Home

As expected, Radiohead will be touring the US this year and if you missed the last round of small venue shows you’re probably leaving right now to stand in line for tickets. I personally know many people who went down every avenue to score the entrance pass to the last shows here in Chicago only to be left with the option to pay a heavily engorged price on Craigslist and Ebay.

Have no fear for this round of purchasing. Ticketmaster is a cruel mistress, but I was one of the few to get tickets and I even had a chance to buy an extra set for that matter. To be sure you get yours this time you must be willing to go the extra mile (quite literally). Just follow these basic rules and you’ll have a better chance at getting tickets to any show.

Rule One: Go where the people aren’t

I live right across the border of Chicago in Northwest Indiana and I had a feeling the closer to Gary (not a nice place) I went, the better chance I would be first in line on that Saturday morning. Man did it pay off. I showed up a half hour before they went on sale and was easily first in line. By the time tickets were released there were maybe ten people behind me. But you’ll still want to get there early for small shows because the 5th guy in line missed out. I’m pretty sure he was disappointed.

Rule Two: Using the phone? Call Michigan.

This is really the easiest trick of all. TicketMaster has to allow the surrounding areas of the city the event is taking place access to the tickets as well. For example, if Radiohead is playing in Chicago on a tour but not Detroit I can call the TicketMaster in Kalamazoo and most likely get through the first time.

There are mistakes to be made in this plan. You have to call an area authorized to sell them. I can’t call St Louis to get Chicago tickets because Radiohead will be playing there and they have no reason to sell tickets to the Chicago show. Try calling a larger city near you that won’t be hosting the same show in the future.

The other thing to be careful of is getting into a calling war with teenage girls trying to buy My Chemical Romance tickets. Check the city you will be calling on Ticketmaster’s website for any other shows that will be selling at the same time to be safe.

The most difficult part of this plan is finding the number for the local Ticketmaster. You may have to do a little searching but they are out there. Try Google.com, I hear it’s pretty good.

Rule Three: I love LA.

If you somehow oversleep and miss everything have no fear. Tickets for another city will probably be going on sale soon and now you have the knowledge to get your hands on some. Use the phone trick to procure a pair and then sell them for market value. This should get you enough money to purchase auctioned tickets for your own show.

So there you have it. Now start planning your ticket scoring by checking out this list Radiohead released today of cities they’ll be hitting this year. Chicago’s on there. I’m thinking Milwaukee might be a good place to start.

2 Comments

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI

Leave a comment