When Beyoncé brings her much-anticipated “Renaissance” world tour to MetLife Stadium this Saturday and Sunday, elite members of the Beyhive will probably be buzzing inside stinging distance of their Queen B.
The most popular — and most costly — tickets, which sold out immediately, are two VIP experiences named after “Pure/Honey,” the penultimate track on Bey’s Grammy-winning “Renaissance” album, which permit the superstar’s fans to observe the show from risers onstage.
Along with a dedicated bar and restroom, a limited-edition tour gift and more, those willing to drop a whopping $5,000 — assuming they were even in a position to grab the tickets at face value — will find themselves within the front row of the risers, close enough to get in formation with Beyoncé herself.
Stage-side seating is just considered one of the next-level VIP perks being rolled out because the live music business bounces back with a post-pandemic bang.
Now that the times of social distancing are over, artists are all about giving fans A-list access, allowing concertgoers to rise up close and private with intimate experiences that include all the pieces from doing pre-show shots of tequila with Katy Perry to hopping a tour bus to trek around Europe with the Backstreet Boys.
“People were just hungry … and you then open the floodgates,” said Eddie Meehan, CEO and founding father of Please & Thank You, the fan-engagement company behind Backstreet Boys’ European experience, in addition to VIP offerings for everybody from Justin Timberlake to Mötley Crüe.
“People wish to be a part of the show. People wish to be near it.”
And while there’s rampant fan demand, there’s also pent-up desire from the artists to make connections— and money.
“A variety of artists are attempting to make up for the loss within the pandemic,” said Dave Brooks, senior director of live music and touring at Billboard. “, ‘What can we sell?’”
Which explains the way you get a pop superstar similar to Katy Perry boozing it up with fans as a part of her “Firework” VIP Experience for her “Play” show at Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas, which begins its final run of dates this weekend. That top-tier package — which also features a “good” seat, a person photo op with Perry and a number of her favorite sushi and sake — costs a cool $1,999.
But which will look like a bargain in comparison with the experience Meehan cooked up for Mötley Crüe fans on the group’s co-headlining stadium tour with Def Leppard last summer. Along with all the standard VIP perks — including the OG meet-and-greet photo op — you bought an autographed guitar from the band that sent the package topping out around $5,000.
And for something much more intimate and interactive, Meehan’s company organized a VIP package for Recent York indie pop trio AJR that included playing dodgeball with them.
For when an evening to recollect isn’t enough, some artists are bringing their fans with them on vacation. That’s exactly what will probably be happening when Lionel Richie’s Dancing on the Sand takes place on the renowned Atlantis resort within the Bahamas Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. Packages range from about $3,900 to about $6,500 for 2 people.
“We’re gonna construct a stage on the beach, where Lionel goes to perform for about 2,000 to three,000 people,” said Harvey Cohen, president of Vibee, a recent arm of Live Nation specializing in music-oriented destination experiences.
“It’s very, very intimate,” he added of the event, which may even include Sheryl Crow and disco legends Nile Rodgers & Chic. “We’re going to be hosting a fireplace chat, where it’s going to be a one-on-one conversation with Lionel talking about his storied profession.”
That’s quite a lot of face time for the fans — the alternative of what they’ll get from leading concert divas Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, who don’t even have direct contact with their VIP package holders.
Swift’s more basic offering on her epic Eras tour topped out at about $900, and Brooks doesn’t think that anything dearer than the near-$5,000 price tag of Beyoncé’s priciest of 5 VIP experiences could be a very good search for her.
“It looks such as you’re just gouging people,” he said.
