‘Doesn’t she know the cost of living crisis?’ wail Billie Eilish fans over ticket prices for Hit Me Hard And Soft tour
BILLIE Eilish fans in the UK have reacted angrily to the pop superstar’s tour ticket prices.
Die-hard supporters flocked to ticketing sites for the Hit Me Hard And Soft tour pre-sale and were left stunned when they were confronted by £145 standing tickets.
Many simply closed the site and refused to pay the eye-watering sum, while others raged about it on the social media platform X.
One person wrote: “£145 for Billie Eilish tickets – does she not know there’s a cost of living happening in the UK?”
Another said: “Me coming onto Ticketmaster seeing Billie Eilish prices then coming straight back out again. £145 for standing is this delusion?”
A third complained: “£145 whole English pounds for a standing ticket to @billieeilish at the @TheCoopLive – I think I paid £80 last tour?”
A fourth shared a recent quote from Eilish in which she criticised the commercial nature of the music industry and its obsession with releasing multiple vinyl varieties to increase profits.
They said: “How can you say this and then make your very cheapest standing tickets at your tour that goes on sale the following day after it’s announced, £145… when your audience is mainly teenagers who don’t have the means to pay without their parents.”
The post related to an interview Eilish gave to Billboard which seemed to take aim at The Rolling Stones in particular after the veterans released 43 versions of their Hackney Diamonds album.
She said: “I can’t even express to you how wasteful it is.
“I find it really frustrating as somebody who goes out of my way to be sustainable and do the best that I can and try to involve everybody in my team in being sustainable.
“And then it’s some of the biggest artists in the world making 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more.”
Eilish’s UK tour will see her play Glasgow, London and Manchester in July and is set to be one of the shows of the summer alongside Taylor Swift, whose record-breaking Eras tour is coming to stadiums in the UK.
Swift’s sold out run saw tickets vary from £60 up to £195, with even more for exclusive packages.
PAYING THE PRICE
Eilish is certainly not the only act charging high prices for tours. The explosion in ticket costs post-pandemic has been felt across music genres.
The likes of AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Adele and Green Day have all surprised fans with ticket costs this year.
Standing tickets for the High Way to Hell rockers’ Wembley show on July 3 set some fans back £302.85 on Ticketmaster, while official platinum tickets were an eye-watering £381.80.
Ticketmaster said: “The Event Organiser has priced these tickets according to their market value.
“Tickets do not include VIP packages. Availability and pricing are subject to change.”
One fan complained: “Ticket price inflation is insane, way beyond anything else I can think of.
“I get that records aren’t selling any more and this is the way that bands make money, but I’ve been feeling the need to draw the line for a few years now.
“This is the time I’ve finally done it, I’m not prepared to pay these prices any longer.”
Another joked: “In other news anyone want to buy a kidney so I can see ACDC.”
UK concert ticket prices 2024
All prices based on front standing tickets
Billie Eilish, London O2 Arena – £145
Taylor Swift, Wembley Stadium – £172
AC/DC, Wembley Stadium – £130
Bruce Springsteen, Wembley Stadium – £174
Green Day, Wembley Stadium – £109
Pearl Jam, London Tottenham Stadium – £249
Kylie Minogue (BST, Hyde Park) – £220
Grunge legends Pearl Jam, who recently released critically-acclaimed album Dark Matter, faced similar backlash over their tour which is seeing them play Tottenham Hotspur‘s Stadium in June.
For the best standing tickets at that show, punters needed to fork out £249.45 while even the worst seats were £125 before booking fees were added.
One fan raged: “F*****g gutted at the Pearl Jam ticket prices. I was really hoping to see them at last! £150 for nosebleeds. S***e.
“Standing tickets for Pearl Jam in Manchester are 225 quid each!!! Absolutely outrageous. Ticket prices are out of control now.”
Kylie Minogue and Shania Twain‘s BST shows at London’s Hyde Park this summer start at £112 for standard entry, before going up to £220 for the gold circle at the front of the pop-up setting and all the way up to £435 for the most exclusive packages.