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Becoming very frustrated with Ticketmaster


Zurisht
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I don't go to many events. As I have gotten older fewer concerts, live sporting events etc.

But when I go. I do the research. I do the planning.

Rush is one that I have my bases covered.

But last year, the wife and I really wanted to see a particular football game. Where did we go?

Stub Hub. 10 rows up, 50 yard line, with a parking pass. Now we paid more than we could have but sitting in prime seats cost us more.

If I am only going to 1 game every few years, I don't mind paying extra.

I look at Rush the same way. They don't tour every Summer; I will pay the extra needed and get my tickets from whoever or wherever I need to.

Free Market indeed.

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I don't go to many events. As I have gotten older fewer concerts, live sporting events etc.

But when I go. I do the research. I do the planning.

Rush is one that I have my bases covered.

But last year, the wife and I really wanted to see a particular football game. Where did we go?

Stub Hub. 10 rows up, 50 yard line, with a parking pass. Now we paid more than we could have but sitting in prime seats cost us more.

If I am only going to 1 game every few years, I don't mind paying extra.

I look at Rush the same way. They don't tour every Summer; I will pay the extra needed and get my tickets from whoever or wherever I need to.

Free Market indeed.

 

Exactly. One of the unsaid aspects of the ticket debacles is exactly what you said. There's ONE great benefit about secondary market services. You can literally find the exact seat or section that you want to sit in. That's why they thrive. Because people don't have to pull the trigger on a general sale and hope they get lucky. They can pay to sit where they choose. And while the prices are exorbitant usually, it all depends on how one chooses to burn their disposable income. And if they don't have said income, that's okay, everyone can still get in the door usually. Especially at arena gigs.

 

I was just talking with the wifey about this last week. There are VERY few shows I need or want to use a broker for anymore. Other than Rush, the last time I used a source beyond general sale on TM or LN was the Police reunion in '07/'08. (one of my top three bands, never thought I'd see 'em live ever, was a must see with the best seats in the house, period). It burned some, yes, to spend that kinda money. At the same time, how much is that once in a lifetime experience really worth? Priceless, right? Now if I didn't have the dough (I didn't, I just leveraged some credit card and took a couple years to pay it off) then I would've resigned myself to an upper bowl position just to ensure I see them.

 

Rush, however, is a band I prefer to see up close. And no matter how hard I've tried (and I am no slouch at the TM-Live Nation frenzy at 10 am), the last two tours (Time Machine and Clockwork) I failed to come up with anything near what I preferred. In '07 at the Hollywood Bowl Snakes tour, I lucked out and landed 5th row pit - Hollywood Bowl is $$$$$$$$$ anyway - for 350 a pop. That was general sale pricing. Granted, it had the usual Hollywood Bowl markup. No secondary market needed. So for Time Machine (two shows) and Clockwork (one show) I ended up 2nd row pit center, first row pit center, and first row pit Alex's side.

 

Did I pay? Yup. Did the experiences warrant the cost?

 

Yup.

 

And I shelved disposable income in other places accordingly to balance it out. I wish I was wealthy enough to do it for any show I please. But I'm not. So I have to pick and choose.

 

And I always prioritize Rush over all over shows, since R-30 anyway.

 

So it's confusing when people grumble and complain over concert pricing, when they take vacations to Hawaii or buy a new truck or upgrade a sound system. Their everyday 'costs' are my disposables. My 'Rush' is your 'Grand Canyon vacation with the kids.' It's all about prioritizing what you need to burn, as opposed to what you WANT to burn.

 

And Rush's last tour, probably?

 

Yeah, I'm gonna sit where I want to sit, and I'll def try and get those seats for as cheap as possible. But I'll allow for the markup as well. Been doing this ticket grind for 30+ years. It's never been easy to get the good seats, and I've always had to pay more if I didn't land any good stuff on the general sale...or overnight in line...or from street scalpers.

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Van Squalen. You bring up a lot of good points. I have you beat having gone to concerts for over 40 years now. Used to line up overnight and get nosebleeds at Maple Leaf gardens when was second in line. It has been going on for years but I would add, so has the corruption. I remember going to scalpers and having them provide maps of the venue with highlighted sections where they had tickets for very event.

 

 

I know a street scalper very well. His boss – the guys on the street are not making the big bucks – drives several luxury cars and is a 2nd generation broker. His father was very well connected with Harold Ballard and other big wigs at Maple Leaf gardens. He was able to secure for a price, a large block of the best seats and sell them on the side. The same thing continues today. It is NOT supply and demand in a strict traditional sense. It is CORRUPTION!

 

I have zero problem with high ticket prices. I have paid very high prices for tickets to a number of events. I am fortunate to be able to do so. My problem is the deceipt. Don’t advertise ticket prices on the web site as $50-$150 for instance and then sell “Platinum” seats for up to $1000. Don’t put drivel on TM site about wanting to do away with evil scalping when that is exactly what they themselves are doing. Don’t advertise misleading offers like “best available” when the best are certainly not available. I could go on and on.

 

It is not the high prices that are the problem. But they should be up front and advertise those high prices right from the start. Be transparent. My friend spent time in jail for doing the exact same thing that this super huge corporation is allowed to do.

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Well, of course I certainly advocate for truth in advertising. But I live in a world where more often than not, that just isn't the case. So what to do?

 

Work the system best as you can, and leverage your attendance accordingly without skipping a mortgage payment.

 

As long as the market tolerates said behavior, it will continue. And people are not going to miss their favorite artists (who are all aging and will be dying off in the next twenty years soon enough) to combat the system.

 

So see the people you wanna see now. Time is not our friend. :)

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My problem is the deceipt. Don’t advertise ticket prices on the web site as $50-$150 for instance and then sell “Platinum” seats for up to $1000. Don’t put drivel on TM site about wanting to do away with evil scalping when that is exactly what they themselves are doing. Don’t advertise misleading offers like “best available” when the best are certainly not available. I could go on and on.

 

 

Best post. Period.

 

This was my exact point all along. I know this is happening. I know about "supply and demand". I know that it has been this way for years.

 

The point is...it SHOULDN'T happen this way. Ticketmaster advertises prices for tickets, yet sells them on the exact same site for 5 times the value. Then the "protect us from bots" messages. It's all bogus, and it's all crap.

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When I see entire rows of my show all marked as resale and with ridiculous prices, you know there's shady stuff going on. This happens at almost every arena show though, everyone just needs to be patient and don't start seriously looking until about three weeks before the show. With the VIP scam, you know seats in the first 15 rows will not pop up until TM realizes not everyone will pay those ridiculous prices and they release them back into the general sale , which seems to happen about three weeks before the show. This has happened at every Rush show I have seen since the VIP scam began.

 

The promoters block out rows of seats to sell on the secondary market. It's been done like this years, except in the old days, there was no legality to it. The established artists earn a fee up front and promoters use their unfortunate tricks to recoup their investments, many shows earn a profit, some do not.

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Love this debate. I'm going to honest and say I haven't read every passage.

 

It is a free market. Supply and demand. If someone is willing to pay a price then that's the market value of that ticket.

 

However, my biggest concern are tickets being offered on the secondary market BEFORE they are actually offered on the open market. For example, upper tier, cheap seats were all over StubHub days before the general sale. I don't mean a few select seats that were being offered by season tuck holders of sporting events, but every section in the upper tier had seats available.

 

So it's one thing if I can go to that butcher at 10am and compete with the secondary market for the same tickets. It's another to see those steaks I want being offered by the secondary market days before the steaks go on sale.

 

There's a reason why there are laws in NJ (and I imagine other states) that allow gas stations to set their price once a day. There's a reason why there are laws to prevent the gouging of prices in times of emergencies. Why? Because the lawmakers who set the rules for the free market recognize that a free market can swing dangerously in favor of the supplier.

 

Now these are concert tickets and not life necessities like food or fuel. However, where one falls on this issue depends on how far a free market is allowed to be that; free.

 

Exactly. At what point is your free market really free?

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Love this debate. I'm going to honest and say I haven't read every passage.

 

It is a free market. Supply and demand. If someone is willing to pay a price then that's the market value of that ticket.

 

However, my biggest concern are tickets being offered on the secondary market BEFORE they are actually offered on the open market. For example, upper tier, cheap seats were all over StubHub days before the general sale. I don't mean a few select seats that were being offered by season tuck holders of sporting events, but every section in the upper tier had seats available.

 

So it's one thing if I can go to that butcher at 10am and compete with the secondary market for the same tickets. It's another to see those steaks I want being offered by the secondary market days before the steaks go on sale.

 

There's a reason why there are laws in NJ (and I imagine other states) that allow gas stations to set their price once a day. There's a reason why there are laws to prevent the gouging of prices in times of emergencies. Why? Because the lawmakers who set the rules for the free market recognize that a free market can swing dangerously in favor of the supplier.

 

Now these are concert tickets and not life necessities like food or fuel. However, where one falls on this issue depends on how far a free market is allowed to be that; free.

 

Exactly. At what point is your free market really free?

 

Exactly. At some point, particularly with upscale or rare luxury commodities, the 'free' market is in no way commensurate with fair trade.

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This time around I took what was there and was done with it. Luckily there are some big name bands out there who really care for their fans by making sure really good seats are available through pre-sale. The VIP packages offered are a joke in comparison to others. The fans got them into the RRHOF and this is what they give back? I belong to other fan sites and the pre-sale tickets offered there are 100x better than what has been offered here. I feel bad for the common person on this one. Edited by drgrendel
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i'm currently looking at the shows in philly and NYC and haven't found any decent seats at a reasonable price (and i'm only looking for a single ticket). i'm going to wait until the week of the show when more tickets are released and hopefully score a good seat. i remember waiting to buy tickets to the time machine tour in camden and ended up getting 18th row, dead center. if i can't get the seat that i want at a reasonable price, i won't go. screw it. i'll just buy the DVD and be done with it.
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My problem is the deceipt. Don’t advertise ticket prices on the web site as $50-$150 for instance and then sell “Platinum” seats for up to $1000. Don’t put drivel on TM site about wanting to do away with evil scalping when that is exactly what they themselves are doing. Don’t advertise misleading offers like “best available” when the best are certainly not available. I could go on and on.

 

I know about "supply and demand"...

 

...it SHOULDN'T happen this way. Ticketmaster advertises prices for tickets, yet sells them on the exact same site for 5 times the value.

:eh:

 

If you know about supply and demand, you know that you can't sell something above its perceived value. It's the price paid that determines its value.

 

I don't fault Ticketmatser for maximizing their profits. However, I don't like it either.

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Van Squalen. You bring up a lot of good points. I have you beat having gone to concerts for over 40 years now. Used to line up overnight and get nosebleeds at Maple Leaf gardens when was second in line. It has been going on for years but I would add, so has the corruption. I remember going to scalpers and having them provide maps of the venue with highlighted sections where they had tickets for very event.

 

 

I know a street scalper very well. His boss – the guys on the street are not making the big bucks – drives several luxury cars and is a 2nd generation broker. His father was very well connected with Harold Ballard and other big wigs at Maple Leaf gardens. He was able to secure for a price, a large block of the best seats and sell them on the side. The same thing continues today. It is NOT supply and demand in a strict traditional sense. It is CORRUPTION!

 

I have zero problem with high ticket prices. I have paid very high prices for tickets to a number of events. I am fortunate to be able to do so. My problem is the deceipt. Don’t advertise ticket prices on the web site as $50-$150 for instance and then sell “Platinum” seats for up to $1000. Don’t put drivel on TM site about wanting to do away with evil scalping when that is exactly what they themselves are doing. Don’t advertise misleading offers like “best available” when the best are certainly not available. I could go on and on.

 

It is not the high prices that are the problem. But they should be up front and advertise those high prices right from the start. Be transparent. My friend spent time in jail for doing the exact same thing that this super huge corporation is allowed to do.

I guess it's a fine line between targeting the upsell and the full-on bait and switch.
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This time around I took what was there and was done with it. Luckily there are some big name bands out there who really care for their fans by making sure really good seats are available through pre-sale. The VIP packages offered are a joke in comparison to others. The fans got them into the RRHOF and this is what they give back? I belong to other fan sites and the pre-sale tickets offered there are 100x better than what has been offered here. I feel bad for the common person on this one.

 

The demand to sit closer to the Rush is very high compared to other bands. Another one I see often, Pearl Jam, as we know, sells more tix than Rush, but their fans will gladly sit behind the stage or in the rafters. I do not believe that is the case as much for Rush. It's important to a lot of Rush fans to be able to see the band play, and to do that we want to sit fairly close. Tix in first ten rows for Rush are a lot more than Who tix in NY, for example, and The Who are a legendary seminal band part of the first wave. I never thought I would see Rush cost that much more than The Who.

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This time around I took what was there and was done with it. Luckily there are some big name bands out there who really care for their fans by making sure really good seats are available through pre-sale. The VIP packages offered are a joke in comparison to others. The fans got them into the RRHOF and this is what they give back? I belong to other fan sites and the pre-sale tickets offered there are 100x better than what has been offered here. I feel bad for the common person on this one.

 

The demand to sit closer to the Rush is very high compared to other bands. Another one I see often, Pearl Jam, as we know, sells more tix than Rush, but their fans will gladly sit behind the stage or in the rafters. I do not believe that is the case as much for Rush. It's important to a lot of Rush fans to be able to see the band play, and to do that we want to sit fairly close. Tix in first ten rows for Rush are a lot more than Who tix in NY, for example, and The Who are a legendary seminal band part of the first wave. I never thought I would see Rush cost that much more than The Who.

 

Yep, a Rush concert is also a visceral, visual experience. They know it, that's why they have funny videos and cool lasers and lights and pyro and all that jazz. :)

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They never should have allowed VIP tickets to be picked up until the day of the show. PERIOD!. Will call would have taken the scalper out of the mix. IMO

 

Not true. Even in situations with "ticketless entry", which requires the purchaser to show up in person and provide their credit card in order to get in, scalping is still prevalent due to venues and TM's policy of being able to transfer tickets. That is the loophole.

 

The ONLY way to stop scalpers is for people to stop buying from them. If no one bought from Stub Hub. guess what? It wouldn't exist. When people don't pay the price for TM's "platinum seats", they go back into the regular ticketing pool and are sold for what would normally be face value for those seats. Wanna stop the game? Don't play!!

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They never should have allowed VIP tickets to be picked up until the day of the show. PERIOD!. Will call would have taken the scalper out of the mix. IMO

 

Not true. Even in situations with "ticketless entry", which requires the purchaser to show up in person and provide their credit card in order to get in, scalping is still prevalent due to venues and TM's policy of being able to transfer tickets. That is the loophole.

 

The ONLY way to stop scalpers is for people to stop buying from them. If no one bought from Stub Hub. guess what? It wouldn't exist. When people don't pay the price for TM's "platinum seats", they go back into the regular ticketing pool and are sold for what would normally be face value for those seats. Wanna stop the game? Don't play!!

 

You should not be able to transfer any ticket either. It would be impossible and for a "scalper" to travel to every venue they have tickets for.

 

1. Will call only

2. No transfers

3. Must have credit card and ID.

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They never should have allowed VIP tickets to be picked up until the day of the show. PERIOD!. Will call would have taken the scalper out of the mix. IMO

 

Not true. Even in situations with "ticketless entry", which requires the purchaser to show up in person and provide their credit card in order to get in, scalping is still prevalent due to venues and TM's policy of being able to transfer tickets. That is the loophole.

 

The ONLY way to stop scalpers is for people to stop buying from them. If no one bought from Stub Hub. guess what? It wouldn't exist. When people don't pay the price for TM's "platinum seats", they go back into the regular ticketing pool and are sold for what would normally be face value for those seats. Wanna stop the game? Don't play!!

 

You should not be able to transfer any ticket either. It would be impossible and for a "scalper" to travel to every venue they have tickets for.

 

1. Will call only

2. No transfers

3. Must have credit card and ID.

 

Completely agree. I'd actually take it a step further:

 

1. Will call only

2. No transfers

3. Must have credit card and ID.

4. Must enter the venue immediately.

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They never should have allowed VIP tickets to be picked up until the day of the show. PERIOD!. Will call would have taken the scalper out of the mix. IMO

 

Not true. Even in situations with "ticketless entry", which requires the purchaser to show up in person and provide their credit card in order to get in, scalping is still prevalent due to venues and TM's policy of being able to transfer tickets. That is the loophole.

 

The ONLY way to stop scalpers is for people to stop buying from them. If no one bought from Stub Hub. guess what? It wouldn't exist. When people don't pay the price for TM's "platinum seats", they go back into the regular ticketing pool and are sold for what would normally be face value for those seats. Wanna stop the game? Don't play!!

 

It's a nice idea. But it ain't gonna happen. :)

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They never should have allowed VIP tickets to be picked up until the day of the show. PERIOD!. Will call would have taken the scalper out of the mix. IMO

 

Not true. Even in situations with "ticketless entry", which requires the purchaser to show up in person and provide their credit card in order to get in, scalping is still prevalent due to venues and TM's policy of being able to transfer tickets. That is the loophole.

 

The ONLY way to stop scalpers is for people to stop buying from them. If no one bought from Stub Hub. guess what? It wouldn't exist. When people don't pay the price for TM's "platinum seats", they go back into the regular ticketing pool and are sold for what would normally be face value for those seats. Wanna stop the game? Don't play!!

 

It's a nice idea. But it ain't gonna happen. :)

 

 

 

Sad but true.

 

Edit to say that at least the platinum seats thing is 100% definitely a reality. I've scored huge on those things getting dumped back into regular ticket population. For example, I ended up with second row, dead center right on the aisle for Ozzy at MSG probably 7 years ago. Tix were $1,200 and I got them for $80 or somewhere thereabouts. And that's just one. It's all a matter of patience and timing.

Edited by Justin Case
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They never should have allowed VIP tickets to be picked up until the day of the show. PERIOD!. Will call would have taken the scalper out of the mix. IMO

 

Not true. Even in situations with "ticketless entry", which requires the purchaser to show up in person and provide their credit card in order to get in, scalping is still prevalent due to venues and TM's policy of being able to transfer tickets. That is the loophole.

 

The ONLY way to stop scalpers is for people to stop buying from them. If no one bought from Stub Hub. guess what? It wouldn't exist. When people don't pay the price for TM's "platinum seats", they go back into the regular ticketing pool and are sold for what would normally be face value for those seats. Wanna stop the game? Don't play!!

 

It's a nice idea. But it ain't gonna happen. :)

 

 

 

Sad but true.

 

:haz: :haz: :haz: :haz:

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I don't go to many events. As I have gotten older fewer concerts, live sporting events etc.

But when I go. I do the research. I do the planning.

Rush is one that I have my bases covered.

But last year, the wife and I really wanted to see a particular football game. Where did we go?

Stub Hub. 10 rows up, 50 yard line, with a parking pass. Now we paid more than we could have but sitting in prime seats cost us more.

If I am only going to 1 game every few years, I don't mind paying extra.

I look at Rush the same way. They don't tour every Summer; I will pay the extra needed and get my tickets from whoever or wherever I need to.

Free Market indeed.

 

Exactly. One of the unsaid aspects of the ticket debacles is exactly what you said. There's ONE great benefit about secondary market services. You can literally find the exact seat or section that you want to sit in. That's why they thrive. Because people don't have to pull the trigger on a general sale and hope they get lucky. They can pay to sit where they choose. And while the prices are exorbitant usually, it all depends on how one chooses to burn their disposable income. And if they don't have said income, that's okay, everyone can still get in the door usually. Especially at arena gigs.

 

I was just talking with the wifey about this last week. There are VERY few shows I need or want to use a broker for anymore. Other than Rush, the last time I used a source beyond general sale on TM or LN was the Police reunion in '07/'08. (one of my top three bands, never thought I'd see 'em live ever, was a must see with the best seats in the house, period). It burned some, yes, to spend that kinda money. At the same time, how much is that once in a lifetime experience really worth? Priceless, right? Now if I didn't have the dough (I didn't, I just leveraged some credit card and took a couple years to pay it off) then I would've resigned myself to an upper bowl position just to ensure I see them.

 

Rush, however, is a band I prefer to see up close. And no matter how hard I've tried (and I am no slouch at the TM-Live Nation frenzy at 10 am), the last two tours (Time Machine and Clockwork) I failed to come up with anything near what I preferred. In '07 at the Hollywood Bowl Snakes tour, I lucked out and landed 5th row pit - Hollywood Bowl is $$$$$$$$$ anyway - for 350 a pop. That was general sale pricing. Granted, it had the usual Hollywood Bowl markup. No secondary market needed. So for Time Machine (two shows) and Clockwork (one show) I ended up 2nd row pit center, first row pit center, and first row pit Alex's side.

 

Did I pay? Yup. Did the experiences warrant the cost?

 

Yup.

 

And I shelved disposable income in other places accordingly to balance it out. I wish I was wealthy enough to do it for any show I please. But I'm not. So I have to pick and choose.

 

And I always prioritize Rush over all over shows, since R-30 anyway.

 

So it's confusing when people grumble and complain over concert pricing, when they take vacations to Hawaii or buy a new truck or upgrade a sound system. Their everyday 'costs' are my disposables. My 'Rush' is your 'Grand Canyon vacation with the kids.' It's all about prioritizing what you need to burn, as opposed to what you WANT to burn.

 

And Rush's last tour, probably?

 

Yeah, I'm gonna sit where I want to sit, and I'll def try and get those seats for as cheap as possible. But I'll allow for the markup as well. Been doing this ticket grind for 30+ years. It's never been easy to get the good seats, and I've always had to pay more if I didn't land any good stuff on the general sale...or overnight in line...or from street scalpers.

 

"Rush, however, is a band I prefer to see up close. And no matter how hard I've tried (and I am no slouch at the TM-Live Nation frenzy at 10 am), the last two tours (Time Machine and Clockwork) I failed to come up with anything near what I preferred."

 

And the reason for that is brokers and others scarfing up tickets for marked up resale. If not for that, you nor anyone else would have to pay so much to sit somewhere near where you prefer. Pretty simple, really.

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And the reason for that is brokers and others scarfing up tickets for marked up resale. If not for that, you nor anyone else would have to pay so much to sit somewhere near where you prefer. Pretty simple, really.

 

Sure. But as we've been saying...that's nothing new. In the old days, it was done street style, with runners at the venues and ticket outlets, one by one.

 

If all this lamenting is over how the internet has made scalping and brokering EASIER....well, don't you have to balance that out with how much EASIER it is for Joe Q. Public to have a number of ticket purchase options not available in the old days thanks to the InterWeb. Like venue and radio presales, fan club offerings, VIP packages, credit card presales, and so on, and so forth.

 

I dunno, a lot of you seem to be implying that in the 'old days,' it was a lot easier and frequent even, to get good seats for face value. And that's great if it was true for you, but here in SoCal, it has ALWAYS been difficult to get the good seats for face value. Internet, street scalper, street runners, or otherwise.

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