Guns n Roses Sell 1 Million Tickets in 24 Hrs
The North American, European and UK legs of the “Not in This Lifetime” tour officially went on sale Saturday morning, bringing Guns N’ Roses back on the road as a fully fledged band for the first time in decades. Even before the 10 a.m. sale time, more than a million tickets had been sold during the presale offers for the newly announced shows, making the tour–which doesn’t kick off until January 21 in Osaka, Japan, and won’t hit North America until next July–the biggest selling event of 2016. Since the tour started earlier this year, more than three million total tickets have been purchases.
The good –surprising?– news is that tickets seem to still be available in most venues. Some skeptics had wondered whether the dreaded and hated bots would swoop in and make it impossible to get seats to the show as was the case many times already this year.
A quick check of the August show at Buffalo, NY’s New Era Field (aka where the NFL’s Buffalo Bills play, formerly Rich Stadium), indicates plenty of seats available in the lower bowl almost a full 24 hours after the tickets went on sale to the general public:
Don’t credit the recently passed legislation in New York State or Congress for this, by the way: The law in New York, making it a crime to use or deploy ticket-purchasing bots, doesn’t go into effect until around the end of February; legislation just passed by the US House of Representatives and Senate won’t go into play until March.
As Twitter user @HoptheFenceCHUO asks, could it be that the Gunners aren’t the draw they assumed they’d be?
It might not be that they’re playing in outdoor stadiums, with typically two, three or more times the capacity of indoor venues like hockey and basketball arenas. He points to Pearl Jam’s shows in arenas and stadiums last summer, selling out within minutes.
Either way, if you’re looking for GnR tickets now for next summer’s tour, it looks like you shouldn’t be stuck between playing triple face value to get in or sitting it out. That’s kind of a pleasant surprise, considering the number of tours that were almost immediately inaccessible to fans in 2016: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, the Hip, etc.
If your experience was different, let us know in the comments. We’re very interested in monitoring this situation, before and after anti-bot legislation tries to make a real difference for fans.
I had tickets lined up for the Ottawa show, then saw the $300/ ticket cost and quickly came to see that the track record of the band doesn’t justify the cost of the ticket. I’m old enough to remember the Montreal ’92 incident with James Hetfield going up in flames (unfortunate) then G n’ R calling it a night after a few songs, screwing the fans over. Do I want to spend $300 to have them show up late, not play a full set, or play for a bit then leave? In contrast to Pearl Jam, who consistently puts on 2 1/2 + hour shows, has been relevant for the last 2 decades and has a catalog that they can draw from, no brainer. Plus they not that greedy!
Had the same concerns! Still wanted to go so chose the be way back for cheaper seats. As a big Pearl Jam fan I agree, I constantly judge other bands and concerts in cost and quality compared to PJ. Still paying more then what I did last Pearl Jam concert five row from stage!
I’m old enough to remember them as active band the first time around, warts and all, and they were a 3 alarm dumpster fire shitstorm 25 years ago! I know there is an obscene amount of money on the table for the band, but I’ll bet a real money that this flames out a month in, 2 months max!!
Drugs, alcohol, big egos, money, groupies and life on the road are a dangerous & toxic blend, even 25 years on, and if anyone things all the old shit won’t re-surface again are deluding themselves. No chance i’d get off my ass to go anyway, maybe I’ll wait for the DVD, assuming they last long enough…