Gig-going

Well, if you have read any of my other ops you will by now know that going to gigs, festivals and concerts are one of my favourite past times when possible!

Heres just a few of the gigs I have been to and what prices they were at that particular time and at what venue:

Oasis - Wembley Stadium - July 2000 (standing/unreserved seats) £27.50

Mansun - Norwich UEA - October 2000
(standing) £10.00

Texas - London Wembley Arena - February 2001
(seating-reserved) £22.50

Bryan Adams - Londong Wembley Arena - March 2002
(reserved seating) £32.50

Oasis - Finsbury Park London - July 2002
(Reserved seating)£28.50

Bryan Adams - Blickling Hall Norwich - July 2002
(standing - open air) £32.50

Coldplay - London Wembley Arena - October 2002
(reserved seating) £19.50

Suede - Norwich UEA - November 2002
(standing) £15.00

Doves - Norwich UEA - December 2002
(standing) £14.00

Nickelback - Londong wembley Arena - december 2002
(reserved seating) £21.50

So, as you can see this is just a small selection of the gigs I have been too in the last couple of years and obviously it depends on the size of the band, venue that determines how much you could be forking out. These prices do not include postage and booking/card fees which you get charged. This is what ups the cost of your concert. So my first tip is to shop around for tickets if possible. In Feb we are going to see Feeder in Ipswich and booked through the Ipswich Entertainments web page. They charged £12.50 for the ticket and something like 50p credit card charge per ticket (some places charge such high credit card charges which I think is how these places rip you off!) and 30p to get my tickets posted (or could pick up from venue for no charge) Whereas other places charge £1.50+ for postage and the cheek of others even charge the same to pick up from a venue!

If you have the internet handy then ordering can be made easy by either ordering direct from the band/singers web page (if they do this) or these sites are ones which I have used and have found to be reliable:

www.gigsandtours.com (this is my fave site for ordering)

www.ticketmaster.co.uk

www.firstcalltickets.com

there are loads of others too but these are the ones I like best.

If you go to each page and join their mailing list they will normally email you about new acts which are touring before they go on sale so you can be at your computer or phone at the ready as soon as they go on sale!! you may get emails about bands which don't interest you but these can easily be deleted. I find these emails are very helpful especially if I really want to see someone in particular!

If you have to travel to your gigs leave in plenty of time...when we went to see coldplay it ended up taking us three and bit hours to get to wembley instead of two because of traffic so we ended up missing Idlewild as they were the support act which we were dissappointed.

Open air gigs always take a jumper or coat no matter how hot it is because if you are like me I always end up getting cold especially as the night goes on.

Concerts always have food and drink stalls which are always selling fast food and snacks for prices which we wouldn't normally pay so we always try to take some snacks with us and drinks. Most places wont let you take glass bottles and alcohol into the venue but you can normally get aways with cartons of juice and some crisps!

Beware of the souveniers though as they are always so expensive. I brought a program from my first bryan Adams concert last year which was nearly £10.

Little t-shirts at Nickelback were nearly £15 so I didn't buy any. Merchandise is normally quite expensive so if you do want to buy please take lots of money with you!!! (sometimes you can buy cheap posters outside the venues - even though your not suppose to!!)

Also don't forget to add on the cost of the car parking at your gigs. Wembley charged £10 per car at all our recent concerts there in the evening. This is also another expense for this hobby!! The only down point.

I generally say that I don't go to concerts to see the support acts but I was very gutted we missed Idlewild at Coldplay and if it wasn't for Nickelback having Default as Support at their gig I would never have known their great music and great album. We should give these people a chance I suppose they have to start to build up a fanbase even though your not there to see them in particular!

Down points of this hobby is that is can become VERY expensive but it is so good when you go to a concert and have a really great time and come out feeling a buzz that you have just seen someone really good and had a fantastic time. You get to see up and coming bands and sometimes up to two hours of your fave group or band, this is when it all seems worth the money.

Once your there just relax and enjoy yourself!