MR

After checking Ticketmaster for a floor seat for the Louisville show 5-8 times a day for the past 6 weeks, I was able to get my hands on one in Floor Section 11, Row A, Seat 7.

Yep...front row center. Un-freaking-believable. There's only 16 seats in the row, so I'm as close to front row center as you can get. And I paid face value, $55. I thought I was about to have a heart attack when something actually popped up on Ticketmaster other than "sorry, no seats available." It will be my 11th Journey show at age 22. First one front row.

I'll also be in Indianapolis this Sunday. I've never seen the band after they've had a long break like this 8-day one. So I'll report back on the condition of Arnel's voice after a nice layoff. Maybe I'll get a surprise or two in the setlist.

Sorry, had to brag a little bit. I'm pretty pleased with how fate was smiling on me. It pays to wait until as close as possible to the show date to try to conquer Ticketmaster.

Congratulations! I didn't even know it was possible to get front row seats from a non-scalper anymore!

Can someone explain to me why this situation happens all the time? Why do these great seats show up out of nowhere weeks after they go on sale at Ticketmaster and Tickets.com

JRNYFan wrote:Can someone explain to me why this situation happens all the time? Why do these great seats show up out of nowhere weeks after they go on sale at Ticketmaster and Tickets.com

Because as the show gets closer, the band will start returning the seats it doesn't need from the allotment that's set aside, plus places like I Love All Access and radio stations do the same.

The best seats are never available at the very moment that tickets go on sale for a show on Ticketmaster. They want you to think that all you can get is a 200-level seat or whatever, so you end up buying that only to find out that two weeks before the show you could get a floor seat. It's not like if you are online at exactly the moment tickets go on sale you can get first row, and then it goes from there.

It's kind of shady, but that's the way it works. The closer to the show date you can wait to get your ticket, the better off you'll be. Always.

I'm going to assume some of these outside vendors have the right to sell back unsold tickets up to certain time before the show. I checked ticketmaster on a wim the day before Journey's concert in LA last year and there were terrace seats for regular price that I had seen a few days before on stubhub for double the price. I would have not even gone to the show if they hadn't been there at a normal price. i lucked out I guess. What sucked was when i got to the greek there were at least a hundred empty seats even though the show was reported as a sellout. That is so unfair for people who couldn't afford the scalped tickets to have those seats go empty.

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fightingilliniJRNY wrote:

JRNYFan wrote:Can someone explain to me why this situation happens all the time? Why do these great seats show up out of nowhere weeks after they go on sale at Ticketmaster and Tickets.com

Because as the show gets closer, the band will start returning the seats it doesn't need from the allotment that's set aside, plus places like I Love All Access and radio stations do the same.

The best seats are never available at the very moment that tickets go on sale for a show on Ticketmaster. They want you to think that all you can get is a 200-level seat or whatever, so you end up buying that only to find out that two weeks before the show you could get a floor seat. It's not like if you are online at exactly the moment tickets go on sale you can get first row, and then it goes from there.

It's kind of shady, but that's the way it works. The closer to the show date you can wait to get your ticket, the better off you'll be. Always.

That's kind of what I figured. I wish it was clock work (first come = front row). Instead, it's a major game.

Make it like the old days, you have to wait on the sidewalk until the place opens and you can only buy a certain amount of tickets.

Gunbot wrote:Make it like the old days, you have to wait on the sidewalk until the place opens and you can only buy a certain amount of tickets.

That's actually how it was for me back for during the 2004 tour. The show didn't go through Ticketmaster and they gave people that were actually there first dibs on tickets.

JRNYFan wrote:

Gunbot wrote:Make it like the old days, you have to wait on the sidewalk until the place opens and you can only buy a certain amount of tickets.

That's actually how it was for me back for during the 2004 tour. The show didn't go through Ticketmaster and they gave people that were actually there first dibs on tickets.

I remember doing that for the Escape Show, Abacab show, Diver Down, etc. Sitting outside of the John Wanamaker Department store at 5am in the morning to secure a spot for a ticket

Also, a venue will open more seats depending on the show's stage layout. Often the layout isn't confirmed until a week or just a few days before the show. Then the venue will try to squeeze in more seats near the stage that originally weren't there when the tickets went on sale.

For example, a band's show contract might say they need x-amount of space for stage & cat walks, but when the venue engineers fit it together on paper, they'll realize they can put two more rows on each side, or another section in the back, etc. Or maybe the band will notify the venue that they're not gonna use the catwalks for a particular show, which also changes the seating config.



later~

Arkansas wrote:Also, a venue will open more seats depending on the show's stage layout. Often the layout isn't confirmed until a week or just a few days before the show. Then the venue will try to squeeze in more seats near the stage that originally weren't there when the tickets went on sale.

For example, a band's show contract might say they need x-amount of space for stage & cat walks, but when the venue engineers fit it together on paper, they'll realize they can put two more rows on each side, or another section in the back, etc. Or maybe the band will notify the venue that they're not gonna use the catwalks for a particular show, which also changes the seating config.



later~

Good point. I never thought of that. Well whatever caused me to find a front row ticket is fine with me.