usamilo said:
I live in Minneapolis. A friend of mine has gone to shows here for 20 years and never buys a ticket ahead of time. He simply shows up at the venue the night of the show and is able to buy great seats at no more than half face value from people all too eager to get rid of them for a variety of reasons. I have been doing the same thing for a year and half and I have never paid more than $40 and the seats have always been great for artists like Springsteen, Van Halen etc. I remember people selling U2 tickets for less than $20 outside the venue here on the elevation tour. I also remember being in Chicago on the PopMart tour where people couldn't sell tickets at any price night of the show.
I would like to know what the experience has been of people who have attended shows at the 12 U.S. venues when it comes to tickets available the night of the show regardless of the artist involved. I would also like to hear feedback on the same topic from anyone that went to an Elevation show regardless of the city.
Thank you.
On the Elevation tour, I bought tickets for the first Washington DC show during the regular on sale day. Another show was added that day, but everything was soldout within 1 hour. When it came time for the show, I was thinking about possibly going to the second show the next night, but I did not have a ticket. After the first show, I decided I was going to go, and thought it would not be to difficult to buy ONE ticket to get into the arena for the second night.
Boy was I wrong! I tried all day outside the Arena to find tickets for the second show! For hours there was nothing! Finally there was a guy selling TWO tickets, but his price for both was two high and he would only sell them together. Finally just, as the doors to the arena were opening to let people in, I found a guy selling to different single tickets. I bought the best one at a Scalper price. I then saw him quickly sell the other one. I then ran into the guy who had been scalping the two tickets together and he had succeeded in selling his at the price he wanted. There were plenty of fans out there still without tickets, but no sellers.
But this is Washington DC where U2 could have soldout a Stadium show on the Elevation tour if they had decided to play one. Ticket demand was very high as it was in other cities like New York City, Philadelphia and Boston etc.
While Minneapolis is not a small city, its not a very strong U2 market relative to many other cities through out the country. Its not surprising that there were people who had not sold their tickets by the day of the show and were having trouble doing so. The show was soldout but it did not sellout instantly the day tickets went on sale there. The day of the show is crunch time and unless there is overwhelming demand for the show, your going to be able to find tickets the day of the show for 1/2 to 1/3 the list price.
This happens virtually every time with artist that are not nearly as popular as U2, especially when they play smaller markets. Also, if a show is not soldout, the vast majority of the people who show up the day of the show will already have tickets and those that don't will buy from the boxoffice unless they come into contact with someone selling tickets at a very reduced rate and they believe they are legit.
HOWEVER, i did manage a pair of tix on the side of the stage with an excellent view. considering i had all but given up on the show, i was very pleased indeed!
