Let It Loose wrote on Aug 2
nd, 2010 at 12:45am:
Hi everyone,
I know the word about a tour is still indefinite but I was just wondering what is the best way to go about buying tickets. Do you know if there is any special group or pre sale I can research before its time to buy tickets? I just want to ensure that if I am going to spend the money I want some decent, or incredible, seats. I have only gotten to see The Stones twice and both times I didn't go about buying the tickets in the best way possible and want to make sure I do it right this time.
Thanks!
Things change every tour. In fact, they often change from one LEG of a tour to the next.
'Wait and see' is probably the best option. A tour is at least a year away.
Unless there's absolutely definitely going to be theatre shows and you're hoping to shoot for them, I wouldnt pay anything for a pre-sale to anyone. Especially not the Stones official fan club. Their track record on broken promises, scams and downright rip offs is a disgrace.
I wouldnt rush to buy tickets right away for stadiums or arenas either. There'll always be plenty which mysteriously become available later on, even in sold out venues. The key is to make a decision early on on what category and price you want and stick to it. The Stones and/or Ticketmaster have a very annoying habit of releasing tickets (both in presales and public sales) which are the highest priced but which arent necessarily the best tickets in that price range (eg Category 1 priced field tickets - which are in the second or third block from the stage) . This is designed to fool you into panic-buying them, as the natural reaction is to think that the best tickets have already gone - then when they get these crappy tickets shifted, they release better ones. Its an absolutely shameful and opaque way of selling tickets. They'll also siphon off many of the absolute best seats to ticket brokers to re-sell over the odds (whilst complaining publicly about scalpers and even making statements excusing their high prices by saying theyre designed to STOP scalping) and get a sizeable cut for themselves. And if they cant shift them, maybe then they'll offer them for face value to you and me.
Unless you're buying tickets for a venue where,despite the prices, demand is likely to exceed supply (eg an arena show in New York or a theatre show anywhere), you'll pretty much always have a chance nearer the date of the show to get good seats on ticket drops. And a band who is charging silly prices for tickets (especially when theyre charging $500 for so-so tickets) is for the most part going to have to resort to a few firesales or ticket drops to sell them. For the most part, take the words "sold out" and "no tickets available" with a huge grain of salt.
Anyone who pays to register for a presale for a stadium show is either gullible, stupid, desperate or has more money than sense. Possibly all four. And yes, before you ask, I've fallen into all four categories before, myself.