Thursday, September 5, 2024

Tickets, Touts, and Taylor

MickFPall250220_v2_ (34 of 52)
David Gilmour at the Peter Green Tribute Concert, 25/2/20

 When oasis announced their reunion tour, fans made a mad rush for tickets, even though they were hundreds of pounds, and they were slated for it. Even worse, touts were already reselling them for even more, so the band are putting a stop to it by making the tickets exclusively for who bought them, just as Kate Bush had a decade ago for her rare residency at the Eventim Apollo (formerly Hammersmith Odeon). On the contrary, her old friend and mentor David Gilmour is about to have his own tour, and  when I looked at downstates dates coming after another event in the tri-state I would like to attend (story for another day, but I'd stay at the same hotel to save time, even if I'd be on the tube late at nights, or run into his former colleague), one was sold out, and the other a right fortune. Ironically, when I went to an article on Pearl Jam (who boycotted Ticketmaster in 1996) and there was a link to a third-party reseller, both dates were available and had seats at a remotely doable price and distant location in the arena. Last time I went there or the region was to see Paul McCartney. He and Peter Gabriel (you can connect the dots by now) were at Taylor Swifts concert in London a while ago (the old guard come to her). Swifties seem to spend less by going overseas than trying to see her in the US. I know it's too easy these days to write about missus, but even she's a scapegoat of the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly. I'm lucky to get to one name show this year, which is Duran Duran back Upstate at the casino, but I'd have to win the pools well before that since I need time to plan and pay for the lot. I also have to see what they're doing with the Fairfield County do the night of Durans own show at the Garden because it can be too much and they're not that close together since it's a big area. Like most people at this stage, essentials come first in this economy before even considering hols or big shows anywhere.

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