FUCK
fuckfuckfuckfuck that!
and the cd is ONA live which i already payed $80 for!!!
i hope he reads all this and realises how unfair this is, expecially to the looong time fans who have been waiting years and now they get told to get the same benefits other members god in other countries they have to pay $400.
that is a LOT of money.

i doubt the cd will be anything but ONA live, which no one wants.
what about more than one show in a city?
it seems that with these prices he will only get one.
if they were cheaper i would go to 3 in one city.

i'm really tempted to get that 1000 dollar one and tell him he really ripped us off. That option is for people that don't have to pay for it anyway but i guess it's good that anyone can do it. Regardless, people have to pay 500 exta bucks just to meet him. What is he? the fuckn devil or something

Oh! and at the end of the show, they gave away a bunch of stuff the band used.

I ended up getting one of his guitar picks that said "Prince" on it. John Blackwell gave away 4 or 5 pairs of drumsticks. Someone was given Prince's half drank bottle of water! , and I had to laugh at that.

savoirfaire you are making me go crazy!!!

monte said:

Needless to say it was one of the greatest experiences of my life, with or without an aftershow, and I still would have felt ripped off if I had paid $1000 or even $400 for it.

i so weak, i think i would rather be ripped off then miss out. but good golly i'm gonna scream some nasty shit at him in the soundcheck

yup, im going to pay the $400. and whinge about it the whole time, but how can i say no...?

it is f%$#ed up!

i will go4 the $392 ticket in melbourne...& hopefully i can afford sydney also..

but fuck me dead!

i thought P was different.

im gonna pay $400

a: 2 c teh sndcheck
b: 2 b closer:
c: it would b amazing 2 c an aftershow

I feel sooo pissed off.

For those wanting to compare...

AUD$995.50 = $675 American

AUD$392.00 = $266 American

AUD$171.00 = $116 American

& 2 the american fams...dont even go there with saying how the compared conversion rate isnt that bad...

cuz u woud all kick up a stink if tix 2 a US gig were $266us.

now now, that's not what I was saying at all. I was trying to give "American Fams" perspective on the costs. For general tix prices, only the soundcheck is messed up. That could be fixed at the door, or in a couple days.

The stage thing is new, and several artists are doing this right now. It's a quick and easy $30-50,000 to the artists if their fans are willing to pay.

ONA live being given out is just dumb, I'll agree to that. At least give out the hit n run singles, a lot of people don't have those, esp Australians.

i slowly coming to terms with things.

good idea about the hit n' run singles.
hardly any aussies would have them

Joshy said:

Yes I would kick up a mighty stink. (which I'm assuming means have a fit, make a fuss or something like that?)

I'm trying to formulate ways to justify this ("well, if I divide it by 10 considering thats how many years it'll be before I'll see him down here again... ) but whatever way you slice it WE ARE BEING GIVEN THE ROYAL SHAFT

God, it's like how many times can you put your faith in somebody and the WORST CASE SCENARIO COMES TRUE AGAIN

I keep moving from angry to sad...what I should be is excited!!!

nobody is going to want to hear this, and I know it is easier for me to say because it isn't my country he's playing and it isn't my money being spent, but

This doesn't seem that different than special and very expensive concert deals i've read about from Pavaroti, sinatra, etc. I can't imagine that fans called them assholes when they made vip treatment available.(I even remember Pavaroti made people stand when he went thru the room at a befor concert banquet).
I know everyone feels entitled because they are club members, but the club was all of twenty five frikkin dollars. Last year was last year, and way back when I "borrowed" my dads credit card only to find the Purple Rain tour sold out the ticket price was all of $17.00.

Nobody has to pay what he is asking for the best deal. For everyone who is so furious, calm down and put it in perspective; he is just a musician If you want to hear him live pay whatever price is comfortable to you and go have a good time. A few years ago when I had the chance to see Jimmy Page I was a mile away from the stage and had a great time.

Look at it this way do you hate the makers of merceds because some people pay sixty grand for an E-class and you either cant or won't. Would you feel that they owed you something because you have always been a benz fan and spent $25.00 on the brochoure?

sorry for being off-topic, but I'm glad the Hong Kong gig doesn't offer sound checks. I'd rather pay the $180 for good seats knowing there was no sound check, rather than pay $180 and miss out on the sound check, or pay $390 and feel ripped off. Does anybody feel that's a better scenario?

sabaisabai said:

yes, it is, SLIGHTLY.

The whole meet and greet thing (onstage ticket) cannot be compared to anything offered in the past, because it is totally new and therefore cannot be evaluated in context of anything that he's ever done.

As far as the "diamond" and "vip" levels, it is not suprising to me that the tickets are costing the equivalent of approx. $117 US to $267 US considering that *this year* the membership fee was ONLY $25.

I had posted on the NPGMC website that because of the relatively cheaper membership fee this year, that meant that a greater number of people would have access to these concert perqs, and in order for those perqs to retain value and be practical they would most likely build in that value/cost into the price of the ticket.

Last year's membership fee was $100. Most already complained that the cds we received in no way made up for that fee. And although not everyone was able to take advantage of the concert perqs, it is clear that the fee took into consideration the tour.

This year at $25, just about anyone can join; and practically that has been the case with this Australia show. Immediately as it was announced it seemed like a wave of people joined for the purposes of getting good seats.

From a logistical perspective, it seems that they have chosen to transfer the "limitedness" of the perq from the cost of the membership to the cost of the ticket, which seems to be what people were asking for... in the case of those who could not take advantage of those concert perqs. A base-membership fee, with everything else being a la carte: if you want cds, they'll be offered first to you at a relative discount IF YOU CHOOSE TO BUY IT; if you want to go to a show, there will be different levels of access granted with different options of prices so you have a CHOICE.

Last year ALL MEMBERS paid for the perqs even though they couldn't take advantage of them. This year it seems, that you will only have to pay for what you want.

The $680 US price for "meet and greet"--that is pretty steep. But then again, it grants a different level of access for those who want to go that far.

Most will choose the priority concert seating. Last year we were guaranteed the first 15 rows, with concert ticket prices ranging from $100 to $150 US. The $117 US seems to be offering the same thing.

BOYCOTT BOYCOTT BOYCOTT!!!

I don't think I'd like to meet Prince in such a scenario. I've never seen any indication that he actually likes fans or is interested in meeting them, so how enjoyable would it to meet him when you know it's only for $$? It's prostitution.

sabaisabai said:

Can you think of any other mechanism that would effectively restrict the number of people that would get onstage for the meet and greet?

If that is to be offered, then how should those people be selected? By drawing? By lottery?

Unfortunately, money provides one of the easiest ways to regulate access when that is needed. It is done all the time.

sabaisabai said:

CO-SIGN!!!

NuPwrSoul said:

Agreed. No problem there.



Thats $140 USD difference for a ticket, nearly 1 1/2 times the full membership price. Part of the cost is gooing towards a cd set we all already have .



Fair enough, but $140 USD with the same perks being offered at the same price to non members?



Yep, I'd say an estimate of $50 USD for concertperks is a fair estimate.



There are still not that many Aussie members. 200 absolutely max I'd say.



Yeah, choose the least painfull way of being screwed.



But on a WAY different pay scale.



No way. NO SOUNDCHECK!!!

I really thought this FITTING!!!

bkw said:

That may indeed be the case, but once again, you as a consumer have choices. They are not the same as last year, but they are choices nonetheless that cover a wide price range to accommodate people's resources and interests.

Maybe he wants to meet the stalkers who will pay the grand so he'll have more personal info on them...

IMAGINE if this happens in america...

If it's a greatest hits show...then I
can sympathize with the Aussies.

NuPwrSoul said:

How about just meeting him because he feels like being met? He either gets chatty at the sound-check, after performing at an aftershow, you're good looking and get invited to his VIP section of a club, traditional ways like that? Sure, you can't guarantee a meeting, but that's how it is with stars.

600 $ extra just to say hi?
Last year we got the soundchecks, in London we chatted with him, even sang and dance with him on stage...good times are gone...
today with 120+ dollars we don't even get the soundcheck...with these prices, in this tour I'll afford just a show...