Americans Are Flying to Europe to See Beyoncé Because U.S. Shows Are So Expensive
They're seeing the world's best performer and going on a European vacation all at once.
This is how ridiculously unregulated and absolutely vampiric American capitalism is: You can buy flights, Beyoncé concert tickets, and a hotel and still spend about the same or even less than you would spend on just the ticket here in the US on Ticketmaster. First, let me just say how outrageous that is! Joe Biden, baby you really need to do something about all of this price gouging, we cannot afford to live like this.
Secondly: The Beyhive members who did this are pretty genius. Not only are they seeing the first leg of the Renaissance Tour, they are also getting a trip to Europe. That's stunning! And it wasn't just a few people who decided to hop over to Stockholm (the first stop on the tour) to see the show. If you scroll through TikTok, you'll see that there's an entire American delegation of Beyoncé fans that are over in Sweden right now. There haven't been this many American-Swedish transactions since the Treaty of Amity and Commerce!
Some intrepid travelers even went so far as to arrive a day early and shoot a bunch of content for social media in their Beyoncé tour outfits. It's a level of strategy and enthusiasm that simply cannot be found from government officials taking Ticketmaster to task. Not to mention that the most dedicated fans were able to get seats much closer to the stage at a much cheaper rate compared to what could be purchased in the US— one traveler told the Today Show they spent less on flights, tickets, and hotel to sit in the VIP section in Stockholm than they would have spent to sit in the same section at the Atlanta concert.
Why the glaring difference? Because even though capitalism is indeed a global scourge, other countries have more consumer protection regulations in place compared to the US. In 2022, the European Parliament passed the Digital Protection Act, which included ticketing regulations. Meanwhile in the US, Ticketmaster would probably start charging the deeds to peoples' homes if they could figure out that checkout process.
Beyoncé's next tour stop is Brussels, on May 14. For those of you who are going to be out in Belgium for the concert, check out what else the historically punk rock city of Brussels has to offer. And if you don't have tickets yet, her European tour dates continue through June 27 in Warsaw, so it might not be too late for a European adventure. From there, Bey kicks off the North American leg of her tour on July 8 with a show in Toronto.
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