Acknowledging up front that a lot of people have work/personal/economic/other situations that make this not feasible:
Travel for shows.
If you live in the high demand northeast markets (hell even if you don’t), get out of town and check out Pearl Jam somewhere else. It’s fun. I started doing it a few years ago and can’t recommend it enough. The Hold Steady now has stopped touring and just does 3-4 night stints in a few cities each year - I heard an interview with Craig Finn where he talked about how it’s a lot more fun to make a little trip around a show or two than it is to catch a band at your local venue on a Monday night.
There are a variety of ways you can do this to fit your particular situation. Grab a bunch of buddies and fly to another city for a weekend. Take your spouse on a trip to Europe that just happens to coincide with a PJ date or two. Jump in the car and road trip to a second-tier market. Try and arrange a work trip at just the right time (I’m thinking about trying this last one out this year).
Definitely push every button you can to try and get into the Garden. Getting tickets here is tough as hell, but that’s part of what makes the shows so great; most people in the crowd are amped to be in the building because it took a lot of effort, money and/or luck. But why not head out to St. Louis or OKC, or Canada? It takes a little more work than just waiting on bands to come to you, but it’s worth it. You won’t regret it; if you’re at all like me you’ll start wondering why you haven’t been doing it for years.
I regret not doing this when I was younger with fewer responsibilities. But now I have a wife and two young girls. It would be really selfish of me to pull them out of school for a week so I could see a band in Denver. I had to pull a whole lot of strings just to get a night off. And that doesn’t even take the cost into consideration.
I think that it’s great that people can do this. In a few years this may be what I can do. Until then I’ll do my best to see them local to my area. Plus my wife would probably kill me if I booked a long trip for March and they end up playing Boston or Hartford in the fall.
I also have a wife and two young kids. I’ll grab some buddies and we’ll fly somewhere on a Friday afternoon, hang out that night, catch a show on Saturday and I’m home on Sunday afternoon. That’s what I did for Wrigley 2016, and we did it for MMJ at Red Rocks last year. Does it cost some domestic capital? Absolutely. But it’s worth it.
As I said, I acknowledge that everyone’s situation is different.
Anyone get good MSG news today? I still haven't heard anything (msg was my #2 so wasn't hopeful to begin with)? My buddy had MSG as his #1 and still hasn't heard anything.
I saw someone get their credit card charged this morning. I haven’t heard either way. I emailed Ticketmaster customer service hoping to get some info. I’m not holding out too much hope though.
They are answering phones, I hadn't heard anything either so I called. I was shut out. No tix for me. Now, onto the TM presale. Good luck
Acknowledging up front that a lot of people have work/personal/economic/other situations that make this not feasible:
Travel for shows.
If you live in the high demand northeast markets (hell even if you don’t), get out of town and check out Pearl Jam somewhere else. It’s fun. I started doing it a few years ago and can’t recommend it enough. The Hold Steady now has stopped touring and just does 3-4 night stints in a few cities each year - I heard an interview with Craig Finn where he talked about how it’s a lot more fun to make a little trip around a show or two than it is to catch a band at your local venue on a Monday night.
There are a variety of ways you can do this to fit your particular situation. Grab a bunch of buddies and fly to another city for a weekend. Take your spouse on a trip to Europe that just happens to coincide with a PJ date or two. Jump in the car and road trip to a second-tier market. Try and arrange a work trip at just the right time (I’m thinking about trying this last one out this year).
Definitely push every button you can to try and get into the Garden. Getting tickets here is tough as hell, but that’s part of what makes the shows so great; most people in the crowd are amped to be in the building because it took a lot of effort, money and/or luck. But why not head out to St. Louis or OKC, or Canada? It takes a little more work than just waiting on bands to come to you, but it’s worth it. You won’t regret it; if you’re at all like me you’ll start wondering why you haven’t been doing it for years.
I regret not doing this when I was younger with fewer responsibilities. But now I have a wife and two young girls. It would be really selfish of me to pull them out of school for a week so I could see a band in Denver. I had to pull a whole lot of strings just to get a night off. And that doesn’t even take the cost into consideration.
I think that it’s great that people can do this. In a few years this may be what I can do. Until then I’ll do my best to see them local to my area. Plus my wife would probably kill me if I booked a long trip for March and they end up playing Boston or Hartford in the fall.
I had too much shit going on in my family life from 2001 through 2014 to get to any shows. The only way it would have worked is they came to Louisville, KY. They didn't, I didn't get to see them, and I didn't complain. But things cleared up for me and my family, and my wife and I were able to see them at GCF, Wrigley 16, and Wrigley 18. Now I'll see them in Toronto and St. Louis this year.
Acknowledging up front that a lot of people have work/personal/economic/other situations that make this not feasible:
Travel for shows.
If you live in the high demand northeast markets (hell even if you don’t), get out of town and check out Pearl Jam somewhere else. It’s fun. I started doing it a few years ago and can’t recommend it enough. The Hold Steady now has stopped touring and just does 3-4 night stints in a few cities each year - I heard an interview with Craig Finn where he talked about how it’s a lot more fun to make a little trip around a show or two than it is to catch a band at your local venue on a Monday night.
There are a variety of ways you can do this to fit your particular situation. Grab a bunch of buddies and fly to another city for a weekend. Take your spouse on a trip to Europe that just happens to coincide with a PJ date or two. Jump in the car and road trip to a second-tier market. Try and arrange a work trip at just the right time (I’m thinking about trying this last one out this year).
Definitely push every button you can to try and get into the Garden. Getting tickets here is tough as hell, but that’s part of what makes the shows so great; most people in the crowd are amped to be in the building because it took a lot of effort, money and/or luck. But why not head out to St. Louis or OKC, or Canada? It takes a little more work than just waiting on bands to come to you, but it’s worth it. You won’t regret it; if you’re at all like me you’ll start wondering why you haven’t been doing it for years.
I regret not doing this when I was younger with fewer responsibilities. But now I have a wife and two young girls. It would be really selfish of me to pull them out of school for a week so I could see a band in Denver. I had to pull a whole lot of strings just to get a night off. And that doesn’t even take the cost into consideration.
I think that it’s great that people can do this. In a few years this may be what I can do. Until then I’ll do my best to see them local to my area. Plus my wife would probably kill me if I booked a long trip for March and they end up playing Boston or Hartford in the fall.
I also have a wife and two young kids. I’ll grab some buddies and we’ll fly somewhere on a Friday afternoon, hang out that night, catch a show on Saturday and I’m home on Sunday afternoon. That’s what I did for Wrigley 2016, and we did it for MMJ at Red Rocks last year. Does it cost some domestic capital? Absolutely. But it’s worth it.
As I said, I acknowledge that everyone’s situation is different.
Couldn’t agree more about it being worth it. Two of my other favorite bands are/were Tom Petty and AC/DC. Went to Europe to see AC/DC on what likely ended up being their final tour and had a blast. Passed on flying to LA to see petty and he died a week later. Hoping to travel to see PJ on the next leg of this tour. It can be a fun adventure (money, family, and work permitting).
Acknowledging up front that a lot of people have work/personal/economic/other situations that make this not feasible:
Travel for shows.
If you live in the high demand northeast markets (hell even if you don’t), get out of town and check out Pearl Jam somewhere else. It’s fun. I started doing it a few years ago and can’t recommend it enough. The Hold Steady now has stopped touring and just does 3-4 night stints in a few cities each year - I heard an interview with Craig Finn where he talked about how it’s a lot more fun to make a little trip around a show or two than it is to catch a band at your local venue on a Monday night.
There are a variety of ways you can do this to fit your particular situation. Grab a bunch of buddies and fly to another city for a weekend. Take your spouse on a trip to Europe that just happens to coincide with a PJ date or two. Jump in the car and road trip to a second-tier market. Try and arrange a work trip at just the right time (I’m thinking about trying this last one out this year).
Definitely push every button you can to try and get into the Garden. Getting tickets here is tough as hell, but that’s part of what makes the shows so great; most people in the crowd are amped to be in the building because it took a lot of effort, money and/or luck. But why not head out to St. Louis or OKC, or Canada? It takes a little more work than just waiting on bands to come to you, but it’s worth it. You won’t regret it; if you’re at all like me you’ll start wondering why you haven’t been doing it for years.
I regret not doing this when I was younger with fewer responsibilities. But now I have a wife and two young girls. It would be really selfish of me to pull them out of school for a week so I could see a band in Denver. I had to pull a whole lot of strings just to get a night off. And that doesn’t even take the cost into consideration.
I think that it’s great that people can do this. In a few years this may be what I can do. Until then I’ll do my best to see them local to my area. Plus my wife would probably kill me if I booked a long trip for March and they end up playing Boston or Hartford in the fall.
I had too much shit going on in my family life from 2001 through 2014 to get to any shows. The only way it would have worked is they came to Louisville, KY. They didn't, I didn't get to see them, and I didn't complain. But things cleared up for me and my family, and my wife and I were able to see them at GCF, Wrigley 16, and Wrigley 18. Now I'll see them in Toronto and St. Louis this year.
There were several years there, after I started making money but before I had kids, where I absolutely could have traveled for more shows. I didn’t do it, not because I couldn’t or didn’t want to, but because it never even occurred to me. Living in NYC, you get accustomed to every band you could possibly want to see coming through to a place (that is the perfect size for that particular band) that you can get to via the subway. When tours would get announced, I would literally only see the NYC dates and not even look at anything else. This is what I’m trying to get across to the locals who are bummed because every time Pearl Jam comes to them it’s a brutal ticket. For some people it’s not realistic to travel for a show. For others, it might be doable but they never think of it. For still others, they could do it if they really wanted but will always find ”reasons” not to put in the extra effort.
Acknowledging up front that a lot of people have work/personal/economic/other situations that make this not feasible:
Travel for shows.
If you live in the high demand northeast markets (hell even if you don’t), get out of town and check out Pearl Jam somewhere else. It’s fun. I started doing it a few years ago and can’t recommend it enough. The Hold Steady now has stopped touring and just does 3-4 night stints in a few cities each year - I heard an interview with Craig Finn where he talked about how it’s a lot more fun to make a little trip around a show or two than it is to catch a band at your local venue on a Monday night.
There are a variety of ways you can do this to fit your particular situation. Grab a bunch of buddies and fly to another city for a weekend. Take your spouse on a trip to Europe that just happens to coincide with a PJ date or two. Jump in the car and road trip to a second-tier market. Try and arrange a work trip at just the right time (I’m thinking about trying this last one out this year).
Definitely push every button you can to try and get into the Garden. Getting tickets here is tough as hell, but that’s part of what makes the shows so great; most people in the crowd are amped to be in the building because it took a lot of effort, money and/or luck. But why not head out to St. Louis or OKC, or Canada? It takes a little more work than just waiting on bands to come to you, but it’s worth it. You won’t regret it; if you’re at all like me you’ll start wondering why you haven’t been doing it for years.
I regret not doing this when I was younger with fewer responsibilities. But now I have a wife and two young girls. It would be really selfish of me to pull them out of school for a week so I could see a band in Denver. I had to pull a whole lot of strings just to get a night off. And that doesn’t even take the cost into consideration.
I think that it’s great that people can do this. In a few years this may be what I can do. Until then I’ll do my best to see them local to my area. Plus my wife would probably kill me if I booked a long trip for March and they end up playing Boston or Hartford in the fall.
I had too much shit going on in my family life from 2001 through 2014 to get to any shows. The only way it would have worked is they came to Louisville, KY. They didn't, I didn't get to see them, and I didn't complain. But things cleared up for me and my family, and my wife and I were able to see them at GCF, Wrigley 16, and Wrigley 18. Now I'll see them in Toronto and St. Louis this year.
There were several years there, after I started making money but before I had kids, where I absolutely could have traveled for more shows. I didn’t do it, not because I couldn’t or didn’t want to, but because it never even occurred to me. Living in NYC, you get accustomed to every band you could possibly want to see coming through to a place (that is the perfect size for that particular band) that you can get to via the subway. When tours would get announced, I would literally only see the NYC dates and not even look at anything else. This is what I’m trying to get across to the locals who are bummed because every time Pearl Jam comes to them it’s a brutal ticket. For some people it’s not realistic to travel for a show. For others, it might be doable but they never think of it. For still others, they could do it if they really wanted but will always find ”reasons” not to put in the extra effort.
I am in the same exact boat. I really wish I would have thought about doing more than just the local (philly) show in the early 2000's. In hindsight there are so many PJ shows I wish I would have done but not knowing.
For those going to MSG and have RESERVED seats, what are your member numbers looking like? I'm curious to see how my 308xxx stacks up with others that scored seats.
I have a 198xxx and I was in section 107, row 13. I'm assuming similar, or maybe a little worse since there is most certainly more 10C available this time around. I'd love to be wrong.
Should still be done by seniority...years of paying a membership for nothing.
Absolutely. With NY and CO state laws the ticket brokers have hundreds/thousands Accts setup knowing they can xfer those shows. having it based on seniority eliminates most of that as these big brokers cycle thru new emails and Accts like candy with their bots.
Sadly PJ is playing right into their hands by selling out their fan club to Ticketmaster. Never thought I’d see that day but it’s obvious they are in full blown legacy and branding mode. Just look how much they are promoting their fan club nowadays. That is strictly for branding and negotiating rights with Ticketmaster.
“We have been given more Seats than ever before” translation = We will get more seats but we had to give all the good seats to TM to scalp thru their VIP Corporate program nobody knows about. Did you notice all the VIP badges in all the good seats at Safeco Wrigley and Fenway where they had a private club to go hang out in with free booze and food. Have you noticed how your reserved seats for those shows have progressively gotten worse each year?
Wasn’t too long ago arenas had to take down their advertising bc that was so evil and TVs were being Ax’d to prove a point. Well now they don’t shy away from marketing the heck out of everything and throwing stuff in your face on social media. It’s obvious their principles have changed since the early years and that is perfectly fine but own up to it.
As Bob Dylan said “The times they are a changin” Can you imagine if someone told you in 1995 that Ticketmaster would be running PJs fan club one day.
Can you imagine if someone told you in 1995 that Ticketmaster would be running PJs fan club one day.
Can you imagine a scenario where 75% of the band’ fan club members didn’t evolve or grow over the 25 years between 1995 and now? That’s where we are at.
There are a lot of delusional people here.
The band got the floor and lower bowl of every arena on the our. Arenas that are not owned or ticketed by the band. Bands have to partner with these other entities to some extent or there would be no shows to go to. Those other entities have business interests that don’t involve club members.
For Denver and NYC, do you think the band makes the laws for ticket transfer in these places? Spoiler alert, they don’t. The other option for them to skip playing in these places you know what happens then? People cry about that too and start a thousand different “official please play loserville” threads.
I can say with absolute certainty that very few bands protect as many seats for fans as Pearl Jam does and don’t even get me started on pricing. People on here always crying about the price of tickets. These days the average ticket for a stadium act is $250+ PER TICKET and these bands are playing a basic 90 minute headline set and in the case of pop acts, it’s usually synced to a vocal track. The band keep leaving money they are perfectly entitled to for their work on the table for fans and it’s still a never ending barrage of whiners.
The level of entitlement of our fan base is out of control. “I live here”, “Ive been a fan since then”. “I pay 20 bucks a year, I should be guaranteed the best seats in the house forever” . Get a grip. Are you folks like this at work? At home? How do the people around you even listen to it?
I’ll be honest, I was very lucky this year and in 2018 with lottery. Previous years?? Zero luck. It happens.
If you’re so in love with the world in 1995, save your ticket money and your membership money and put it towards a time machine because the current world is moving on without you.
1993 - Toronto 1996 - Toronto 1998 - Barrie 2000 - Toronto 2003 - Buffalo, Toronto 2005 - Hamilton, Toronto 2006 - Toronto I, Toronto II 2008 - EV solo Toronto I 2010 - Buffalo, Newark 2011 - Toronto I, Toronto II, Hamilton 2013 - London, Chicago, Buffalo, Brooklyn I, Brooklyn II, Philadelphia I, Philadelphia II 2014 - Detroit 2016 - Philadelphia I, Philadelphia II, New York I, New York II, Ottawa, Toronto I, Toronto II, Chicago I, Chicago II 2018 - Boston I, Boston II
I’m so angry with people going to multiple shows and booking flights and I asked for 1 ticket anywhere in the building in my own city. That’s all. 1 ticket, my billing address is Brooklyn, I’ve lived here for 36 years. 1st PJ 10C show was 96. I only ever buy local shows and it seems like that should be the very 1st priority of the 10C. I haven’t seen PJ since the last time they were here as I don’t have the money to tour to see them. It’s pretty infuriating and really depressing. All the rest of these tickets in all these other sales are gonna go directly to scalpers.
Couldn't you just watch the ticket exchange like a hawk on top of trying to get tickets when they go on sale?
Yes which I’ll be doing. I’m just saying that if we’re playing “fair” it should be hometown fans get divided out and get first shot. It’s very easy to see who put in for 1 show and just wants to go to that vs people touring with the band. Preference to the people who live in the city and surrounding areas should be given (for all shows and I’ve been saying this for years) for 10C seats. The band is visiting that city to see the people there. Especially with 1 show in the biggest city. Where scalping is perhaps the worst.
I’m extremely happy for everyone who got in and I’ll be fighting for a way in that building till they step on stage but it shouldn’t have to be that way.
And what happens to fans who live in an area where they will never play? They’re just out of luck, then?
I have no idea why you think that living in a city where they’ve played dozens of times and where you’ve had dozens of opportunities for “hometown shows” should give you priority over people from other cities.
Dozens of times might be statistically correct but on a per capita basis, among cities that have gotten shows, there is no way they can play NY enough times to meet the population demand within a three hour drive from here. There is nothing close it on this continent and even playing three msg shows that would not put NY on a level playing field with other cities that get shows. To unfairly pick on a random city, they’d have to play ten msg shows to level off one Denver show. And this is not counting the tons of fans that want to come to msg from around the world because it’s some sort of Mecca. believe me, it’s not.
saying all that I am not on board with demonscars theory, as there is no fair way to block non NYers from coming here. What about fans living one mile outside the allowed zip code zone? Saying all that, it does stink that they haven’t played your city. But the consolation prize is you is live in a fantastic area.
Comments
As I said, I acknowledge that everyone’s situation is different.
I've done a lot of shit in my life, and I have still not found anything better.
For Denver and NYC, do you think the band makes the laws for ticket transfer in these places? Spoiler alert, they don’t. The other option for them to skip playing in these places you know what happens then? People cry about that too and start a thousand different “official please play loserville” threads.
I can say with absolute certainty that very few bands protect as many seats for fans as Pearl Jam does and don’t even get me started on pricing. People on here always crying about the price of tickets. These days the average ticket for a stadium act is $250+ PER TICKET and these bands are playing a basic 90 minute headline set and in the case of pop acts, it’s usually synced to a vocal track. The band keep leaving money they are perfectly entitled to for their work on the table for fans and it’s still a never ending barrage of whiners.
The level of entitlement of our fan base is out of control. “I live here”, “Ive been a fan since then”. “I pay 20 bucks a year, I should be guaranteed the best seats in the house forever” . Get a grip. Are you folks like this at work? At home? How do the people around you even listen to it?
If you’re so in love with the world in 1995, save your ticket money and your membership money and put it towards a time machine because the current world is moving on without you.
1996 - Toronto
1998 - Barrie
2000 - Toronto
2003 - Buffalo, Toronto
2005 - Hamilton, Toronto
2006 - Toronto I, Toronto II
2008 - EV solo Toronto I
2010 - Buffalo, Newark
2011 - Toronto I, Toronto II, Hamilton
2013 - London, Chicago, Buffalo, Brooklyn I, Brooklyn II, Philadelphia I, Philadelphia II
2014 - Detroit
2016 - Philadelphia I, Philadelphia II, New York I, New York II, Ottawa, Toronto I, Toronto II, Chicago I, Chicago II
2018 - Boston I, Boston II
saying all that I am not on board with demonscars theory, as there is no fair way to block non NYers from coming here. What about fans living one mile outside the allowed zip code zone? Saying all that, it does stink that they haven’t played your city. But the consolation prize is you is live in a fantastic area.