Does the "Along for the Ride" tour seem a bit expensive to anyone?

[Perpetual Change]

I was looking around at tickets, and noticed that standing room at a local venue was going to be upwards $55. For seating, you're adding another $10-20.

That's not really that high for a concert ticket, but it seems a bit higher than I expect, especially since I tickets for ProgNation were actually quite a bit cheaper despite a number of artists being on the bill.

Have DT tickets gone up, or is this more of an overall industry thing? I remember being kinda bumbed when I learned that I'd need to fork out about $70 to see Sigur Ros from the "cheap seats", but I can swear I paid about $35 to see Iron Maiden in actual seats a few years ago, and you think DT would be cheaper than Maiden.

[SystematicThought]

Prices just seem to be higher--but seems to vary depending on the act. When I saw Muse, the tickets were around 45 bucks. When I bought tickets for Dream Theater this go around, they were 68 bucks. When I saw the Eagles back in September--back of the arena--100 bucks.

So it seems to vary but overall more expensive

[The Letter M]

Could the higher prices have anything to do with the fact that Dream Theater is now twice-nominated for a Grammy? Perhaps using that as a draw for casual and new fans means they can get away with higher ticket prices.

-Marc.

[Daso]

Perhaps the tour production is more expensive as well and they need to cover up those expenses.

[SystematicThought]

Perhaps the tour production is more expensive as well and they need to cover up those expenses.

I was thinking of that as well. From the sounds of it, it's gonna be pretty huge.. They keep saying they want us to feel part of their world the moment we step in the venue, so I really don't know what to expect. Cool screens like the cubes from ADTOE.... who knows

[Nick]

Pretty certain the prices for Tower Theater (Philly) are less than they were the last two tours. For front section at least.

[TheGreatPretender]

Here, in Toronto, it's actually cheaper for the actual tickets. Last time around the tickets were $100, this time around it's $95, but the nosebleed section is $42, and I don't actually remember there being a price difference last time. As far as I recall, they were $100 no matter where you sat.
But the VIP packages were $25 more this time, than they were last time.

[TVC 15]

Seattle tickets seem reasonable. They'll also be playing where the local symphony orchestra usually performs.

[Perpetual Change]

Pretty certain the prices for Tower Theater (Philly) are less than they were the last two tours. For front section at least.

Last time I was there was on PN2. We were sitting toward the middle of the seats on the floor. I don't think we paid more than 35 bucks a ticket, though I could be wrong.

And damn, that Asbury Park show was like 15 bucks.

[TL]

See, for me, the fact that they only have three dates in Canada makes it expensive regardless. I have to factor in travel and accommodations in addition to the ticket if I want to see them, at least thus far.
At least I know someone in Montreal this go around, so it's just travel and scheduling to take care of.

It would really be a lot easier if they had just one concert in the Atlantic Canada region though. One hub could take care of four provinces, and I could attend no problem.

[Madman Shepherd]

I think it was 65 plus a shit ton of fees for Chicago for 10th row.  I believe that is pretty much what I paid last time around. 

[JiM-Xtreme]

Tickets are definitely more expensive for the UK dates.

[1neeto]

I just bought tickets for the Seattle show for $55 each. I think it's a real bargain considering it's going to be at least two hours and very decent seats (about 5 rows from the stage). Last big concert I went was TOOL in 2011 and I forked out nearly 80 bucks for crappy seats.

[Awaken]

I just bought tickets for the Seattle show for $55 each. I think it's a real bargain considering it's going to be at least two hours and very decent seats (about 5 rows from the stage). Last big concert I went was TOOL in 2011 and I forked out nearly 80 bucks for crappy seats.

I've been reading a lot about people saying this tour is more expensive and I always come back to this point.  And I know I read somewhere (maybe one of the recent JP interviews) that they would be performing closer to three hours.  I got great mezzanine tix in Boston for $55/each.  At less than $20/hour to watch this group of musicians perform, I think that's a great deal. 

It would have been nice to see them in CT to avoid that $300 hotel room, but beggars/choosers and all that.

[Evermind]

I don't think they're expensive at all, at least in Russia. I've bought a standing zone ticket for ~45$ and that's not really a high price, so I'm a happy DT fan. I mean, I skipped the Judas Priest Epitaph tour because the tickets were over 100$ for each. Well that might be because I'm not really a big fan of them, because I paid even more to be on Jon Lord concert three years ago, but that's it. On almost every usual concert like Helloween, Avantasia and whatever I visited this year the standing places were about 50$.

[krands85]

Well my ticket for Manchester was £42.50 (~$70) and although that's a decent bit more expensive than the cheaper tickets in the US and most of Europe, that's just the UK for you. It's only £5 (~$8) more than it cost the last time I saw them in 2011 and this will be an Evening With though, so it's definitely worth it.

As someone else mentioned, the travelling/accommodation expenses are more annoying for me this time, since they aren't coming to Scotland.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

Shows are expensive so it seems normal...sorta. Although I do agree it seems expensive for the level of comfort you're getting.

One thing I absolutely hate is standing rooms. Why in the world would anyone want to stand for 3 hours with no option BUT to stand?! It's beyond me. Every time I have to stand that long at a show, my feet end up hurting towards the end. Plus you're sandwiched between a bunch of dudes who have long unwashed hair and smell bad. Then if you need to take a leak, you lose your space. For me it's just the antithesis of a comfortable experience and it's not conducive to my enjoyment of the show. Done ranting now. 

[erik16]

Progressive Nation 2009 was about 20-30 € cheaper. But it will be double the amount of DT this time + rising prices. Not surprised and disappointed in any way.

[KevShmev]

I am fine with slightly higher prices since we are getting almost a full hour more of DT music. 

[1neeto]

I just bought tickets for the Seattle show for $55 each. I think it's a real bargain considering it's going to be at least two hours and very decent seats (about 5 rows from the stage). Last big concert I went was TOOL in 2011 and I forked out nearly 80 bucks for crappy seats.

I've been reading a lot about people saying this tour is more expensive and I always come back to this point.  And I know I read somewhere (maybe one of the recent JP interviews) that they would be performing closer to three hours.  I got great mezzanine tix in Boston for $55/each.  At less than $20/hour to watch this group of musicians perform, I think that's a great deal. 

It would have been nice to see them in CT to avoid that $300 hotel room, but beggars/choosers and all that.

Nearly 3 hours? How could anyone in their right mind complain?

I too have to plan for accommodations, there's a hotel right across the street from the venue and it's not expensive at all. I'll be spending 5 days in Seattle, it's gong to be my first time in that city so I'm making a vacation out of it with my wife.

[Perpetual Change]

I am fine with slightly higher prices since we are getting almost a full hour more of DT music.

Same, though it doesn't really make sense, since tickets for DT playing by themselves *should* be cheaper than DT playing with 3 other bands.

And yeah, the longer show makes "cheap" seats a bit harder to deal with. 100 minute shows in seats are cool. 160 minute shows in seats are really cool. 160 minutes standing, and I might be having fun, but I also can't imagine not thinking "when is this over?" at some point.

[1neeto]

I am fine with slightly higher prices since we are getting almost a full hour more of DT music.

Same, though it doesn't really make sense, since tickets for DT playing by themselves *should* be cheaper than DT playing with 3 other bands.

And yeah, the longer show makes "cheap" seats a bit harder to deal with. 100 minute shows in seats are cool. 160 minute shows in seats are really cool. 160 minutes standing, and I might be having fun, but I also can't imagine not thinking "when is this over?" at some point.

Yeah any show longer than an hour and half or so gotta have the option to sit. Otherwise you'll stop enjoying the show because you're gonna be so uncomfortable towards the end that you will just want the thing to be over. Hell no, I would hate that kind of last impression!

[jmasterx]

Maybe it's more expensive because they are hiring additional musicians to play the string section of IT 

[son_ov_hades]

62 bucks for standing room in New York is a bit much(I'm still going though). Last tour I saw them at PNC in New Jersey and I paid $16 to sit 8th row from the stage. That venue was less than half full though. 

[fllnsprrw]

Not to me. It's a once-in-every-2-years event. Not a big deal whether the price goes up or down. I might even get 3 or 4 tickets to bring along some company this time around. I usually go alone in the past Maybe to more than 1 show this year. It's Dream Theater! Now just give me some Florida dates...

[TheGreatPretender]

It's Dream Theater!

This. Look at the concert prices that big name celebrities charge. People like Madonna, for example. And frankly, I'd rather see one DT show than 10 Madonna shows. And instead, I can see 5 DT shows for the price of ONE big name celebrity ticket.

[rumborak]

I still have not decided whether I will see them this time. The new album does very little for me, and I've seen them so many times at this point, seeing any of the older songs played live just doesn't have the allure it used to.

[cyberdrummer]

The UK prices have certainly increased, but that's just part of the general trend in ticket prices I think.

My ticket for Wembley this time round cost almost £60; in comparison, I paid less than that for TWO Evening With shows at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2005.

[Rodni Demental]

Concerts are always expensive in New Zealand. Not that the tickets are overpriced relative to most places (although they still could be for all I know). But Most bands only go to 1 city and it's always Auckland in the North Island. I live in Christchurch and it sometimes get's some love (Alterbridge, Metallica) have come to South Island (although the former was only opening for another band, disturbed or something that didn't interest me as much. And the latter probably only came because of really high demand after they only announced one show in Auckland at first).

To see other bands (Linkin Park, U2, Tenacious D to name a few), always had to hop on a plane and go to the North Island so after you consider plane tickets, accommodation, living/general expenses, travel costs. The concert tickets are a minor cost in the grand scheme of setting up a trip like this..

And that's if Dream Theater even come here. Last time they played 1 Auckland show in 2009 during the Black Clouds tour but previous tour we didn't see them at all

Come back to New Zealand Dream Theater! You have legions of fans over here that want you back and really missed you last time!

[BlobVanDam]

Concerts are always expensive in New Zealand. Not that the tickets are overpriced relative to most places (although they still could be for all I know). But Most bands only go to 1 city and it's always Auckland in the North Island. I live in Christchurch and it sometimes get's some love (Alterbridge, Metallica) have come to South Island (although the former was only opening for another band, disturbed or something that didn't interest me as much. And the latter probably only came because of really high demand after they only announced one show in Auckland at first).

To see other bands (Linkin Park, U2, Tenacious D to name a few), always had to hop on a plane and go to the North Island so after you consider plane tickets, accommodation, living/general expenses, travel costs. The concert tickets are a minor cost in the grand scheme of setting up a trip like this..

And that's if Dream Theater even come here. Last time they played 1 Auckland show in 2009 during the Black Clouds tour but previous tour we didn't see them at all

Come back to New Zealand Dream Theater! You have legions of fans over here that want you back and really missed you last time!

Hopefully they swing by our neck of the woods this tour. In Australia, we got them in 2007 and 2009, so you've had it even harder than us! We had a huge surge of bands coming out here this year, so hopefully DT are able to make their way to our little corner of the world this tour.

[jcmistat]

The first round of tickets I bought from ADTOE Tour were around $47. The second leg of the same tour I'm pretty sure the tickets went up to $62. Now the current tour is also $62. Same venue for all three shows. I don't mind paying that much as they're my favorite band, plus this tour is An Evening With. I don't go to many concerts so I don't think its expensive. When I say many I mean only 3 ever.

[wolfking]

Yeah, if DT came back down here to Australia, I'd happily pay over $100 a ticket.

[Perpetual Change]

Well, the buddies I was gonna go with pulled the plug, so it looks like I'm definitely not going now. $55 is OK, but not for standing room. $75 a guy for to get seats is just too much, especially since many of us have a lot of other expenses this month 

Good news, though, I'll probably definitely go see Transatlantic now.

[Tick]

Well, the buddies I was gonna go with pulled the plug, so it looks like I'm definitely not going now. $55 is OK, but not for standing room. $75 a guy for to get seats is just too much, especially since many of us have a lot of other expenses this month 

Good news, though, I'll probably definitely go see Transatlantic now.

It all comes down to importance. If you are a fan who loves the band and has never seen them 55 or 75 is cheap, imo.

[2Timer]

Pretty certain the prices for Tower Theater (Philly) are less than they were the last two tours. For front section at least.

How have you seen prices for the show already? By the way, if you didn't see my post, Nick, it's my son's first DT show...and his name is Nick too. We should try to meet again...