Jean's Blog

Guest Post: Cheap Concert Tickets? Now That’s Music to My Ears.

Posted by Sarah

Many people would pay hundreds of dollars to sit this close to Stevie Nicks…but not me. While there’s nothing I like to do more than go to a good concert, one thing you won’t catch me doing is paying top dollar for tickets.

I’ve spent a whopping $15 to rock out five rows away from Bruce Springsteen.  $40 to sit in the third row and be serenaded by Stevie and the rest of Fleetwood Mac (By the way…the photo at left is courtesy of my own digital camera).  $50 to witness the reunion between rock gods Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood.

With so many artists hitting the road this summer and lots of great shows to be seen it helps to have a few tricks up your sleeve when it comes to getting the tickets you want.  Here are a few of my favorites:

•    Don’t let the words “loge seats” scare you.  In most venues, loge seats are those that are to the side of or behind the stage. Many times these seats are closer to the stage than seats that are front and center.  Don’t be concerned that the performers are going to play to the front the entire time.  They know they have paying fans behind them, and it’s rare that they shortchange them by only playing to the front.

•    It can pay to be last minute. Many times, box offices won’t sell blocks of tickets until closer to the event.  Sometimes, if you wait to call the box office or Ticketmaster closer to the date of the event, you’ll end up with better seats.

•    Think you can’t go because the venue is sold out? Think again. If an artist you’d like to see is playing close by and you don’t have a ticket, make a trip down to the venue.  Often times you’ll find people practically giving tickets away that they can’t use or weren’t able to sell online.  I once saw someone giving away tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert and just last week scored tenth row tickets to a sold-out Third Eye Blind Concert for half of their face value.

•    Shop online. Many of the great deals I’ve gotten on concert tickets were through sites such as Craigslist or Ebay.  You can find great deals on these sites from the time tickets go on sale to the day of the event.

•    Go to a show and give back. When you can no longer find seats through the box office, pay a visit to Tickets-For-Charity’s website. Each seat for sale on their site is priced at face value, plus a donation, which you direct to up to four national partner charities. These charities help support important causes, from children’s cancer and hunger to poverty and climate change.

What show are you excited about seeing this summer?  Get a good deal on tickets?  Still looking for them?  We’d love to hear!