YOU’RE watching a sports finals game on television. The game’s tight. The championship is on the line. But you look at the crowd: the rowdy, give-their-entire-being fanatics are at the far back of the arena, while the posh, could-care-less fans are seated on the sidelines. More about this later.
There are probably just a handful of bands I want to see perform live, but the top picks belong to the following acts: U2, Coldplay, Muse and The Killers.
The Killers had already played in the Philippines before but I haven’t had the chance to fly to Manila then. Coldplay at the Mall of Asia concert grounds was another story. Seeing Chris Martin and company, though the size of peas, was a life-altering experience. Muse is a little bit more niche, and I’m afraid I won’t be seeing them anytime soon in the Philippines.
And finally, the cream of the crop, U2.
When Bono, The Edge, Larry and Adam announced their first-ever tour in South East Asia in the band’s four-decade old history, it was a non-negotiable to get tickets to a show in a country nearby that required no visa.
Acquiring the tickets to the band’s Nov. 30 show at the Singapore Stadium was a thriller. But after some persistent online queuing, I finally secured a couple of tickets. I was stoked! P7,500 right in front of the stage, as compared to about P24,000 for Coldplay.
But then the unimaginable happened: U2 announced a show in the Philippines. What fans and experts thought would be improbable just became reality in the morning of July 31, At exactly 6 a.m., Philippine time, the band uploaded an announcement from its Facebook page.
Lucky me, I was browsing through some online work two minutes earlier, so I got the first dibs of fan bliss, sharing the post, tagging friends who I knew were fans as well.
Now funny enough, some conspiracy theorists have come forth online, saying that U2 pricing its “Standing General Admission” for only P5,250 is questionable. “There’s definitely a catch,” one netizen stated.
Well... that’s the way how ticket pricing at rock shows should be! Going back to the sports event I shared before I started, it’s all about gifting the truest of fans the easiest access to be closest to the band. For all the hate this band has collected throughout the years (because sometimes, people just love to hate), how the tickets are priced is evidence enough how the band cares for a) its music, and b) its fans.
I consider myself a U2 fan. But it’s comforting to know that I know someone who’s probably the country’s number one fan—and he contributes sometimes for SunStar! So here’s the link to his cheat sheet when it comes to the band’s Joshua Tree Tour later this year: bit.ly/2MDgMF1
Enjoy!