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Friday Fun: That’s The Ticket!

Posted on Friday November 6, 2009 at 09:01 AM 13 |

What were the best seats you’ve ever purchased through normal channels?

Did you snagged front row, second row or other spectacular seats simply by logging into Ticketmaster or walking up to the box office window?

We’re not talking about buying through scalpers, third-party enablers or scooping up value-added ducats at premium prices – the ones that come with meet-and-greets, autographs and souvenirs.

Nor are we talking about fan club pre-sales, credit card deals or any other situation where you bought tickets ahead of the general public.

Instead, we’re talking about the luck of the draw – The public onsale when you happened to be in the right place at the right time.

What were the best seats you ever purchased? Did you buy the tickets online, at the box office or through a kiosk? Did the tickets just go on sale or had they been available for a while? We breathlessly await your answer in the comment thread below.

--Jay Smith

13 Comments leave a comment RSS

  1. 28
    rportilla wrote:

    09:06 AM, Nov 06, 2009

    I once bought tickets for Erykah Badu through Ticketmaster.com the minute they went on-sale and got front row center. Not too shabby...

  2. 1
    zima927 wrote:

    09:12 AM, Nov 06, 2009

    I saw No Doubt with my wife this past summer at the Marcus Amphitheater during Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI. It was a last-minute decision, but we walked up to the box office, asked if there were any tickets available, and scored six rows from the stage; a perfect vantage point as Gwen Stefani did push-ups on one of the monitors directly in front of us! Nothing beats seeing those abs up close and peronal, like we did! Amazing time, amazing show! One of the most dynamic and energetic shows I've seen in quite some time!

  3. 18
    Saneaux wrote:

    09:14 AM, Nov 06, 2009

    I've gotten great seats from Ticketmaster and box offices many times without having to pay exorbitant scalper prices, and the trick I've found has been holding off on the initial pre sales and general sales and waiting a few days before the show when extra seats or promo tickets are released. You have to keep on checking and re-checking like mad, but often times something good will pop up. Here are just some of the tickets I've gotten less than a week before the show:

    • 2nd row floor, Smashing Pumpkins, 2000

    • 2nd row floor, Tom Waits, 2008

    • 1st row floor, Modest Mouse, 2007

    • 1st - 10th row floor, Bob Dylan, multiple times

    In years past, Ticketmaster pre-sales used to be a good way to get good seats, but nowadays they're useless. However, I've gotten the following seats queuing in line the old fashioned way at a Ticketmaster outlet:

    • 3rd row, Roger Waters 2000

    • 1st row, Van Morrison, 2002

  4. 2
    blaster1985 wrote:

    10:16 AM, Nov 06, 2009

    I have Steely Dan tickets for later this month; 9th row center! Couldn't get through online, so I dialed the box office and got them; should be a great show.

  5. 175
    jason_woodson wrote:

    11:27 AM, Nov 06, 2009

    If you're on it, you can get the best seats through ticket masters but, the Kiosk thing was a nightmare.  If you don't have a debit card or a credit card, you're screwed.  I had to beg someone in line to get me a ticket for the show & gave him my cash for the show.  I'm going to The Pixies next week on November 12.  The show is sold out along w/the November 13th show.  I'll damn near do anything for the performers I like.  Straight up

  6. 102
    TENYEARSGONE wrote:

    12:36 PM, Nov 06, 2009

    Section 3 row A seats 13&14 (front row dead center) at the garden for Eric Clapton 2 days before the show, Ticketmaster at face value $90.00. I think he just had his last child the day before so maybe they released them to the public!

  7. 1
    Cosmic Charlie wrote:

    01:47 PM, Nov 06, 2009

    I got in a LO-O-O-ONG line for tickets to the Rolling Stones in Syracuse in 1981. After waiting for hours, I finally got to the ticket window and learned that, while I was in line, they had sold out the show and added a second. As luck would have it, I ended up with fifth-row tickets to the added show!

  8. 1
    Rally wrote:

    02:20 PM, Nov 06, 2009

    For the October 2007 Dave Matthews Band concert at the Hollywood Bowl I got 6th row Pool Circle tickets the day of the show online from Ticketmaster.

  9. 1
    Geddylee wrote:

    03:52 PM, Nov 06, 2009

    I went through Ticketmaster and scored front row for Blue Oyster Cult after tickets were available for a while.  Also, got 11th row for Rush twice and 13th once.  Not bad for a ticketmaster purchase.  

  10. 4
    haan wrote:

    07:49 PM, Nov 06, 2009

    I once walked up to the box office at the San Diego Arena..10 minutes before show time and got 10th row tickets for Queen.

  11. 1
    mistabone wrote:

    07:59 PM, Nov 06, 2009

    Ok I had a few good draws

    1 metallica 2nd  row seats by luck of the draw ing for place in line

    2 Shania Twain 1st row dead center Come On Over  tour that was just luck i went up a day after tickets went on sale just to see what kind of seats were avail that one just came up.

    3 i had really good luck with Nickelback and Tom Petty through just regular point of sale

  12. 38
    Evster wrote:

    09:11 AM, Nov 08, 2009

    Exclusive VIP section (just behind sound board) tickets for all shows at the new Fox Theatre in Oakland, CA, available to anyone with a Visa Signature card. It's the best kept secret in the Bay Area concert world...don't even know why I'm posting it. For both recent Allman Brothers shows I sauntered in 2 minutes after show time and had a seat and plenty of room to boogie right next to the sound board.

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