Bon Jovi have been telling Australian fans to keep the faith following the release of their 12th studio album, What About Now, which debuted at the top of the ARIA Charts in its first week of release in March, beating the likes of of Dave Grohl’s all-star Sound City soundtrack and David Bowie’s first new studio album in 10 years to the top spot.
Kicking off their extensive Because We Can World Tour the same week, titular frontman Jon Bon Jovi had told of the band’s plans to head Down Under before year’s end, telling News Ltd earlier in the year: “we are coming (but) not until the end of the year in December.”
Now, the veteran rockers have confirmed their Australian tour dates for December 2013, playing stadium shows in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, and Brisbane, and best of all, for those quick enough, there will be cut-rate tickets available to the concerts offering premium seats at a budget price of $35.
As News Ltd reports, promoter Paul Dainty of the Dainty Group promises that “thousands” of the cheap seat tickets will be made available to the public when they go on sale on Monday 20th May. “The band did the same thing when they announced their European dates and got a huge reaction,” Mr Dainty told News Ltd.
The $35 tickets are expected to disappear quickly once the box office opens, with other ticket prices being finalised, but Mr Dainty promises the discount rate doesn’t mean a dip in quality, comparing the seating arrangements to the $160 seats offered at Eminem’s shows held at similar venues in 2011. “Everyone is suffering a bit from the economic doom and gloom perceptions and [Bon Jovi] want to help out, give people a great start to their Christmas celebrations.” – Paul Dainty, Promoter
“It is important to point out that there will be regular ticket prices as well but there will be thousands of these tickets dotted around the stadium and available to the general public,” remarked the Dainty Group boss, who hopes that other international touring bands and promoters will follow the lead of Bon Jovi’s Because We Can Tour.
Australian concert-goers are used to the high-priced ticketing tiers and VIP packages that promoters and artists have used to offset the excessive costs of touring Down Under, and despite the growing strength of the Australian dollar, Aussie fans have typically paid a lot more to see bands live than America and Europe, despite their fluctuating economies.
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“Everyone is suffering a bit from the economic doom and gloom perceptions and the band want to help out, give people a great start to their Christmas celebrations,” said Mr Dainty. “I think we will see more of it (low pricing) because ticket pricing has become an important issue.”
Considering the current success of Bon Jovi’s current world tour, which raked in US$ 26,530,704 from 264,927 in ticket sales across a sold-out 16 date American leg in March, it’s a respectable move to take the production costs away from the consumer’s ticket price, instead of adding to it.
“When you have a band like Bon Jovi, who had the highest grossing tour in the world in 2010, doing this, others will naturally try to emulate it,” hopes Mr Dainty. “We are announcing this from day 1, not late in the day because we still have tickets up the back.”
It’s an issue that was close to Kid Rock’s heart too. The American rap rocker is currently offering flat $20 tickets to his summer Best Night Ever tour, lamenting in a recent interview how the price of concert tickets had “gotten out of hand.” When asked about non-VIP tickets going for up to US$200 to concerts for Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, Rock spat: “It’s garbage. It’s highway robbery – I don’t care who you are.” “When you have a band like Bon Jovi, who had the highest grossing tour in the world in 2010, doing this, others will naturally try to emulate it.” – Paul Dainty
Of course, Bon Jovi will still be offering the lucrative VIP packages for the upcoming December tour as well, as part of an exclusive partnership with Telstra in their first major initiative of their Thanks Music campaign, launched last month.
Telstra has an exclusive on the 48-hour presale for Bon Jovi’s Australian visit, offering Telstra customers access from 9am Monday 13th May to money can’t buy’ extras like backstage tours, meet and greets, and the chance to be a Bon Jovi ‘roadie for a day.’ The Bon Jovi tour marks the first time the telecommunications giant will be a presenting partner for a stadium tour, and Telstra Director of One To One Marketing, Nick Adams, says it will be the first of many.
“Our research indicates that our customers rate live music among their highest categories of personal interest, so providing access to sought after concert tickets before they go on sale is a fantastic way to reward them for their loyalty,” Mr Adams said in a press release.
“As Bon Jovi’s presenting partner for their Australian tour… Telstra will also have access to signed merchandise, exclusive behind the scenes footage for our social media channels, a free Bon Jovi track for customers to download via MOG and a range of other exciting initiatives we’ll announce before the band arrives Down Under,” says Mr Adams.
Bon Jovi is one of three pre-sale exclusives offered since launching the Thanks Music program on April 8th, alongside Brit pop star Olly Murs, and Australia’s own Bernard Fanning. The former Powderfinger frontman is embarking on an extensive national tour, taking Melbournians Big Scary and Vance Joy on the road with him, to celebrate the forthcoming release of his second solo album, Departures, taking in Splendour In The Grass along the way.
Bon Jovi’s twelfth studio album, What About Now is out now through Island Def Jam Records, and guitarist Richie Sambora is currently ‘sitting out’ of the band’s world tour, as Entertainment Wise reports, bowing out of the European and South African legs, and likely the Australian December Tour, while he deals with ‘personal matters’.
Bon Jovi 2013 Australian Tour Dates & Tickets
Presented by Telstra and The Dainty Group
Saturday 7th December, 2013 – Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
Wednesday 11th December, 2013 – AAMI Stadium, Adelaide
Saturday 14th December, 2013 – ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Tuesday 17th December, 2013 – Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
General public tickets – including the $35 priced seats – go on sale noon midday on Monday 20th May.
Telstra Thanks Pre-Sale powered by BangTango –
9.00am Monday, 13 May to 8:59am Wednesday, 15 May, 2013 (local time)
Visit www.telstra.com/music for more information
For further tour information and all things Bon Jovi visit: www.BonJovi.com or www.daintygroup.com
