PETER GABRIEL - I/O: The Tour 2023 (general info)

  • Got my tix. Prices were ok for me, but still pretty high compared to his last tour. I'm sure this os too much for a lot of people :(

    It sure is. Anyone remember the recession in the 70's? I believe a lot of gigs were made cheaper then so more could afford them. It's not just PG who is charging a lot though.

  • It sure is. Anyone remember the recession in the 70's? I believe a lot of gigs were made cheaper then so more could afford them. It's not just PG who is charging a lot though.

    I wasn't aware ticket prices were ever lowered [then] but I guess the big difference is that huge numbers of records were still being sold at the time.

  • I bought my ticket in the second row centre, pre-sale, for the first show of this tour, in Cracow, Poland. It's quite exciting to be on the first night, not knowing the setlist. The tour description mentions some "unexpected" songs, which sounds very intriguing.

  • £189!!!!!

    I was going to buy a pair of tickets yesterday but have balked at the price. I've not long spent £260+ on a pair of tickets for Roger Waters. I didn't think PG would be more. I've always gone to concerts I wanted to , this is first time I've finally said just too much. £400 for one night stretches it just that bit too much. Somewhat gutted.

  • £189!!!!!

    I was going to buy a pair of tickets yesterday but have balked at the price. I've not long spent £260+ on a pair of tickets for Roger Waters. I didn't think PG would be more. I've always gone to concerts I wanted to , this is first time I've finally said just too much. £400 for one night stretches it just that bit too much. Somewhat gutted.

    However much I love Peter Gabriel, £400 is too much!.


    I believe tickets were being sold for £38 for a Camel concert several years ago.👍

  • I'd be surprised if any additional dates were added to the European tour - given the prices, there are a lot of tickets still available.


    I doubt a second night at the O2 would sell to an acceptable level for them.


    For comparison, I bought 2 excellent tickets for the comedian Peter Kay at the O2 yesterday. Cost £146 for 2 (that's £73 each with those silly extra admin costs). Same thing would have been £400+ for Gabriel.


    I genuinely can't get over how ridiculous the prices are. It's a really difficult economic time, and for a man who always places himself on the side of "right", this seems very, very wrong.


    And this isn't just the call of the promoter - Gabriel could absolutely have stepped in and made them cheaper.


    I hope anyone who has tickets has an excellent time though!

  • So anyway am feeling a bit foolish. I ignored the cheaper seats as I didn't want to pay £130 odd each on poor seats, but actually I've got a pair of half decent seats two thirds back on the floor. Roughly what I was expecting to pay in the first place . Still too expensive really and £189 is ridiculous.

  • Whilst in no way condoning the Gabriel ticket prices, I really don't think you can compare the cost for one man with a microphone with a full band multi-media visual spectacle.

  • Whilst in no way condoning the Gabriel ticket prices, I really don't think you can compare the cost for one man with a microphone with a full band multi-media visual spectacle.

    To be fair, Peter Kay was originally going to charge more for his tickets, but made them less because of the cost of living crisis. Some other bands have done this at Arena gigs too.

  • Whilst in no way condoning the Gabriel ticket prices, I really don't think you can compare the cost for one man with a microphone with a full band multi-media visual spectacle.

    It's easy and probably justified to feel wrong about what Peter charges per tickets (or his agency). What we do not know is the whole picture, i.e. production costs, preparation costs etc.

    The business has changed a lot. In some regions they have big problems finding staff to do any shows.

    ...

  • What we do not know is the whole picture, i.e. production costs, preparation costs etc.

    The business has changed a lot. In some regions they have big problems finding staff to do any shows.

    I think this is absolutely right. Entertainment (and hospitality) have taken a major hit. Many from those industries who had no choice but to get other work during lockdowns haven't returned. Materials costs are going through the roof. There's a load of things to factor in to these ticket costs, but those also include the way the concert ticket market works generally, especially for high-profile acts in large venues where there's undoubtedly a degree of piss-taking.

    Abandon all reason

  • I'll be interested in seeing whether this tour ever actually makes it to the US. The last time I saw PG in an arena setting (2002 in Washington, DC) the arena was at best 2/3 full. 20 years later I doubt a lot of folks will be willing to pay outrageous prices to see him in a 20,000 seat venue. He could always downsize to smaller venues, but even if he does that it seems likely that ticket prices will remain high. Based on the prices mentioned by those who have bought tickets for the European tour shows I have a feeling I'll be passing on seeing PG this time around.

  • North American dates are scheduled for late summer / fall and will be announced at a later date.
    Peter was also doing arenas in 2012 in the US

    Yes he did—my bad for forgetting about that tour. On that tour in the DC area he played at the Patriot Center, an arena which seats approximately half as many as the arena he played in 2002. I know he played many full-sized hockey/basketball arenas on that tour, though looking at tour dates on Wikipedia it appears the stage design significantly reduced the capacity for the shows. For example, TD Gardens in Boston seats over 19,000; the number of seats available for the concert was 9,215, and 5671 tickets were sold. Most other nights on the tour more tickets were sold than at the Boston show, but again at most venues the total available seats were actually about half of the actual capacity for the building.

  • Looking at my ticket stub for PG in Manchester 1977, £2.20 I can understand the concerns about prices. Having said that I've also one for Bregenz in 2004, Euro 114, so a mixed bag. I don't think that the PG gigs are more expensive than others for similar artists, they are all expensive these days if you go to arenas in the UK. Thankfully PG didn't adopt the dreadful 'dynamic pricing' which is quite scandalous. UK is very expensive. I've paid Euro 120 for a really good seat in Milan and Euro 65 for a 'sit/stand anywhere' at Verona Arena (outside) It's still a lot of money but better than UK prices. It looks like Verona is now sold out and thats a big venue. Milan seems to have very few tickets left. I suppose PG is very popular in Italy, hence good ticket sales and average pricing.

    A few people have mentioned the 2002 USA leg of that tour and the low attendance at venues. I seem to remember that PG was payed a fixed fee for each gig, regardless of ticket sales and the promoters/venues set ticket prices.

    I was interested to see that tickets for the Roger Waters arena gigs in the UK are expensive, whilst on the US leg of his recent tour you could pick up a ticket in some cities for under 50 dollars.

  • Looking at my ticket stub for PG in Manchester 1977, £2.20 I can understand the concerns about prices.

    My inflation calculator tells me that's £11.80 now. Even the worst seat in a theatre gig, which what I imagine your 77 one was, would be at least £25 now depending on the act.

    Abandon all reason