Is it even possible to get good concert seats anymore?

[steve108819]

This past weekends McCartney concert got me wondering what you have to do to get a close seat for one of these shows. I got mine on stubhub before they were even available from the Sprint Center website. If I wanted front row I would have had to pay $5000 from scalpers per seat. As it was I paid double face value for upper deck seats. Is it even possible anymore to get good tickets at face value, or do they all go to the scalpers so we get raped if we want to go?

[itkindaworks]

I've seen the same thing, it's a bummer. Sometimes you can get lucky, but scalpers get the majority of decent seats.

[PedalFreak]

No it's not. All the sites sell to scalpers, I mean Ticket Brokers, first. I've bought tickets through a presale the minute they go on sale and still get bad seats.

[Thinsocks]

Originally Posted by steve108819

This past weekends McCartney concert got me wondering what you have to do to get a close seat for one of these shows. I got mine on stubhub before they were even available from the Sprint Center website. If I wanted front row I would have had to pay $5000 from scalpers per seat. As it was I paid double face value for upper deck seats. Is it even possible anymore to get good tickets at face value, or do they all go to the scalpers so we get raped if we want to go?

Same here. Tried to get tickets to see Paul at the Hollywood Bowl, but both the pre-sale and sale date sold out within seconds... yet there was upwards of 200 tickets on just one of the local "Ticket Broker" websites within minutes of the pre-sale. Total BS.

[PVH5150]

All depends on where the venue is & who the band is.

I saw the Scorpions last month at Meadowbrook in New Hampshire....I bought my tickets THE SECOND they went on sale. 9 rows from the stage, $56 per ticket. Not bad at all.

On the downside....I went to the actual box office to get Rush tickets the morning they went on sale (for 9/14 at the Garden in Boston). Nothing on the floor or loge. Ended up with 3rd row Club seats (above loge, below balcony) for a cool $125.

Put it this way....if the venue you're attending has a big wig corporate sponsor in its name or title, you're not getting the seats you want unless you blow Irving Azoff himself.

[dmb70]

About the only way to get really close tickets to big ticket bands without going the stub hub route is to join their fan clubs. Last year I joined AC/DC's for $50, got 15th row tickets for face value before they went on sale to the general public.

Many big time bands have some kind of vip/pre sale/ fan club type ticket packages.
Sometimes you can also get lucky on stub hub the day of or before the show.

[steve108819]

Not the answers I want to hear. I was hoping there was some trick I hadn't thought of. I really want to see McCartney again, but with good seats this time. I just can't afford the scalper prices. I miss the old days.

[Turbozag]

I had great seats for McCartney a couple years ago in Columbus Ohio.

I paid about $260 each for 2 tix. Was not expecting it, but turned out to be one of the best shows ever.

I was a few rows behind Peter Frampton.

Had 10th row dead center for Pink Floyd back on the "Delicate Sounds of Thunder" tour. A friend worked at the tix office and hooked me up. :-)
Face value.

[HEY!YOU!]

FFFFFF and F'ing F them all.

I don't want to join every f'ing fan club to see bands in good seats.
I know life's not fair. Oh well.

I saw lots of top bands in the 70's and 80's for $5.50-$8.50 a seat.
Granted, I had to cut school or work and wait in line, but at least I got a chance and usually got good seats at face value.

Brokers my ass. Scalpers thru and thru.

I feel sad for kids today that want to see any big national acts.

I've resigned myself to seeing local or boutique acts.
Robben Ford and Larry Carlton at the Boulder theater for $39.00
thru their online box office. Works for me.

[Stike]

Live Nation and Ticketmaster are downright evil.

[Drew68]

Originally Posted by HEY!YOU!

I saw lots of top bands in the 70's and 80's for $5.50-$8.50 a seat.
Granted, I had to cut school or work and wait in line, but at least I got a chance and usually got good seats at face value.

Sigh... A lot sure has changed, hasn't it? My concert-attending heyday was in the mid 1980s. We'd camp out overnight at the mall and very often the party atmosphere in the parking lot was as much fun as the concert itself. A $20 bill paid for one concert ticket and breakfast at McDonald's. And the rock stars still managed to get rich!

I don't think I'd even know how to buy a ticket these days.

[HEY!YOU!]

Originally Posted by Drew68

Sigh... A lot sure has changed, hasn't it? My concert-attending heyday was in the mid 1980s. We'd camp out overnight at the mall and very often the party atmosphere in the parking lot was as much fun as the concert itself. A $20 bill paid for one concert ticket and breakfast at McDonald's. And the rock stars still managed to get rich!

I don't think I'd even know how to buy a ticket these days.

My son's friends look at my framed concert tix, The Who, Zep, Beck, Zappa, Stones, Humble Pie, Allmans, CSN &Y, Dylan, Band, everyone who was anyone.
They ask how much to see the shows....I say "look at the stub" and that's not counting the shows I was able to see for FREE.

Their mouths drop......

[vds5000]

Originally Posted by PVH5150

All depends on where the venue is & who the band is.

+1

I was able to get Bill Cosby tickets for $47/ticket. 7 rows from the stage! It's about 2 weeks away.

When Journey/Heart/Cheap Trick toured 2 years ago, I did have an opportunity to get 14 rows from the stage, but chose to go for 30 rows back because the tickets were almost 1/2 the price.

[Lotis]

I saw the Beatles last show at Candlestick Park in San Fran for $5.50 and it wasn't sold out. Now that WAS the good old days. However if I remember minimum wage like $1.25 so it's relative.

[TwoTubMan]

Try paying with cocaine. At least that's how it worked in Houston in the 80's if you wanted to be able to see the stage.