So if you never had tickets in your cart or you lost a lottery drawing you wouldn't complain? That's the part I find hard to believe. No matter what, people who get shut out are going to complain about all the flaws in the system. If people never get the Buy button and never get tickets in their cart they'll say the Buy button doesn't exist or it only shows up for low # people or some other nonsense like that.
Well said. I rarely chime in here, but I agree that it is absurd for people to have to go through this. It's not about feeling entitled to tickets. A lottery and a simple "you got tickets" or "sorry, you didn't get tickets" answer would be such an improvement. There is a de facto lottery right now, which is whether the technical gods work in your favor, with the added insult of people refreshing screens at their computer for hours repeatedly thinking they have tickets and then realizing they don't. The 10 Club can do better.
A lottery is a bad idea. In the current system, those who want it more, and put in more effort, have a better chance of getting the tickets. These days no one wants to work for anything. There is still luck involved with getting tickets, but effort can greatly increase your chances.
No one has tickets until they have a confirmation. So if you get your hopes up early, that's your own fault.
I just hope they have a different ticket sales arrangement set up for the PJ20 fest. Mainly, I hope that due to the "specialness" of it, they will be able to have a huge allocation for the Ten Club, if not the entire venue, in order to absorb the demand, which will make yesterday seem like a small blip.
Charles
"The Who is my life. Pearl Jam is my retirement"
3rd Sydney show, I didn't have tickets to, and got them on the day via Ticketmaster. At 5pm they released the complimentary tickets that weren't being used, so I got like 12 row.
PJ - Sydney 1998; Sydney 2003; Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle 2006; Melbourne, Sydney 2009; Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sydney 2014.
EV - Canberra, Newcastle, Sydney 2011; Sydney 2014.
I read a lot here and post a little so I apologize for the length. I feel compelled to share my story as part of this discourse.
As a red sox fan, you go through this crazy system where you sit in a virtual waiting room until the server decides to pick you up. It can literally take all day and it's the same rigamarole once youre in, you have the tix in your cart, they don't, they lose the cc# etc, tho to their credit, they have worked to change things slightly.
I understand the clear differences between a ticketing system that big and what 10c has (and nobly I think, throughout the years) worked to see in ticketing reform because frankly, not many others are doing anything about it.
That said, my personal problem is this. I gave up on sitting in the virtual waiting room for the red sox because I can find some tickets on craigslist for 40 bucks midseason. I can't find that with PJ or EV. Frankly, I realize that I could bankrupt myself trying to buy the scalpers tickets but I just morally refuse to, and I simply cannot afford the financial burden beyond what it is. However, after these 20 years, since I was a 12 year old at the real garden so excited counting down the days I literally made myself sick with excitement, and then the grand reward of my first front row seats in Saratoga, and then again and again. Truth is I got spoiled. Then more people start showing up, tickets get mixed up and I am happy as hell that I still get 3rd or 4th row. So I understand this is a privilege and not a right, one I would share with everyone if I could figure out how.
And PJ and it's echoes have saved my life quite literally time and time again. But as a 30 something fighting a destructive, powerful nervous system condition that is ranked more painful than childbirth by the McGill pain scale... Only it doesn't end...I am sooo lucky to be able to walk with just a cane for now. I am always hoping, always singing to the sky that the time wont come where i have to ask for more help because i am just no damn good at it. Plus, i understand so well illness and disability and it is so important to me to wait as long as
possible before making ADA arrangements, to allow those precious few spaces for those who need to stay seated or otherwise. My personal arrangement is I bring a friend or my amazing husband to lean on, and people just have to put up with me taking a bit longer to get off the floor after an event. I have to sit a bit more than others.
I won't give this up as long as I don't bankrupt myself, because the healing it provides is in the long term, far more powerful than the pain it increases for the days or weeks following. But the mental agony that is caused even by a half hour of trying to get tickets is, as I age, and deteriorate, becoming a bit more unbearable each time. I am actually not trying to complain because this is my personal issue, but with so much technology, and let's face it, the sheer number of years (71xxx) of remembering to mail in and then pay a little more each year. I think I would do it without the tickets, but it is a huge part. I just wish that little bit of anguish could be reduced for all of us. It's a hard way to start the day when you feel this strongly about something and have it go down the way it does.
But all that said, I accept the problems and I hope there won't come a time where personally, the process getting there prohibits the therapeutic experience, because as cliched as I sound, really truly, every friend or family member who has shared a concert with me has asked- how can I thank this band? Because they have not seen me so healthy, or happy since diagnosis as I am there, pulse rushing, music running through my veins. One of the only times it is not only bearable, but incredible to be myself, in my body.
So that's my sorta too longish story if it counts for something. The moral is, I wish things could be easier on both of us, seller and buyer, so we could somehow not explode from a critical mass of passion. And I personally hope the system catches up before I am to far behind to reach it.
They did that with the Europe tour last year. There were still problems, but it certainly worked better.
I recognise the awful irony of using TicketBastard as a model here, but surely their queueing system makes more sense. You go to the site, find the tickets you want to purchase and are told how long you have to wait. No need to keep refreshing, straining the server & getting error screens. If there are tickets still available when you get to the top of the queue, they are put in your cart - safely and securely - and are held there out of bounds of anyone else. You have 4 mins or something to fill in your details and buy them. If you don't do it in that time, they're back into the pool, and up for grabs again.
It doesn't seem to me that that would be a hard system for 10C to implement. It would certainly be fairer. And again, it does feel very odd to be using the word "fair" about TB...
But that's my 2 cents.
93: Slane
96: Cork, Dublin
00: Dublin
06: London, Dublin
07: London, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
09: Manchester, London
10: Dublin, Belfast, London & Berlin
11: San José
12: Isle of Wight, Copenhagen, Ed in Manchester & London x2
Minny tickets were gone in less than a minute today. Off to general sale or scalper again! Thanks for the second opportunity. There must have been an extremely small amount available.
I agree with the original poster... I didn't try for tickets (can't get to any of the far away shows) but have read countless threads about how everyone who did couldn't get them, refreshed, had them, got to the final screen, frozen, lost them, ripped off face bullshit, etc. This is obviously an issue with the servers not being able to handle all the traffic and process the orders all at once. This kind of stuff used to happen on the internet 10 or more years ago. Technology has come so far and yet when there's a ticket onsale, it's the same old thing, no improvements ever. Can you imagine if you went to buy a book on Amazon and you had it in your cart and then when you get to the final page after entering your credit card info, it freezes for 5 minutes then says you took too long to complete your request? And Amazon wouldn't even charge you $40 a year for you to possibly buy (but most likely not) books from them!
Invest in improvements, please, with the new dues increase. I know it's also a supply and demand issue, but this should not happen. If tickets sell out on Ticketmaster, a screen comes up that says they could not fulfill your request. Not "sit here and refresh and wish and hope when you get to the last screen that the tickets don't disappear from your cart. Now do this all day long until it officially says OUT OF STOCK." Must be a better way.
Oh, and yes... if the traffic from the message board ALSO brings down the Goods/Sales site, here's an idea: CLOSE the message board at the top of every hour before the tickets show up in the Goods!
ABQ 93, Las Cruces 95, ABQ 98, Bridge School 10/30/99, Lubbock 00, ABQ 00, Denver 03, State College 03, San Diego 03, Vegas 03, PHX 03, D.C. 03, Camden 7/5/03, NYC 7/8/03 + 7/9/03, Vegas 06, San Francisco 7/15/06 + 7/16/06 + 7/18/06, Kansas City 10, [EV:ABQ 11/6/12], Chicago 13, PHX 13, Denver 14--PJ24!, Telluride 16, Chicago 8/20/16, Chicago 8/18/18, Phoenix 22, Denver 22, Vegas 5/16/24
New Mexico Pearl Jam Fans (New Mexico, USA) on Facebook!
Same deal here. I did appreciate the efforts for more tickets today. Even though I got the very last
row, in the very back of the balcony in a big venue in boston. I'm certain most non ten club people will have
Far superior seats. I'll be all "analog" way the hell in the back
Same deal here. I did appreciate the efforts for more tickets today. Even though I got the very last
row, in the very back of the balcony in a big venue in boston. I'm certain most non ten club people will have
Far superior seats. I'll be all "analog" way the hell in the back
It's basic supply and demand. Lots of people want tickets and there just are not that many. Some win...some lose. I have not got presale tickets to any eddie show yet and I have attended 3. I have not paid more than face value and sat in the first 6 rows every time. If you want to go, you can find a way.
I just hope they have a different ticket sales arrangement set up for the PJ20 fest. Mainly, I hope that due to the "specialness" of it, they will be able to have a huge allocation for the Ten Club, if not the entire venue, in order to absorb the demand, which will make yesterday seem like a small blip.
Well, they can't. Unfortunately, Ticketbastard got it passed years ago that fan clubs can not sell more than 10% of the allocated tickets. Obviously, this sucks and is more of their monopoly bs. But, facts are facts.
Also, someone said 'why not wait until they are on general sale'? NEVER do that. The re-sellers and scalpers get them ALL. Stubhub and the like. You know how when you go into Ticketbastard's site you have to type in those letters to prove you are a human and not a bot? The scalpers have programs that get passed that. General onsale tickets tend to sell out in under a minute for some shows.
So, PJ would love to sell them all through their fan club, but they can't. Ticketbastard rules. So, you might way "why not use Ticketmaster?" You can't. They have contracts with the venues already in place. It is beyond the monopoly that they fought against years ago.
In fact, read the new Rolling Stone (with Adele on the cover). There is a very valuable article inside. Bands are trying to make shows will call only, to slow down the scalpers. Well, get this.. the resellers (which incluyde stub hub and Ticketbastard) are having LAWS PASSED TO MAKE THIS ILLEGAL. They explain several states already have these laws.
Long story short, don't EVER count on general onsale for shows you really want to see. I saw a 20,000 seat venue show sell out in under 30 seconds. how the fuck is that possible? computer programs are buying the tickets. I too got screwed out of the EV pre-sale (which mostly seemed to end up on Stub Hub within seconds of the sales closing). here is what we can guess. If the venue is Alpine Valley (or something of it's size) there are 40,000 seats. That means PJ has access to distribute 4,000 tickets at the MOST. Keep in mind, they will be sold in pairs. So, 20,000 tickets to share for every rock fan in America... IF you are already a member of the Ten Club.
Go back to the days of writing in for tickets. I'll even sort through the requests personally, which will take care of the lack of manpower issue.
)
That is what the Grateful Dead used to do. Of course, this was pre-internet. However, the Grateful Dead pioneered the fan club distribution system. It was because of the progressive young bands like Pearl Jam and String Cheese Incident that Ticketmaster made it law that you can only distribute no more than 10% of a venue's seats through a fan club.
In another plug for the Dead, they also pioneered the allowance of letting the audience tape shows. In fact, the Dead have special taper sections wherever they play.
Interestingly, it was Pearl Jam who pioneered releasing the live recordings of the show the second it was over. The Dead (in their various incarnations) now do that at their shows. As you walk to the parking lot, you can pick up a CD of the show you just saw. it's pretty cool.
That is what the Grateful Dead used to do. Of course, this was pre-internet. However, the Grateful Dead pioneered the fan club distribution system. It was because of the progressive young bands like Pearl Jam and String Cheese Incident that Ticketmaster made it law that you can only distribute no more than 10% of a venue's seats through a fan club.
In another plug for the Dead, they also pioneered the allowance of letting the audience tape shows. In fact, the Dead have special taper sections wherever they play.
Interestingly, it was Pearl Jam who pioneered releasing the live recordings of the show the second it was over. The Dead (in their various incarnations) now do that at their shows. As you walk to the parking lot, you can pick up a CD of the show you just saw. it's pretty cool.
While I appreciate what the dead did for its fans, the mail order system was very suspect.
The seat allocation was mysterious and the dead were often accused of playing favorites.
That and you often did not get your mail order back in time for the public onsale leaving you without tickets if your mail order did not get filled.
No thanks.
Comments
It is a distinction without a difference.
A lottery is a bad idea. In the current system, those who want it more, and put in more effort, have a better chance of getting the tickets. These days no one wants to work for anything. There is still luck involved with getting tickets, but effort can greatly increase your chances.
No one has tickets until they have a confirmation. So if you get your hopes up early, that's your own fault.
"The Who is my life. Pearl Jam is my retirement"
EV - Canberra, Newcastle, Sydney 2011; Sydney 2014.
As a red sox fan, you go through this crazy system where you sit in a virtual waiting room until the server decides to pick you up. It can literally take all day and it's the same rigamarole once youre in, you have the tix in your cart, they don't, they lose the cc# etc, tho to their credit, they have worked to change things slightly.
I understand the clear differences between a ticketing system that big and what 10c has (and nobly I think, throughout the years) worked to see in ticketing reform because frankly, not many others are doing anything about it.
That said, my personal problem is this. I gave up on sitting in the virtual waiting room for the red sox because I can find some tickets on craigslist for 40 bucks midseason. I can't find that with PJ or EV. Frankly, I realize that I could bankrupt myself trying to buy the scalpers tickets but I just morally refuse to, and I simply cannot afford the financial burden beyond what it is. However, after these 20 years, since I was a 12 year old at the real garden so excited counting down the days I literally made myself sick with excitement, and then the grand reward of my first front row seats in Saratoga, and then again and again. Truth is I got spoiled. Then more people start showing up, tickets get mixed up and I am happy as hell that I still get 3rd or 4th row. So I understand this is a privilege and not a right, one I would share with everyone if I could figure out how.
And PJ and it's echoes have saved my life quite literally time and time again. But as a 30 something fighting a destructive, powerful nervous system condition that is ranked more painful than childbirth by the McGill pain scale... Only it doesn't end...I am sooo lucky to be able to walk with just a cane for now. I am always hoping, always singing to the sky that the time wont come where i have to ask for more help because i am just no damn good at it. Plus, i understand so well illness and disability and it is so important to me to wait as long as
possible before making ADA arrangements, to allow those precious few spaces for those who need to stay seated or otherwise. My personal arrangement is I bring a friend or my amazing husband to lean on, and people just have to put up with me taking a bit longer to get off the floor after an event. I have to sit a bit more than others.
I won't give this up as long as I don't bankrupt myself, because the healing it provides is in the long term, far more powerful than the pain it increases for the days or weeks following. But the mental agony that is caused even by a half hour of trying to get tickets is, as I age, and deteriorate, becoming a bit more unbearable each time. I am actually not trying to complain because this is my personal issue, but with so much technology, and let's face it, the sheer number of years (71xxx) of remembering to mail in and then pay a little more each year. I think I would do it without the tickets, but it is a huge part. I just wish that little bit of anguish could be reduced for all of us. It's a hard way to start the day when you feel this strongly about something and have it go down the way it does.
But all that said, I accept the problems and I hope there won't come a time where personally, the process getting there prohibits the therapeutic experience, because as cliched as I sound, really truly, every friend or family member who has shared a concert with me has asked- how can I thank this band? Because they have not seen me so healthy, or happy since diagnosis as I am there, pulse rushing, music running through my veins. One of the only times it is not only bearable, but incredible to be myself, in my body.
So that's my sorta too longish story if it counts for something. The moral is, I wish things could be easier on both of us, seller and buyer, so we could somehow not explode from a critical mass of passion. And I personally hope the system catches up before I am to far behind to reach it.
-c
I recognise the awful irony of using TicketBastard as a model here, but surely their queueing system makes more sense. You go to the site, find the tickets you want to purchase and are told how long you have to wait. No need to keep refreshing, straining the server & getting error screens. If there are tickets still available when you get to the top of the queue, they are put in your cart - safely and securely - and are held there out of bounds of anyone else. You have 4 mins or something to fill in your details and buy them. If you don't do it in that time, they're back into the pool, and up for grabs again.
It doesn't seem to me that that would be a hard system for 10C to implement. It would certainly be fairer. And again, it does feel very odd to be using the word "fair" about TB...
But that's my 2 cents.
96: Cork, Dublin
00: Dublin
06: London, Dublin
07: London, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
09: Manchester, London
10: Dublin, Belfast, London & Berlin
11: San José
12: Isle of Wight, Copenhagen, Ed in Manchester & London x2
Lots Lots Lots of shows.....
2018 - Seattle 2/Missoula
Invest in improvements, please, with the new dues increase. I know it's also a supply and demand issue, but this should not happen. If tickets sell out on Ticketmaster, a screen comes up that says they could not fulfill your request. Not "sit here and refresh and wish and hope when you get to the last screen that the tickets don't disappear from your cart. Now do this all day long until it officially says OUT OF STOCK." Must be a better way.
Oh, and yes... if the traffic from the message board ALSO brings down the Goods/Sales site, here's an idea: CLOSE the message board at the top of every hour before the tickets show up in the Goods!
New Mexico Pearl Jam Fans (New Mexico, USA) on Facebook!
Go back to the days of writing in for tickets. I'll even sort through the requests personally, which will take care of the lack of manpower issue.
All I want in return is two tickets to the shows of my choice
row, in the very back of the balcony in a big venue in boston. I'm certain most non ten club people will have
Far superior seats. I'll be all "analog" way the hell in the back
row, in the very back of the balcony in a big venue in boston. I'm certain most non ten club people will have
Far superior seats. I'll be all "analog" way the hell in the back
Well, they can't. Unfortunately, Ticketbastard got it passed years ago that fan clubs can not sell more than 10% of the allocated tickets. Obviously, this sucks and is more of their monopoly bs. But, facts are facts.
Also, someone said 'why not wait until they are on general sale'? NEVER do that. The re-sellers and scalpers get them ALL. Stubhub and the like. You know how when you go into Ticketbastard's site you have to type in those letters to prove you are a human and not a bot? The scalpers have programs that get passed that. General onsale tickets tend to sell out in under a minute for some shows.
So, PJ would love to sell them all through their fan club, but they can't. Ticketbastard rules. So, you might way "why not use Ticketmaster?" You can't. They have contracts with the venues already in place. It is beyond the monopoly that they fought against years ago.
In fact, read the new Rolling Stone (with Adele on the cover). There is a very valuable article inside. Bands are trying to make shows will call only, to slow down the scalpers. Well, get this.. the resellers (which incluyde stub hub and Ticketbastard) are having LAWS PASSED TO MAKE THIS ILLEGAL. They explain several states already have these laws.
Long story short, don't EVER count on general onsale for shows you really want to see. I saw a 20,000 seat venue show sell out in under 30 seconds. how the fuck is that possible? computer programs are buying the tickets. I too got screwed out of the EV pre-sale (which mostly seemed to end up on Stub Hub within seconds of the sales closing). here is what we can guess. If the venue is Alpine Valley (or something of it's size) there are 40,000 seats. That means PJ has access to distribute 4,000 tickets at the MOST. Keep in mind, they will be sold in pairs. So, 20,000 tickets to share for every rock fan in America... IF you are already a member of the Ten Club.
my theories of where the show will be are here on my music site - http://www.maybeiamwrong.com/
In another plug for the Dead, they also pioneered the allowance of letting the audience tape shows. In fact, the Dead have special taper sections wherever they play.
Interestingly, it was Pearl Jam who pioneered releasing the live recordings of the show the second it was over. The Dead (in their various incarnations) now do that at their shows. As you walk to the parking lot, you can pick up a CD of the show you just saw. it's pretty cool.
The seat allocation was mysterious and the dead were often accused of playing favorites.
That and you often did not get your mail order back in time for the public onsale leaving you without tickets if your mail order did not get filled.
No thanks.