VIP and Ticket Prices Discussion

[solongfromthestars]

Here's a thread for us to discuss ticket prices and Green Day selling VIP tickets, since both things are big deals for fans who are used to cheaper tickets and no VIPs. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the ticket prices and anything you have to say about VIP tickets – whether you're against them, had a good experience with them, or bought them and felt ripped off.

In the UK, VIP tickets were around £250 for the "Calling All Saviors" package and £475 for the "Welcome to Paradise" package. Prices were similar in the rest of Europe.

For "Welcome to Paradise," ticketholders were supposed to receive:

• Backstage Tour
• Exclusive Lanyard
• One (1) Premium Ticket
• One (1) Exclusive Green Day Merch Package
• VIP Entrance and First/Early Entry to the Venue
• On Site VIP Host

For "Calling All Saviors," ticketholders were supposed to receive:

• One (1) Premium Ticket
• One (1) Exclusive Green Day Merch Package
• VIP Entrance and First/Early Entry to the Venue
• On Site VIP Host

[JellyTime]

Thank you for this thread! First of all - I think the front row should be for the most dedicated fans, not for the richest. Period.

And speaking of the actual Saviors tour in my opinion both VIP packages were just a scam. Every venue had a different number of VIP tickets, so it was like a lottery - in Berlin were too many VIPs and a lot of them didn’t get the barrier, but in Arnhem or Glasgow it was totally possible to be in the front row with regular GC ticket. So VIPs were still queuing for shows because they didn’t know what to expect. People with regular tickets also were queuing or even camping and ended up in second or third row.

Actually at every show some VIPs from the front row (usually from the most expensive package) didn’t know a lot of songs and were singing only Basket Case and Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. So they were just rich people (not all of them of course).

Also VIP merch was a joke - only tote bag is fine and useful. LP cover when a lot of people don’t have an LP player? Fingerboard? And my favorite - fucking fake guitar picks. We paid almost €300 and we didn’t even get real Green Day guitar picks. 

VIP host? Has anyone seen the VIP host?  In Berlin people had a problem with tickets from the official resale site. In London people had problem with tickets scanning. Where was this VIP host? 

As I said before, if they want to sell VIP tickets - fine, go for it. But make it real VIP - very limited, so VIPs won’t need to queue and people with regular tickets still will have a chance to get the barrier. 

[sophieduf]

Thanks for the thread, I did wonder what the benefits were! 
 

I had a regular front pitch ticket for Wembley, started queuing at about 13.30-14.00 and got pretty close to the stage. 
 

What stresses me out the most is not being able to use the bathroom once inside the venue, as I once had a bad experience at a killers gig where other fans shouted at and insulted me for trying to wriggle my way back to front where my BF was just because I dared to use to the bathroom during one of the support acts… (even though I also started queuing early and earned that spot!)

with green day I’m always too scared to risk it so I just don’t drink any water from noon onwards 😂 but I wonder if a vip ticket would sort of guarantee that you could come back without getting any shit from people 

Or maybe being dehydrated is just the price we have to pay for a good view! 

[solongfromthestars]

I completely agree that a band like Green Day shouldn't be selling overpriced VIP tickets and that it's unfair to price out fans who just can't afford to pay £250+ for a single ticket. It should be about devotion, not money, and there were definitely some rich, casual fans who bought VIPs and annoyed everyone filming at some shows (I didn't experience this but others have described it).

However, I think it's important to say that not everyone who bought them was rich. I'm certainly not – I know people assume I must be because I've been to lots of shows (although it's 52, not hundreds as some assume) but I barely earn minimum wage as a freelance photographer and I often pay for my mum to go, not the other way around I used my savings to buy our Wembley tickets and Klarna to buy my Glasgow one because I hadn't been to any concerts other than the Coverups since 2019, so I wanted to be up front. Everyone I queued with in Glasgow and at Wembley was the same – devoted, working-class fans who saved up or took out loans to go to a few Green Day shows with VIP tickets instead of lots of concerts with GA tickets.

A lot of people also bought these tickets because they're physically disabled or severely anxious, and they can't queue or run like others can, so this was their only chance to have a stress-free experience of getting front row. That was why I bought VIPs for my mum and me at Wembley – because she's disabled and can stand, but only if she can lean on the barrier. Ideally, disabled fans shouldn't have to pay £250 to access the same opportunities as more fortunate people, but we live in an ableist world and we just have to accept that, so my biggest issue isn't actually the sale of VIP tickets. It's what rip-offs they are. People bought them thinking they wouldn't have to queue, only to find out they would have to queue (or even camp out) because hundreds were sold and the Welcome to Paradise VIPs go in first. We were not given any information about numbers or who would go in first before buying them.

And then there's how it all played out in reality. The merch was tacky garbage that very few people actually wanted. I've heard it all went well in Manchester, so we had high hopes about Glasgow, but... well. The VIP host arrived late and shrugged and snickered at our concerns about entry. We weren't exactly let in early. We were just let in before GA on our side of the park which meant they were right behind us, and when we got inside, Pen One (Jason's side) was already full of GA people from the other side of the park. Those people got early entry, not the VIPs, and the GA people behind us who ran faster got better spots in Pen Two. I was very, very fortunate that I got the exact spot I wanted and enjoyed the show, but I was one of the only VIPs who did. There was a disabled mum with her very anxious daughter who arrived before me and they must have been far out, because I never even saw where they ended up. This whole thing was also shit for the GA people behind the VIPs because they had us ahead of them and the other side didn't.

I thought that was bad, but Wembley made it look organised. The VIP host didn't even show up. The venue staff were clueless about everything from how to scan tickets to where the stage was. Our information email clearly stated we'd be getting first entry:

But we didn't because 60 Welcome to Paradise people went in first. Nothing happened at the time it was supposed to happen. Once we were led inside, some people never even received their merch packages. In Manchester the VIP host apparently arranged a calm, fair entrance with the venue staff, but the staff at Wembley did nothing whatsoever to ensure our safety and obviously there was no VIP host to help. We were all pushed on our way down the stairs, my mum had her walking stick knocked out of her hand by another VIP who arrived a long time after us, and a friend had a man stamping on her feet to get past her. I seriously doubt my mum would have had to leave after Dookie if she'd been treated better on the way in, but all she got was outright discrimination from the venue staff.

I'm not posting any of this to get sympathy. I just want people to be aware of how badly all the VIPs (not just me) were let down at those two shows, and that in these particular cases, none of us were rich, casual fans who bought the tickets just because we could. For us, devotion looked like spending £250 of our hard-earned money to get up front (and we also camped out at Wembley, so yeah). Obviously being up front isn't guaranteed, but we hardly got any of the things that were guaranteed. There's a cost of living crisis in the UK right now and devoted British fans deserve better.

tl;dr Even if you pay for these packages, they're rip-offs. There's no guarantee you'll even get any of the perks.

[angry_robot]

1 hour ago, JellyTime said:

Thank you for this thread! First of all - I think the front row should be for the most dedicated fans, not for the richest. Period.

Yeah totally agree. What was also annoying is the fact that on UK Ticketmaster it was advertised as 'VIP Entrance to the venue' with no explicit mention of early entry. I was under the impression it just meant that VIPs get separate queue/entrance (like it often happens with other bands and VIP tickets) but not early entry. And yeah the sheer amount of VIPs... I get it, they need money and it's almost becoming industry standard now. But it's still very very sad for fans like us.

And personally (maybe I was just unlucky) it killed the atmosphere for me in Manchester and Glasgow cause I happened to stand behind people who weren't singing or clapping at all. Definitely not the experience you would usually get at GD show after queuing all day. 

 

[solongfromthestars]

12 minutes ago, sophieduf said:

with green day I’m always too scared to risk it so I just don’t drink any water from noon onwards 😂 but I wonder if a vip ticket would sort of guarantee that you could come back without getting any shit from people 

Or maybe being dehydrated is just the price we have to pay for a good view! 

Yeah you'll have to be dehydrated unfortunately! There's no specific VIP area so you've got to get through GA and VIP people to get back in. I wasn't able to go back to my spot after leaving to check on my mum but that was fine because I expected it.

[JellyTime]

31 minutes ago, angry_robot said:

And personally (maybe I was just unlucky) it killed the atmosphere for me in Manchester and Glasgow cause I happened to stand behind people who weren't singing or clapping at all. Definitely not the experience you would usually get at GD show after queuing all day. 

It was the case at every show. A lot of people in the front row were just standing, not singing, not dancing. And at the same time dedicated touring fans were in the seconds or third row. Or even far behind, because some of them gave up on queuing because of the VIPs. 

[Rumpelstiltskin2000]

I have to say at Wembley there was one lady near the front of the VIP line (behind me) who queued less than everyone else but insisted she had to be let in first. She was constantly harassing the staff and was rude to all the other VIPs even those who'd camped. No Green Day spirit at all. She even told me to get out of one of the selfies she was taking  I don't think this helped with how we were treated. 

Also all the VIPs around me were dedicated touring fans I've known for years (except this weird obnoxious lady). 

[Hermione]

19 minutes ago, JellyTime said:

It was the case at every show. A lot of people in the front row were just standing, not singing, not dancing. And at the same time dedicated touring fans were in the seconds or third row. Or even far behind, because some of them gave up on queuing because of the VIPs. 

To be fair this can be the case further back in the crowd among non VIP ticket holders as well, plenty of people near me just outside the VIP range weren't moving (although plenty were as well). I think this was more common at these shows because they're at stadiums and also billed as being about seeing their two biggest albums played, percentage of more casual fans will be higher than usual. No one around me sang the new songs for example. Plus there's just always people who prefer to just stand and watch and it's pretty normal for people on the front row to move less in order to keep their spot. I don't think it's necessarily a VIP issue.

[alienlifeform]

I think the ticket prices are really overpriced everywhere, and I said before, the band should take a closer look on the prices they are being sold. Not rich fans should be able to get good tickets to see the band up close, and not far away from the bleachers. And that is one of the reasons I really don't like Stadium shows.. they are really beutiful to see, mostly by the band from the stage, but 80% of people there are just seeing the band through the screens, which is really sad

The VIP thing that seems to be new for all of you, it's something that happens here in south america for a long while, usually lie 30/40% of the tickets are VIP/Premium here, so if you want front row, you need to camp the night out most of the time. It's really rare to have an early entry, and when we have it, it's even an additional fare over and huge amonut of money you already spent to buy VIP

[angry_robot]

34 minutes ago, Hermione said:

To be fair this can be the case further back in the crowd among non VIP ticket holders as well, plenty of people near me just outside the VIP range weren't moving (although plenty were as well). I think this was more common at these shows because they're at stadiums and also billed as being about seeing their two biggest albums played, percentage of more casual fans will be higher than usual. No one around me sang the new songs for example. Plus there's just always people who prefer to just stand and watch and it's pretty normal for people on the front row to move less in order to keep their spot. I don't think it's necessarily a VIP issue.

Yeah that's fair, maybe we're all just getting old! Crowds definitely felt tamer then previously even outside of the VIPs.

If I knew there was early entry I'd probably get a VIP ticket myself but seeing some of your stories really makes me dubious... I really hope they either drop the whole thing or just sell less of them. But it probably won't happen, guess this is a new reality we live in. ☹️

[neusgd12]

I disagree with VIP tickets. In Madrid I was in the front row of the general ticket area. It was sad to see how there were people in front of us (in the golden circle) who didn't know the songs and were just posing for photos because they were VIPs, in fact we had the bad experience with some guys taking photos mocking us of the general public.
In Hamburg I was lucky enough to be in the golden circle with my general ticket but the atmosphere was different to other times, where there were people who didn't know many of the songs.
In short, I would like not to see this class difference again. The working class cannot afford VIP ticket prices, it is already an effort to be able to attend concerts when they are not playing nearby. (adding the cost of planes, trains, hotels...).
It is discouraging that despite queuing for hours (when other times I could be in the front row for this effort), now it is not possible because it is reserved for the people who pay the most.

[Susi Sour cream]

In my opinion the main problem with the VIP tickets on this tour was that there were just way too many of them. There should be no need to queue for hours to get a spot at the barrier if you pay that much money for it. And of course it should always be possible for people without VIP to get barrier as well (just like it was the case in Arnhem for example).

Then the prices...yes, those tickets are definitely overpriced, but if there wouldn't be that many of those tickets and you would really be VIP I think the price would be a little more "okay"? (If anybody gets what I mean 😅)

But what I absolutely disagree is that the VIPs are only the rich ones! I am far from rich. I used my savings for these tickets. I worked hard for being able to buy them.

 

What was also really misleading was the description "First/Early Entry". I think it should have been made clear from the beginning that the "Paradise" people would be "First Entry" and the "Saviors" people would be "Second Entry".

 

In general, I'm not against the VIP tickets. I don't mind queuing or camping over night (though it definitely gets harder the older I get 😂). But I'm honest: Without those VIP tickets I probably wouldn't have made it to Wembley, just because I was really scared about that huge crowd.

 

All in all in my opinion, if they continue to sell these kind of tickets, they should make them more limited, more "VIP", and maybe less expensive

[Cris.]

The main issue with VIP packages, in my opinion, is that they are selling way too many.

The easiest (and greedy) solution would be to say beforehand how many VIP tickets of each category are for sale. With that information (i) if you buy VIP tickets, you will know if you still have to queue or not to get a good spot on the barricade, (ii) if you don't have VIP tickets you will know if it's worth it for you to queue or not, because you will know if you have a shot or not at being in the barricade depending on the number of early entry VIPs.

The best and more fair solution, again in my opinion, is to make it truly VIP. Sell way less VIP tickets, and put them behind a pre-sales link. I think something like they did for the pre-sale for the US would be enough, make the link accessible for people signed up for a news letter and that's it. Like that you limit their sale to more dedicated fans, and because they are fewer, many people who are capable of queueing for hours (and that do so even with VIP tickets) might choose to buy normal tickets if they know that having VIP is not the only way to get a good spot on the barricade. And by limiting their number, the VIP tickets might also sell out quite faster.

Because the main problem in the two shows in France at least, I think, was that the regular tickets (both pit and seats) were completely sold out weeks before any of the VIP packages were. So people who were casual listeners that found out late or decided late to go to the show, only found VIP tickets available and went for that.
 

 

 

I already posted a long rant about this issue in the European tour thread, but basically I had two very different experiences with the crowd in Lyon vs in Paris largely because of the VIPs. At Lyon there were people in the VIP queue who arrived before I did at 6:30AM for the regular queue. There were people queueing from 8AM with regular tickets in Lyon who had VIP tickets for Paris and so on. These are people who are obviously dedicated and if they want to spend extra to be more relaxed on the day of the show, that's great. But it should be a choice, not a necessity for guaranteeing that you have a good front row spot. But the VIPs around me during the concert in Paris did not at all fall within this category, they hardly knew any songs, they didn't engage with the concert at all (no jumping or waving their arms when prompted), one of them was just recording on her phone the majority of the time, another told me off for "leaning on him" when I was waving my arms from side to side at some point, etc. While the people behind me (many of whom I had met during the regular queue) were all super engaged and enjoying so much. So it is hugely unfair that these people who queued for more than 10 hours are stuck in 3rd row behind a bunch of people who showed up an hour before doors and are not as invested on the show.

And ultimately, it also creates a very hostile environment, even between hardcore fans, among VIP vs non-VIP, because then VIPs who paid triple the price and also queued for hours feel very protective (almost paranoid) about other people trying to get their spot, and understandably so to some extent.

[Psycho Britney]

It sounds like the VIP tickets did not live up to the expectations by all accounts then, which is very sad. I personally didn't buy a VIP ticket because I didn't feel like the price justified what was on offer. If the most expensive had included a meet and greet with band or something (which I know they will never do), then I probably would have jumped at the chance!lol! I was very happy to get a front pitch standing ticket. I personally liked the fact that you could buy these, because it gave you a bit of reassurance that you knew you had the opportunity of being nearish the front in the circle. Yes, I guess if they had all sold before I could get one, and I could only get general admission I would have been very disappointed. However I felt the pricing for these were very fair. I think it was only £30 difference between these and general admission, so I don't think people would felt that they were out priced for these, (if they were willing to buy general admission.) I hope they continue to sell golden circle tickets in future.

[Cris.]

Reading a lot of your posts (notably @JellyTime @solongfromthestars and @angry_robot) it seems obvious to me there were big differences between venues (and perhaps between countries/ticketing company). In Lyon and Paris the VIPs did get to enter early without any problems (not sure about the order in which different VIP levels got access to the arena floor though). And I get the impression for both shows they sold about the same amount of VIP tickets, but in Paris the stage was a bit smaller so it meant that the space around the barricade filled out more with VIPs occupying not only first but sometimes also second row (I would say maybe even third around the catwalk). 

The VIP packages for France did clearly specify that they would get early entry, and was not just a vague "VIP entry" description. The people with VIP tickets got a schedule of when they'd register, when doors would open for them, and when they'd open for the general public, and at least in Paris those times were respected, except for the time at which general doors would open, as the people (like me) with regular tickets went in about 45 minutes later than the information the VIPs had received. I feel this might have been due to a lot of VIPs arriving exactly at or even a bit later than the time they were given as the limit for early entry, so they kept delaying our entry. Because right before the VIPs went in some friends who were in that queue told me there were maybe 50 people in the queue (the VIP queue was on the opposite side of the arena so we couldn't see what was going on from the regular queue), and when we were finally let in the arena, there were definitely more than 50 people already there. And I didn't hear any complaints from the VIPs about how they were received and/or treated in these two shows.

Regarding the price of the shows. I think the prices for regular tickets are more than fair. I have seen other artists at the same arena where Green Day played in Paris and payed 50% more for nose bleed seats. For the price of the VIPs, I agree with @Susi Sour cream, I think if they were truly VIP, and you didn't need to buy VIP tickets to get a chance to be in front row, then the price is fine because it wouldn't be pricing out anyone from getting a good spot. But if they want to continue to sell so many VIP tickets, best to just call it VIP circle and lower a bit the price, and give them a dedicated area, like a smaller golden circle.

[Susi Sour cream]

From what I experienced, except for Berlin, the VIP thing was organized pretty well and the staff was nice. 

Berlin was a mess. None of the staff seemed to know anything. Even about half an hour (?) before we were supposed to get in it seemed they they didn't know how to arrange it. It was extremely stressful, the staff was not that nice, our VIP host was not available... Pretty chaotic. 

 

I think a small VIP circle would be a fair thing, but then again it should be clear from the beginning, where exactly that area would be. Because some people have their favorite spot at the barrier they'd like to stand 

[Seanz25]

It's completely hypocritical to release a single titled "The American Dream is Killing Me" and then charge silly prices for several layers of ticketing. 

That being said did I pay for golden circle? Yep - it was worth it for me, partly as I've got a disability and standing/queuing overnight just isn't feasible to get a decent view in these massive stadiums. I'm basically part of the problem in fairness. 

I stand by it being BS though and it goes against a lot of what they've said over the years etc. 

[nopride84]

All I know is a paid $21 to see then in 2001. Remember this

 

[Hermione]

2 hours ago, nopride84 said:

All I know is a paid $21 to see then in 2001. Remember this

 

Any time they got asked if they would continue doing low ticket prices at the time they always said they would do what made sense for each tour and that they weren't making a statement etc though. They never claimed it as a "belief" and wouldn't allow interviewers to put them in the category of bands taking a stand against high ticket prices. Also I don't think you'll find another band at their level that has much lower tickets prices than them now, they could charge a lot more. And the way bands make money has changed, they make nothing from record sales now and touring is how they make it. I do wish tickets could still just all be the same price throughout venues but now and 1994 are two different situations as far as how the economy of bands works so you can't really compare the two. Green Day still have decently low ticket prices for a band of their stature.

[Jon Benjamin]

This isn’t about the VIP side, but overall I’m grateful for their ticket prices. This is a bigger tour than Blink’s and Blink’s tickets are about double the price on a lot of comparable seats. They didn’t opt into dynamic pricing. 

[Susi Sour cream]

3 hours ago, Hermione said:

Any time they got asked if they would continue doing low ticket prices at the time they always said they would do what made sense for each tour and that they weren't making a statement etc though. They never claimed it as a "belief" and wouldn't allow interviewers to put them in the category of bands taking a stand against high ticket prices. Also I don't think you'll find another band at their level that has much lower tickets prices than them now, they could charge a lot more. And the way bands make money has changed, they make nothing from record sales now and touring is how they make it. I do wish tickets could still just all be the same price throughout venues but now and 1994 are two different situations as far as how the economy of bands works so you can't really compare the two. Green Day still have decently low ticket prices for a band of their stature.

This. Plus we have to keep in mind that everything gets more and more expensive. Especially with these massive tours.

They have to pay for the venues, the staff (they have a huge crew that works for them + many additional local workers at each show. E.g. in London the security staff told us there was one security guy per 20 people), the logistics, accommodation of band and crew etc.

There are lots of people who needs to get paid and many people also want a piece of the action.

[nopride84]

7 hours ago, Hermione said:

Any time they got asked if they would continue doing low ticket prices at the time they always said they would do what made sense for each tour and that they weren't making a statement etc though. They never claimed it as a "belief" and wouldn't allow interviewers to put them in the category of bands taking a stand against high ticket prices. Also I don't think you'll find another band at their level that has much lower tickets prices than them now, they could charge a lot more. And the way bands make money has changed, they make nothing from record sales now and touring is how they make it. I do wish tickets could still just all be the same price throughout venues but now and 1994 are two different situations as far as how the economy of bands works so you can't really compare the two. Green Day still have decently low ticket prices for a band of their stature.

No but you can compare  ticket for rev rad tour to now. My point was billie talking about everyone just wants money. Wtf do you call their coffee company and their "exclusive vinyl club" and all that  or their dickies deal or anything else they put their name to. Just sayin.

[angry_robot]

6 hours ago, Jon Benjamin said:

They didn’t opt into dynamic pricing. 

At least in London and Manchester they did  I had to get front pitch for double the normal price cause it just randomly went up and I know someone who was in same situation in Manchester.

That said prices in general are as you would expect them imo. Touring got more expensive so what can you do! Dynamic pricing is absolutely infuriating though.
 

 

[blueshadows]

Obviously if the VIP situation could be different then great, but it has become so common nowadays.

And I don’t necessarily think that only people who queue the earliest should get the best spots. Some people might have situations/conditions that make it impossible for them to queue for hours and hours and paying for VIP allows them the possibility to see a band they love up close.

Regular prices are expensive (especially when comparing to their past tours) but looking at the current situation and their status, I don’t think their regular prices are unreasonable when comparing to other artists.

What would be nice to change, would be bringing the fan club membership back that gives a unique code for presales and have some good tickets available that are non VIP prices.