Need tickets!

[Sky]

Which is, of course, slang for "I'm a ticket scalper."

New York is making scalping legal. Fuck.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3229869&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

What really pisses me off is this:

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/reports/scalping/full_text.html

A great overview on why ticket scalping sucks. I know right now, when I go online to buy tickets, I'm lucky to get a pair of nosebleed seats for $60. Apparently now my only choice will be hitting up ebay and paying through the nose, with the artist not getting any of that cut from some conniving douchebag.

I'm so fucking pissed about this.

[CmdrSlack]

There's always been legal scalping -- it's those ticket services.  Many states (including mine) allow that.  It looks like the not-yet-signed NY law will allow people to legally sell tickets online....which they've already been doing, just not as legally. It doesn't make the idiots outside the stadium legal, which is nice.

More infuriating is that some sports teams (like my beloved Cubs) have opened their OWN ticket brokers. They "sell" the tickets to the team-owned broker, who then sells them to fans for a ton of dough.  The cash then goes BACK to the team.

Assholes.

Meh, maybe I'm just used to having to pay crazy prices for game tickets because I'm a Cubs fan, but it doesn't seem that rage-worthy.

[Sky]

I don't deal with scalpers. So I'm pretty much fucked for seeing live music from now on. So....rageworthy.

[CmdrSlack]

I don't deal with scalpers. So I'm pretty much fucked for seeing live music from now on. So....rageworthy.

So basically, you're counting on this new thing meaning that you'll never be able to find tickets from places like ticketbastard?  Hell, ticketbastard may as well be a scalper for the amount of bullshit fees that they tack on.

[Nebu]

It's not like many acts actually perform in real time anymore.  So much overdubbing and lipsynching these days that I refuse to pay the ridiculous prices to watch live acts outside of bars and small venues anymore. 

[Sky]

Nebu, you clearly aren't going to the same show I am ;) I like bands that feature their musicianship, like the Allman Bros, Skynyrd, Dickey Betts, Joe Bonamassa, Buddy Guy, etc.

Slack, I realize Ticketfucker is outrageous, but paying an extra $6.50 per ticket is better than the scalped prices I've been approached with. I'm fairly certain that legalizing it is only going to blow the roof off the prices, and also encourage the 'official' scaliping you're talking about (they already have fucking 'ticket auctions'). Not only will you pay the ticket price + ticketmaster cost, but the scalper's profit on top, since they'll be passing that ticketmaster fee along to you for certain.

There are days I really fucking hate greedy capitalism.

I buy tickets from the venue whenever possible, but with ticketmaster, it's simply not possible much anymore, even when you buy at the venue you'll pay ticketmaster fees. We're probably looking at $75/ea for Brian Setzer this winter and the only way we can get to the Allmans at SPAC this year is to buy a LiveNation 4-pack (sets of 2 tickets are "sold out") at $30/ea, $120 for the 4-pack PLUS ticketmaster's fee, which is probably $6.50/ea. For one fucking show. It's obscene.

[Nebu]

The last concert I paid to see was the Eagles.  It was so painfully obvious that Joe Walsh wasn't really singing or playing on a couple of songs that I left in disgust.  If I'm going to a concert, I want to see raw, improvised versions of the tunes.  If I want to hear them as they were recorded, I'll just buy the cd and save myself a few bucks.  I'm guessing we agree on that. 

I saw so many great concerts in the 70's and 80's that the big shows that I've seen since seem more production than music.  Maybe being backstage for so many ruined sitting out front for me.  I'm going to stick to bar gigs and stuff that's off the beaten path.  Any group with a major following seems to have sold out.  If I pay to see a 4 piece, I want to hear a 4 piece... not 4 guys on stage with 16 supporting musicians playing behind a curtain.   

If you have any recommendations, I'd be grateful. 

[Righ]

I saw Dick Dale last night - no overdubs. :) I don't think that tapes, hidden musicians and overdubs are as common as you might think. But they're probably reasonably common among wealthy jaded musicians who are simply milking their hits for expensive ticket sales. Pretty obvious who falls into that category usually.

[Sir Fodder]

Joe Walsh lip synching and playing air guitar? Arrgh that hurts. Never liked the Eagles but one of the greatest performances I've ever seen was an unbelievably raw Joe Walsh show in a small round theatre.

Scalping has been legal here in AZ for a while, never noticed a difference in ticket availability (at the counter or on the streets) between here and going to shows in the NYC area as a kid. Overall I've actually had much better luck with the scalpers (skimming ticket counter fuckwads), just wait till the show is just about to start then haggle.

[Sky]

Yeah...I can't really take time off, travel four hours, book hotel rooms...all on the hopes I can haggle a decent ticket price before the show. It's also why I don't buy lawn tickets, I don't like sitting in the rain at a concert (or baking in the sun, and I won't even get into the press of cattle...). When I was younger, I was a general admission junkie, but that was many years ago.

Nebu - the current Allmans config with Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes is amazing (so, also Derek Trucks Band and Gov't Mule). Buddy Guy really delivered, he's a living legend. I've got pretty high hopes for Skynyrd, can't go wrong with Billy Powell on stage...but their new merc guitarist bothers me and some shows Rossington looks like he's just going through the motions. Dickey Betts was great when we saw him last summer ($20 at the local brewery!), but I hear he's real hit or miss, has some bad nights. Hopefully I get to see him tomorrow if the weather holds up. Blues Traveller has always delivered (also saw them for $20 last year). The Holmes Bros put on a great show of rock/gospel/blues, incredible trio harmonies and theey can dig down and really rock.

Steely Dan tonight...meh. It's for her birthday :P I really hope the weather cooperates tomorrow...wait, don't we have a Live Music thread? :P

[Furiously]

Enjoy their dark sarcasm...

[Sky]

In the classroom?

[Nebu]

Steely Dan.  I'm jealous!  They are quite possibly my favorite band with the possible exception of the Lowell George era Little Feat. 

Let me know how the concert was. 

[Selby]

If you have any recommendations, I'd be grateful. 

Slayer show.  No overdubs on any of theirs I've been to.  I always enjoy Tom blowing a channel and bitching about how Kerry's guitar is always turned way up compared to Jeff's (always during the solos too).  You can tell they aren't playing to a studio recording with the amount of improvising that goes on during certain sections of songs (not to mention the occasional fuckup on lyrics or double-time section that isn't in the studio recording).  Tool was pretty good too, but I was so far away it was hard to tell if they weren't getting a little extra help.  Maynard sure wasn't and the rest of the band didn't seem to either.  Opeth on their first tour in the US (2001) wasn't getting any help that I could hear either, but that was at a shithole club in the ghetto of Houston.  Every time I've seen Social Distortion and Bowling For Soup it's been a different setlist with a wide variety of songs and differing parts of songs thrown in too, but once again those have usually been at dinky little clubs.  The other half gets disappointed when a live show doesn't closely match the CD, I enjoy listening to versions that clearly aren't the album.  We have just agreed to disagree on that point.

As far as Ticketmaster and scalpers go... fuck em.  I despise having to jump in line RIGHT as shows go on sale only to get the nosebleed section.  And then the sheer amount of front row tickets the radio gives away and are on sale on eBay... damn.  This isn't usually a problem with small clubs locally (of which there are quite a few) or the House of Blues shows, but anything at an amphitheatre and you are boned.  We missed out on tickets to see Nine Inch Nails at some local tiny club a few years back and the other half has STILL not gotten over it.  The whole "$6.50 added on" part doesn't bother me terribly as I assume (bad idea, I know) that the $6.50 is part of Ticketmaster's cost of doing business and they do have to make money somehow.  It also does seem to be fairly consistent from show to show as well.  Not to mention the price isn't something some douchebag on the street dreamed up after having lifted a stack of tickets from some place.

[Bunk]

The Canucks actually scalp their own tickets, sort of. They have a service where season ticket holders that aren't going to make it to a game can put seats up for grabs on the team website, where the team takes a cut and resells them.

[Trippy]

I only go to concerts once in a while but U2 is awesome in concert. Many of their songs are better live than their studio versions because of the way they change up their arrangements (for the better). Simon & Garfunkel was really good as well and I'm glad I got to see them since they may never tour again. Rush always puts on a good show but they usually don't change up the arrangements except for the occassional solo so it's basically like listening to their albums except louder and with lots of lights.

[Abagadro]

The last concert I paid to see was the Eagles.

I hate the fucking Eagles man!



Anyways, if you can catch the Young Dubliners, they play a great live show. I've seen them multiple times and they never disappoint.

EDIT: Oh, and I will also agree with this: "I only go to concerts once in a while but U2 is awesome in concert." I'm not a huge U2 fan (although I like many of their songs) but they are quite the showmen. I had really shitty seats for their last show and still enjoyed myself. The one before that I had great seats and was blown away.

[Koyasha]

I only read about half of that essay on why ticket scalping sucks, but it seems to me that the main problem is that a considerable number of the tickets are never being sold to the public directly.  In my opinion, the law should simply state that the original provider of the ticket must make a certain percentage of total tickets (something like 90% to 95% of total tickets) available for sale directly to the public at face value, and they have to announce exactly what time tickets are going to be available at the box office, by computer, etc, in their advertising.

Once the tickets have been sold through publically available channels, then let people resell them for whatever price they damn well please.  As long as they crack down on brokers and resellers recieving tickets that were never available for public purchase in the first place, making sure everyone gets an equal opportunity to purchase the tickets in the first place, the rest should be handled by supply and demand.  Also, seems to me that if people are willing to pay higher prices for the tickets, then they should just set the initial price closer to what the market will bear in the first place, so resellers' profit margins decrease.

[Furiously]

I hate the fucking Eagles man!

Do they stab you with their "STEELY" knives?

[Chimpy]

I worked with a guy once who hated Steely Dan as much as "the Dude" hated the Eagles, if not moreso.

Saw him throw a wrench halfway across the shop at the radio when Steely Dan came on once. He was almost frothing at the mouth.


The above commentary was brought to you by "random segue".

[Sky]

Steely Dan.  I'm jealous!  They are quite possibly my favorite band with the possible exception of the Lowell George era Little Feat. 

Let me know how the concert was. 

I pretty much Do Not Like Steely Dan. I dislike wimpy vocals (my opinion!) and the smooth jazzy feel. Some of the songs made me cringe, harking back to hearing them on the radio when I was a kid rebelling against exactly that kind of music.

That said, some of the more soulful/bluesy stuff was ok. Apparently I like 'the real old stuff' according to my mate. It was really all about her (her bday present), and she was totally pumped for most of the show. She saw them at SPAC a few years ago and said it was a show kind of like that. A 'fan's show', not a 'crowd-pleaser' show. A few big hits but mostly fan favorites, a bit shorter show than the previous one.

Couldn't really tell you much more than that. She enjoyed it, I had an ok time, not too bad.

Now...Dickey Betts on saturday, that was a pretty good show. Dickey had a bit of an off night, dragged a few songs and played a couple off-key sections. But the band was hot. His kid Duane is really coming into his own, and who wouldn't with Dickey for a dad and touring with Andy goddamned Aledort, who is a really accomplished player. I mostly watched Andy play, actually. I wish he'd do a Allmans DVD (he does instructional stuff for one of the guitar magazines, I just got his excellent Axis: Bold as Love DVD). I keep forgetting to catch the bass player's name, I've seen them 3 times now and he's phenomenal, a total badass...one of my favorite modern bassists, maybe. A real thumper and he can jam or sit in the pocket as needed. The keyboardist got a lot more solo time, they really showcased him the most this show, he totally rocks, too. His vocals aren't quite Gregg Allman's, but he can tinkle the shit out of the ivories.

[Selby]

Apparently I like 'the real old stuff' according to my mate.

The ONLY album of theirs I could ever get into was Can't Buy A Thrill with Jeff Baxter on guitar.  It also happened to be their first one if I recall from around 1971 or so...

[UD_Delt]

I worked with a guy once who hated Steely Dan as much as "the Dude" hated the Eagles, if not moreso.

Saw him throw a wrench halfway across the shop at the radio when Steely Dan came on once. He was almost frothing at the mouth.


The above commentary was brought to you by "random segue".

I have the same reaction to AC/DC. What's his name's voice is like fingernails on a chalk board to me.

[Bunk]

I have the same reaction to AC/DC. What's his name's voice is like fingernails on a chalk board to me.

BLASPHEMY!!!

[Paelos]

Yeah, hating AC/DC puts you into the "you suck" pile for me. It's loud, obnoxious, and they can't sing, but damn they rocked out and produced some very memorable rock guitar riffs.

[Lantyssa]

Yeah, hating AC/DC puts you into the "you suck" pile for me. It's loud, obnoxious, and they can't sing, but damn they rocked out and produced some very memorable rock guitar riffs.

So they're the SB of Rock?

[Sky]

I think he means Brian Johnson. Who had like 1 and a half good albums with AC/DC. I was defending For Those About to Rock (because I play that song), and my girlfriend said I wasn't listening to it. I listened one day and she's right...it's mostly crap. Then there's the Fly On The Wall forward, shit. Thunderstruck (which I sing as Clusterfucked)? Shit. Back in Black was a great album, however.

And Bon Scott was the fucking /man/. If you're talking about him and their music from that period, seek professional help. It /is/ rock and roll, baby.

[Bunk]

Johnson definitely went down hill after Back in Black, but lets face it, the band is all about the brothers Young. And really, both Johnson and Scott had voices that could peel paint.

I'd go to a concert of nothing but Angus soloing in circles on his back for three hours.

[UD_Delt]

I think he means Brian Johnson. Who had like 1 and a half good albums with AC/DC.

I mean both guys since they sound the same to me in the 5 seconds it takes to recognize an AC/DC song and turn it off. They both sound like someone beating a sack of cats with a tire iron. The fact that you're first set of cats died and you're beating on some different cats doesn't make a lick of difference.

Maybe if they could strip out the vocals and I could listen to some instrumental versions I could develop an appreciation but I still doubt it.