Ticket-shyster-Is A Monopoly Good?

You know what else bothers me is Ticketmaster.

Take the latest Radiohead show at the Hummingbird Centre on Wednesday June 7 and Thursday June 8. The tickets went on sale via ticketmaster at 10am a few Saturday's ago. My wife and I had two laptops setup for the different days on the page where you purchased the tickets from Ticketmatster. We were on the site from 9:30am. At 10am we clicked to purchase tickets, the site said that tickets were no available for either date. This really pissed me off since I had been waiting to see them again. The next annoyance was that I went to eBay to look for tickets and they were available for $500 per ticket. It seems like many people just bought tickets to profit from them on eBay.

What about their real fans? Let's look an example of a band who RESPECTS their fans, WILCO. If you registered on the Wilco site for their newsletter, you were allowed to purchase advance tickets 24 hours before they went on sale at Ticket-shyster. As a result, we have third row seats to see arguably one of the best live performance bands out their today.

Therefore, there's more to the problem then bands touring too much. In fact, I think they could do more shows. The key is to remove the non-fans and scalpers who are out just to make a buck. The true, loyal fans are being screwed.

PS. I think tickets prices are outrageous. I can't remember the last band I paid over $100 to see. I don't even think Radiohead tickets were over $100.

However, if you want an old-school live music experience look for bands playing at the Mod Club. The club holds about 500-700 people max. Many great bands have played there such as The Streets, Wilco, and Josh Rouse. Forget seeing the Rolling Stones at ACC for $150. You will have a much better time seeing a lesser known or up-and-coming band at The Mod Club.

[Music]