£1,300 a seat? We haven’t a prayer, say Bon Jovi fans
By London Lite Last updated at 14:05pm on 02.11.09Bon Jovi have upset their fans by charging almost £1,300 for the best seats at their Docklands residency.

O2 dates: Jon Bon Jovi
They play 10 dates at The O2 arena next June and tickets range from £45 for seats at the back and in upper tiers to £200 for floor seats in the front block. But tickets for the front row of Pit 1, almost within touching distance of the stage, cost £1,275.03 each.
Angry fans said they felt betrayed by frontman Jon Bon Jovi's band, who last night performed their new single, We Weren't Born To Follow, on The X Factor.
Writing on Bon Jovi's official website, one said she had been a fan of the Livin' On A Prayer rockers for 24 years but was “gutted” by the high prices. “Have they not heard we are going through a recession?” she added.
Another said: “The prices of these tickets are ludicrous. You let us down, guys.”
Related articles
Reader views (19)
my husband is currentl trying to buy a vip fanclub package for BJ at the 02. can anyone tell me what seats in the "Circle" are exactly? I have been to many concerts at the 02, but never known this seating arrangement before. I agree it is expensive, we are going to see Eric clapton and jeff Beck there in feb and we have excellent front row A bock seats, and they didn't cost anywhere near the amounts being quoted for BJ.
- Tinarose, London uk
A note to all on this subject. I have been a Bon Jovi Fan for 25 years. Yes some of the tickets are inflated, but you don't have to buy them. Bon Jovi are a great band and have stood the test of time, although it seems ok for britney to charge £800 a ticket for miming. At the end of the day when it comes down to it people will pay if they want to. am I dissapointed, a little, Do I feel betrayed? not at all, The Circle is a banging Bon Jovi Album. They rock and they will always rock. At least they are up front with the ticket price instead of claiming your tax for a damn duck house!!! Get some percpective. Also maybe you should all check out the charity they do.
- Andy, Newbury Britain
you have to remeber all the extras too for those of us that don't live in or around London. It's a 3 hour drive (or more) for me which I would not make back home after the show, so on top of i high ticket price I would have to get a room, plus food and petrol, all to be right at the back (which is all I can afford). So that's probably a cost of maybe £400 in all (each) for me and the missus to watch BJ on the big screen and as a tiny dot in the distance! Not much of a 'world' tour really is it? They haven't even covered all of Britain!
- Richard, Wigan, Lancashire
I have tickets which I paid £75 each for, and while I'm excited about seeing the band, I'm also in total agreement with the majority of the people here, the prices are a bit of a shock. I'm not for a moment saying that Bon Jovi aren't worth spending the money on, because they ALWAYS put on a good show (ignore anyone who tries to say differently), but I guess as someone who has seen them multiple times, I'm looking back to the days when I got a really good ticket for less than £20. I'm inclined to blame O2 for this, or ticketmaster or AEG etc (or whoever is in charge), rather than the band, since this is the first time they have been this expensive (I think the last one cost me about £50 with fees), but I don't know. I'm lucky I can afford this, but I know other fans who have been completely priced out.
Oh, and I don't think you can evaluate Bon Jovi on the strength of this latest album. While I actually quite like it (perhaps not as much as Bounce, which is my favourite post-Crossroad album), I and most others tend to go to the gigs for the range of the back catalogue rather than the most recent stuff. It's not that I don't want to hear the new songs, because I do, but I would be disappointed if I paid to see Bon Jovi and didn't get to hear the pre-1995 stuff.
I guess when you think about it, this is something that comes about every couple of years, and given how much an average night out costs anyway, is £75 really that extortionate? I'm not sure....
- Ally, Welwyn, Herts
Why has nobody stated the obvious? The ticket prices are made by the promoter,not the artist!! The artist gets an agreed fee and thats that.
In this case the promoter is AEG who also own the venue,the same as with the Michael Jackson concerts.
With respect to all of you who blame the band,you clearly don't know how this all works.
Got a problem,complain to the right people. Doing so on Bon Jovi's website,as someone here has said they have done is hilarious.
AEG need to find ways to get income lost on the MJ shows,one of the reasons they are involved with the "This Is It" film.
- Paul Rogers, london
Just think of it as being a tax payer bailing out a bank to pay the bonus. The guys have a market value just like brokers . If you dont pay then someone else will, sadly.
- Terry, Hennebont France
Carley - do you work for O2 by any chance?!!
The O2 arena does not have good sound quality.
- Lauren, Suffolk
If Prince can do 21 nights @ £31.21 + a free CD and even MJ ( RIP ) sold majority of tickets at £75 why does Bon Jovi feel justified in selling them at such an inflated price??
- Nk, Mitcham, Surrey
Hey, Iv been listening to these guys all my life, I'm 26. Keep the faith was the first album of theirs I ever bought, i always seen myself sticking by them, but now im not so sure. Im not impressed with the ticket prices for the o2 and to be fair i seen them on their last tour in Glasgow and they were not up to much. I put it down to their age but having just watched michael Jackson "this is it", i realised how much energy he had at 50, so theres really no excuse for Jon's performance last time round.
Iv had a listen to the new album and its not very good, what happened to all the songs with soul? and lyrics? where he actually used his voice? They dont exist anymore!!!, all you get is Jon finishing ever sentence with eeeeeeeeeeee or ahhhhhhhhhh in a put on accent, sounds more like axel rose these days.
I bought tickets for the show at £75, but to be honest after hearing the new album ,I dont think I can bring myself to go. I think ill remember them the way they were instead of giving them money for old rope, cheers guys it was a good run, but I wont see you out on the road!!!!
- Sean Smith, Troon Scotland
I have bought the £75 seat and they are amaizing seats. I went to see Madonna at the O2 and i paid £100 odd pound for seats on level 4(on top level) and those were a rip off.
- S, Essex, England
its crazy, they are 5 times more expensive for similar seats compared to last tour.
i'd really been looking forward to getting up close again, but at these prices, there is no way!
are they going to start charging over £50 for an album next?? thats also a 5 fold increase...
sorry guys, i love ya but the prices are just way too high.
- Disappointed Sassi, suffolk uk
I am happy this has been picked up by the press! I have been a Bon Jovi fan for 17 years, I have seen almost 50 shows, each tour from when I was old enough I went to see several concerts. I am what you'd call a diehard fan. This is so disappointing, disillusioning and sad. My disappointment turns to sheer anger when I hear Jon Bon Jovi sing the lines of "Work for the working man" or the line "How does money lead to greed?" in the new song "Bullet" of the latest album. Did money make Jon Bon Jovi greedy? And by the way for all of those complaining about the fees at Ticketmaster: fasten your seatbelts: Jon Bon Jovi's official fanclub is taking a convenience charge for Inner Circle tickets at the O2 Arena of 81,99 GBP PER ticket! So if you want to be up close to the stage like we have the years before with fanclub seating, you gotta get the big bucks out and pay 431,99 GBP (Around GBP 75,00 back in 2007 at the O2)! For the first time in all these years I am saying NO. I so want to go because I have loved this band for so many years but I do not let myself be ripped-off, betrayed and made a fool off. I have to work hard for the money I earn. So I am staying home and rather spend it on something else! And for everyone who thinks Jon Bon Jovi doesn't know: how can you not know when you state you have been the CEO to a major corporation and brand called Bon Jovi for the past 25 years? It is pathetic taking it from the ones who made him what he is today!
- Stella, Southern Germany
I think they have a hugely inflated perception of their self-worth - get real youre past it and trading on the 80's revival
- David, soton
They sing in the new album about the working man, as they've done in the past, they put over this image of them being caring down to earth guys that just love playing music for their fans, yet here they are showing the true colours that they really don't give two hoots about the fans or the working man, they have one sole interest and that is MONEY!
£215 (with handling fee) for any kind of decent ticket, yet on the last tour tickets were a fifth of that price, that is some almighty jump.
And call it a tour.................all 10 UK dates at the same not very impressive venue.
Sorry BJ, but I see your true colours now, I've followed you since being a schoolgirl, been a mad fan for 20 odd years, been to lots of concerts, and feel cheated.
This will lose BJ an awful lot of fans. Sure many fans are paying these silly prices, blind to the truth, but once the credit card statements start coming in the reality will hit home for a lot of those people and BJ will lose even more, this is the beginning of the end for BJ.
- Angela, Warrington, UK
AC/DC sold ALL of their O2 tickets for £45 - a proper band who don't rip off their fans!!
- Pete, London
I've been following Bon Jovi since 1984. I went to their first headline show in London at the Dominion in May 1985 - it cost me £4! It's sad they feel the prices should be so high but I'll still be there, but at the back! I went to the O2 when the lads opened it two years ago and they are an excellent live band. I guess I just never will see them close up any more
- Karen Turner, Peterborough, UK
BJ would have to pay me that sort of money to watch them. They are chronic
- Keith Price, Luton England
I don't know what all the fuss is about - as with every other big concert at the O2 the prices are high - but you are paying to see a show in a nice venue that is clean, has good sound quality and has great staff.
There are cheaper tickets but as they say you get what you pay for and no matter where you sit you are going to be sure of a great show!
- Carley, London
Its not only the band & theur management that should be crticised - wjhen I viewed the tickets on Ticketmaster, there was an administration fee added of £8.25 PER TICKET!! Administration fee? for what? sticking a ticket in an envelope and printing a label (no doubt there is a postage & packing charge as well). Nice if you can get it.
Thanks but no thanks
- Brian Coleman, Brentwood, Essex
Morning:
14°c


New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it

















