Golden ticket: How Indian fans are travelling abroad for sold-out concerts

Time of India

24-07-2025

Remember the fan frenzy for Coldplay tickets in India? For most, it was a dead end. But for those with flexibility — and the right budget — the solution was just a phone call away. Enter luxury concierge services.
'I spent around ₹75,000 to fly to Singapore and back to watch Coldplay live,' says Dishant Sanghvi, co-founder of WYLD, a social currency payment card, adding that he realised that by spending 'just a bit more than what people were already paying for tickets in India', he could travel abroad, get better seats, and enjoy the concert in a more comfortable setting.
Explore courses from Top Institutes in
Please select course:
Select a Course Category
Degree
Finance
Data Science
Data Science
PGDM
Project Management
MCA
Technology
Management
others
Design Thinking
Healthcare
Digital Marketing
Product Management
CXO
Leadership
healthcare
Cybersecurity
Artificial Intelligence
Operations Management
Others
Public Policy
MBA
Skills you'll gain:
Data-Driven Decision-Making
Strategic Leadership and Transformation
Global Business Acumen
Comprehensive Business Expertise
Duration:
2 Years
University of Western Australia
UWA Global MBA
Starts on
Jun 28, 2024
Get Details
For discerning fans, it's not just about the music — it's about accessing the unforgettable with ease and exclusivity. These are experiences that you can't always put a price on.
Mic check
'We've seen an uptick in concerts and music festivals — nearly a 3x increase over the past five years,' says Dipali Sikand, founder of
Club Concierge
. 'Earlier, live events were an occasional indulgence. Now they're planned like key milestones on a calendar. For our top-tier clients, attending Coachella, the Grammys, or a Coldplay concert is as normal as booking a holiday.'
Single artiste concert tours are pulling in an unprecedented number of people who are ready to shell out high sums of money to be part of the experience. Take, for example, the Oasis reunion tour. While official tickets range from 73 to 205 pounds ( ₹8,400 – ₹23,000), resale sites like Viagogo have seen prices listed as high as 10,578 pounds ( ₹12.17 lakh). 'So far, we have about 80 requests for Oasis tickets. We are also getting a lot of requests for the upcoming Enrique Iglesias show,' says Manoj Adlakha, founder, RedBeryl Lifestyle Services.
Getty Images
Enrique Iglesias is set to return to India after more than a decade, with concerts later this year
Vijaya Eastwood, founder of
exclusive luxury lifestyle management
service CribLife, says music is definitely 'one of the most emotion-driven spend categories' that they see across their clientele, which ranges from tech entrepreneurs to high-performing bankers to business owners. 'While motivations vary — some buy tickets for friend groups, others to impress clients or celebrate milestones — VIP concerts have become a trend for those wanting to combine leisure with a marquee live performance,' she shares.
'Many of these clients are well-travelled and digitally savvy. Attending a Coldplay concert in Singapore or a BTS performance in Tokyo is just as much a status symbol as it is a personal indulgence,' says Karan Agarwal, director, Cox & Kings, highlighting how some are using these high-octane cultural events to entertain business associates or potential clients. 'Concerts, much like sporting events or luxury fashion shows, have become a powerful new avenue for socialising and soft networking.'
While most requests are typically from cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad, 'cities such as Indore, Lucknow, Surat and Coimbatore are producing a new breed of globally mobile, experience-hungry consumers who aren't hesitating to fly out for concerts in Singapore, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi or London — especially when tickets in India are unavailable or sold out', Eastwood adds.
Setting the stage
For concierge services, being sold out doesn't always mean impossible. 'It just means knowing where to knock,' says Sikand. 'We work through a mix of authorised resellers, direct relationships with promoters and VIP hospitality partners.'
Backstage pass
But it's not just about getting the ticket. It's about the larger experience — the hotel, the car, the security, the after-party invite. 'Our clients are asking for interactions, meet and greet and so on. Fan moments are a big draw,' says Adlakha.
Eastwood says they have handled requests for 'management tickets', which are passes that come directly through artiste management. 'For the Coldplay concert in Bangkok, a client requested VIP meet-and-greet access, which can cost upwards of $1,500-$2,000 per head when available. But when sold out, we've facilitated it at a premium of over ₹6 lakh.'
Clients can even get early access to sound checks, signed memorabilia, or artiste-hosted dinners. 'A client once asked us to organise a surprise backstage meet-and-greet with [Italian tenor] Andrea Bocelli for his parents' anniversary. Another wanted a private dinner with Bocelli's chef before the show,' adds Sikand.
Set list
Concierges also note an increasing demand for Indian classical music at global venues, or international jazz and opera. 'We've had clients fly in just for a week of performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival or the Salzburg Festival,' Sikand shares.
There's also a growing appetite for immersive experiences — think candlelight concerts in heritage spaces or private rooftop DJ nights in Ibiza, Lata Mangeshkar tribute nights in Europe, Afrobeat and Fado in the UAE, Sufi fusion in Paris and vinyl-only DJ sets in Tokyo.
But sometimes, even in the world of exclusive access, some magic doesn't manifest. A concierge service owner shares how one client once requested a private mini-concert with Adele aboard a yacht in Capri. The yacht? Arranged. The grand piano? Delivered. But Adele herself? Simply not available for private performances… at any price. 'In such cases, we focus on shaping an alternative so compelling — a live performance by her musical director followed by a virtual interaction — that it still feels exclusive.' Because the goal in the world of exclusivity is constantly to redefine what that means.