REM @ the point '05

funktastic

R.E.M. have announced that they're playing the Point Saturday 26th Feb 05. I'm sure they'll announe a second date. :eek: Should be class. New album's out 4 october as well.

Third_Echelon

i'll definitely be going to that id say... I've seen REM a few times and they are really good live... When are tickets on sale?

funktastic

On sale this Friday.

Yeah they're class live. They're nowhere near as popular as they were so i'd say it might take a while to sell out, the gig in Marlay park in 03 took ages

grumpytrousers

Aye but marlay park was

a) outdoor
b) big.

Yer average REM fan is of a certain age and has no desire to stand in a field craning his neck to see the singer. Not when compared with an indoor gig that's *bound* to at least seem more intimate...

John

I wish they'd do three nights at the olympia instead but what can you do

L.W

I agree about the olympia but I think marlay park is more intimate than the point anyday id much rather see them there again that was one hell of a gig. But i dont agree about REM fans only being of a certain age im only 16 and im a complete fanatic and most people at the marlay gig were pretty young.
Cant wait for the new album tho
oh and does anybody know how many the point can hold?

grumpytrousers

I agree about the olympia but I think marlay park is more intimate than the point anyday

eh - how does that work? Point would hold around the 5000 mark, i'd have thunk...depending on seating plans etc...

fair enough on me ageist comment...i still think they *generally* appeal to a more mature audience. Course there's always honourable exceptions like yer own good self....

John

I think both Marley and the Point are awful venues but sometimes you just have to make do.

Chardee MacDennis

the point should hold about 8,500 for rem i would say.

Third_Echelon

yeah the point will hold 8,000 standing...

my interest in this gig has lulled a bit after seeing the ad on tv last night...

€55 for a gig in the point

holy fcuk... no matter who was playing in the point i wouldnt pay that money on principle... the max a point gig should be is €30...

Tickets for slane for chilli peppers a few years ago were €60 i think.... that puts the rem point thing in perspective...

grumpytrousers

Third_Echelon wrote:

yeah the point will hold 8,000 standing...

my interest in this gig has lulled a bit after seeing the ad on tv last night...

€55 for a gig in the point

holy fcuk... no matter who was playing in the point i wouldnt pay that money on principle... the max a point gig should be is €30...

Tickets for slane for chilli peppers a few years ago were €60 i think.... that puts the rem point thing in perspective...

I don't necessarily disagree with you....it IS a lot of money, but at least it's consistent with what's being charged in the rest of Europe for similar gigs, like the hammersmith appollo in London.

There's a trade-off isn't there between a mega-gig in slane (a la Chillis) and the smaller Point gig. For your money at Slane you tend to get a few acts, normally 5 or six (this year was an exception) but you probably end up spending shedloads more by the time you've had a burger and a pint. You also need to be there really early to get any kind of decent view as you're competing for space with 80,000 others.

On the other hand in the point, just from a logistics point of view, if you get a 'standing' ticket you can get within spitting distance of the stage 'quite' easily, it doesn't take a day out of your life.

horses for courses, innit, but tbh, 55-ish is the going rate for a gig there now for acts of a certain allure..cf bowie et al

Third_Echelon

grumpytrousers wrote:

I don't necessarily disagree with you....it IS a lot of money, but at least it's consistent with what's being charged in the rest of Europe for similar gigs, like the hammersmith appollo in London.

There's a trade-off isn't there between a mega-gig in slane (a la Chillis) and the smaller Point gig. For your money at Slane you tend to get a few acts, normally 5 or six (this year was an exception) but you probably end up spending shedloads more by the time you've had a burger and a pint. You also need to be there really early to get any kind of decent view as you're competing for space with 80,000 others.

On the other hand in the point, just from a logistics point of view, if you get a 'standing' ticket you can get within spitting distance of the stage 'quite' easily, it doesn't take a day out of your life.

horses for courses, innit, but tbh, 55-ish is the going rate for a gig there now for acts of a certain allure..cf bowie et al

i hear ya and i get what your saying alright... I prefer smaller gigs myself...

I was at PJ Harvey in the olympia a week or two ago. It was 27 euro i think which is totally acceptable, but 55 is a bit much... Radiohead in the point last november was only about 30/40 euro as well if i can remember correctly...

There would need to be really good support at the rem gig for me to even bother going... I like rem, but not that much...

dregin

Hey, apologies for keeping this thread pretty much off topic, but holy god €65 for the point is absolutely disgraceful. It's not like MCD are actually hiring the venue out for the night. I'd love to know what their profit's are on a gig like this?

grumpytrousers

It's a Clear Channel presentation...I was reading somewhere a year or so ago that since CC got involved in the presentation of gigs over this side of the Atlantic that there's been a noticeable increase in ticket prices. Basically they work out what they think the market will bear so that a venue will sell out.

I kinda said up there that the *average* REM fan would probably be in their late 20's/early thirties...like they CERTAINLY bought 'Out of Time' when it came out and probably Green, and even a few bits and pieces from the IRS years. Such people are probably at an age where they can afford this kind of price. My analysis doesn't hold good for 100% of cases...you don't need to pull me up on that...:D

unfortunately MCD don't exist to make music available to all. The hardassed 'if you don't like the price you should complain' brigade will be along shortly, I'd think, probably to tell you that if you don't like it, don't go etc, but it goes back to that kind of 'blackmail' thing again. You can hold off on buying a ticket in the hope of picking one up cheap on ebay, but if you can't get one and it sells out there's no comeback...

FWIW, I saw REM last year in Brixton, and they're good live and if you've not seen 'em and you reckon you can find the €€€ (face it, you've got 6 months to save) you could probably waste your money on something stupider...

as i type, i see extra date added....this, of course, may have an effect on potential auctioned ticket prices....

dregin

I have absolutely no interest in REM and definitely wont be going but I'm just curious as to what the promoters profits actually are.

grumpytrousers

dregin wrote:

I have absolutely no interest in REM and definitely wont be going but I'm just curious as to what the promoters profits actually are.

Jim carroll (I think) had a good article about this last year around the time of macca, the stones and springsteen showed up...if you have a quick look on ireland.com you might find it.

MCD are a private co and thus you'll never get any ideas of the kind of markup they make. (it's my contention that they're also lining themselves up to be bought by clearchannel, buit that's another story)

however, whatever way you look at it, promoters profits in ireland tend not to be as high as they are elsewhere cos you don't get the economies of scale...i.e. one country 6 gigs has a higher profit margin per ticket than one country one gig...you can absorb the cost of shipping/flying the rigging/roadies/band caterers over more 'fans'...

AFAIK MCD might be hiring the venue for the night. it's half owned by harry crosbie and half by ClearChannel...

sprinkles

Can't wait to see them, got my tickets already! new albumn is shaping up good too. Leaving New York has the old quality of REM stamped all over it.

funktastic

The Saturday is sold out, Sunday still available.

fozzle

Sold out already?! Oh god, I've gotta get my ticket!

funktastic

I got mine in ticketmaster in ucd and the guy said Saturday is sold out, but Saturday is still available on ticketmaster.ie site so maybe he was talkin ****e :rolleyes: :cool:

grumpytrousers

funktastic wrote:

I got mine in ticketmaster in ucd and the guy said Saturday is sold out, but Saturday is still available on ticketmaster.ie site so maybe he was talkin ****e :rolleyes: :cool:

you might have difficulty getting 2 seats together on the saturday....singles still on market, i'd say...

L.W

grumpytrousers wrote:

eh - how does that work? Point would hold around the 5000 mark, i'd have thunk...depending on seating plans etc...

fair enough on me ageist comment...i still think they *generally* appeal to a more mature audience. Course there's always honourable exceptions like yer own good self....

i dunno marlay is a smaller area than the point (me thinks!) so if your standing at the back in marlay its probably closer than sitting at the back in the point. i thought their gig in marlay was surprisingly intimate (but then again i was up front so it might have been different for people at the back) and i dont like the point cos i dont like sitting but i dont know why that matters cos i have me standing ticket for sunday and i plan on being right up front i cant wait im so excited already. and i guess your right about their fans *generally* being older i only know one other 16 year old girl whos as big a fan as i am (and even then i dont think she is as big a fan as i am)

and to that other guy who said he wouldnt pay €55 for REM, they're worth double that any day. thats probably the amount you'd spend on a night out anyway.

fozzle

I didn't mind Marlay Park, but I was at the front too, apparantly it wasn't so nice further back. There are some standing tickets for the Point, cost a bit less too. My friend got me a ticket at the weekend so huzzah!

Err..

Limerick Leader, Saturday, December 21st, 2002

REM today confirmed that they will play Dublin's Marley Park on 16 July as part of their 2003 World tour.

Capacity for this one-off Irish date is limited to 15,000 and tickets priced €52.50...

I agree with those people who say that €55 is too much to pay for a gig but those who have said that ticket prices are primarily based on the average age (and therefore spending power) of the fans are correct.

For example, take these forthcoming gigs in The Point

Thrills, €25-27.50
Busted, €37.50
Will Young €44.50
Sting €61
REM €55-€65

But then again, IMO, spending €55 on REM is money much better spent than on any of those other gigs. €61 for Sting :rolleyes:

L.W

fozzle wrote:

I didn't mind Marlay Park, but I was at the front too, apparantly it wasn't so nice further back. There are some standing tickets for the Point, cost a bit less too. My friend got me a ticket at the weekend so huzzah!

hmm....maybe but my sister was at the back and she said it was brilliant, that the atmosphere was great and everything-and she only went cos she got a free ticket!! but they did play 2 dates so maybe it was different on the first night.

p.pete

Third date announced for Argillan Castle - halfway between Skerries and Balbriggan. Depending on where the position the stage it could turn out to be an excellent setup - not normal for gigs held there but plenty of hills sloping down towards the see - could be quite a scenic amphiatheatre...

It's just up the road from the parents house so I'll be very tempted to go

Tiriel

p.pete wrote:

Third date announced for Argillan Castle - halfway between Skerries and Balbriggan. Depending on where the position the stage it could turn out to be an excellent setup - not normal for gigs held there but plenty of hills sloping down towards the see - could be quite a scenic amphiatheatre...

It's just up the road from the parents house so I'll be very tempted to go

u don't know when these tickets go on sale? would love to go

p.pete

Cork_girl wrote:

u don't know when these tickets go on sale? would love to go

Indeed
Next Friday morning at 9am - which would make it the third (of December) I guess?

L.W

oh my god i want to go but ive already got a ticket for the point. how much are tickets? what date? is it outdoors (im guessing so but just want to make sure)how far away approx is the venue from city centre? i am young and naive and have no sense of direction.......HELP ME

RainyDay

John2 wrote:

I wish they'd do three nights at the olympia instead but what can you do

Except for the fact that if you are more than 6" tall, the seats in the Olympia are equivalent to the torture devices used by Saddam's secret police - they squash you into an unnatural position with your knees either jammed up against the seat in front or pointing down towards the floor so you are half-kneeling for the night. The Olympia is a lovely looking venue, but they really just cut 1/3 of the seats and spread out the remainder. I'm sure it would be a death-trap if there was ever a fire there - Anyone in the middle of a row wouldn't have a hope in hell of getting out.

L.W

yes but im sure he'd plan to get a standing ticket and wouldnt have to sit. even so last gig i saw there was franz ferdinand and my ticket was seated but well...lets just say i didnt exactly sit. sitting at gigs sucks....i wish theyd play in the olympia too.

Tiriel

From Ticketmaster:

R.E.M – confirm final Dublin date

Odyssey Arena, Belfast – 24 February 2005 – SOLD OUT
Point Theatre, Dublin – 26 February 2005 – SOLD OUT
Point Theatre, Dublin – 27 February 2005 – SOLD OUT

Due to phenomenal demand REM have announced a third and final date at Ardgillan Castle, Skerries, Dublin on 19 June 2005. Having already sold out three Irish dates in February, R.E.M’s performance is part of their World Tour 2005 that coincides with their number one album, Around the Sun. Tickets to see R.E.M go on sale Friday 3 December at 09:00.

Tickets for REM's three Irish dates for February sold out within hours of going on sale last October and Ireland is a home away from home to REM and is only one of a few spots on the World Tour where the band will play two consecutive nights. Around The Sun topped the charts in a host of countries including Norway, Switzerland, Austria and Germany but the album scored its first number one in Ireland.

Tickets to see R.E.M, live at Ardgillan Castle, Skerries, Dublin on 19 June 2005 go on sale Friday 3 December at 09:00.