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Hong Kong gigs
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Why are tickets for Hong Kong gigs so expensive? High rent and lack of venues the problem, music industry says

For the price of seeing a niche indie band play in Hong Kong, you can watch an A-list international supergroup play in a large stadium in London or Paris

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Hong Kong fans of Diiv paid up to HK$580 for a ticket to their recent show. Photo: Alamy
Chris Gillett
On a midweek September evening, indie fans are flocking to Kitec in Hong Kong to catch the debut local show by New York hipster shoegaze band Diiv. Advance tickets were sold for HK$480 (US$61), while entry at the door sets fans back HK$580. When Diiv toured last year in Britain, tickets only cost £16 (US$21) – almost one quarter of the price at the door in Hong Kong.

Diiv’s ticket prices are in line with other similar sized shows by international acts in the city. As a result, it is no wonder music fans relocating to Hong Kong from most major cities in Europe, the US or Australia find concert ticket prices quite a shock.

Tickets to Ed Sheeran’s postponed Hong Kong shows sold for HK$880. Photo: Alamy
Tickets to Ed Sheeran’s postponed Hong Kong shows sold for HK$880. Photo: Alamy
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For just an extra HK$150 (totalling HK$740), music fans who saw Diiv play in Hong Kong could have seen Muse or Coldplay play large exhibition halls or stadiums in London or Paris. For slightly less than that (HK$635), they could have attended Summer Well, a two-day festival in Romania, where popular indie acts such as The Kills, Birdy and Interpol played this year. Ed Sheeran’s postponed shows at AsiaWorld-Expo sold out at HK$880 a ticket, but tickets to his shows at Wembley Stadium in London next June are available for just HK$570 (HK$10 cheaper than Diiv at Kitec).

Five places in Hong Kong where you can still see live music if Hidden Agenda closes

Last week, New Zealand’s Fazerdaze played at MOM Livehouse, a Fortress Hill venue that opened last September, with an advance ticket price of HK$295. However, only a few weeks before, the band performed in London for £8.80. Despite being twice as far from New Zealand as Hong Kong, tickets for the London show cost only a third of the price.

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