Adele’s great. She is. Very few pop stars have a voice like hers or are consistently excellent when it comes to singles. Most of us would love to see her perform live. What isn’t fair, though, is having to mortgage your house to catch Adele live, which is what a lot of fans are realising is the case for her upcoming gigs.
Adele is taking part in the British Summer Time event in Hyde Park, London, next July, but social media has been filled with shocked fans bemoaning the price of tickets for the singer’s forthcoming shows.
The tickets are obviously tiered based upon where you’ll be in venue – which is the way it’s always been – but just a general admission ticket will set you back £90.45, or $165.66. ‘Someone Like You’ is a banger, but it shouldn’t cost almost a week’s rent to see it belted out live.
I love Adele but I am definitely not paying this price #Adele pic.twitter.com/4oPCVKYNHK
— Elaine (@ElaineODowd) October 28, 2021
Love Live Music?
Get the latest Live Music news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
After that the prices rise and rise: Primary Entry tickets are £111.85 ($204.85), Gold tickets are £273.95 ($501.74), and something called the Diamond VIP Experience is £379.95 ($695.88).
You could go all the way to Bali for the cost of the Diamond VIP Experience. And what is even involved in that for such a hefty price? I’d be demanding to actually have dinner with Adele after the show for that amount.
And it’s done there, with access to the VIP Terrace available for £434.95 ($796.61), and the Ultimate Bar Diamond and Ultimate Terrace tickets come in at £579.95 ($1062.18).
Fans of course reacted with dismay at the serious prices to see their idol live. “I spent 5 days in Greece for less than the price of an Adele ticket,” one Twitter user said. “Babes, I love ya but I can’t afford £90 a ticket,” said another.
Torn between trying to get Adele tickets or waiting forty years until her hologram is in concert for a third of the price
— SHANE REACTION (@imshanereaction) October 26, 2021
Others were more supportive. “To be fair if anyone can get away with selling tickets this expensive it’s Adele and she knows it’s still gonna sell out in minutes regardless so honestly good for her,” insisted someone.
Adele can charge £500 for gig tickets if she wants. That's the free market for you. What she CAN'T do is charge £500 for tickets and keep trying to maintain her unpretentious, down-to-earth, woman-of-the-people, "I'm only an 'umble Sarf Landan gel" shtick. It's one or the other.
— Simon Price﮷ (@simon_price01) October 28, 2021
But it doesn’t matter if you’re Adele or Beyoncé or the reincarnation of John Lennon: no one should have to pay £579.95 for a gig ticket, no matter how many exclusive perks are included. It’s just a sad indictment of where the music industry is in 2021.
For more on this topic, follow the Live Music Observer.
Check out ‘Easy On Me’ by Adele:
