Rush tickets....WTF?????!!!???!

I ain't too old and I've played in many different bands in my past life but WTF has happened to ticket sales????? This is all NEW to me. Rush is touring and dates finally came out. Tickets went on sale 3/31, didn't realize it until about 4/8. OK, I thought, won't get great seats but at least I'd get something not too bad. Punch up ticketmasters, they are SOLD OUT, except fo the lawn seating which is general admission and screw that. The lawn seating at the Smirnoff Center is wayyyyyyyyyyyy out in left field. Thinking I just screwed myself for waiting too long, I do an internet search and BAM!!! Rush tickets galore, but at really crazy prices. Did some more research and found out the ticketmasters offered them to first-come first-serve to anybody at three price levels, 55, 75 and 95. They were sold out from the "official" ticket outlet in about 20 minutes. Now, these tickets are showing up at brokerages. What the hell is that all about? Is that even legal? One website even posted that the tickets you get will have a cheaper price printed on them. Isn't this called scalping and I had thought it was illegal. So, for grins, I called one company and wanted the seat numbers. She put me on hold and then told me what the were. After some sweet talking and acting like a virgin at this, she filled me in. They have the phone numbers to the actual ticket holders and they won't post the seat numbers in advance. They have to physically call them to get verification. The brokerage can't even guarantee me if the tickets are even available because they don't keep an up to the minute data base. Just pisses me off. Then on top of the 100-10000 per cent mark up, they tack on a "handling" charge and a mailing charge. Handling...handing my ass back to me. I mean, the front and center row at the Dallas concert has a face value of 95 bucks, you want to guess what the going price is on-line right now? Freakin' 2130!!!!!
No wonder Pearl Jam and Dave Mattews Band doesn't use TicketBastards any. From a Rush forum, a lot of members are pissed, but what are you going to do? Not see the show? Too bad I can't get eBay here at work, there may be, hopefully, some better prices......

I prefer lawn seats myself anyways. Gives me a chance to spark one up while Im having a beer

I haven't been to a show since Velvet Revolver last summer. I think its about time

Yeah, I gotta track some down myself, I don't think they're on sale yet here though.

This is like 2112 all over again!

Paragraphs - they're fun to use and making reading rants easier for eveyone!

As far as tickets - you WAITED. Good concerts always sell out pretty quickly. I don't think I would have expected anything but lawn.

Luckly I got to see RUSH back before Ticket scalpers got thier claws into every concert going. Saw the 2112 tour and then the Presto tour. Great show. I could watch Neil Peart all night long.:rockin: :rockin:

Exorbitant prices like these keep me away from concerts these days. I nearly fell over when I saw 200.00 ticket prices for the Police at Fenway. F-that!

Last Rush tour I saw was Grace under Pressure.

Paragraphs???? Dude, that was just one LONG paragraph....didn't know we are being graded......


yeah, I'll take the hit on that for waiting. Even though I checked the websites religiously for a while and then slacked off.

Ol' Grog said:

Paragraphs???? Dude, that was just one LONG paragraph....didn't know we are being graded......

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I was pretty much kidding, but it does get tough to read when there aren't any breaks.

rdwj said:

I was pretty much kidding, but it does get tough to read when there aren't any breaks.

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It's also tough to read when I can't stop staring at your avatar!

Yeah, Amen to that, you got the best avatar by far. I hope you and Chimone don't post back to back.......................

I agree, going to shows these days sucks, even trying to go to a show at Red Rocks costs $75 now after all the fees and handling crap from ticketmaster. I just don't bother going to see any shows that ticketmaster handles the ticket sales for...just local shows and the smaller local clubs, up close and personal, and $15 max.

Rush was the first concert I ever saw. Hemispheres tour. It was all GA back then, even in the indoor arenas (this was before the Who stampede in Cincinnatti was it?). Tickets were like $7.00 IIRC . . .
Those were the days.
As far as scalping goes, I think the laws vary by state. I think it is legal here in WA, so what't to stop someone from buying up tickets and selling them online? I imagine the laws pertain to the state where the business is being conducted and not the venue of the show.

I believe that Chimone hit the nail on the head. Sucks though that tickets are going for so much cash. I went to the Rolling Stones in the fall and have never paid so much for a concert in my life (>$200 and it was face value) but hey, somebody has to support the musicians drug habits.

Scalping isn't illegal everywhere & "convenience" charges get around the law anyway.

Haven't been to a rock concert in 15 years. In California, the people I hung out with weren't much interested & I hate doing them by myself.

Not much going in this area.

Saw Rush in STL for Grace, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire. Always amazing shows.

Like Colorado said, I'm kind of done with major tours as well. It's just not the same anymore. I actually did consider The Police as well Glibbidy, until I saw the ticket prices. No way.

Of course now that I say that, if Pagey, Plant, Jones and Jason Bonham can get their collective **** together...

I might reconsider.

Ize

Ize said:

Of course now that I say that, if Pagey, Plant, Jones and Jason Bonham can get their collective **** together...

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I heard Jason is BEGGING the other three to do a tour, I wonder why?

:cross:

Cheyco Libre said:

I heard Jason is BEGGING the other three to do a tour, I wonder why?

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He's sick of playing "I want to know what love is" with Foreigner?

Ize

I used to be big into Rush back in college...saw them in Kansas City. They played all of 2112 (the song, not the album) in their second set. No opening act, just lots of Rush. Pretty cool.

Well, here's a happy update. I got to looking on eBay Saturday and came across two Rush tickets up for grabs. Great seating and amazingly cheaper than the brokrage pimps had to offer. Long story short, I managed to get two pretty good seats for 222 bucks. Considering the face value was 97.50 for that area, lower in front of the stage, I was relatively happy with that. It's funny, I went back to the brokrage sites and seats not even close to being as good as these are already 100 bucks more at this point.

I have a hard time giving millionaires even $75 dollars for a freakin seat , then double that to take a date .
I live simply but am far from simple minded .

Had tickets to Zep in hand when Bonham died , far more bummed about his passing though .

Out here in New Mexico we have all these casinos and they have a constant flow of Nearly-Dead, and Mostly Forgotten Rockers. Even those concerts are crazy expensive. $45.00 to see some one hit wonder from the '80s.

Now I am not saying Rush is a one hit wonder and I can't speak to their Nearly-Dead status, but I assume a band should be in their prime to get premium prices.

Update: I got on eBay and looked around. Found two tickets in a great location and the current price was so unbelievably low. First time I've done eBay so I was a little skeptical. Did research on the seller, emailed back and forth a couple of times and got a warm feeling. Anyway, I won the bid. Two great seats, stage right so I can see the drummer better. 220 bucks, 20 rows back from front of stage at floor level!!!! You couldn't touch these prices going through a broker. I was stoked to say the least. Tickets came in the mail and all is good. Didn't get screwed too much, face value was 79 dollars a piece, so I paid an extra 31 dollars and didn't have to beat the rush when the went on sale.

Yep, tickets are nonesense these days. Getting Phish tickets back in the day was harder than breaking into the White House.

I really liked that Tom Waits did this on his last tour.. I just wish the "tour" was more than eight shows and made its way a bit further east...

Tom Waits Tickets Bought on eBay Won't Be Accepted

Many of the the Tom Waits tickets that have been purchased via resale sites such as eBay and StubHub.com will not be accepted at Waits’ upcoming shows.

Because all eight dates of his tour immediately sold out, tickets have been available for sale through resale sites and ticket brokers. Many tickets sold from these entities are assumed to be fraudulent, and some tickets may also be counterfeit.

All premium tickets for Waits’ shows, as well as all tickets for the Atlanta, Detroit and Louisville shows must be obtained at the venue on the evening of the show. Only the original buyer will be allowed to pick up the ticket and must show a valid photo ID as well as the credit card information used to buy the ticket.

There will be no exceptions, as the severe anti-scalping procedures were detailed before the official ticket sale dates. The venues, management, label, promoter and Waits are striving to catch scalpers and get the face value tickets to the fans. However, they will not be responsible for fixing problems with counterfeit tickets or fraudulent sale of tickets.

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I was a little worried about that. I kept my last Rush tickets and they appeared to look identical and legit. Man, will I be pissed if they aren't.

I'm waiting for the original members of Foghat and Badfinger to do a reunion tour.

I refuse to pay those prices Its about nothing but greed ( another Who farewell tour anyone ) those millionaires dont deserve my money , same with pro sports .
I refuse your bread and circuses .

Wow, this thread's a little old.

I also got very pissed off when buying Nickelback tickets recently. Within 1 hour there were no covered seats at Charlotte's amphitheater but CoasttoCoast tickets and ebay had plenty that were at least double the price.

I read through the scalping laws and apparently they only apply if someone from my state is selling them to me.

Most of the tickets listed seemed to come from Ohio or Cali. The way I see it, if you're in another state you should have to call, not buy up the max allotment the second the tickets go on sale.

Scalping has become big and apparently legitimate business. I hope the opportunistic bastards drown in a vat of O'douls.