I was so excited to hear that Coldplay was playing at the Metro in Chicago this Friday. Tickets were really inexpensive ($23), and it was a small venue. I was all ready to buy my tickets at Ticketmaster and also had my cell phone to call if there were any problems, but alas! Tickets sold out in 4 minutes!!!!
What really stinks is of the hundreds of people waiting in line at the Metro, only 11 people were able to purchase tickets!!!
Now, searching online scalpers are selling them at a minimum of $350 a ticket! That is so unfair!!!! How can that be legal!?
Does this piss anyone else off? Can anything be done about it?
it makes my blood boil too. and oddly enough it's illegal to sell tickets in illinois above face value but people often find ways around this.. hence the coldplay hat that costs $350 while the tickets are thrown in for free. and it seems the scalpers always end up with a shit load of tickets.. absolutely rediculous.
oh yeah. the wilco show at the metro was probably the most inventive ticket sales i've seen lately. only 2 (or it might have been 4) tickets per credit card and you had to show your id at the door proving that you were the one who bought the tickets.
It was supposed to be the same thing for Coldplay. I have no idea what magic those wily scalpers use, how do they get so many? I heard that they have software that allows them to snap up 10% of the tickets in one shot, can this be true?
the pixies added 3 more shows at the aragon back in november after the first show's tickets went so fast.. i noticed after the first initial sell out scalped tickets were going for around $200... after they added more shows the scalped tickets dropped dramatically.. the tickets eventually dropped down to around $80 a piece (only double from face value which still isn't even worth the price)
to me scalpers are the lowest of the low. right up there with spammers and tow truck drivers.... the only way i see to fight them is to never ever ever ever buy scalped tickets..
ok i'll shut up now.. this shit gets me waaaay to worked up..
my brother told me recently of a trick when buying tickets on ticketmaster. i've never done it so i can't validate it but i trust he knows what he is talking about. when trying to buy tickets for a chicago show, don't call a chicago ticketmaster. the lines will be busy unless you get lucky. instead, call a ticketmaster in the same time zone as chicago. make sure that city doesn't have a huge show also going on sale on the same day at the same time. you should have better luck that way.
the fillmore does uses the same logical procedure when selling tickets. you must pick them up at the door with a valid id... still doesnt work. you end up having to pretend you are good friends with the scalper, showing up together to claim the tickets... last thing i would want to do is be friendly with some guy who just f@cked me out of a ticket for 5 times its worth.
Face it, it's simple supply and demand. A lot of you are pissed cause you couldn't get tickets to a show you really wanted to see and now the 'market' price is way above your budget. I personally don't see a problem with people re-selling their tickets to the highest bidder. To me, if someone is willing to pay me X amount of dollars to take my place at the show, then so be it. Unforunately, what I don't like is how most scalpers have an inside track to getting the best seats in the house. I personally feel that only 1/2 of the Coldplay tickets were released to the public. The rest went to scalpers through shady means, like the promoter selling tickets to a ticket broker and then receiving a cut from those sales.
Also, look at the Black Crowes as an example. They're doing about 5 shows per city so even if the shows sell out, the demand is still less and scalpers are having a tough time re-selling their tickets.
Last, I think for every show that sells for about 10x the price of a ticket, there are 10 other shows that scalpers lose money on. Two words: Motley Crue.
brother-of-e's trick works. I used to work at a record store in Chicago that had a Ticketmaster & it's frequently the only way to get tickets. Another thing you can do is go someplace really out of the way that has a ticketmaster (like a Carson's in the suburbs) and there's never a line. You do risk crappy clerks, though.
There is a UK website (which I can't remember the name of) which allows people of offload unwanted tickets provided they only seel for the original face value. Nice idea.
At the end of the day...it's only Coldplay. I've seen them. It cost me $80NZ and they sounded exactly like the CD. What a waste of money, I must be an idiot.
i am a fervent supporter of ticket scalping. 350 is way too much money, but i'd keep in touch with the scalpers. my guess is that in the hours before the concert starts, you can pretty easily bank on ticket prices dropping rapidly, possibly even getting them cheaper than $23.
Not for these shows....people are crazy. Just read the SF craiglist and you'll see what i mean.
Apparantly they only had 21 tickets at the Metro box office. That's ridiculous. At least reward the people who stuck it out, yknow.
My only advice would be to get to the show early and bring a c-note. You may be able to use that to get in, depending on who the ticket taker at the door is.
I personally can't see spending $600 on any event. Anyone I would spend that kind of money on is already dead. Well, maybe if the Leafs ever made it to the finals, then I would probably fork it over for decent seats at the ACC. But, alas, the NHL is dead, so now I must cry.
I just saw Coldplay at the Coachella Valley Festival - IT WAS AN AMAZING SHOW!!!!!!!!!! Also, the ARCADE FIRE had an INCREDIBLE set. probably one of the most talked about shows of the festival.
Anyone going to Sasquatch Festival in Washington? The tix are $55, the Pixies, Arcade fIRE, Bloc Party, Modest Mouse, etc etc will be playing
I also saw coldplay at coachella. I thought they were good, but not great (especially if you compare them to radiohead/pixies last year - that was amazing). I was really dissapointed with Wilco. Bloc Party was good, as was weezer and some others. I missed day 2, everyone has said that arcade fire was awesome. I'm sad i missed it. I love palm springs.
emerson grand rapids is not in the same time zone as chicago.
and remember the best bands never get signed
the ksettes starring butchers blind
are so good you wont ever know
they never even played a show.
you never hear em on the radio.
Vado, I know that, I took the time change into account when I tried to buy the tickets. Does it matter what zone you're in if you are still there at the correct opening time?
May 5, 05 7:25 pm ·
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Coldplay tickets, or lack thereof....
I was so excited to hear that Coldplay was playing at the Metro in Chicago this Friday. Tickets were really inexpensive ($23), and it was a small venue. I was all ready to buy my tickets at Ticketmaster and also had my cell phone to call if there were any problems, but alas! Tickets sold out in 4 minutes!!!!
What really stinks is of the hundreds of people waiting in line at the Metro, only 11 people were able to purchase tickets!!!
Now, searching online scalpers are selling them at a minimum of $350 a ticket! That is so unfair!!!! How can that be legal!?
Does this piss anyone else off? Can anything be done about it?
same exact thing happened here in san francisco( @ the fillmore)... you can buy your tickets online for about 700 bucks...
shit happens
NIN/weezer/Coldplay all sold out in 3 minutes in nyc. but amazingly ticketstub.com had blocks and blocks of tickets 20 minutes later.
there was an article in rolling stone about this this month. and it basically said the system is f*cked and there is no way to fix it.
put an ad on craigslist and mention 'interesting trades welcome'
plus $23 to see coldplay is still too much money.
it makes my blood boil too. and oddly enough it's illegal to sell tickets in illinois above face value but people often find ways around this.. hence the coldplay hat that costs $350 while the tickets are thrown in for free. and it seems the scalpers always end up with a shit load of tickets.. absolutely rediculous.
oh yeah. the wilco show at the metro was probably the most inventive ticket sales i've seen lately. only 2 (or it might have been 4) tickets per credit card and you had to show your id at the door proving that you were the one who bought the tickets.
It was supposed to be the same thing for Coldplay. I have no idea what magic those wily scalpers use, how do they get so many? I heard that they have software that allows them to snap up 10% of the tickets in one shot, can this be true?
the pixies added 3 more shows at the aragon back in november after the first show's tickets went so fast.. i noticed after the first initial sell out scalped tickets were going for around $200... after they added more shows the scalped tickets dropped dramatically.. the tickets eventually dropped down to around $80 a piece (only double from face value which still isn't even worth the price)
to me scalpers are the lowest of the low. right up there with spammers and tow truck drivers.... the only way i see to fight them is to never ever ever ever buy scalped tickets..
ok i'll shut up now.. this shit gets me waaaay to worked up..
my brother told me recently of a trick when buying tickets on ticketmaster. i've never done it so i can't validate it but i trust he knows what he is talking about. when trying to buy tickets for a chicago show, don't call a chicago ticketmaster. the lines will be busy unless you get lucky. instead, call a ticketmaster in the same time zone as chicago. make sure that city doesn't have a huge show also going on sale on the same day at the same time. you should have better luck that way.
I called a Grand Rapids ticketmaster, but didn't get through in time. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Sigh....
That sucks dude...even if it is Coldplay!
the fillmore does uses the same logical procedure when selling tickets. you must pick them up at the door with a valid id... still doesnt work. you end up having to pretend you are good friends with the scalper, showing up together to claim the tickets... last thing i would want to do is be friendly with some guy who just f@cked me out of a ticket for 5 times its worth.
Face it, it's simple supply and demand. A lot of you are pissed cause you couldn't get tickets to a show you really wanted to see and now the 'market' price is way above your budget. I personally don't see a problem with people re-selling their tickets to the highest bidder. To me, if someone is willing to pay me X amount of dollars to take my place at the show, then so be it. Unforunately, what I don't like is how most scalpers have an inside track to getting the best seats in the house. I personally feel that only 1/2 of the Coldplay tickets were released to the public. The rest went to scalpers through shady means, like the promoter selling tickets to a ticket broker and then receiving a cut from those sales.
Also, look at the Black Crowes as an example. They're doing about 5 shows per city so even if the shows sell out, the demand is still less and scalpers are having a tough time re-selling their tickets.
Last, I think for every show that sells for about 10x the price of a ticket, there are 10 other shows that scalpers lose money on. Two words: Motley Crue.
"Two words: Motley Crue."
that just made my day! now back to CAD!
Crumpets: bullshit!
brother-of-e's trick works. I used to work at a record store in Chicago that had a Ticketmaster & it's frequently the only way to get tickets. Another thing you can do is go someplace really out of the way that has a ticketmaster (like a Carson's in the suburbs) and there's never a line. You do risk crappy clerks, though.
There is a UK website (which I can't remember the name of) which allows people of offload unwanted tickets provided they only seel for the original face value. Nice idea.
At the end of the day...it's only Coldplay. I've seen them. It cost me $80NZ and they sounded exactly like the CD. What a waste of money, I must be an idiot.
hmmm....
i am a fervent supporter of ticket scalping. 350 is way too much money, but i'd keep in touch with the scalpers. my guess is that in the hours before the concert starts, you can pretty easily bank on ticket prices dropping rapidly, possibly even getting them cheaper than $23.
Not for these shows....people are crazy. Just read the SF craiglist and you'll see what i mean.
Apparantly they only had 21 tickets at the Metro box office. That's ridiculous. At least reward the people who stuck it out, yknow.
My only advice would be to get to the show early and bring a c-note. You may be able to use that to get in, depending on who the ticket taker at the door is.
I personally can't see spending $600 on any event. Anyone I would spend that kind of money on is already dead. Well, maybe if the Leafs ever made it to the finals, then I would probably fork it over for decent seats at the ACC. But, alas, the NHL is dead, so now I must cry.
I just saw Coldplay at the Coachella Valley Festival - IT WAS AN AMAZING SHOW!!!!!!!!!! Also, the ARCADE FIRE had an INCREDIBLE set. probably one of the most talked about shows of the festival.
Anyone going to Sasquatch Festival in Washington? The tix are $55, the Pixies, Arcade fIRE, Bloc Party, Modest Mouse, etc etc will be playing
I also saw coldplay at coachella. I thought they were good, but not great (especially if you compare them to radiohead/pixies last year - that was amazing). I was really dissapointed with Wilco. Bloc Party was good, as was weezer and some others. I missed day 2, everyone has said that arcade fire was awesome. I'm sad i missed it. I love palm springs.
emerson grand rapids is not in the same time zone as chicago.
and remember the best bands never get signed
the ksettes starring butchers blind
are so good you wont ever know
they never even played a show.
you never hear em on the radio.
Vado, I know that, I took the time change into account when I tried to buy the tickets. Does it matter what zone you're in if you are still there at the correct opening time?
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