Neil Young News: Our Tale of Ticket Woes

Friday, April 09, 2010

Our Tale of Ticket Woes

What's a Neil Young fan supposed to do?

So we go to the venue Box Office this morning and get there thinking we're a little late, but realize we're first in line?!. Cool. We can see inside but it's dark. Hmm. Not good.

As the time approaches 10AM, we realize it doesn't look like tickets will go onsale at the venue itself. Not that our motivation was to avoid Ticketmaster fees (although that's incentive enough), we thought we'd give it a try given the fiasco of on-line ticket sales we've experienced.

Desperately trying to go online with our mobile was hopeless. Ever tried typing CAPTCHA decoding on a handheld mobile? Good luck.

By the time we got our laptop connected to TM it was 10:15. But then we saw tickets weren't onsale yet? Huh? Maybe a delay? Sold Out already???

After about 15 minutes of re-freshes, it dawned on us that maybe we were wrong about the sale today, Friday @ 10? So we checked and there it is (above). WTF???

You know, all a Neil fan wants is good concert seats with minimal hassle.

Screw the posters & memorabilia. Screw the bootlegs. F* the autographed photos.

Just give us fans a fair shot at decent seats. We refuse to pay more than face value for concert tickets on principal. It is a rule amongst fans that tickets are sold at face. No profits between fans is the operating assumption.

So we wasted half our morning for NOTHING.

You know, we're big fans of Pearl Jam, as well. We're in the PJ fan club 10 Club. Recently, we picked up seats for their tour. If you're a member, they send a mail with instructions. Login with member ID and buy a pair. Had a pair in less than 5 minutes. Very easy. Very fair. Hassle free. Zero stress.

PJ fan seats are allocated by member seniority. We've been members for 10 years or so, so we get pretty decent seats down in front. In the pit.

You go to venue, show ID and pickup the tix. No fan ticket re-sales permitted.

It works.

What's going on now with the horrid, horrid TicketMaster/Live Nation Corporations oligopoly merger will only make matters worse.

The corrupt, rotted system is blatantly rigged against the ordinary people fans and tilted in favor of the wealthy elite.

That's a fact.

f* it all.

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60 Comments:

At 4/09/2010 12:55:00 PM, RICK RANGEL said...: I agree.I just found out Neil's
playing in Houston in early June
and instead of being happy about it,I got that sinking feeling in my stomach about what kind of crap am I gonna go through to get some tickets. Folks should not feel that way about a Neil Young concert. It should be the event of the season .
RRR
At 4/09/2010 12:57:00 PM, setlistthief said...: Man, I thought it was just me! You're right, this is fucked.
At 4/09/2010 01:05:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Dang that Neil he screwed us again...why can't he personally moniter the ticketmaster site to make sure all is well?
At 4/09/2010 01:07:00 PM, setlistthief said...: Thrash-I just talked to someone at Ticketmaster. Latest is that tix for the DAR Constitution Hall show go on sale 4/16.
At 4/09/2010 01:10:00 PM, Thrasher said...: I just knew after posting this little screed, someone would interpret this as a Neil bash.

Generally, i try and make it a rule not to post without thinking things all the way thru. Obviously, this was one of those off the cuff posts with out too much thought put it into it.

Having gone back and re-read this, I fail to see anywhere where I imply this neil's fault?

I thought the link made pretty clear this anger is against TM/LM and the fact this will become much worse.
At 4/09/2010 01:50:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Austin just sold out in 5-10 minutes. Went through the Bass Hall site. I had seats in the 1st balcony, very back row, dead center. Went to pay and said I needed to register with the site first. I did at the same time as payment, address info etc. Hit pay, and the system couldn't find my order! Tickets lost! Got back in to get more tickets and they were all gone! Finally saw a link to obstructed views and got two seats first row 1st balcony but almost clear house right. Still doesn't look bad. Doesn't matter where I sit, just want to hear Neil. All the obstructed views were gone by 20 after.

I even navigated the site the day before to make sure I knew how to place orders, etc. Lesson learned: make sure you register with whatever site you go to first!
At 4/09/2010 02:16:00 PM, paul said...: I struggled online to get the best tickets available at the Austin show and ditto what the prior poster stated.
Finally managed to secure 2 tix in the first balcony, sect L1, Row D.
We're hoping we can get a good view -- makes us sick that it's almost impossible to even get in.
Who knows if this is his last tour thru Texas?
At 4/09/2010 02:33:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Every single time without fail TM has given me the absoulte worst experience trying purchase something.
I wish I liked Pearl Jam, that sounds like a great way to give tickets to the fans
Syscrusher
At 4/09/2010 02:35:00 PM, paul said...: Yeah, I agree this shouldnt turn into a Neil bash.

However, we got a lot of hungry fans here in Texas and when the venue seats ONLY 2900 & it's just one performance as it is at Bass Hall, then it's a dog-eat-dog rush to get any seats as fast as possible.

I wish he would perform at a larger venue.
At 4/09/2010 02:37:00 PM, Anonymous said...: wish Neil could set up a fan-site like Pearl Jam.

that would help his devoted fans out quite a bit.
At 4/09/2010 02:42:00 PM, Anonymous said...: The whole ticket thing has become such a scam. I doubt any of the real fans who tried desperately to get online at the exact time to get good seats, actualy got good seats.I know several people who stayed home from work to be able to have the free time ......and none got the better seats.Did anyone go online and get the first 6-7 rows center orchestra ? If not, then something is very wrong.then what's the point in even trying ?? But there are ways for the artist to do something to help resolve this issue,nut Neil isnt doing anything either.
So is there anyone out there who went online for Wallingsford and got center orchestra firast 7 rows ? Anyone get first or 2nd row ?
Amen to the days of waiting in line to guarantee the best seats.I did it all the time.It was fair.
Then it went to the ticket brokers bringing people to the lines, mostly thug types, who would crash the line.......and the theater security would do nothing.
At 4/09/2010 02:43:00 PM, Anonymous said...: It is a bit of a joke. I am waiting to see what I can get for the Austin show ... but I did a search a few days ago and there were ticket brokers who are advertising tickets in the first few rows, plus numerous other seats scattered around.

It is pretty easy to sort out if the artist wants to. Pearl Jam reserve all the best tickets for their fan club members, priority going to how long you've been in the fan club (with a lottery for the absolute front few rows). If its GA they let the fanclub members in before everyone else.
At 4/09/2010 02:43:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Pearl Jams way is the right way.
It's too bad Neil doesn't care and ticketmaster doesn't care.All they seem to care about is the tickets get sold.

I have bought tickets to hundreds of shows over the years and have seen Neil 100+ times......but this time around is the worst I have EVER seen regarding trying to get good tickets.It seems like NONE of the better tickets when to the fans....and that is VERY WRONG.
I know too many folks who made an effort to get good tickets and only got offered 18-23rd row ! How can none of them get lucky enough to get the first 10 rows center ???
NONE. ONLY the ticket brokers got the center sections in the first 8-10 rows.
I have written to Ticketmaster and Neils management and I would suggest everyone do the same.This is an absolute scam.
Twisted Ticket Sales !
At 4/09/2010 02:44:00 PM, Mr Henry said...: I was fortunate enough to get Hanover tickets on-line; completed the sale around 10:08 a.m. and got great seats in the Center Balcony. My decision not to go for the primo seats...spent a good amount on those the last two tours in '07 and '08. Might have been already gone by then anyway.

I'm really looking forward to this show! Tony, I hope you were also able to get some good tickets. I'm a member supporter for the theater; not sure if that provided something extra. Checked again ten minutes later and the top two rows in the balcony were only ones left.

While I was buying tickets, the TV was playing in the backgrond. There was a movie channel on with the volume low, an ad was playing and just as I got the "Thank you for your purchase" message I hear "...we've got a Broken Arrow here"...you can't make this stuff up!!!

May is looking to be a great month for music. I'm seeing Pearl Jam with Band of Horses same week as Neil's show. Tobin Sprout has a new album coming out May 3...his first one in six years. And just as I'm typing this, another ad comes on and they're playing "Rise Up", Eddie Vedder's great song from Into the Wild.

One more thing. I notice there's a gap in the schedule on May 20. If Neil and Bert are feeling adventurous, they should head up to the White Mountains to the 302 West Smokehouse...Thursday nights they have incredible open mic sessions, maybe one of the best in the Northeast. All of the local music pros show up to play and support each other. If they would ever do this, this "Dreamin' Man" would be there in a heartbeat! And the locals would be telling their grandkids "...I was there".
At 4/09/2010 02:54:00 PM, paul said...: Well, I had registered online yesterday on the Texas Performing Arts website - just to speed up the process & improve our chances in securing the best 2 seats available.

We were willing to pay the $250 per ticket price - knowing this may be our last chance to see him live in Texas.

The first 5 minutes after the noon sell time, the website still wouldnt sell me tix at all. I kept clicking repeatedly and nothing changed.

Finally, I decided I better "refresh" the page & sure enough a new page came up allowing us to purchase tix.

But by then, only the balcony seats were available - 6 minutes AFTER the sell time of noon.

We wanted to get closer seats - but no way we were gonna take a chance & wait for the scalpers & brokers.

With a 4 tix maximum, one would think that normal processing would take a lot longer than 10 minutes to sell out a 2900 seat venue.
At 4/09/2010 02:56:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I don't doubt anything with tickets anymore. Its a shame that the real fans get the shaft and good seats end up in the hands of someone who knows someone who can do someone else a favor... and that person only wants the hear Heart of Gold, Old man, and MAYBE rockn' in the free world.
I miss the days of getting up early and waiting in LINE (god forbid!) if you got there early you got the good seats....ah, the good old days. Kids today know nothing of this, favorite bands, and (real) rock zines.

Screw ticket Master & live Nation and the lot.
At 4/09/2010 03:09:00 PM, paul said...: Well already StubHub has tix available for the Austin show.

$750 for front Orchestra center A.
What a friggin joke.

http://www.stubhub.com/neil-young-tickets/neil-young-austin-6-5-2010-951084/
At 4/09/2010 03:18:00 PM, paul said...: Down to $259 now on stub hub, damn.
At 4/09/2010 03:31:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Trash -

i never suspected for a moment that your post was Anti-Neil. Let's face it, the next time you rip Neil will be the 1st time you rip Neil.

Objectivity is not your best suit.

have a grand day

Usability
At 4/09/2010 03:38:00 PM, The Groover said...: I got 4th row center for Worcester. Went direct to the Hanover theatre web site...this is where LiveNation was directing all their ticket traffic. I found this out yesterday when I called the Hanover Box Office. The Hanover web page started selling tickets a bit before the 10am start time posted on live Nation. My transaction was done at 9:58. Pit was already sold out....But lots were available in center orchestra. Chose row 4 so I could be back a bit to see the circle of guitars and banjos ! Saw the 92 and 99 orpheum show so fired up for the 2010 Hanover gig ! Good luck to all !
At 4/09/2010 03:41:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Part 1....
Great thread. Important thread here on TW.
Although I have many times bashed Neil for ticket prices,this thread is not the place for it and I will refrain from making any comment on that matter.... or even about ticketmasters high fees.

From my own experience trying to get good tickets ( 2 tickets) for Wallingford,I absolutely believe that possibly no real fans who made the effort to get online on time, got any of the better seats.
By better seats, lets say the 3 center sections, first 10 rows.

From my own experiences,I have always been able to nail 2 tickets in the seat range mentioned if I am online on time and have the time to kill,operate fast, type fast and make a 100% effort . This time I enlisted a couple of non-Neil fan friends.... so we had 3 computers going.Even many times in the past I have gotten great seats 20 minutes, 40 minutes or even 1 hour + after they go on sale, as suddenly a couple of good seats will come up if I keep trying..... and those were always for NYC shows where there are more people and therefore more fans.
well, I tried for 2 hours....even warmed up prior to 10 am just to get my reactions going fast...plus 2 cups of coffee ! My 2 friends pitched in for a half hour each.
the best seats that came up were 18th row !!!! Most tickets were 20-22nd row. Out of disgust, after about an hour, I made several phone calls and sent several texts to other friends who I knew were ,as local die-hard fans, also trying for Wallingford. I got responces from about 12-15 people..... none had gotten any center seats in the first 10 rows.NONE.And all said they were online prior to 10am waiting for the time.I then called or texted them all back and asked them to contact any freinds they had that might be trying to get tickets for Wallingford.Several freinds got back to me over the next hour or so to say they had heard from others that also had no luck in secureing the bterr seats.It became an interest of most of them once they realized nobody got the first 10 rows in the 3 center sections......this is , after all, Wallingford, not NYC or LA !!! And as much as we all love Neils music, reality is that Neil isn;t a big draw anymore.....this isn;t the 70's,this isn't the Rolling Stones or Led Zepplin...damn, someone should be getting good tickets ! I estimate, as I can't get an exact #, that probably I connected thru the grapevine about 50-75 Neil fans who tried to get Wallingford tickets and not one person and any tickets in the first 10 rows in the 3 center sections.
Now if they all went on by 10 am and tried for at least a half hour,how is it possible that not one person landed 1st row or 3rd row center or even 6th row or 8th row center ????
It is not possible unless the game is rigged and obviously it is.
Now, without complaining about ticket prices ( Wallingford was better than most locations on this tour), this is almost like a bait and switch.If a fan is willing to pay the price, whether it is $ 1 or $ 1000, they need to know that whatever the most expensive ticket is, that if they try, they have a fair shot at it.But the truth is that although most people who had credit card ready and were willing to pay $ 150 per ticket ( with ticketmaster fees), inthe hope of getting an orchestra seat in the first 10-12 rows, in truth were only being offered a shot at row 18-26 at 10 am !!!! Now I wonder how many of those people trying would have even made the effort to get online early if they knew that for $ 150, the only thing available was row 18 on ????
Then after an hour or so of runnign through this process,I looked at some tick scalper websites and lo and behold there were tickets available for 2nd row, 4th row 5th row, 6th row , all in the center 3 sections !
What a disgrace !
So folks, I think none of you realy had a chance of getting center orchestra in the first 10 rows.
At 4/09/2010 03:42:00 PM, Anonymous said...: part 2

If anyone legitimately got center in the first 10 rows, please post something here.
This is like seeing something you realy want, advertized at a price you are willign to pay, getting to the store when it opens and being told, "sorry, that's sold out but for the same $ we have "this".... what bullshit.
I think we should all write to ticketmaster and Lookout management and voice our opinions on this.
The fans got screwed.
By the way.....if you count the seats in the first 10 rows at the oakdale theater in the 3 center sections(101,102,103), there are a total of 370 seats.Did any real fans out there on TW get any of these 370 seats ? I looked on Rust also and saw only people with lesser seats.
I think this time we all have something to be disturbed about together ! What a twisted road it is !
Hey, AG,you wanna let Neil know what the F*** is going on ?
At 4/09/2010 03:46:00 PM, Dylan said...: Yeah, the whole online thing is nuts, I've generally had pretty good luck though. I'm lucky because I have a job where I have computer access and can be online at the precise moment. The only thing that really bugs me this time around is that tickets for Hanover in MA actually went on sale through their site at like 9:55, and not 10, thank goodness I refreshed the page just out of boredom or else I would have missed out on 5+ mins of buying time. I managed to get 7th row center, but almost all the good surrounding seats had "x's" through them saying "locked or reserved." Reserved for whom?? The whole thing is just unfair.
At 4/09/2010 04:02:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Wallingford - (2) 99.00 seats - left section #206 - probably toward the back - we sat near there for 2007, but we're closer to center this time - purchased around 3:30/4:00 pm

old sound man
At 4/09/2010 05:55:00 PM, Jonathan said...: Hey Thrasher,
I'm in the D.C. area as well and was so thrilled to be the first and only person in line at Nissan Pavillion (Jiffy Lube Live) this morning to get DAR tickets. When someone informed me at 9:45 that they can't sell tix for that venue, my heart sunk. I'm in the same boat - what's the deal???
At 4/09/2010 06:17:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I wanted to share a POSITIVE story - getting tix for Hanover/Worcester was actually low stress and the extra fees reasonable. Luckily I started a bit before 10am and was able to choose my center balcony seats in the 3rd row of my desired price point. Should be a great show and venue - and Worcester is a bit nicer in May than December. (Thrasher - making the trip again?) Although our ancient and worn out Orpheum still had great sound and views from deep in the balcony for Wilco this week.
At 4/09/2010 06:34:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I wish the Neil apologists would stop blaming Ticketmaster and put the blame where it really belongs.You can bet Neil knows what's going on. He either likes it this way, all the anticipation,confusion and frustration, or he just doesn't give a whisker. After all these decades, he'd have worked something out to make it fair if the fairness of it mattered to him. Pearl Jam values their audience. Neil needs an audience to do his thing and stroke his ego and make lots of money, but let's face it, he doesn't really care about them, despite occasional attempts to give that impression.
Artists can be real SOBs and still make interesting art. History's full of em.
At 4/09/2010 06:40:00 PM, tlc8464 said...: Anonymous on 4/09/10 at 1:05:00 pm is just being a douche. There's no way to interpret this as a Neil bash. It's just telling the truth about the crappy state of ticket buying today. I also get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach before a show goes on sale. I miss the days when you'd sleep out for tickets and first in line got the best seats. That way the real fans would be up front. This system sucks. Plain and simple.
At 4/09/2010 08:44:00 PM, Anonymous said...: You might want to call ticketmaster a few minutes befor they go on sale. I called @ 9:57 yesterday morning for wallingford show. Got 6th row center for $138.
Can't freeking wait.
At 4/09/2010 08:47:00 PM, Anonymous said...: phones still work. Called ticketmaster @ 9:58 wednesday for wallingford show. 6th row center.TREMENDOUS!!!!
At 4/09/2010 09:07:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Hey There are still tickets for Wallingford.. and some other venues..I didn't get front row either but I got floor seats..
Neil has nothing to do with it..
It is the promoters and the scalpers.. if you want to find good seats..one lats chance.. try the day before the show or the day of the show at around 2:00-3:00 there are usually some tickets released depending on the stage set up...there that's my secret.. now I'll never get tickets....
At 4/09/2010 09:11:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I got on first thing for Austin, first tickets it gave me were in row D (7th row), but right off to the side. I was only buying 1 ticket for myself.

I kept them to the side, opened another browser and kept trying to see if I could get better. Continually I was placed on the edges, further back. I thought maybe because I was buying just one ticket it would put me on the sides??

The time was almost out for my first ticket so I just bought that. About 15 minutes later I tried again, and a ticket in Row 2 came up, but still right on the side. A bit later I tried a few more times and a ticket came up in Row B, closer towards the centre. Would have liked that, but had already bought a ticket ... so gave up kind of happy but a bit pissed I couldn't get anything close in the centre. People saying it sold out in 5 minutes are not entirely correct, just there were no 2 seats together. I even tried about an hour after sale time and got dead centre, Row H (again just 1 ticket).

Someone mentioned prime tickets already on StubHub? They were on StubHub BEFORE the tickets went on sale officially.

I wonder how full the venue will actually be?
At 4/09/2010 09:24:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Seeing something like what is on sale at a place like "ticketliquidator" is a disgrace.

This are plenty of websites with numerous tickets for sale for Houston, which hasn't even officially gone on sale (as far a I know)???
At 4/09/2010 10:23:00 PM, Anonymous said...: In 2007 there was a fan pre-sale site but it's currently unoperative. I was wondering why.

Fans should demand that Neil do some kind of fan club pre-sale that scalpers cant get at.

I still managed to get 6th row (minus the $250 orchestra seats) for Spartanburg, but I have seen seats in the first five rows on ticket scalping sites.
At 4/09/2010 11:49:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Hey 4/09/2010 02:42:00 PM, I was online promptly at 10:00 for Wallingford and best I got was - you guessed it, 18th row center. The system is definitely rigged. Let's get Blumenthal involved - it is an election year!
At 4/10/2010 08:28:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I called Ticketmaster @ 9:56 on wednesday for Wallingford show. Got a nice man from Texas to help me out. He told me he was not supposed to keep me on the phone and wait for tix to go on sale but he did anyway. Got 2 tix 7th row center for $138 each. My point is you can still use your phone. I called the national ticketmaster phone number.
At 4/10/2010 10:09:00 AM, deborah said...: secured my tix for the Worcester Ma show ! cannot wait...last time I saw Neil solo was the Harvest Moon tour at the Orpheum in Boston,March 1992..taking my 70 year old Mother, who absolutely loves Neil and what better way to see him ??!! Thanks Neil for letting my Mothers dreams to see you in concert come true :) xxoo
At 4/10/2010 10:19:00 AM, Anonymous said...: just tried getting tix for buffalo show-- started at 9:56 am. No tix available for 2 seats by going on ticketmaster or calling them. By 10:08 when they finally answered at ticketmaster the only seats left were single random scattered seats.

what kind of conspiracy is this?? really sucks- wish they could do something about these ticket brokers b/c they are ruining the concert industry. We refuse to pay 250 for seats in the back of the balcony- not gonna happen for us this time. :(
At 4/10/2010 10:23:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Got to watch out for the greedy hand,

had a chance at 4 bad ones, passed

then 3 in the balcony, passed

now can't get 'em.

so stupid I am.........

- Not Rotten Johnny
At 4/10/2010 10:31:00 AM, Jonathan G said...: I thought the whole concept behind the "convenience fee" that Ticketmaster charges is that they provide you a "convenient" option to obtain tickets without having to go to the venue's box office, which would also offer tickets when they go on sale. I'm pretty sure that was their stance when fees started ballooning about 15 years ago. They said, "Hey, if you don't want the fees, then go to the box office."

So, if the venue doesn't offer tickets at their box office, it's a bit of a sham. Though, that kinda goes without saying when Ticketmaster is involved.
At 4/10/2010 11:29:00 AM, sugarmtn said...: What happened with Buffalo tickets? Almost no one even saw any tickets offered via Ticketmaster. Albany tickets were hard to get, but it was possible and in fact still possible as I write this 90 minutes later.
At 4/10/2010 11:31:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Austin Ticket Story

Where to start...

PART 1 - PRESALE
Ok - i'm usually pretty crafty at figuring out presales and guessing at the passwords (in the event I can't find it posted on the net someplace...). This time though - I had no luck, so I 'assumed' there was no presale - which was a 'wrong' assumption!

On 4/8 at 2:06 pm, an email was sent out to Texas Box Office (TBO) memebers giving the password (FORK) to the NY presale which began at 2:00. What sucks is that I was busy at work and didn't see the email until 3:00!

By 3:00 the best I could get was row J (which is row 12 at Bass Concert Hall). I wasn't happy, didn't buy right away, and called TBO to see if better seats would be released on 4/9 at noon (official sale). TBO (a bunch of young UT college students...) were nice, but said they have no idea and no control over it - only the PROMOTER does! I decided to gamble, and waited until the official sale and hope for better seats.

PART 2 - OFFICIAL SALE
Was 1st in line at TBO (in the days of internet, there was only 10 of us in line...), but also had my laptop. Wanted to experiment to see which would give better ticks. In line, TBO said the best they could give is row K (row 13), on the side. Better than my laptop was giving then. Took the row K, even though I was there the SECOND tickets were available!

Ok - now I decided to play around on my laptop. Started getting better tickets on some searches (tickets that aren't purchased by the on-line time limit are thrown back into the pool, if not purchased...). About 12:25 after quite a few 'best available' searches - all of a sudden I got F (row 9), and in the middle. Bought them! Still pissed I didn't get 2nd row as I did when I saw NY on his last solo tour in Austin (back in the day of lines...).

PART 3 - TODAY
I'm pissed about the process, and have two extra tickets. I'm going to keep my row F seats, and sell my row K seats. Unlike the many greedy involved with this whole process, I intend to sell my row K seats at cost and do my best to make sure I sell it to someone who's going to enjoy the NY show (and not try to turn the ticks for a huge profit themselves...). Nothing wrong with a profit at all, just have a huge problem with excessive ticket prices/profit ($250 for row 9!!!, come on now...) and a shitty process!

Coz in Austin
At 4/10/2010 12:00:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Got Worcester and Wallingford tickets! Spent too much for Wallingford, but got obstructed view in Worcester for a reasonable price. Anyplace nearby where people are meeting up before the shows?

One of eleven thousand
At 4/10/2010 12:09:00 PM, WMC West TX said...: Dallas Symphony was selling not TM for June 7th. DS online had trouble and my seats weren't released so kept calling. 10:20 the phone started ringing-a lady answered who could see my tickets online weren't being released. She apologized for all the problems they were having and said someone had already gotten what I thought I was getting so she said I have 6th row center available if you want them. These were better than the ones being held online. Several days prior to Friday tickets were offered for specific seats for considerably more than face value which is 300 by numerous vendors.
Same row I sat in during a NY/CH concert Nov. 1976 in Austin.
At 4/10/2010 01:15:00 PM, ShittyHorse said...: I got my Wallingford Tickets right at 10am Thursday day- got the $90.00 tickets- and yes, somehow I got row TT in the second section. The good thing is I got my tickets and there is not a bad seat in the place- the Oakdale is a GREAT theater, great sound (and it helps I live in Wallingford) the bad thing is ticket sales thru ticketmaster/live nation is bullshit...really! Why no pre-sale like in 07 or 08 for the FANS? Kinda sucks but I am psyched to be going to Neil show #16 for me.

Neil, you can do things to make sure your fans, the ones that spend hundreds and thousands on your art, get good seats to your shows and do not fall victim to these corporate, greedy, shit-suit cocksuckers in charge of tickets who end up giving them away as favors, or to their shit-suit buddies or sell them at a HUGE price to someone who has the cash. I hope Neil plays ALL NEW Material so you scum-bags don't get to hear Heart of Gold. I'll still be thrilled no matter what he plays.
Fans first!!!
I recently said I'm just happy to be going and I'm not going to get wrapped up in the ticket web but I must admit, this shit is just not right or fair and is pissing me off.
I apologise for the language but this is pissing me off and no other adjectives do the job.
I'll bet Ticketbastard/Greed Nation are first to preach corporate ethics, etc. but it just goes to show that's all lip service, as it is with most corporations.
I too, stayed home to get my tickets and benefited none from my efforts.
Also my tickets were $90 but ended up being $224. for two? I thought 90 + 90 is 180? Or maybe I'm confused?
For this price we should at least get a decent seat....no?
This needs to improve...really...sad.
At 4/10/2010 01:36:00 PM, Anonymous said...: i've boycotted all Neil-related purchases moving forward.

the concert tickets, the archives, t-shirts etc.

it's too outrageously expensive.

I refuse to partake in the madness.

sorry Neil, but it's come to this....
At 4/10/2010 03:23:00 PM, Anonymous said...: “He took his money just like all the rest.” Neil Young, 2005

It's a shame that TM/ Live Nation is slowly destroying the music business and established artists like Neil Young try to do nothing about it. I guess it really all comes down to the money. I’m not a fan, but it seems that the only band that ever cared to try and do anything about it is Pearl Jam.

As far as my experience buying tickets for the Worcester show is concerned. It appears that the show was promoted by Live Nation, but the tickets sold by Choice Ticketing. I created a Choice account the day before. I had browsers for both Choice and Live Nation opened by 9:30 AM. Choice started selling tickets at 9:50. Immediately all the best seats in the front center section were locked. Also, the best center seats in the balcony were already locked. Choice has a different way of selling tickets were it allows you to pick your exact seats (similar to an airplane), but you have to click on each individual sections to see what’s available. That definitely slows you down a bit.

I was astounded at the ticket prices. It was about $260 to sit in the loge section of the balcony. To sit anywhere on the floor, all the way to the last row, was at least $160. The closer rows being $260. About the first six rows in the balcony were $160. I decided to get a seventh row balcony seat for $100. I’ve been fortunate enough to see Neil perform from the first ten rows on a couple of occasions when if you wanted good seats you woke early and stood in line. I don’t need to partake in this extortion.

The other night I saw Wilco in Boston: ticket price $36 for every seat in the theater. They played for three hours and 39 songs. About $ .92 a song. I know it’s all about quality not quantity (despite what Springsteen/Dead fans say), but I felt I got my money’s worth after the second song. That’s how good they sounded. I realize NY is a legend compared to Wilco, but couldn’t he be satisfied selling his tickets for twice as much for $72? Did he have to charge seven times the price? Plus, Neil is playing solo: Wilco had six musicians on stage and tons of equipment.

When you’re criticizing TM/Live Nation you are also criticizing Neil. He could try and do something about it, but instead just takes the money that TM/LN marketing people tell him he can get away with charging and moves on to the next town. Worcester, MA is approximately 85 miles from Wallingford, CT, but the best seats in Worcester were over $100 more than Wallingford because they realized they could gouge the Boston-based market more than the Hartford-based market.

I have some friends that have been life-long Neil fans that have seem him numerous times in concert that have stopped going because the prices are too high. But I guess in the end none of it matters. The show in Worcester, including all the $260 tickets sold out in less than a day. Despite his down-home, folksy, hippie demeanor, Neil Young has always been a shrewd business man, and he’ll take the money as long as people are willing to pay.
At 4/10/2010 06:00:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I'll also be skipping this tour. I know Neil could care less, cause there's another sucker born every minute. Shrewd isn't quite sufficient to describe his business tactics. Ugly come a little closer. But people will keep on buying...
At 4/10/2010 06:44:00 PM, Anonymous said...: regarding Wallingford....
glad at least one real fan did get good seats. Kinda interesting that they went on sale via phone before 10 am while most real fans were waiting online for the time.....
This is such a scam. Obviously while most of us fans were waitng online, the "conected " ticket brokers had the work , for example, to call 9:50 or 9:55 to get thru first.
Its not fair and its ugly.
The whole thing stinks and wish Neil was doing something about it.Ticket prices are too high, but Wallingford was a litle better...... but then tix go on sale early via phone and then brokers get most of them anyway.....
For once, it's time to pass out of disgust.
At 4/10/2010 08:11:00 PM, BigChief said...: I remember the good old days when you could camp out at the venues and the first in line would get rewarded for their efforts by securing decent seats. The first time I recall the corporate ticket agencies taking over was when I waited through the night at PineKnob Music Theater outside of Detroit to get tickets for the 'Rust Never Sleeps' concert.I was like 3rd. in line and when I got to the window the entire main floor in the pavilion was already sold out! Tickets went on sale at 10 am. and as a result of the Ticket Master network of computers at all of the record stores and wherever else they were,I eneded up on the lawn for my efforts.Since then, it seems that the only way I've been able to get decent seats is having to resort to seekig out tickets through scalpers.Even when pre-sale tickets have been made available to genuine fans, it seems that somehow promoters and radio stations seem to still get the jump on the real fans.Something definatly needs to be done to resolve this issue.
At 4/10/2010 09:21:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Neil, I seriously hope you are aware of this situation and in the future you decide to offer tickets to fans via a pre-sale through your website. As a man who oversees pretty much every aspect of his career and demands nothing but the highest quality from himself and everyone around him, I find it odd that this goes on, perhaps under your watch?
I see Bob Dylan live pretty often and I've never paid anywhere near this much for a show, nor experienced so much bullshit getting a seat...a fan should be treated better.
Times are tough and it seems everyone is trying to squeeze as much as possible out of the little guy- the middle class (soon to be the endangered class). I guess this is just one more example. We all understand that record sales are not what they were but do you have to gouge the audience to make up for this? Trust me, we're suffering too. Unfortunately it is apparent that it is ALL about the cash.... and I'm extremely saddened by this fact.
I sincerely hope, on this tour, you play WELL over two hours and give the fans their money's worth. There is no band this time so not as much overtime to pay. Really, think about it. I'm sure many, many, many agree with me. We want to believe differently...so were hangin on

Hangin' by a Thread
At 4/11/2010 11:16:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Unless NEil gets involved to do something so real fans have an honest chance of good tickets, YOU don't stand a chance !

BOYCOTT ALL CONCERTS UNTIL THIS CHANGES !

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/08/AR2010040805594.html?wprss=rss_technology
At 4/11/2010 06:08:00 PM, Nathan said...: Here is a link to a 3rd row orchestra pit ticket for the FOX THEATER IN ATLANTA http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=140398427667&Category=16122&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D1
At 4/11/2010 11:31:00 PM, Chuck Naughton said...: Perhaps I shouldn't gripe. But with near 80 NY shows under my belt, I think I might qualify as a quality fan who has perhaps earned the right to a certain high expectation of being able to get excellent seats to the shows I attend. I did well for Wallingford online (RowHCenter) and a friend stood in line at the Hanover and took care of me with Row B. Albany still has tickets for sale but nothing really decent. I got one way over on the left side. But Buffalo? Something is wrong there. My hometown gig,. I refreshed the second the tix went on sale and I got totally shutout, with the exception that the very last row in the 3rd balcony later in the day. I still don't have a ticket. Checking Craigslist, very good Buffalo tickets were being scalped by 10:10. eBay also has several listings. I have no idea whose "fault" it is that this situation exits. But it is a problem.

Neil Young's corporate arm has used pre-sales in the past. Even had that nifty bonus CDII deal undoubtedly designed to boost the units shipped numbers. Smart move. Not perfect, but the most loyal fans got the better seats. Not sure why this system was not in place for this tour. Too bad.
At 4/12/2010 07:24:00 AM, tuned4life said...: I was disappointed there was no fan club presale. I bought a Louisville PIT ticket in case there were no northern dates. My wife is very ill but she said she would make an effort to go to buffalo. I hit the refresh button at exactly 10AM I tried for 2 seats any price and didn't get any. I then tried for 1 seat and didn't get any. At 10:10 seats were showing up on ebay. I ended up buying tickets for the Albany show. I have an extra Albany ticket for my cost if anyone is interested. ORCH Center row P seat 109. I think its about 18 rows back but it is center orch. The situation with Buffalo tickets has really left a bad taste in my mouth. I may end up buying a Buffalo ticket from a scalper but I have to say it feels like paying a kidnappers ransom.
At 4/12/2010 09:22:00 AM, Jacob said...: I got tickets for the Oakdale it felt like I won the lottery. I was in complete disbelief that I actually got seats. Granted they were $165 a piece (with fees) but it'll be worth it.
At 4/12/2010 11:26:00 AM, Anonymous said...: A cautionary note on pre-sales and fan club sales.

I learned this lesson the hard way. It was the Harvest Moon tour. I was all set up with my Neil Young “secret pre-sale passwords whatever” etc…. I got online immediately when the tickets went on sale at 9:00 AM for the “special” for Neil Young fans only, sale. Hmmm… something didn’t appear to be right. There weren’t that many great seats showing up. I kept trying for an hour or so. The quality of seats that appeared through Ticketmaster was random: sometimes decent; sometimes bad, but never great. Finally, disappointedly, I bought tickets. They were about half-way back in the second section of seats at the “whatever the hell they are calling it now” music shed in Mansfield, MA. Pretty damn far from the stage for (I think about) $86 in the early 90s.

Come show time I get to my seats and as the show begins I realize I’m in the last row of seats that sold. There were about twenty empty rows behind me. I think it was the first time I went to see NY and it wasn’t sold out. My hunch is it had something to do with the high ticket prices. It was the most I’d paid for a NY ticket up to that time. To make matters worse, a few friends who decided to pick up tickets a few days after they went on sale were about 25 rows in front of me: same ticket price. That’s when it hit me.

This whole fan club ticket pre-sale thing is a sham. Ticketmaster and the promoters realize that die-hard fans just want to get a ticket and make sure they are inside the venue for the show. Sure, they’d love to have good seats, but they’ll take any seats if they are feeling that they might get shut out. Casual fans may or may not buy tickets depending on if they can get good seats. With that in mind Ticketmaster will offer up marginal seats initially to the die-hards who will buy them, and will hold back a large proportion of the better seats for the fence-sitters. (Of course there’s another whole segment of seats that are reserved for the scalpers, corporations, promoters, weasels, and various other sleazy characters.) I have observed this sales strategy for the last fifteen years.

I never buy tickets in pre-sales anymore. I always wait for the regular sale, because I know I’ll get better tickets. The pre-sale is just another evil marketing strategy by Ticketmaster to screw the real fans.
At 4/12/2010 11:33:00 AM, Anonymous said...: huh? you were online in 1992? i don't even think ticketmaster.com existed then.
At 4/12/2010 05:37:00 PM, Anonymous said...: A correction to my previous post: A cautionary note on pre-sales and fan club sales.

It was the Neil Young and Friends Tour in 2000, not the Harvest Moon Tour. (Thanks for pointing that out.) I've been to so many shows over the years, my musical database is definitely a little foggy....

Although it seems like Ticketmaster has been screwing fans forever, as far as the whole pre-sale scam goes, I guess I can't trace that back further than 10 years. I knew something didn't seem right when I was writing that post.

The plague of Ticketmaster.com was unleashed on the concert-going public in 1996. It's been all downhill since.
At 4/18/2010 11:07:00 AM, Dave said...: "Convenience Fee" Ridiculous.

For the Connecticut Show TicketMaster/Live Nation now feels the luxury of upping their convenience fee. 30% of $50 ticket, $15. We chose not to go

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Friday, April 09, 2010

Our Tale of Ticket Woes

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