Ticket Demand?

[GNRfan2008]

1 hour ago, DieselDaisy said:

And Reunion tours? Kiss were not selling out some venues in 1996 and that is Kiss for the first time in make-up and America is mad about Kiss!

 

GN'R at its height was a lot bigger in America than KISS ever was. Guns had 4 songs (SCOM #1, Patience #4, Paradise #5, Jungle #7) go inside the Top 10 on the pop charts within 12 months of each other. Between Appetite and Lies they sold 23 million units in America and Lies wasn't even a real album. If you look at older bands on YouTube, GN'R has an incredible amount of views for their most popular videos.

I think they could easily sell out stadiums with reasonable prices, but the prices are completely ridiculous. Why should anyone pay $80 for a ticket where you need binoculars to see the band? Throw in Axl's issues with showing up on time and I can see why anyone and everyone would be very hesitant to buy a ticket at those prices.

[DieselDaisy]

1 minute ago, GNRfan2008 said:

GN'R at its height was a lot bigger in America than KISS ever was. Guns had 4 songs (SCOM #1, Patience #4, Paradise #5, Jungle #7) go inside the Top 10 on the pop charts within 12 months of each other. Between Appetite and Lies they sold 23 million units in America and Lies wasn't even a real album. If you look at older bands on YouTube, GN'R has an incredible amount of views for their most popular videos.

I think they could easily sell out stadiums with reasonable prices, but the prices are completely ridiculous. Why should anyone pay $80 for a ticket where you need binoculars to see the band? Throw in Axl's issues with showing up on time and I can see why anyone and everyone would be very hesitant to buy a ticket at those prices.

Yes but Kiss have this sort of hardcore American support, fanatics, which GN'R never really possessed. And Kiss were certainly as big a live draw at their peak (1977ish) as GN'R were in 1992. The Kiss reunion was a 'proper' reunion, not a weird hybrid fudge. It also heralded a return to the make-up and blood splitting and pyros, so it was probably the easiest tour to market in the world - and Kiss put themselves out, doing interviews. 

 

[IncitingChaos]

Gnr will never be as big as any other big act. For every person that likes GNR two more hate them for their antics. That's why I just tell people that GNR are more talented than any of those bands, I mean arguing with anyone about GNR is the worst...they don't care how good they are or how many hits they have, they only remember the late concerts or the no shows. 

 

But talent wise it's hard to stack another band up against them that can go toe to toe...you have arguably the greatest guitarist and greatest frontman ever on the same team, not to mention the other guys who are usually listed in the top 50 in their category. 

 

So I guess it's disappointing when people see that talent get wasted, but when they are on I don't think there's anyone better. Maybe it's the uncertainty that will drive ticket sales, or maybe it will hurt 

[GNRfan2008]

13 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

Yes but Kiss have this sort of hardcore American support, fanatics, which GN'R never really possessed.

You say this and yet websites like this one and HTGTH have had a lot more traffic than other major band websites over the years despite the fact GN'R was pretty much dead for 20 years. Axl would go into hiding and people would still come on these forums to speculate like crazy. Eddie Trunk said it recently: GN'R base is as fanatical as any other fanbase.

[Gracii Guns]

38 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

For the price they are charging, the shows will be full of 'prawn sandwich brigade', casuals who are there to say Axl and Slash play September Rain. The real fans will be priced out, or stuck in the back, economy class! Reading the VIP information to be honest makes me sick.

Are prawn sandwiches posh now? 

Tbh, even though I'm of the crisp sandwich classes (Skips, please) , all that money I spent on GN'R pin badges and unofficial T-Shirts when I was 16 could have been saved and easily cover the cost of a 2016 ticket. 

It is annoying. I think GN'R are now a middle-class, middle-aged band anyway. It sucks for the people who love them and are feeding a family on a waitressing job, but if this is an exercise in seeing just how much people will pay to see Guns N' Roses, it's certainly working well.

I don't expect the UK tour tickets to be quite as expensive. I don't know anybody in the UK who respects GN'R. To most people they're a cheesy Dad Rock band.

[Dazey]

3 minutes ago, GNRfan2008 said:

You say this and yet websites like this one and HTGTH have had a lot more traffic than other major band websites over the years despite the fact GN'R was pretty much dead for 20 years. Axl would go into hiding and people would still come on these forums to speculate like crazy. Eddie Trunk said it recently: GN'R base is as fanatical as any other fanbase.

The websites had more traffic because fans of other bands were too busy listening to new music and watching said bands in concert. 

[GNRfan2008]

Just now, Dazey said:

The websites had more traffic because fans of other bands were too busy listening to new music and watching said bands in concert. 

lol true. But considering Axl's antics during UYI Tour and all the band members leaving, the forums should have never had any activity. GN'R fanbase has Stockholm Syndrome.

[DieselDaisy]

Just now, Gracii Guns said:

Are prawn sandwiches posh now? 

Tbh, even though I'm of the crisp sandwich classes (Skips, please) , all that money I spent on GN'R pin badges and unofficial T-Shirts when I was 16 could have been saved and easily cover the cost of a 2016 ticket. 

It is annoying. I think GN'R are now a middle-class, middle-aged band anyway. It sucks for the people who love them and are feeding a family on a waitressing job, but if this is an exercise in seeing just how much people will pay to see Guns N' Roses, it's certainly working well.

I don't expect the UK tour tickets to be quite as expensive. I don't know anybody in the UK who respects GN'R. To most people they're a cheesy Dad Rock band.

Tickets are cheaper in the United Kingdom - quite a lot cheaper in fact. I think I was comparing with somebody American here the pricing of Neil Young tickets and we were both quite surprised at the discrepancy.

[PITBOSS]

sure they are squeezing us for $, but just think about it- what if the whole thing implodes and this was your only chance to enjoy this thing we all thought would never happen? would you be kicking yourself for not shelling out a few extra bucks? for all we know this could be it the final cash in and axl retires.

[comaknight]

9 minutes ago, PITBOSS said:

sure they are squeezing us for $, but just think about it- what if the whole thing implodes and this was your only chance to enjoy this thing we all thought would never happen? would you be kicking yourself for not shelling out a few extra bucks? for all we know this could be it the final cash in and axl retires.

This is what they're counting on.  The "last chance/ f*ck it here's $200" purchase.  Most of us are (happily) guilty.

[bigpoop]

I think they are wildly overestimating demand.  They will make their money either way, but there's going to be a lot of papering and a lot of empty seats.

[Sprite]

3 hours ago, DieselDaisy said:

Yes but Kiss have this sort of hardcore American support, fanatics, which GN'R never really possessed. And Kiss were certainly as big a live draw at their peak (1977ish) as GN'R were in 1992.

 

Huh? Guns has been around 15 years less and has still sold more in America and globally than kiss. Were you alive or around for the UYI craze? I don't think you could pencil in many artists that generated that much hype in America, and certainly not Kiss. AFD has sold 30 million globally. UYI 1&2 have matched that. That is a mighty feat in 4 years to have 2 huge releases. If you view UYI as one cohesive album since they were released on the same day, that means GNR's 2 major releases have both topped 30 million global records. Per Wikipedia, there are only 32 albums that have ever done that, none of which are from Kiss, or not many from other rock and roll bands. So no, I don't think Kiss is on the level of Guns N Roses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums#30.E2.80.9339_million_copies

http://tsort.info/music/faq_album_sales.htm

I couldn't find 1 kiss album on this list of the 316 best selling albums. Maybe I'm wrong- see if you can.

Kiss is a cult band. With a massive cult following. Good for them. Probably similar to how Guns still is in South America. Like fanatical cult like following. Kiss though is reduced to their "Shtick" which is fine and I don't mean this to be a crusade against Kiss, I just think you're way out in left field here.

I think you woke up on the wrong side of the bed again, mate!

 

Edit:

Come to think of it, GNR has sold quite a few records considering how few they have released. AFD, Lies, UYI 1&2, TSI?, Live Era, GH, CD. That means they've averaged each record selling about 14 million. That is incredible, especially considering 1 was a lowly promoted live album in the middle of the wilderness era, 1 was a 4 song acoustic record bundled with an already released EP, one was a cover album, and one was released in an era where record sales have dwindled and half the people didn't view it as a GNR record. Has Kiss had 1 album that has sold Guns average?

Also, about 80% of their sales have come from AFD, UYI, Lies and GH. And they've topped 100 million including the others. Incredible. All in less than 30 years. Commercially speaking, few artists can match that.

One step further- To date, AFD 30 million, Lies 10 million, UYI 30 million- all released in a 4 year span (really 3 year by the time Appetite took off). Point being they released 3 albums that to date are some of the best selling ever. If Led Zeppelin released album A in 1970, album b in 72, and albums c and D in 74, that sold this much, we'd be talking about how Led Zeppelin dominated the 70-74 and their legendary status in part by those albums. Guns did just that in half the time and you are comparing them to Kiss??

 

Edited April 7, 2016 by Sprite

[mrw80]

1 hour ago, comaknight said:

This is what they're counting on.  The "last chance/ f*ck it here's $200" purchase.  Most of us are (happily) guilty.

Maybe they are counting on people fearing this is their only chance. And maybe it will be. But don't you think if this was a farewell, one-off kind of tour, that they would market it as such?  I think that would really enhance the demand knowing that this is it. 

I wasn't able to spend as much as I would've liked, but I'm in the building.  But I'm hopeful that they'll come around again in the next year or two.

 

 

 

[scooby845]

whats the market closest to being sold out?

[cooker]

36 minutes ago, scooby845 said:

whats the market closest to being sold out?

I would register to guess Toronto. 

[DieselDaisy]

1 hour ago, Sprite said:

Huh? Guns has been around 15 years less and has still sold more in America and globally than kiss. Were you alive or around for the UYI craze? I don't think you could pencil in many artists that generated that much hype in America, and certainly not Kiss. AFD has sold 30 million globally. UYI 1&2 have matched that. That is a mighty feat in 4 years to have 2 huge releases. If you view UYI as one cohesive album since they were released on the same day, that means GNR's 2 major releases have both topped 30 million global records. Per Wikipedia, there are only 32 albums that have ever done that, none of which are from Kiss, or not many from other rock and roll bands. So no, I don't think Kiss is on the level of Guns N Roses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums#30.E2.80.9339_million_copies

http://tsort.info/music/faq_album_sales.htm

I couldn't find 1 kiss album on this list of the 316 best selling albums. Maybe I'm wrong- see if you can.

Kiss is a cult band. With a massive cult following. Good for them. Probably similar to how Guns still is in South America. Like fanatical cult like following. Kiss though is reduced to their "Shtick" which is fine and I don't mean this to be a crusade against Kiss, I just think you're way out in left field here.

I think you woke up on the wrong side of the bed again, mate!

 

Edit:

Come to think of it, GNR has sold quite a few records considering how few they have released. AFD, Lies, UYI 1&2, TSI?, Live Era, GH, CD. That means they've averaged each record selling about 14 million. That is incredible, especially considering 1 was a lowly promoted live album in the middle of the wilderness era, 1 was a 4 song acoustic record bundled with an already released EP, one was a cover album, and one was released in an era where record sales have dwindled and half the people didn't view it as a GNR record. Has Kiss had 1 album that has sold Guns average?

Also, about 80% of their sales have come from AFD, UYI, Lies and GH. And they've topped 100 million including the others. Incredible. All in less than 30 years. Commercially speaking, few artists can match that.

One step further- To date, AFD 30 million, Lies 10 million, UYI 30 million- all released in a 4 year span (really 3 year by the time Appetite took off). Point being they released 3 albums that to date are some of the best selling ever. If Led Zeppelin released album A in 1970, album b in 72, and albums c and D in 74, that sold this much, we'd be talking about how Led Zeppelin dominated the 70-74 and their legendary status in part by those albums. Guns did just that in half the time and you are comparing them to Kiss??

 

Record sales are irrelevant seeing as Kiss acquired their fanbase through gigging and an imaginative stage show as opposed to conquering the mainstream - although 'Beth' and 'Rock And Roll All Night'' did climb to #7 and #12 respectively. We are also discussing North America. Much of Guns' record sales came from outside North America whereas Kiss's - during their heyday - came exclusively from North America (they were successful in Japan also). Kiss did not corner South American, Antipodean and European markets until after their golden age, when their American audiences were deserting them.

[bigpoop]

2 hours ago, Sprite said:

  Were you alive or around for the UYI craze? I don't think you could pencil in many artists that generated that much hype in America, and certainly not Kiss.  

 

 

Were you  alive in '77-'78 when KISS were at their peak?  I was. They were huge.

[dalsh327]

Sometimes when one building has multiple radio stations, the other stations wind up with tickets for performers they don't play on there. Sometimes you can just call them up and ask if they have GNR tickets, even if they play hip-hop, mariachi or country. 

 

 

[RussTCB]

We still won't have any idea how tickets are selling until about this time tomorrow when everything is on sale to the public.

[mrw80]

16 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

We still won't have any idea how tickets are selling until about this time tomorrow when everything is on sale to the public.

Thai is very true. The availability on these stadium maps doesn't tell the whole story because it's only what was released for presale. 

[Evan442]

17 minutes ago, mrw80 said:

Thai is very true. The availability on these stadium maps doesn't tell the whole story because it's only what was released for presale. 

In some cases it looks like most of them though.

[Evan442]

I honestly hope I'm wrong, but I feel stadiums are pretty ambitious…ESPECIALLY with what they're charging for tickets.  Axl could barely fill small arenas in the states with the new Guns and Slash, Duff, etc haven't played venues bigger than the House of Blues on their own.  I think it's 10 years too late.  If Axl wasn't touring regularly with the new Guns, I think they'd push a LOT more tickets.  

 

GnR really never even did stadiums in the US in their prime, with the exception of the Metallica tour (all tickets were around $30 mind you) and a few one off shows here and there (Rose Bowl, etc)

[Garren]

So, I'm looking to buy tickets in the $80 range for the Aug. 3 show... would you guys recommend I use a presale code and get them now? Or wait until the public sale starts and move fast from there?

If I should go with a presale, then which would you guys recommend? (I can't go with the Nightrain presale as I don't have membership.)

[bigcountry]

I too think they over done it with a stadium tour but if they sell lets say 35,000-45,000 tickets per show then it would be cheaper financially for the band and promoters than doing two nights in an arena that seats 15,000 to 25,000 in the same city to sell the same amount of tickets. Yes it would be better for the fans but it all comes down to the almighty dollar.

Edited April 7, 2016 by bigcountry

[DieselDaisy]

 

54 minutes ago, Evan442 said:

GnR really never even did stadiums in the US in their prime, with the exception of the Metallica tour (all tickets were around $30 mind you) and a few one off shows here and there (Rose Bowl, etc)

True.

Or to put it another way, to fill these stadiums during their prime, a hot act supporting two major albums, it took another gigantic headliner (Metallica) and major support bands (Faith No More, Body Count and/or Motorhead)!

There are actually two stadiums in common to both tours. GN'R/Metallica played the Orlando Citrus Bowl and Louisiana Superdome in 1992, two venues which Guns alone are playing in 2016! The analogy therefore is perfect.

Basically, the size of venue they are going for is (rock) Stones, Springsteen and McCartney level, or (pop) Beyonce level. There is no way GN'R will be able to fulfill that - even with two big support acts.

Edited April 7, 2016 by DieselDaisy