Sir, – The high price that some artists attach to seats that are close to the stage, the so-called “VIP” tickets, needs to be highlighted. Bob Dylan charged €315 for front-row seats for his 3Arena concert and €270 for some or all of the flat-section seats. These are disgraceful prices. The next price was €121, which was a sensible price.
Jackson Browne charged €264 for front-row seats at his upcoming Vicar Street concerts. The remaining rows sold for the very sensible price of €56. Thus, front-row tickets sold for more than four times the price of second-row tickets.
Paul Simon and U2 also sold “VIP” tickets to their Dublin concerts at inflated prices.
This trend for “VIP” tickets is, I think, a recent occurrence. The sheer greed of artists is to blame. What makes this more galling is that the artists mentioned above claim that they have a social conscience. – Yours, etc,
PAUL SODEN,
Santry,
Dublin 9.