Concert Tips
We’ve been to some concerts here and there and along the way, I’ve learned some do’s and don’ts of getting concert tickets and some do’s and don’ts once there.
1. If you have a band you really, really love and want to get the best seats possible, consider joining their fan club. Some bands charge you to join, and you usually get some cool things that are worth the cost. Some bands don’t charge anything. Usually one of the perks of joining is access to presale tickets. This can also backfire, so if the price to join isn’t worth the “stuff” you get, then you might want to consider other presale avenues. They are out there - you just have to look.
An example of it backfiring - Linkin Park had presales for Projekt Revolution 08. BUT they limited the number of presale tickets to 2 per person. I couldn’t buy presale tickets because I needed 3 tickets.
Also, not all the best seats go to fan club presales. Many good seats are held back for other presales - many radio stations hold them, check Nokia rush, etc. If the tickets coming up aren’t stellar, consider waiting until the next round. Here’s another example - I just bought Projekt Revolution tickets through another presale and I got great seats. So waiting a couple of days turned out fine.
2. If the tickets you are wanting to get are bound to go fast, be prepared BEFORE the time tickets go on sale. For example, if you don’t have a ticketmaster account with a credit card number attached to it, do that ahead of time. You only have 2 minutes to complete your purchase. If you have to enter all that info in there, your tickets might be lost. If you already have an account, it’s really just the click of a button.
Also, take a look at the seat chart ahead of time. Your seats will pop up and you’ll want to know right then if they are good ones or not. If you haven’t even looked at the seating chart you could lose those tickets if you are fumbling around trying to find it. Better yet, have it open in a separate window so you can look at it really quickly once you been given seats.
3. Get good seats (if seats are what you are going for). Here’s what we’ve found when we got the cheap seats: when we’ve gotten cheap seats it’s been because it was for a concert that sounded good, but not so stellar that I was willing to pay for good seats. That’s usually the case for others in the cheap seats as well. So if you buy cheap seats to concert for a band you really, really love, you will be surrounded by dumb asses who aren’t too terribly into it. They generally will spend more time getting shit faced than listening to the music. Ruins the experience overall. I did it once and only once. I’ve decided that if it’s a concert I’m not willing to pay good money to go to, then I won’t go. We ended up leaving early because I thought one of the drunk giants next to us was going to keel over on my son and squish him.
4. If you aren’t familiar with the opening bands - get familiar. Every band and their brother is on myspace now, with full versions of their songs that you can listen to. You can really benefit from listening to them ahead of time. If you like them enough you might want to buy their album. Then it’s even more of a bonus at the concert!
5. If it’s an all day concert event, out in the hot sun, take it slow and drink a lot of water. Last summer my son and I were lucky enough to get meet and greet passes to see Linkin Park at Projekt Revolution. I went to use the restroom right before getting in line. This was when there was about 3 bands still to go before Linkin Park took the stage. Next to me in a stall was someone just as sick as sick can be. All I could think was what a idiot she was! She probably spent her day drinking so much, that by the time the main bands hit the stage, she was so sick she couldn’t enjoy herself. I’m all for some beers at a concert, but good grief, pace yourself. I don’t know, call me crazy, but my main reason for being there is the music. If I just want to drink myself into a stupor I could do that at home without having spent all that money on a ticket.
6. If you live in the Denver area or will be visiting - a concert at Red Rocks is something you must experience. There is usually a big variety of bands that play there each summer. Most likely you’ll find something you’ll probably like. BUT, I would recommend assigned seating there as well only because the way it’s arranged, if you are in GA, you’ll get stacks of people in one row since they are so deep. That venue is not set up to be a “pit” sort of thing, so being that squished in is not great.
We had third row dead center seats there for a Rise Against/Sum 41 concert. Spent a lot on those tickets. We had jerks coming down trying to just stand in our row! Fights were breaking out because people who had spent the money were telling the losers to “move on”. Thankfully security was hauling them out left and right. Sorry they were cheap asses and didn’t spend the money on good tickets, not my problem.
7. Wear comfortable shoes. You’ll be standing the whole time of course! And if you go to Warped Tour do NOT wear flip flops. If you got General Admission tickets and plan to be in the thick of things, do not wear slip on shoes. There is a good chance you will lose them.
8. If it’s an outdoor, all day concert for god’s sake, take sunscreen. That’s the mom in me coming out. I was letting teens borrow it left and right last year at some we went too. Guess it never occurred to them that being out in the sun all day, you can get pretty crispy….
I’ll be adding more but let me know if you think of a good one as well! I’ll think about adding it.
