…well the good news is that he's playing the Cadogan Hall in London on 18 October. I bought Paradise and Lunch in 1976 and he's always been one of my favourite guitarists, so I was dead keen to see him, especially as supported by son, Joachim, and on the back of the Prodigal Son album.
But the bad news is that available spaces (ha ha) start at £308. That's fucking ridiculous. I saw Taj Mahal and Keb Mo last year for about £20. A real shame that gougers take the piss like that. The Nice Lady at the Cadogan said they'd only had a small allocation of tickets but most had gone to big agencies. Feckers.
Comments
The new anti-bot ticket buying law isn't working, we need to cap resales. That kind of mark-up is outrageous.
IIRC, he’s not played over here for about 30 years - certainly a rare chance to see a true great of the guitar.
That said, I wouldn’t pay that much to see the Beatles fronted by Elvis with Hendrix sitting in on guitar....
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
What is an anti-bot ticket law? I didn't know people set up bots to buy tickets, I'm assuming it's something to do with this?
Only problem is that then people will sell the tickets regardless and people will buy them. Their own fault for not reading the rules, but they'll still kick off.
might work in our case, but doesn’t work for other people
You need an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea.
My feedback page: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/91654/
I think the current situation with concert tickets is bloody scandalous; 'agencies' are just venal touts and the practice of buying and scalping like that should be outlawed. Sheer greed. Only the artists can stop it.
A few years back I wanted to see Eric Johnson in London, original ticket price £30. By the time I found out, the few remaining ones were well over £100.
Last year I heard an interview on the radio with one of the main offenders, think it was the director of one of the best-known online 'agencies'. Everything that was put to him was like water off a duck's back, he couldn't give a damn and wasn't going to stop doing it either unless it was made illegal - and then he'd find a way round it.
Parasites IMO.
Well, well - a government minister no less has put her head above the parapet and said "Don't use Viagogo."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44299981
Margot James, Digital Minister, said it on Radio 5 this morning. It looks like they're also in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority AND the Competition and Markets Authority!
Good quote from consultancy firm Iridium: "[Viagogo] seems to regard UK consumer protection legislation as a minor inconvenience" - this because they are now based in Switzerland.