And it really does showcase EVERYTHING that is wrong with ticket sales with arena rock in the 21st century. Ever since KISSFAQ made it pretty damn clear that they don't want me there anymore, the Admin and I made a mutual decision to shut my account down. Now, I'm frequenting the board TheRushForum a lot. Much more friendly and accepting environment than the FAQ, BY FAR.
I'll get to my point, EVERYBODY on that site is complaining about their ticket buying experiences. It seems that the most common problem is that the shows are already sold out before tickets officially go on sale and people finding out that there's no more tickets left on THE DAY the show goes on sale. Ticketmaster experienced a few traffic related crashes which caused many users to lose their tickets, and a bunch of other bullshit happened.
I personally experienced this shit first hand actually. When Mom bought tickets for the Madison Square Garden show via a presale, she found out that the best tickets available were in Section 227 in the balcony. I went on MSG's site this morning, and found out that only the nosebleeds were available. And this is the day they officially went on sale.
So why are these tickets all sold out before fans can even buy them? Yep, fucking StubHub. And all the other ticket brokers. I went on StubHub's site today and on that site, it lists THOUSANDS of seats that are still on sale. Hell, If my family was willing to pay 2 grand, we could still get front row seats right now, not that they'd do that or I'd actually want that.....but still....
As much as I really like Neil Peart, he really should have kept his mouth shut about the 40th Anniversary tour being the last tour OF THIS MAGNITUDE (notice the emphasis). He basically was fearmongering and making us believe, "HOLY SHIT R40 IS THE RUSH FAREWELL TOUR WE ALL GOTTA SEE THEM" Of course, StubHub thinks they can make a fortune off this shit, they buy a fuckton of tickets, and tries to sell them at least a third more than the original price. StubHub is basically forcing us to buy tickets off of them as opposed to the venue. How else can you explain how only the nosebleeds are left for MSG while on StubHub, you can buy front row seats?
Buying tickets for large venues is such a pain in the ass. With the exception of Jones Beach.