What’s the right sum to charge for a concert ticket? The glib answer would be “what people are prepared to pay”. Some venues and artists are totally unembarrassed about applying the laws of supply and demand to event tickets, with dynamic pricing now everywhere.

The average ticket price for the top 100 tours around the world last year was £101, according to music trade publication Pollstar, up 41 per cent on 2019 prices. Remember Oasis fever last summer, when half the middle-aged population hid in their work toilets all morning trying to get their hands on a ticket? Standing tickets which fans expected to buy for £135 turned out to cost £355 by the time many reached the front of the queue, causing an outbreak of collective rage, though now the tour has begun, people are more forgiving. "Was it worth the £40,000 you paid for a ticket?" Liam asked the Cardiff crowd, as only Liam can. They seemed to feel it was.

Even so, letting market forces push ticket prices ever higher is a risky business. What if fans feel ripped off and make up their minds never to see you again? Artists and promoters started it, but fans are now making equally ruthless economic judgments about their idols.

The legend is that in the world of big live events, everyone’s a winner – fans get to see their rock gods in person and artists get to aspire to yacht-ownership. But the experience matters. When you’ve spent the cost of a replacement washing machine on two concert tickets, the artist is the size of a fruit fly on a faraway stage and the set list is a bit “meh”, dissatisfaction – the enemy of future........

© Herald Scotland