Summer gigs are no longer just the ticket

Features

Unlike some of his rivals, Bruce Springsteen sells out his gigs in record time

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

As music festivals are hit by a downturn in ticket sales, Showbusiness Correspondent Maureen Coleman asks: Why?

MUSIC festivals, as synonymous with summer as cold beer and ice-cream, look set to be affected by the current 'credit crunch' as concert-goes across the country tighten their belts.

Last year around 80,000 tickets for the two-day Oxygen event at Punchestown Racecourse outside Dublin sold out in a record 70 minutes.

But this year, two months after the main release of tickets, there are still some available.

Four-day camping tickets for the award-winning festival, costing 244.50euro, (£192) have sold out but fans can still buy three-day tickets without camping for 199.50 euro (£156) or one-day tickets for Friday for 99.50euro (£78).

A spokesman for MCD, the promoters of Oxygen, said the event, which runs over three days this year and is headlined by acts including The Verve, Kings Of Leon and Rage Against The Machine, was considered a camping event and those tickets had already sold out.

He said there were only a limited number of day tickets still left.

And tickets are still available for the boutique festival Electric Festival, which takes place at Strabally in Co Laois in August.

While it has always been slower selling than Oxygen, last year it sold all 32,500 tickets in just under eight weeks. This year tickets, costing 240euro (£188), are still available, five weeks after general release.

However, it is likely that Electric Picnic which has grown in popu- larity over the last few years. will nonetheless, sell out.

Closer to home there has been no news yet on the two-day Tennents ViTal Festival, which takes place in Belfast during August.

Prog-rockers Muse were rumoured to be playing a Belfast show in August but the plug was pulled on the MCD concert and they will now only play one show in Dublin. Tickets for this gig haven't yet sold out, despite Muse being considered one of the best live bands in the world.

The sold-out sign hasn't gone up either for the Police's June concert at Stormont and it is not known how ticket sales are progressing on that front.

Smaller shows at the Odyssey Arena continue to sell well, with Girls Aloud's three Belfast dates sold out. Pop princess Kylie Minogue sold out three shows but there are still tickets on sale for her fourth.

Some heavy hitters, like Bruce Springsteen, can still make headlines by selling out in record time, but this no longer a regular occurrence.

One reason for the slow down in ticket sales is undoubtedly the price of tickets. Gig-goes splashing out up to £60 on a ticket also have to take into consideration other costs such as transport, food and drink and, in some cases, accommodation.

Given the economic downturn at the moment, it's not surprising that many people will be cutting back on the number of gigs they go to.

And the number of shows now available is another reason why ticket sales have slumped. Where as big name acts coming to Belfast used to be the exception, now it's the norm and we are faced with a bombardment of shows. Tickets are being released on a regular basis for newly announced concerts, making the music fan spoilt for choice — as long as he or she has plenty of money.

Take the next few weeks, for example. Belfast will be playing host to Boyzone, Westlife, Shayne Ward, Mark Knopfler and Kylie Minogue, among others. And acts such as Bon Jovi, Radiohead, Metallica, Muse, The Killers, JayZ, Paul Weller, Lenny Kravitz and Eric Clapton are all bound for Dublin and Cork over the summer. Concert-goes hoping to take in several shows will be out a small fortune.

One life-long fan of the Police paid £77 for a Golden Circle ticket at Stormont, but said she believed this price was on the high side and that many bands should think more about their fans when it came to pricing.

The young mum, who did not wish to be named, said the Stormont show would be the only outdoor concert she would be at this summer.

"I've always been a fan of the Police and wish I'd seen them in their heyday, but I felt this was my only chance to see them so was happy enough to pay the money," she said.

"But I do think ticket prices are high and I also think bands like the Police, Take That and Duran Duran are cashing in on the fact that their fans want to see them again.

"Given the fact that I've a mortgage to pay for, a car to run and bills to pay, this will probably be the only concert I'll be at this summer. There are other costs to take into consideration on the night and I don't think too many people would be able to fork out for all the concerts they'd love to go and see, the way prices are at the moment." Britian's best known festival, Glastonbury, is even feeling the pinch, with slow ticket sales reported for the first time in years.

Dermott Jewell of the Consumers Association of Ireland said: "The cost of tickets has been an issue for a while, but more so now that money is tighter," he said. "People are looking at the price and saying 'no, I'll think about that'.