Luke Combs on Why He Keeps His Meet & Greets Free for Fans
Luke Combs has often spoken about keeping his concert prices affordable for fans, and his current world tour is no exception.
In Billboard‘s latest cover story, the reigning CMA entertainer of the year reveals how deep his “fans first” ethos permeates. He has kept his concert ticket prices to pre-pandemic levels, costing an average of $88, and he always has a section of $25 tickets at each show. He also has free pre-parties and tailgates at the majority of his stadium shows.
Back in 2015, when Combs had yet to sign a record deal, he and his manager, Make Wake Artist’s Chris Kappy, launched a private Facebook group for Combs’ fans, who they affectionately call the “Bootleggers.”
The group, which now boasts over 175,000 members, is separate from Combs’ official Bootleggers club. One of the advantages is the VIB (Very Important Bootlegger) meet-and-greet giveaway, which is free and is the only VIP offering on Combs’ tours.
“I’ve always just felt really weird about, like, charging people to meet me,” Combs told Billboard. “Maybe that’s just me feeling like, ‘Well, it’s not worth it.’”
The Bootleggers exclusive VIB meet-and-greet winners are chosen at random, selecting 25 fans per show via a lottery system on Combs’ official website. The singer/songwriter says the random selection process allows him to see “a real representation of who is there.” He adds, “I just want to meet people who came to the show, whether it’s their first show or their 50th show. It’s like people who would have never gotten the chance to meet me or could never have afforded it. Because I couldn’t have afforded that growing up.”
His manager Kappy said, “That’s not the type of people we want,” and recounted a statement he made to a banker when turning down a $5,000 offer to meet Combs at the AT&T Stadium show. “I’d rather have the guy who can barely afford to come to the show because that’s more of a real fan than you wanting a picture with Luke for your Instagram.”
“I always want my fans to understand that I’ve never made any decisions based off how much money I can get out of them,” Combs added. “It already costs so much to do anything, right? I want them to love the music and feel like they saw a great show that someone put a lot of f–king thought into and did it at a price that was affordable to them.”
Combs’ next headlining stadium show is April 1 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Jessica Nicholson
Billboard
