Increasing popularity of music artists, economic upturn and scalpers have concerts selling out at record speeds
How to get tickets to shows
The best bet is to purchase tickets the second they go on sale.
There is a Ticketmaster/Live Nation retail location at the UCLA Central Ticket Office, so students can buy tickets in person.
Fans can purchase tickets to shows at the venue's on-site box office, but they should check to see the days and times they are open (for example, Hollywood Palladium and The Wiltern at the Palladium box office every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.).
Show up to the show, and see if the venue has extras that were not used by the press or industry insiders.
Use Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, Myspace, fan forums and band pages to get announcements for upcoming shows and find out about pre-sales and other special offers.
SOURCE: Live Nation Greg Terlizzi, director of publicity for Live Nation/So-Cal
Compiled by Madeleine Clare Flynn, A&E contributor.
By Madeleine Flynn
April 5, 2011 12:27 a.m.
Before last month’s Trey Anastasio show at The Music Box, second-year psychology student Dylan Robin walked back to his car feeling dejected. His streak of never being shut out of a concert that had stretched to more than 250 concerts was about to end. Then, he saw an unused wristband for the show on the ground.
“To me, that was like, Oh no, we can’t leave, you know. This is a sign,” Robin said.
That moment, and an encouraging phone call from his mother, convinced Robin to try one more time, and eventually, he and his girlfriend walked into the venue for free, invited in by a bouncer they had befriended.
With Coachella selling out in a record-breaking six days this year and the Adele, Ke$ha and Lady Gaga shows in the Los Angeles area also selling out quickly, many fans may find themselves similarly resorting to desperate means in order to see their favorite bands in concert.
Greg Terlizzi, director of publicity for Live Nation’s Southern California branch (So-Cal), said whether someone tries to buy tickets from the website, by phone or at one of the box office locations, he or she will not necessarily be more successful using one method over another.
“It’s like Black Friday, Thanksgiving, standing at the door to the store, and then it opens at 10 a.m.,” Terlizzi said. “Especially with a really, really high profile show, the doors open, and everyone wants in.”
He said he believes one of the reasons concerts appear to be selling out more quickly this year is the emergence of a crop of new artists who have reached the tipping point of their careers.
“These are some artists that are catching fire right now,” Terlizzi said. “It’s really their time … you have some artists that the fans are really passionate about to give a great run of shows right now.”
He also credited the improving economy with creating greater competition for tickets.
“The economy is doing better now … and that’s just going to make people more comfortable with going out and spending more, and that includes entertainment and seeing shows,” Terlizzi said.
Third-year anthropology student Samantha Blanco said she woke up early the day tickets for Coachella went on sale and was able to purchase a ticket for herself and her boyfriend. However, some of her friends were not as fortunate.
“I have a bunch of friends who really want to go,” Blanco said. “We’re willing to share our camping space, but we don’t have anyone to share our camping space with, because nobody can buy a ticket to go.”
Third-year philosophy student Fred Hatef is one of the many fans that failed to buy a ticket for Coachella before they sold out. He will be going to the three-day music festival, however, after purchasing a ticket at face value from a friend who was unable to go.
Both Hatef and Blanco said they believed this year’s lineup ““ which includes headliners Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Kanye West and The Strokes ““ was the main reason Coachella tickets sold out in less than a week. However, they also said they believed that scalpers buying up tickets in order to resell them later at marked up prices was also an important factor.
Robin will be going to Coachella after buying a ticket from someone on the Coachella fan forum. But despite his luck in getting into sold-out concerts such as the Trey Anastasio show at The Music Box, he said he’s noticed that tickets have become more difficult to buy recently, at least in part because of scalpers.
“I do think that there’s a direct correlation in these past couple of years, not just of people wanting to go to concerts, but of people realizing how much money they can make off of buying tickets and then reselling them at a marked-up price,” Robin said. “Especially with today’s economy, people will do anything to get a buck.”
Terlizzi said that Live Nation works to be as accessible as possible to fans when it comes to these high-demand shows, and recommended checking Live Nation Facebook, Myspace and Twitter pages for the quickest updates on ticket sales.
He said he didn’t have any information on Live Nation’s stance on ticket scalpers or its efforts against them.
Robin, meanwhile, said that consumers can fight scalpers in their own way by refusing to pay more than face value for tickets.
“I think people need to realize that (a) these scalpers are total scum, and it’s disgusting what they’re doing … and (b) not stand for it,” Robin said. “If you don’t pay for it, the prices are going to go down. If you tell yourself, “˜I’m going to get into this show, and I’m going to stop at nothing before I do it,’ then you’re going to get in.”
Although he doesn’t see any easy solution to the issues facing ticket buyers, Robin said there is at least one thing music fans can do.
“We’ll see down the line what ends up happening,” Robin said. “But for now, don’t let the scalpers win.”
