of a You Am I fan, so not devo.
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u/FearTheMomerath 1d ago
Oh man, been years since I've seen You Am I... putting that on the 'to do' list
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u/No-Top-772 20h ago
They really are very good live too. Because they’ve toured continuously since the early 90s unlike another band I could mention
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u/FearTheMomerath 19h ago
I've had a crush on Tim Rogers for far too many years, I've seen them twice and each time they've blown me away
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u/No-Top-772 19h ago edited 18h ago
Everyone loves Tim, women want to be him, men want to be his slaves
Something like that. I’ve seen them three times I’m not trying to trump you or anything
One time they supported the Lemonheads and Evan Dando was in the crowd, in the mosh in fact and he crowd surfed and jumped up on the stage with Tim and the boys and yelled “I LOVE THIS BAND” into the mic and then jumped back off the stage and You Am I just kept on playing
This happened at a venue called Vera in Groningen in the Netherlands when I was there and I have never been so proud of the best band in Australia You Am I in my life as I was at that gig. Dutch people were dancing that is a big achievement.Edit: I just googled and this gig happened on March 15, 1997. I am older than Old Father Time.
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u/FearTheMomerath 18h ago
Do you want some ibuprofen babes? Pretty sure I fell in love around 1999, so I'm not far from you!
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u/No-Top-772 18h ago
lol 😂 He’s like the thinking woman “of a certain age”’s Tex Perkins
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u/No-Top-772 18h ago
I guess there are people who think Bernard Fanning is tidy but he’s not even in my top 20 hello Pete Murray and Paul Dempsey 😂
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u/ficusmaximus90 1d ago
I spent a lot to see Metallica in Brisbane and the view from standing was terrible. Once I saw the fuckery off dynamic pricing for system of a down and how expensive it was I had to tell myself no. Dynamic pricing is corporate greedy at its finest
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u/not_dogstar 21h ago
Wait till you see merch prices. Started seeing $70 a t-shirt. Probably because it's the best way for bands to actually make money. I bet after everyone gets their cut (venue, seccies, police, marketing etc) there's not much left over
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u/Esquatcho_Mundo 1h ago
No bands are making anything from music anymore. Tours and merch are their major income source.
I listened to a podcast once that took a Powderfinger album from back in the day and it made them about $1.2M back then based on its sales and radio play. Today with streaming they would have made 2 grand for the same number of streams and radio play
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u/Bitter_Maybe_2670 18h ago
Dayseeker $110.
Four years ago $40
Fuck the price. I’m still gonna go to as many of my fave bands as I can afford to.
It’s a bloody long way for artists to travel here and if we want them to keep coming we have to support them.
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u/___xristos___ 1d ago
For context I paid $110 to see Powderfinger and Silverchair, together, almost 20 years ago.
I don't really know what that means but I don't see any universe where it's worth seeing just one of those for almost double the price now.
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u/Polaris_au 1d ago
Tbf, the price of everything has pretty much doubled since twenty years ago
Edit: Yes I realise that was for 2 high profile bands.
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u/kahrismatic 23h ago
I was cleaning out my cupboards, and according to a ticket I found I once paid $12 to see Blink 182 at the Metro in Sydney in the 90s.
I think tickets started at $200 in 2024?
I'm not entirely sure because I looked at the price and noped out. I know I saw them decades ago and times change, but I can't justify that, and I'm not poorly paid.
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u/Doobie_hunter46 23h ago
It’s the music industry as a whole that has shifted since it went away from selling CD’s and went to streaming.
Before musicians held concerts to sell CD’s where they made the most of their money. Nobody buys CD’s anymore so musicians stream their music in order to sell concert tickets.
This is why concerts have gone up on price and you have access to every song know to man for $15 a month or free if you can put up with ads.
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u/Medium-Shoulder7074 22h ago
That was a great show. I went to the Toowoomba show and I remember Silverchair were incredible and Daniel was very wired! Can’t say I’m that motivated to see powderfinger this time… I’ve never really understood their huge appeal and agree with some here saying they are not that exciting live.
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u/muppet-as 1d ago
Let's not make this normal. Plenty of fantastic local and international bands performing at much better venues for sub-$100. The price of these tickets is gross.
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u/FearTheMomerath 1d ago
Agreed. I don't live in Brissy though so it's not always easy to see the smaller gigs. I will make it my mission for 2027 though, and just do the drive!!!
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u/muppet-as 23h ago
Fair call, I’m very spoilt here Melbourne!
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u/FearTheMomerath 23h ago
You are, but that's one of the best things about Melbs! Enjoy it
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u/travlerjoe 1d ago
Powderfinger are a terrible band to see live. Zero effort put into the performance. They just stand like statues and go through the motions of playing. Zero stage presence.
Do not waste your money.
I saw them in the early 00s at their peak and a few times at the big day out. Every time is the same.
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u/SSAUS 1d ago
Conversely, Regurgitator charges less than half the amount Powderfinger is charging and puts on fantastic and energetic shows.
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u/Effective_Jicama_769 22h ago
My recent Gurge gig at the start of the year cost me $50 and near then end Quan jumped down into the front pit and sang & danced with us all. Epic night.
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u/AlannahM99 19h ago
Saw Regurgitator earlier this year - I think they were about $65. It was a small venue to give that 90s pub gig vibe and it was probably my favourite gig of the decade so far. The energy (band and audience) was insanely good.
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u/liberty1112 23h ago
THIS! My favourite Australian 90s band. I've never rated Powderfinger. MOR bores me to tears.
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u/FearTheMomerath 1d ago
I saw them at (I think) Livid one year, and saw Bernard solo once or twice. I know they're not big showmen, but that nostalgia factor is hard to resist! Double Allergic and Odyssey played a big part of my formative years
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u/BulberFish 1d ago
I wonder if that was the same Livid I saw them at.
They were headlining, and Oasis performed immediately before them.
Compared to Oasis, they were incredibly pedestrian as a live act.
Love their albums though.
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u/GlitteringSpace236 22h ago
know they're not big showmen, but that nostalgia factor is hard to resist!
Hence why the promoters know they can suck people in despite ticket prices.
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u/IamtheWalrus9999 1d ago
Agreed - and will get downvoted but they are not the most energetic band to see live. Not much movement at all and tbh quite bland to see live. Not saying it’s a bad thing but if people want to see an energetic live gig then they might be very disappointed.
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u/IceDonkey9036 1d ago
You realise people go to concerts for other reasons than high energy right? Not every band needs to be jumping around like grasshoppers to make live music entertaining.
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u/InflationRepulsive64 1d ago
Not to mention it's fucking Powderfinger. I know they've got some other stuff on the albums but most of their hits I would not be exactly be describing as 'energetic' or 'high energy'.
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u/nerfdriveby94 23h ago
I think this is a good comment personally, it really depends on the music what my concert expectation is like.
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u/drine2000 1d ago
This. I saw them for 25 bucks in 97.I'm sure they wouldn't have got more energetic as they got older!
They a just a great band. On CD.
Silvechair...on the other hand
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u/Dr_barfenstein 1d ago
I don’t mind their music but they have a really strong fanbase who love them dearly. Last time I saw them the entire crowd sang every single song along with them to the point where it was a little hard to hear the actual band. Not my cup of tea but I’m not the target audience.
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u/keithrobert1969 22h ago
The Australian Eagles ,from the lead singer of Grinspoon.😊
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u/MeerkatRiotSquad 1d ago
It really depends on promoter and artist.
I paid $900 for VIP to Lady Gaga which was far from VIP.
Last night I saw Macy Gray. Paid $249 for the show and a VIP meet and greet after.
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u/Retro8 1d ago
How was the meet and greet?
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u/MeerkatRiotSquad 1d ago
Really good. Only 50 of us. Everyone got time with her. Everyone got selfies, everyone got autographs. She signed 3 of my records. She was beyond lovely but clearly absolutely exhausted and struggling towards the end. We didn't get out until midnight. I actually found myself feeling sorry for her.
She turned up in tracksuit pants, slippers and a baggy sleep top which was super cute.
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u/LifeandSAisAwesome 1d ago
And they will sell all the seats, what does that tell you ?
There is a truck load of $$ still out there, its why inflation is sticky as well.
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u/Old_Corner_19 1d ago
The price of everything is crazy for leisure & entertainment a few hours at the circus will cost a family of 4 with kids no change out of $200.
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u/BenBen-_- 1d ago
Go see new Aussie artists instead. C.o.f.f.i.n are great live and their upcoming tour is $45. I had a lot of fun at Swapmeet's last show and it only cost $30
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u/ItinerantFella 21h ago
Live Nation/Ticketmaster owns 86% of the concert ticketing market. Maybe less in Australia, but their global dominance has inflated ticket prices worldwide for everyone.
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u/NpgSymboL 16h ago
I miss the old days.
I used to see sooo much live music but I kinda fell out of the scene.
Recently bought system of a down tickets and the strokes tickets. Cant believe the prices!
I feel so bad for people that want to go but can’t afford it. Imagine one of your fave acts comes buy tickets are $350 etc
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u/leighroyv2 1d ago
I just read over on the tripple j sub $500 for a pit ticket in Melbourne.
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u/PlagueDoctor66623 20h ago
The price of the Powder finger tickets are obscene. Their tickets cost more than an international band who have to freight their gear to Australia as well as travel. Plus there is no stage show to speak of. For their ticket prices I would want Rammstein opening for them
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u/PlagueDoctor66623 19h ago
To be honest, pay $270 and go see Iron Maiden. That will blow your mind and you will feel like you got every cent worth and they are 30 years older
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u/rollingstone1 1d ago
Yes it’s the norm. It’s how artists make money now. Not from albums.
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u/ladyships-a-legend 1d ago
Waited over 45 minutes. Couldn’t get a ticket for either Adelaide shows let alone 2 tix. Nothing at all
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u/Just-turnings 20h ago
Yeah to be honest these are some of the cheaper ones for a big national tour I've paid in recent years. Still not cheap, but on the more reasonable side. I guess Powderfinger have the advantage they aren't shipping all their stuff and crew internationally into Australia.
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u/No-Cryptographer9408 20h ago
Come on, what isn't nutso in Australia ?? The scam rip off place of the world. Aussies love to rip each other off, just the culture right ?
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u/timeflies25 19h ago
I remember when Bruno Mars first concert tickets were released... They were not cheap at all and doubled of what I was expecting. Anyway, I just spent $630 on Hilary Duff tickets and they're not great seating but I can't complain as I feel too awkwardly old for GA now. I'd rather sit when I can.
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u/disregulatedcactus 1d ago
200 bucks in todays economy is wild. For a 90s band with no new albums.
Cash
GRAB
And Untill yall get your spending under control rates are going to keep going up. So don’t complain (laughs in 2008)
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u/jjsixsixtysix 1d ago
seems like a lot of money for people to stand around with their phones in the air.
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u/ToovyDood 23h ago
Yeah, it really is that expensive.
Was considering getting a ticket to see Faith No More / System of a Down when they visit Brisbane in a few months, but it was $300 a ticket with bad seats. I can't justify spending that much.
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u/time_to_reset 23h ago
These bigger artists just charge a lot and know they can get away with it. I don't even really blame them. I'm just glad I saw all the big artists I've always wanted to see when I was younger and you could get tickets to a 3 day festival for like $300. Nowadays I tend to go to smaller artists. I now mostly go for the vibe over the actual music.
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u/Bright_Lighter 17h ago
You'll need to take a few deep breaths before you see the price list at the merch tent 😉
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u/cadbury162 7h ago
It's fucked lately, greed upon greed. Investment firms in most are the big driver, they have bought a lot of stakes in big event companies and are now just pumping prices, making big cuts and commercialising it.
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u/Full-Squirrel5707 1d ago
Definitely confirms the fact that they need the money. I have seen them about 10 times and in no way would I pay $200 bucks to see them again.
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u/DocklandsDodgers86 21h ago
Blame Taylor Swift and the fucking RBA for that one.
When Eras happened and people were going nuts buying tickets to multiple nights of her tours, that's when Ticketek and Ticketmaster decided to go the price-surge route.
Bruno Mars at Marvel Stadium, for instance, the nosebleeds started at $100 and the tickets go as high as $1000 in the front. Fucking robbery.
I feel the same way you lot do about Powderfinger like I do with Rush - if those guys actually include Australia in their 50th Anniversary tour, ticket pre-sales are gonna be a massacre.
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u/512165381 1d ago
There's a real conspiracy going on between ticket sellers, venues, recording companies and radio stations.
Just about bands that are playing at big venues were formed before 2010. What is being promoted is individual artists, because bands cost a lot more to organise. That's why you see Taylor Swift or Benson Boone as solo acts. The radio stations promote these artists and ignore bands. And rap artists are mostly invisible now because reasons.
It all profit maximisation.
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u/DarkNo7318 1d ago
It's a luxury good and they could be charging more. You can see a local band at the local pub for a $20 dollar cover charge.
It might not be as good, but the question is whether it's 10 times not as good?
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u/DrSpeckles 1d ago
Yep. I’ve never ever paid for one of those big events. Just not as good in my experience.
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u/Dependent_Stress5561 1d ago
That’s quite greedy of them, I must say. I reckon they’re hard up for a dollar.
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