Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has said he wouldn’t pay $1,200 (£950) to see U2 in concert, referring to the band’s recent run of gigs in Vegas.
The Irish rock band wrapped up their shows at the Sphere venue in Nevada earlier this month (March 2) – a residency which they started last September and saw them perform their 1991 album ‘Achtung Baby’ in its entirety for the first time.
In a five-star review from the opening night of the residency, NME said the show “truly takes your breath away”.
“They pull off a dazzling series of technological tricks right from the outset as whirring drones whizz past the audience while everything from giant helicopters, falling letters, widescreen desert landscapes and even a projection of the Sphere itself come hurtling towards the audience,” it read.
In a new interview with Mexico’s ATMósferas Magazine, Dickinson was asked if he thought high ticket prices were having a negative impact on the industry and referred to U2’s recent run of shows in his response.
He replied: “Well, two things. One, it depends what the show is and kind of who the audience are. I mean, I’m not gonna go around and say specific artists, because most of the artists that are charging, like, 1,200 dollars a ticket – like in Las Vegas, if you wanna go and see the U2 show, I think it was 1,200 dollars per seat in the sphere. I’ve got no interest in paying 1,200 dollars to go and see U2 in the sphere – none. A hundred bucks, maybe.”
He continued: “But for me, what’s important is to try and keep, on the one hand, the right type of tickets at the right price. So by that I mean the right type of tickets, I mean, the tickets that are in front of the stage, which everybody says should be the most expensive tickets. Actually, no, they should be the most reasonably priced tickets, ’cause the people who are gonna go there to the front of the stage are gonna be people who are real fans, people who are kids, people who can’t afford the crazy money, but they are the people that need to be down the front; they’re the people that are gonna keep this music alive.
“And then you get the people that they might be fans, but they wanna bring their wife and they don’t wanna get too hot and sweaty and all the rest of it. So, there’s some seats at the top or something else like that, what they’re gonna pick, and those get priced differently.”
He went on to say how he’s kept his own ticket sales and those of Iron Maiden within “normal boundaries”.
He explained: “I understand how promoters try and do it to try and not lose money, because promoters are part of the whole ecosystem. Without promoters, there would be no shows. The promoters have somehow gotta make their money back. So, it’s a delicate balance, but in general, ticket prices have gone through the roof.
“And some of the ticket prices that people pay, well, some of the prices people pay, for me, it’s insane. I would never pay that price, but then again, I’m probably not a fan of that particular artist. People who are, maybe they think it’s worth it. I mean, certainly with my shows, we’ve always tried to keep the ticket prices within the normal, normal boundaries. And the same with Maiden.”
Dickinson recently released his new album, ‘The Mandrake Project’, his first solo record in nearly two decades.
In a statement about the album, the musician said said: “This album has been a very personal journey for me and I am extremely proud of it. Roy Z and I have been planning, writing and recording it for years, and I am very excited for people to finally hear it.
The solo artist will also head out on a UK and European tour this year.
Elsewhere, Dickinson recently spoke out about why he feels so few new rock and metal bands are making it to arena-level.