The Great King Crimson Ripoff - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Tickets for King Crimson playing at Liverpool, £63.50, ie $89.77.

Rip off.

Prices were similar when I saw them at the Hackney Empire in 2015, but the house was still packed. Like most of these heritage acts they charge what the market will bear.

On the other hand there are eight guys in the band, so on a per head basis it's equivalent to getting to see a four piece band for £35....

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That's about what I paid when I saw them... granted, they play in Europe a lot more than they do central Canada, so it was basically a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity unless they decide to do another Canadian tour. I don't think it's too unreasonable; it's not like I'm seeing a band of that caliber every other week. A band is only worth whatever people are willing to pay.

As far as the number of members go, Snarky Puppy's charging $40-$50 to play near me, and they've got about twice the members; all very talented too. But I guess they just don't have the historical importance as King Crimson.

My prog band - Boreal Kinship

It's cheap compared to the Stones.

Not a surprise to me, honestly.

"I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021

Larkstongue41 wrote:

Not a ripoff. Every penny's worth, believe me.

Agreed. Saw them on the US leg of the tour - worth every penny and then some. Either go or don't go...

He neither drank, smoked, nor rode a bicycle. Living frugally, saving his money, he died early, surrounded by greedy relatives. It was a great lesson to me -- John Barrymore

I would go and see them for $89.77. When they came to San Diego, the cheapest ticket was $205.00.

Edited by Manuel - March 24 2018 at 20:37

Manuel wrote:

I would go and see them for $89.77. When they came to San Diego, the cheapest ticket was $205.00.

Presumably the scalpers grabbed all the tickets?

Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

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When I put this thread up, I thought it'd produce a polarised response - on one hand, from the "Yes, at any price" posters and, on the other hand, from the "it's a rip off" crowd. I'm a member of the latter.

I'm reminded of the Frank Zappa parody of the Beatles - "We're only in it for the money". This is not about music but about money.

By the same token, there is supposed to be a relationship between fans and band - neither rips the other off - but that seems to have completely broken down with illegal downloading by fans (and the rise of streaming services which pay the artist nothing) and bands deciding that they're going to charge exorbitant rates for concerts nowadays. Not a happy situation.

I don't agree with the "well, there's a lot of them so they should charge more" argument - think of the Glenn Miller Orchestra (or even the sodding Goombay Dance Band) - dozens of people on stage, lower ticket prices.

As for the "market will pay" argument, it's sad to see what was once non commercial music charging commercial prices. When everything - houses, cars, even concert tickets are priced at "what the market will pay" rather than "what's a fair price", then you're in a very sad - and rip off - world indeed.

Just an aside. The UK being a small place and one of the natural homes of prog rock, we will probably see a lot more bands here than someone living in the US, gigs are easier to get to. So the responses may vary.

I will certainly not be going to see King Crimson. The last time I saw Greg Lake was in Manchester, about 12 years ago - tickets were normal prices then. It wasn't a very good gig, incidentally. ;-)

I would imagine that if they didn't charge a certain amount then they wouldn't be able to tour. I'm sure it's not cheap to tour these days. I don't don't think the 20$ shows exist anymore even for young start ups

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