Bruce tickets

So I got the verified fan approval.  Waiting to get in  (at 10am) - currently in the queue and there's 2,000+ people in front of me.

Anyone have the same issue?  I doubt I'll be getting any seats for this one.

Now 1,754 in front of me.


I had Verified for D.C., did not get tickets.

I'm "in line" right now for Barclay's (it's a SeatGeek, not a Ticketmaster sale), and who knows?

The Ticketmaster ticket sales, with "dynamic pricing" and practically simultaneous attempts by purchasers to resell, are now like bidding in the orange juice trading pit at the commodities exchange.


I think I'm done forever with big arena/stadium concerts, including Bruce.  I've seen so many great shows in the last 10 to 15 years at excellent small venues, including SOPAC, for tix well under $100 bucks.  I don't need to be a chump for these mega events.    I saw him at the Meadowlands some years ago and everything about it was miserable - the traffic, parking, the sound, inability to really see the stage and need to look at the jumbo screens.  


Prices are just insane - remember when we used to have anti-scalper laws?  Now ticketmaster IS the scalper.  Also, "scalping" is probably not very PC - is their an alternative?  It sort of is price gouging.  Ticketmaster seems to normalize it as a "market pricing" or something like that.


And John Oliver's take on it:


jamie said:

Prices are just insane - remember when we used to have anti-scalper laws?  Now ticketmaster IS the scalper.  Also, "scalping" is probably not very PC - is their an alternative?  It sort of is price gouging.  Ticketmaster seems to normalize it as a "market pricing" or something like that.

Are these "face value" prices or the secondary market?  I heard the prices were going to be crazy for seats close to the stage.


yahooyahoo said:

jamie said:

Prices are just insane - remember when we used to have anti-scalper laws?  Now ticketmaster IS the scalper.  Also, "scalping" is probably not very PC - is their an alternative?  It sort of is price gouging.  Ticketmaster seems to normalize it as a "market pricing" or something like that.

Are these "face value" prices or the secondary market?  I heard the prices were going to be crazy for seats close to the stage.

apparently TM's algorithms start jacking the price as tickets sell, when the few remaining seats are still in high demand.  So there is actually no real "face value" on TM for these type of high demand events.

You can unclick the "platinum" and preferred seats when you try to buy and you won't see those insane demand prices.

I actually was offered a number of seats in the $90-110 range (after about a 20 minute wait in the queue). But each time I tried to purchase I got the "another fan beat you to these seats" message.  Eventually I gave up. I probably could have scored a single ticket, but wasn't interested in going all the way out to UBS by myself. I've done a single ticket at Prudential and it was a fun experience.  But not all the way out to Long Island.


bub said:

I think I'm done forever with big arena/stadium concerts, including Bruce.  I've seen so many great shows in the last 10 to 15 years at excellent small venues, including SOPAC, for tix well under $100 bucks.  I don't need to be a chump for these mega events.    I saw him at the Meadowlands some years ago and everything about it was miserable - the traffic, parking, the sound, inability to really see the stage and need to look at the jumbo screens.  

I am a lifelong avid concert goer, and the last show I saw in a football stadium was Bruce in 1985, Born in the U.S.A. tour. I agree 100% with the above.


I'll add that the most frustrating thing about TM's new method of selling is that they serve you up a listing for tickets, including row and seat number, but when you choose it, someone else beats you to it. In the "olden days", if tickets were served to you on the site, they were reserved for you for a few minutes. There is no reason on earth they should be serving up offers of tickets that disappear as soon as you click on them. 

That said, I have no doubt that a patient person who waits until a day or two before the show will find plenty of affordable tickets on the after market. Part of the issue with prices now is the frenzy of first day sales. A lot of people are going to find themselves with an extra pair of seats in a mediocre location, and they are going to be desperate to get rid of them.

I'm also thinking a trip to Dublin next spring might not be a bad idea if we really want to see a show. RDS is an outdoor venue that holds roughly 30,000, but it doesn't feel as impersonal as a football stadium. Two of my favorite Bruce shows ever were there. 


Verified for Fort Lauderdale; 2000+ in front of me. By the time I was offered tickets nearly an hour later, the cheapest seats avail were $450 each. Plus fees.  (those same seats are now going for $1200 on the resale)
Not this time, Bruce.


Same thing happened with McCartney tickets about 5 months ago when they went on sale.  Rather than buy into the craziness I simply waited and the ticket prices came down to numbers that we more reasonable.  As the show dates came closer, magically Ticketmaster started releasing really good seats out of nowhere for prices that were more in line with reality.

Bottom line: don't buy into the frenzy.    The prices will come down.

Give this a read to understand what is going on:

For anyone who wants to buy concert tickets.

This is from Andy Mack:

Alright. Let me shed some light on pre-sale. I worked in Marketing for Live Nation for 8 years. Here's the truth…

1.) "Verified fan." It doesn't exist. Pre-sale has nothing to do with ensuring only fans get tickets. What it does is establishes the value. When you register, the system scans your account to see what tickets you have purchased. New account? 5% chance of getting in. Only ever bought lawn? 30% chance. Bought floor? 70% chance. VIP or platinum? 100% chance. It comes down to ability to spend. Not if you are a fan. This is important because YOU are the control group. You set the initial price in the dynamic pricing.

2.) The control group. There is no such thing as Face Value in pre sale. It is based on dynamic pricing. Each venue is gauged to see what the average spend on tickets is. In the old days, the average between highest and lowest set the face value. Now, pre sale does. It is an active system that watches in real time how many sales are closed vs how many people enter the pre-sale. 70% close ratio is the target. If it averages 100% close ratio, ticket prices increase. If it is lower than 70%, the pricing decreases. This will fluctuate until the 70% is a flatline. So if you are seeing pricing the same now as you did 2 hours ago, it's because the system has flatlined at 70%.

3.) The timing. The 2 to 5 minutes you have to close the deal has nothing to do with released tickets and everything to do with allowing this system to adapt to the trend.

4.) If you are one of the first 500 people to purchase you are ABSOLUTELY paying anywhere from 20 to 60% more for the exact same tickets as the last 500.

5.) No. It absolutely does not matter whether you are buying lawn seats or platinum VIP. It's ALL part of the charade.

6.) Dead & Co has absolutely nothing to do with this. It's a monopoly as set by live Nation and bands have zero control of it.

7.) Over half of the well known resale sites are owned by the same shareholders of Live Nation. They double dip. It's how it works.

Stop buying into pre-sale and you will see prices become reasonable again.




P.S. I have seen Bruce 3 times in my life.  One was the New Year's Eve 1980 Nassau Coliseum show that ML1 keeps telling me is an all time classic Bruce concert.  It sure was long! In fact I think it is still going on.

The other two were times when Bruce showed up at a McCartney concert including in June.  

I also love ML1's idea of going to Dublin.   Seeing a concert overseas is great and the exchange rate is great if you can lock in planes/hotel/etc now.   I've seen McCartney in Liverpool and London a few times and they were great experiences.  My biggest regret is that I couldn't get to the farewell concert of a band called The Pretty Things about 3 years ago.   Really bummed out about that.   Dave Gilmour showed up and played.


Train_of_Thought said:

bub said:

I think I'm done forever with big arena/stadium concerts, including Bruce.  I've seen so many great shows in the last 10 to 15 years at excellent small venues, including SOPAC, for tix well under $100 bucks.  I don't need to be a chump for these mega events.    I saw him at the Meadowlands some years ago and everything about it was miserable - the traffic, parking, the sound, inability to really see the stage and need to look at the jumbo screens.  

I am a lifelong avid concert goer, and the last show I saw in a football stadium was Bruce in 1985, Born in the U.S.A. tour. I agree 100% with the above.

I saw Bruce that summer at Giants Stadium.  I don't remember the exact price but my ticket was about $20.


I’ve been wishing I’d saved my stubs from the late 80s and 90s. I used to fund my concert tickets via babysitting, and my rate was something like $1.75 an hour for a couple of years. I remember that because when I decided to raise it to $2, even though they’d had a second child, Mrs. Holmes flipped out on me. 


sbenois said:

Same thing happened with McCartney tickets about 5 months ago when they went on sale.  Rather than buy into the craziness I simply waited and the ticket prices came down to numbers that we more reasonable.  As the show dates came closer, magically Ticketmaster started releasing really good seats out of nowhere for prices that were more in line with reality.

Bottom line: don't buy into the frenzy.    The prices will come down.

Give this a read to understand what is going on:

For anyone who wants to buy concert tickets.

This is from Andy Mack:

Alright. Let me shed some light on pre-sale. I worked in Marketing for Live Nation for 8 years. Here's the truth…

1.) "Verified fan." It doesn't exist. Pre-sale has nothing to do with ensuring only fans get tickets. What it does is establishes the value. When you register, the system scans your account to see what tickets you have purchased. New account? 5% chance of getting in. Only ever bought lawn? 30% chance. Bought floor? 70% chance. VIP or platinum? 100% chance. It comes down to ability to spend. Not if you are a fan. This is important because YOU are the control group. You set the initial price in the dynamic pricing.

2.) The control group. There is no such thing as Face Value in pre sale. It is based on dynamic pricing. Each venue is gauged to see what the average spend on tickets is. In the old days, the average between highest and lowest set the face value. Now, pre sale does. It is an active system that watches in real time how many sales are closed vs how many people enter the pre-sale. 70% close ratio is the target. If it averages 100% close ratio, ticket prices increase. If it is lower than 70%, the pricing decreases. This will fluctuate until the 70% is a flatline. So if you are seeing pricing the same now as you did 2 hours ago, it's because the system has flatlined at 70%.

3.) The timing. The 2 to 5 minutes you have to close the deal has nothing to do with released tickets and everything to do with allowing this system to adapt to the trend.

4.) If you are one of the first 500 people to purchase you are ABSOLUTELY paying anywhere from 20 to 60% more for the exact same tickets as the last 500.

5.) No. It absolutely does not matter whether you are buying lawn seats or platinum VIP. It's ALL part of the charade.

6.) Dead & Co has absolutely nothing to do with this. It's a monopoly as set by live Nation and bands have zero control of it.

7.) Over half of the well known resale sites are owned by the same shareholders of Live Nation. They double dip. It's how it works.

Stop buying into pre-sale and you will see prices become reasonable again.




P.S. I have seen Bruce 3 times in my life.  One was the New Year's Eve 1980 Nassau Coliseum show that ML1 keeps telling me is an all time classic Bruce concert.  It sure was long! In fact I think it is still going on.

The other two were times when Bruce showed up at a McCartney concert including in June.  

I also love ML1's idea of going to Dublin.   Seeing a concert overseas is great and the exchange rate is great if you can lock in planes/hotel/etc now.   I've seen McCartney in Liverpool and London a few times and they were great experiences.  My biggest regret is that I couldn't get to the farewell concert of a band called The Pretty Things about 3 years ago.   Really bummed out about that.   Dave Gilmour showed up and played.

couple of things. The Nassau Night show has been circulating in good quality for years. It is one of the great shows in rock & roll history grin 

And if anyone can get to Europe for a show by any classic rock artist, audiences there put U.S. audiencea to shame. They are all in from the first note. 


Also this bit of Bruce trivia. The most popular Springsteen song in Ireland -- The River.  By far. 

30,000 people on their feet singing at the top of their lungs. The most Irish song Bruce ever recorded. 


ml1 said:

Also this bit of Bruce trivia. The most popular Springsteen song in Ireland -- The River.  By far. 

30,000 people on their feet singing at the top of their lungs. The most Irish song Bruce ever recorded. 

I heard that they dance to it.  The Irish River Dance is famous.


These must be awesome seats (verified resale tickets).  Section 109 Row 10.

Service fee is $4,083.18 - but the mobile delivery fee is FREE!


Reminds me of the movie "The Freshman," where Larry London welcomes everyone to the Gourmet Club to eat the Komodo Dragon and thanks the diners for prepaying the price of "$350,000 per plate, SERVICE INCLUDED!" 


Yes, you could end up like me. With all family members operating on all cylinders to try to snag tickets for my Springsteen-obsessed daughter, because she wasn't alive back in the day when you could see Springsteen for bupkis, two of us ended up with tickets. 

So, if anyone wants to buy my two tickets to the Cleveland Show (hey, it's only 7 hours from Maplewood and you can visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame) or knows someone who does, let me know! Just hoping to get back what we spent. I'm happy to send the link to the AirBnB we found that has parking and is in walking distance to the arena. Otherwise, I'm still doing that road trip with her!


one vote for the Cleveland road trip here.  memories forever.  : )


mjc said:

one vote for the Cleveland road trip here.  memories forever.  : )

True! I'm looking at it as a win either way.


nohero said:

ml1 said:

Also this bit of Bruce trivia. The most popular Springsteen song in Ireland -- The River.  By far. 

30,000 people on their feet singing at the top of their lungs. The most Irish song Bruce ever recorded. 

I heard that they dance to it.  The Irish River Dance is famous.


zucca said:

mjc said:

one vote for the Cleveland road trip here.  memories forever.  : )

True! I'm looking at it as a win either way.

absolutely.

My son and I took a road trip in 2016 to LA to see one of The River Tour shows. Spent the weekend seeing the sights. And took in the last ever event at the LA Sports Arena.  It was a great weekend.


ml1 said:

absolutely.

My son and I took a road trip in 2016 to LA to see one of The River Tour shows. Spent the weekend seeing the sights. And took in the last ever event at the LA Sports Arena.  It was a great weekend.

That sounds great!

I will not be sorry to go, for sure! But she somehow managed to get tickets to the Newark show, which, even though she lives in Boston, was the show she really wanted most. So either we'll go, or we'll find someone who wants them for the price we paid (regular not-cheap prices, not frenzy prices).


Best show ever: Thin Lizzy opening for Queen-$7.50 per ticket.

Second best: $20 ticket purchased outside of MSG for Queen. Seat was for 10th row but we were at the front of the stage for the entire show. 




ml1 said:

zucca said:

mjc said:

one vote for the Cleveland road trip here.  memories forever.  : )

True! I'm looking at it as a win either way.

absolutely.

My son and I took a road trip in 2016 to LA to see one of The River Tour shows. Spent the weekend seeing the sights. And took in the last ever event at the LA Sports Arena.  It was a great weekend.

As the E Streeters referred to the L.A. Sports Arena: "The Dump that Jumps." 


Bruce Springsteen, man of the people.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-07-29/bruce-springsteen-concert-ticket-price-ticketmaster#:~:text=In%20a%20statement%20provided%20to,with%20the%20prices%20were%20unmoved.

"When Springsteen’s loyal fan base logged in on July 20 to purchase tickets for the opening seven dates of his 2023 U.S. arena tour, Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing” program sent the face value for some floor seats to a dizzying $4,000 to $5,000 apiece. In an attempt to cut off the multibillion-dollar resale business, ticket prices jumped to a “fair value” based on demand to approximate the secondary market. Rather than scalpers, the money would instead go to the artist and promoter.

That has meant fans looking to buy a coveted seat near the stage found themselves on a financial ride as bumpy as the latest cryptocurrency. Prospective concertgoers also complained that the final checkout cost could be much higher than that price originally offered, as processing and other Ticketmaster fees would also be exponentially greater."


bub said:

I think I'm done forever with big arena/stadium concerts, including Bruce.  I've seen so many great shows in the last 10 to 15 years at excellent small venues, including SOPAC, for tix well under $100 bucks.  I don't need to be a chump for these mega events.    I saw him at the Meadowlands some years ago and everything about it was miserable - the traffic, parking, the sound, inability to really see the stage and need to look at the jumbo screens.  

My feeling exactly. I see LOTS of live, mostly small, up-and-coming acts and musicians off the FM radio, Top 40 track. Latin bands, jazz groups, worldbeat acts from Africa and Latin America, new singer-songwriters, lesser-known country bands. Sooo much great music and I rarely pay more than $30. Occasionally up to $50. Wonderful live music bargains available at Joe's Pub, City Winery, Le Poisson Rouge, SOPAC. 

Wednesday night I'm going to Joe's Pub to see Gina Chavez (whom I discovered on Tiny Desk, whom I've now seen 3 times, and with whom I will chat after the show) for $15/seat. Plus a 2-drink minimum.  Check out her Tiny Desk. 

So much live music to see, now that clubs and venues are opened up. The NYC area offers live music opportunities like literally nowhere else in the world. 

(If I see the word Ticketmaster on an event, I run. They wanted $160 for nosebleed seats for Bonnie Raitt at the Beacon. Everybody loves Bonnie Raitt, including me, but, uh, no thank you.)


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

My feeling exactly. I see LOTS of live, mostly small, up-and-coming acts and musicians off the FM radio, Top 40 track. Latin bands, jazz groups, worldbeat acts from Africa and Latin America, new singer-songwriters, lesser-known country bands. Sooo much great music and I rarely pay more than $30. Occasionally up to $50. Wonderful live music bargains available at Joe's Pub, City Winery, Le Poisson Rouge, SOPAC. 

Wednesday night I'm going to Joe's Pub to see Gina Chavez (whom I discovered on Tiny Desk, whom I've now seen 3 times, and with whom I will chat after the show) for $15/seat. Plus a 2-drink minimum.  Check out her Tiny Desk. 

So much live music to see, now that clubs and venues are opened up. The NYC area offers live music opportunities like literally nowhere else in the world. 

(If I see the word Ticketmaster on an event, I run. They wanted $160 for nosebleed seats for Bonnie Raitt at the Beacon. Everybody loves Bonnie Raitt, including me, but, uh, no thank you.)

I rarely attend basketball games, GO KNICKS, unless I'm gifted a ticket due to ticketmaster and their shenanigans.  Big music concerts the same, either I'm gifted tickets or I can secure them without ticketmaster. 


I continue to enjoy the stadium/arena shows. There is an energy in a great stadium show that simply can't be duplicated in a small club. I love seeing performers in City Winery. I saw a kick **** Williams Honor show last week at the Saint in Asbury Park (about the size of St. James's Gate).

but 50,000 people on their feet, singing along, with the stadium literally shaking and swaying? There isn't anything like it.  My friend only half-jokingly, calls an E Street Band show in a large venue "going to church."


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