Jagger’s Cheap Seats Gag

Mick Jagger made light of the media outcry over his band’s ticket prices when the Stones played a sold-out O2 Arena in London Nov. 25.

“How’s everyone in the cheap seats?” he asked the 25,000-strong crowd, before jokingly adding: “The problem is they’re not so cheap.”

Aussie promoter Paul Dainty and Virgin chief Richard Branson, who’ve teamed to put on the act’s 50th anniversary shows in London and New York, have publicly stated that they haven’t supplied any tickets to the secondary market.

But the shows sold out in 10 minutes and various newspapers and trade magazines reported that the secondary sites were later offering tickets – with face values ranging from $170 to $650 – for as much as $24,000.

However, the touts may not have made quite the killing they anticipated, as the Daily Telegraph reckoned that hundreds of tickets remained unsold as fans turned their backs on the prices.

Jagger has also let on that, should the shows go well, the act would look at doing more next year – although at 69 he admitted he’s finding it harder to summon up the energy.

“When you are 19 you do things that you can’t do at my age,” he told BBC News.

“But I still try to make the show as energetic as I can make it.”

The Stones are reportedly getting £16 million ($25.6 million) for two shows in London and two in New York.