I sat at my computer from 9:45 waiting for the Ryan Adams tickets (Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Oct. 14) to go on sale at 10:00. Getting in to buy them as soon as I could, I still got barely decent tickets.

Does anyone have strategies for getting good tickets from Ticketmaster? At seated events I am generally out of luck buying good seats, no matter how hard I try!

You're seeing Ryan at the Ryman?

Oh, how I envy you. Could there be a more perfect venue to see Ryan than there in the heart of Nashville?

Ticketmaster's online system works differently now. You draw random tickets, not necessarily the best ones. So once they go on sale, you have to keep picking sets of tickets until you get good ones. It also helps to have a friend help you on another computer.

I heard that a good strategy was to call a ticketmaster office in a distant city where the call volume will be minimal and you'll get right through.

Ticketmaster does indeed suck...

I don't think there are any strategies that really work, sadly.

In the old days, you used to be able to call a distant city and order tix, but they have instituted a one-hour delay policy for anywhere outside a certain pre-set radius from the event.

As a sidebar, I saw Ryan twice (both times while still with Whiskeytown) including a wonderfully volatile performance at Chicago's Navy Pier.

A friend of my co-worker scored Stones tickets for the Aragon in Chicago by dialing his service provider's number down in Champaign.

When did this new rule come into effect? Damn those bastards!!

Yeah, it is the perfect venue.

The only problem I have is that I also have tickets to the show at the Tabernacle in Atlanta. Also an awesome venue, but I can't go to that show. If anyone is interested in the tickets (I actually got good seats to that show), let me know through e-mail. I am going to try to get rid of them.

Really? That used to always work for me .


Another option is to call early so you'll get through to a csr before the tickets go on sale. Just keep asking them about different shows until the onsale time comes up . Most of the people on the phone will know what you're doing but they usually don't care.

Ticketbastards.....The Service Charge Experts.

I always call a couple minutes before and ask about several other concerts and then when it is time ask for the show you want.

I've done that in the past and it only seems to work about half the times. I've had them tell me that I need to call back since I called before they went on sale even though it is the onsale time. Depends on the person on the phone.

I despise Ticketmaster. I will go out of my way to buy tix at the venue hosting the concert if I can. It would be one thing to pay high service fees for expensive tix, but to charge a $4 or $5 service charge on tix under $10 is enough to make me do all I can not to support that racket.

Within the last year or so I think. I rarely buy tickets anymore, and those I do buy are usually GA...so it might only be for internet presales, I'm not sure.

Yes, I agree 100% that ticketmaster sucks...it's too bad they have a monopoly, at least on all the concerts I want to go to...

Well, we all have our Ticketmaster sucks stories...Remember Pearl Jam attempted to defeat them years ago, ahhhh, but no one in the music industry wanted to stick their necks out there...All they got were a bunch of 'You get 'em' 'Yeah, good for you' 'I/We Support you' sentiments and slaps on the back...Hung out to dry....Yes well, oh, that and Ticketmaster has such good connections...

There are programs that you load on your PC that open as many browsers you want (20 or more) that run and pull tickets when you launch it to a certain ticketmaster server. It does make a difference to know what address to go to directly. This is what the 'ticket brokers' (legalized scalpers) use. It is not a sure thing but they are knocking almost everyone out. Here is an example ...

* you load the macro and enter all of your information (name address cc# etc to auto. fill the information page).

* log into a brokers web page and choose the concert that you want and pick the # of tickets you are looking for (usually they have a list of sections they only want to buy).

* this will auto. fill in # of seats - type of seats wanted - mail service and go DIRECTLY to the ip address (there is someone in ticketmaster that actually gives this info out).

* launch as many browsers you want - sit back and pick the tickets you want to buy. The best part is that if the server is busy it reads the text on the page and knows to refresh and/or delete cookies and keep trying. It can refresh probably over a 100x's a minute. Multiply that by the number of browsers and how many people you have working for you and BAM!!!!!! The broker usually gets great seats.

These guys have almost every angle covered from insiders at Ticketmaster, Box Office, Admin at the promotion comany, radio stations, season ticket holders, speed phone dialers, internet buyers etc......

Damn, that's fascinating. And really angers me. I hate Ticketmaster even more now. One thing Tickmaster can't do is stop me from getting good seats on my couch after renting a DVD.

yeah Ticketmaster is weird, try this story

I was going to buy (one way or another) tickets for the Korn/Disturbed/Trust Co show at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, Nh on 10/8 one way or another. Tickets went on sale this past Saturday, so I logged on at 10:55am to get tickets, all I see are upper balcony seats (for 2 tickets), so I keep trying, about a half hour later BAM I get 2 seats in the lower section of the arena (lower seating, right next to floor)....so I guess it's just random tickets at random times

That really angers me! If thats what happens, Ticketmaster just needs to get rid of online ordering damnit!

Well - the problem is that it is a convenient way for people to get seats and I like it a lot. But no matter what avenue there is to get tickets they will always figure out how to take advantage of it. You can still score great seats to an event but it really is hard to do when it is a popular one.

I understand that it is convenient, but if it means that scumbag brokers are the only ones getting the good seats....screw convienience I say.

It doesn't really matter how it's done, scumbag scalpers are always going to get the best seats. When you have to call the phones are jammed with people working for the brokers. I've stood in lines behind homeless people and others who were definitely not in line so they could see their favorite bands.

Phish does a pre-ticketmaster mailorder for fans, even though they scrutinize orders some always get through and the scalpers end up with mail order tickets (they're printed differently than TM tickets).

Yup - they hire all these out of work people to stand in line. Usually there is van, or car, close buy were they collect their money and dump tickets off. They also have incentives, or one that I knew, for who got the best seats etc. During the days when you had stay in line all night they wood have food and beer near by.

Also - scalpers have joined fan clubs that give exclusive tickets (pre-sales) just for that reason. Dave Matthews is a prime example.

I remember stories on TV news shows were they would pay a boatload of money to the stores where the ticket machines were. They would agree to start pumping tickets out right away and set aside what was agreed upon. They would just keep the door shut an extra minute or two before they allowed the people in line to start buying them and then even keep doing it while they were selling tickets as well.

I was thinking, can you get better tickets on ticketmaster if you use a TDD phone? You can buy a TDD phone (a cheap one) for ~ $20.

I assume that ticketmaster has a TDD number, and that few people call this number.