Paul McCartney says he's planning to tour Europe in 2014
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5th-beatle:
I've got a few questions about Paul's recent (2009-2013) tours in Europe, I'll appreciate any info. Was it always easy to buy tickets online, or did you folks experience difficulties, like in the recent US and Japan tours? Did those concerts usually sell out fast, or was it possible to buy tickets closer to the concert dates? Was it possible to pick tickets up at the box office or did they have to be sent by mail? Were online tickets sold to anywhere in the world, or were they restricted to European citizens? Thanks.
I've seen Paul in Europe, SA, Mexico and Japan and never had a problem with Crowdsurge presale tickets. The only caveat being that Crowdsurge does tend to cut the timeframe for sending out tickets very short for those who are travelling away from home. That being said, I've never had a problem contacting Crowdsurge and arranging for ticket collection at the venue will call box office. I know this may be contrary to some boardies experiences with CS so this is just my opinion. ps-I'm hoping for a return to Russia this summer!!! Moscow and/or St Pete would be great!
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5th-beatle:
I've got a few questions about Paul's recent (2009-2013) tours in Europe, I'll appreciate any info. Was it always easy to buy tickets online, or did you folks experience difficulties, like in the recent US and Japan tours? Did those concerts usually sell out fast, or was it possible to buy tickets closer to the concert dates? Was it possible to pick tickets up at the box office or did they have to be sent by mail? Were online tickets sold to anywhere in the world, or were they restricted to European citizens? Thanks.
6 EU shows under the belt in 2009-2012. Easy as pie. General admission standing tickets, as it should, in 10,000-20,000 capacity venues, around 60 to 90 euros, not selling out, or not until much closer to the dates. Show up at 2/3 hours before doors, and watch in the first few rows. (Apart from that time in Bologna, with the most awful organisation I ever experienced for any event). The rare seated venues are a different kind of beast though. The times I had to sit through... such venues I bagged the first 5 rows without any problem though, and without any decadent champagne packages, although the prices were still outrageous (150-200 euro). The proper tickets will sell out quickly of course, although there will be always points when new seats get released, for reasons like the many unsold tickets of the packages. How easily you can get a good seat all depends on the organisation, ticket agencies and structure of sale. For Cologne '11 you could easily pick the desired seats in a seating map. For Antwerp '12, they had a typical Belgian style of organisation, and on the day of the sale you could only buy 'a seat'. Row 88 in the gods behind a pole, or row 1 centre? You wouldn't knew. Absurd. Weeks after that suddenly tickets became available again, in a very well-structured system, and I picked row 4 left from the centre. Again, it all comes down how incapable an organisation is or not. Box office is a tricky one. More chances that they won't even send abroad and box office is the only available option than the other way round. Such a pain, many times I booked multiple concerts in for example England, and they sent 2 of the tickets without any problems, for the other ones I had to visit the box office, in a long line an hour after the doors opened, because they "don't send abroad" -_-. For seated venues this won't matter much of course, apart from the unnecessary inconvenience. But at least you know you will have a good spot. See the Bologna-fiasco. I never heard of any country restrictions for the gigs itself. As long as your CreditCard is internationally accepted, I had problems with that in the past. Not with the card, but with the ticket agencies excluding different countries.
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Thanks for the info. So if I buy a General Audience ticket in Europe and wish to be one of thr first people in line, in order to be as close as possible to the stage, would it be enough to arrive 4 hours before doors are opened? By the way, are backpacks and amateur cameras usually allowed in Europeam shows without problems? Thanks.
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5th-beatle:
Thanks for the info. So if I buy a General Audience ticket in Europe and wish to be one of thr first people in line, in order to be as close as possible to the stage, would it be enough to arrive 4 hours before doors are opened? By the way, are backpacks and amateur cameras usually allowed in Europeam shows without problems? Thanks.
Well, the people who buy soundcheck packages are let in earlier, but those numbers are more like 50 people than 200, so that's not even half of the barrier. I can't vouch for crazy audiences with dedicated fans who camp out since the morning of course. But from my own experience, with the average demographic of McCartney, there are no One Direction type of situations with hundreds of people camping out since the evening before, haha. (If we are talking different acts, I would give you a whooooole different advice, haha). For example in 2009 over here I showed up about 2 hours before the doors opened and ended up about 10 rows back, bit more to the right, but with people being let in one by one, it's a bit tense and takes fast judgement of place and good timing. In 2012 I was already there 4 hours before the doors, and was about the 20th in line, easily got my friends in there too a bit later. After that it went quick though. 2 hours before the doors, there was a row across the whole square before the venue, but if you would could the heads, that still wasn't even 1/5 of the capacity of the venue. After being let in, I comfortably went to the toilet, got another beer, and walked through the empty venue and saw the gig from 'row' 3/4 center, no heads in front of me, perfect view of the stage. You can see all these examples in my videos, linked below. Also, take note of that if you are smart, you create a situation in which you can walk in and out the queue to go to the toilet, get food, get drinks, see the MaccaArrive, whenever you want. Befriend the people around you from the start is the key. In Bologna, due to the catastrophic absolute fools of an organisation, despite being around since the early afternoon, I ended up about half the venue back, behind many arms, heads and cameras. (If you aren't polite and have a thick skin, you can work your way up to the front from there, something which is a mighty fine approach for a 'lad's night out' at rock and roll shows, not so much at a Paul McCartney gig I would say...) Cameras absolutely, see my channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/strangedaysindeed9/search?query=mccartney Backpacks are a problem. They will inspect it. And it's not the most comfortable, being crammed up in an audience for hours.
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Thanks for the advice. I would really enjoy being able to attend a McCartney concert in Europe and the UK, it must be quite a different experience from the ones in South America.
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^^ALl the DVDs I have seen from bands playing to South American audiences prove what fantastic, passionate audiences you are. By comparison, seeing Macca in the Europe/UK arena shows may lack a considerate amount of atmosphere!
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chrisstevens:
^^ALl the DVDs I have seen from bands playing to South American audiences prove what fantastic, passionate audiences you are. By comparison, seeing Macca in the Europe/UK arena shows may lack a considerate amount of atmosphere!
This was my first thought, yeah, haha.
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chrisstevens:
^^ALl the DVDs I have seen from bands playing to South American audiences prove what fantastic, passionate audiences you are. By comparison, seeing Macca in the Europe/UK arena shows may lack a considerate amount of atmosphere!
Thanks, but it would still be thrilling to see Paul in such a different environment. I''m sure I would be able to make at least a couple of new friends, and maybe even meet some people from this forum. That would be nice as well.
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5th-beatle:
chrisstevens:
^^ALl the DVDs I have seen from bands playing to South American audiences prove what fantastic, passionate audiences you are. By comparison, seeing Macca in the Europe/UK arena shows may lack a considerate amount of atmosphere!
Thanks, but it would still be thrilling to see Paul in such a different environment. I''m sure I would be able to make at least a couple of new friends, and maybe even meet some people from this forum. That would be nice as well.
I'd love to actually meet someone who loves Paul as much as I do! I normally attend his concerts alone because I don't know anyone else who is fan enough to come along. Also, I think attending the soundcheck, etc, would be much better when with someone else. I ended up sitting next to a guy from South America at a concert for Elvis Costello and he was by himself, too. I had to ask "Do you like Paul McCartney?!"
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I appreciate the sentiment of the South American fans being passionate, but I have to say the audience at Hampden Park Glasgow in 2010 was pretty amazing too.
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FrankieJ:
5th-beatle:
chrisstevens:
^^ALl the DVDs I have seen from bands playing to South American audiences prove what fantastic, passionate audiences you are. By comparison, seeing Macca in the Europe/UK arena shows may lack a considerate amount of atmosphere!
Thanks, but it would still be thrilling to see Paul in such a different environment. I''m sure I would be able to make at least a couple of new friends, and maybe even meet some people from this forum. That would be nice as well.
I'd love to actually meet someone who loves Paul as much as I do! I normally attend his concerts alone because I don't know anyone else who is fan enough to come along. Also, I think attending the soundcheck, etc, would be much better when with someone else. I ended up sitting next to a guy from South America at a concert for Elvis Costello and he was by himself, too. I had to ask "Do you like Paul McCartney?!"
I'm in the same boat. All my friends/coworkers who are Beatle/Paul fans are married . And most are guys.
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I usually make friends during the long hours waiting in line outside the stadiums, and I've been in touch with most of them ever since. Hopefully I will make some new friends in other parts of the world as well soon!
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If the concerts are confirmed for June, I expect an announcement in March. Judging from previous tours, and by the fact that Paul has recently expressed desire to perform in Germany, I believe there will be a concert in Cologne, and maybe Berlin as well. Paris seems likely also, and it's been a while since he went to Spain, so maybe Barcelona and/or Madrid. The same goes for Rome, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, etc. I mean, he wants to promote a new album, so it would make sense to do it in capital cities. The UK will certainly be included, according to his recent interviews: London, for sure. Maybe also Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin? I'm not saying he will perform in all those cities, just pointing out some which are likely candidates, in my opinion.
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I hope he remembers how well he went down in Glasgow in 2010 !
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FrankieJ:
5th-beatle:
chrisstevens:
^^ALl the DVDs I have seen from bands playing to South American audiences prove what fantastic, passionate audiences you are. By comparison, seeing Macca in the Europe/UK arena shows may lack a considerate amount of atmosphere!
Thanks, but it would still be thrilling to see Paul in such a different environment. I''m sure I would be able to make at least a couple of new friends, and maybe even meet some people from this forum. That would be nice as well.
I'd love to actually meet someone who loves Paul as much as I do! I normally attend his concerts alone because I don't know anyone else who is fan enough to come along. Also, I think attending the soundcheck, etc, would be much better when with someone else. I ended up sitting next to a guy from South America at a concert for Elvis Costello and he was by himself, too. I had to ask "Do you like Paul McCartney?!"
I've been blessed in that department. About ten years ago, a friend who worked at a convenience store that I'd pop in regularly mentioned that he had a buddy who was nuts over McCartney-music. I assumed that he meant The Beatles, which is fine -- but no: He meant Wings-era-Ram-Mamunia-Rockestra-Ou Est le Soleil McCartney! He was not kidding. This guy was a true, solo-Macca wonk! Sometimes, he'd nearly hyperventilate in his excitement about McCartney. I've been trying for years and years to get him to join this forum, but he just won't. Also: I had tons of fun with new friends at both Macca's Nashville 2010 and St. Louis 2012 shows. It is very conceivable to arrive alone and leave with fast-friends!
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Anyone outside Europe who would be willing to travel there in June to him tour, if those shows are confirmed?
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5th-beatle:
Anyone outside Europe who would be willing to travel there in June to him tour, if those shows are confirmed?
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Excellent! You should also consider watching at least one concert somewhere in South America (if he returns). It would be a different kind of experience, and I'm sure you would enjoy it.
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forget 64:
5th-beatle:
Anyone outside Europe who would be willing to travel there in June to him tour, if those shows are confirmed?
Phil, can you pack me in your suitcase? I'll pay the overage fee!
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Nancy R:
forget 64:
5th-beatle:
Anyone outside Europe who would be willing to travel there in June to him tour, if those shows are confirmed?
Phil, can you pack me in your suitcase? I'll pay the overage fee!
Nancy, Sure..., we can put you in the carry on luggage!