2019-11-08 - Auckland
Tour: Joshua Tree Tour 2019
Songs played: 25
Audio recordings: 0
Videos: 1
  1. Originally posted by LikeASong:The dynamic pricing phenomenon is partially to blame, but the fact there are plenty of GAs (GAs! always the most longed-for tickets - and one type that's not subject to dynamic pricing) available for several of these shows tells a different story, one about demand and band relevance.
    True. I have to admit I was a bit shocked to learn that Sydney 360 only sold about half the tickets that Sydney Vertigo. That's a monster decrease in demand (although 360 was on the back for only a 4 year absence, while it was double that for Vertigo).

    The very large size of some (but not all) of these fields is partly to blame for some of these shows still having GA's left. Both Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide have fields that are over double the size of a football field. Perth is even larger I believe.

    Also fans & getting older, & are probably gravitating to seats, but baulking at the prices. One of my friends has chosen seats, I thought she'd never do that!
  2. Originally posted by deanallison:[..] I’ve already noticed looking back at figures from the 2017 tour they’ve tried to cover up sales by doing things like 45,000/45,000 (rough numbers) indicating it’s a sell out when in fact the venue holds 60,000.

    That's what I've been trying to explain to "blind fans" since a long time ago but they refuse to accept it The "sold out" concept lost its meaning in the 90s when they moved from the "local promoter" approach to the "global promoter" that's now the rule. LiveNation can declare a show sold out with as few as 60% tickets sold (maybe 50, maybe 70%, depends on the market, average ticket pricing and type of show) because that's when they start getting profit. Everything that comes after that ~60% is pure plain profit. And it's very common that shows that could have sold thousands (even dozens of thousands) of tickets more are declared as sold-outs just for billboard marketing reasons. A tour with 53 out of 53 "sold out" shows is regarded higher than a tour with 119 out of 154 sold outs.
  3. Originally posted by ddarroch:[..]
    True. I have to admit I was a bit shocked to learn that Sydney 360 only sold about half the tickets that Sydney Vertigo. That's a monster decrease in demand (although 360 was on the back for only a 4 year absence, while it was double that for Vertigo).

    The very large size of some (but not all) of these fields is partly to blame for some of these shows still having GA's left. Both Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide have fields that are over double the size of a football field. Perth is even larger I believe.

    Also fans & getting older, & are probably gravitating to seats, but baulking at the prices. One of my friends has chosen seats, I thought she'd never do that!
    Very valid point about the fanbase getting older and hence gravitating to seats. But are these GAs really that big? I mean, double the size of a standard football field... man, that's a LOT. Really?!
  4. It's about a month after Metallica. Importantly tickets went in sale after Metallica, Queen, Kiss I believe, & around the same time as Elton John. So people disposable income may have already been spent by the time U2 tickets went in sale.
  5. Originally posted by LikeASong:[..]
    Very valid point about the fanbase getting older and hence gravitating to seats. But are these GAs really that big? I mean, double the size of a standard football field... man, that's a LOT. Really?!
    A football field is just over 7,000 sqm. Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide are all over 16,000 sqm. I believe Perth is bigger, & if they were playing at the MCG in Melbourne it would be bigger again.

    I pity the people in the seats, I hope they bring binoculars
  6. Originally posted by ddarroch:[..]
    It's about a month after Metallica. Importantly tickets went in sale after Metallica, Queen, Kiss I believe, & around the same time as Elton John. So people disposable income may have already been spent by the time U2 tickets went in sale.
    And even Metallica sold bad. Metallica's second Melbourne show was a disaster sales-wise, where the first did really well. Might have prompted LiveNation to re-think it.
  7. I wonder what they consider to be a disaster nowadays, with this dynamic pricing. Sure, they'd love to get instant sellouts, at these sky high prices. But I wonder what they expected, what's acceptable. I wonder if they consider Auckland 2 to be a disaster, or whether it was expected, & what level of sales they expect to achieve with reductions in ticket prices.

    I hope they don't consider sales to be well below expectations. I don't want them scared off, never to return. If anything, a re-evaluation, & a move to smaller arena-sized venues would be very welcome
  8. Originally posted by ddarroch:I wonder what they consider to be a disaster nowadays, with this dynamic pricing. Sure, they'd love to get instant sellouts, at these sky high prices. But I wonder what they expected, what's acceptable. I wonder if they consider Auckland 2 to be a disaster, or whether it was expected, & what level of sales they expect to achieve with reductions in ticket prices.
    I’d say Auckland 2 is a disaster in terms of how it looks and i think they would have been hoping for and expecting much better sales at this point but financially putting on a 2nd show maybe doesn’t require them to get rid of too many tickets when you consider the cost of getting the stage there etc has already been covered in night 1, so it’s probably worse that Perth for example with only 1 show isn’t doing too well. My guess anyway.

  9. It'll be like PopMart Jacksonville!
  10. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    I’d say Auckland 2 is a disaster in terms of how it looks and i think they would have been hoping for and expecting much better sales at this point but financially putting on a 2nd show maybe doesn’t require them to get rid of too many tickets when you consider the cost of getting the stage there etc has already been covered in night 1, so it’s probably worse that Perth for example with only 1 show isn’t doing too well. My guess anyway.
    Just had another look. Have they sold any tickets! Looks like they $60 seats are all that's gone. When I checked I thought the $190 seats had sold (which made me think a price reduction could have a pretty big effect). But I was mistaken, they're still plenty of $190 seats. Not looking good.

    Talk about demand nearly exactly matching the capacity of a single show. Near instant sell-out, & then the tap totally dries up! Never seen that before, that's for sure.
  11. Don't worry. It can't be any worse than Rihanna at Wembley stadium in 2016. Or can it?