Post by FPM on Oct 26th, 2012 at 2:14pm
Stones tickets sell out in a (jumping Jack) flash By Tris McCall/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger
on October 26, 2012 at 12:53 PM
What a drag it is getting tickets.
Or trying to, anyway.
At noon today, thousands of seats at Newark's two upcoming Rolling Stones concerts were put on sale. In a heartbeat, they were all gone.
"One minute after noon, I called and got the message that no tickets were available," said Shawn Thompson, 35, of Bordentown. "My wife and her co-workers tried, too, and they got the same message. We tried every price level and even behind the stage."
Thompson had never seen the Stones, and was looking forward to the December 13 and 15 concerts at the Prudential Center arena. He was willing to pay as much as $250 to catch the band, which is playing two shows in Newark to celebrate its 50th anniversary. There are no other concerts on the Stones schedule, and rumors that this could be the group's last stand have driven up demand for seats at the December shows.
Nevertheless, frustrated fans found the sheer speed of the sellout suspicious.
"I find it hard to believe that tickets for both shows sold out in what appears to be less than one minute," wrote Rob Manspeizer by e-mail. Like Thompson, Manspeizer had attempted to land seats at the Stones shows at noon sharp.
Others were even more blunt. Taking to Twitter, Baltimore radio personality Nestor Aparicio delivered a broadside against the group and the ticketing company that ran the sale. "Just tried to buy Rolling Stones tickets for the New York shows," tweeted Aparicio, getting the city wrong but channeling the feelings of many New Jerseyans. "Trying to figure out who are the bigger crooks -- Ticketmaster or the band."
Even politicians were grousing. In response to a Star-Ledger story, Eighth district Representative Bill Pascrell, author of a bill meant to protect concert ticket buyers, suggested in a statement issued before the sale that Ticketmaster users feel that the game is rigged against them. "We know that tickets held back for fan clubs and special promotions are often scooped up by scalpers and resold, often times at astronomical prices," wrote Pascrell, whose BOSS ACT was written after the 2009 Springsteen ticketing fiasco. "We need to stop the unarmed robbery of hardworking Americans trying to buy tickets to see their favorite artists."
A spokesperson for Ticketmaster insisted that the brisk sellout was driven by simple demand.
"There are so many people who want them, and they go so quickly. Hey, it's the Rolling Stones."
on October 26, 2012 at 12:53 PM
What a drag it is getting tickets.
Or trying to, anyway.
At noon today, thousands of seats at Newark's two upcoming Rolling Stones concerts were put on sale. In a heartbeat, they were all gone.
"One minute after noon, I called and got the message that no tickets were available," said Shawn Thompson, 35, of Bordentown. "My wife and her co-workers tried, too, and they got the same message. We tried every price level and even behind the stage."
Thompson had never seen the Stones, and was looking forward to the December 13 and 15 concerts at the Prudential Center arena. He was willing to pay as much as $250 to catch the band, which is playing two shows in Newark to celebrate its 50th anniversary. There are no other concerts on the Stones schedule, and rumors that this could be the group's last stand have driven up demand for seats at the December shows.
Nevertheless, frustrated fans found the sheer speed of the sellout suspicious.
"I find it hard to believe that tickets for both shows sold out in what appears to be less than one minute," wrote Rob Manspeizer by e-mail. Like Thompson, Manspeizer had attempted to land seats at the Stones shows at noon sharp.
Others were even more blunt. Taking to Twitter, Baltimore radio personality Nestor Aparicio delivered a broadside against the group and the ticketing company that ran the sale. "Just tried to buy Rolling Stones tickets for the New York shows," tweeted Aparicio, getting the city wrong but channeling the feelings of many New Jerseyans. "Trying to figure out who are the bigger crooks -- Ticketmaster or the band."
Even politicians were grousing. In response to a Star-Ledger story, Eighth district Representative Bill Pascrell, author of a bill meant to protect concert ticket buyers, suggested in a statement issued before the sale that Ticketmaster users feel that the game is rigged against them. "We know that tickets held back for fan clubs and special promotions are often scooped up by scalpers and resold, often times at astronomical prices," wrote Pascrell, whose BOSS ACT was written after the 2009 Springsteen ticketing fiasco. "We need to stop the unarmed robbery of hardworking Americans trying to buy tickets to see their favorite artists."
A spokesperson for Ticketmaster insisted that the brisk sellout was driven by simple demand.
"There are so many people who want them, and they go so quickly. Hey, it's the Rolling Stones."
