When tickets for the big show go on sale, where is the smartest place to try to buy them? At the theater box office? At a Ticketmaster outlet? Over the phone? On-line?
Our staff decided to check out all of these options when tickets for Brian Wilson’s “Pet Sounds” show at the Chicago Theatre went on sale at noon June 5.
Before we share our findings, there are a few things you should know before you think that the first person in line will naturally have access to great seats.
According to Dave Polacek, marketing director at the show’s co-sponsoring station WCKG-FM 105.9, approximately 1 percent – sometimes more – of the tickets for most shows are held by the promoters and distributed to VIPs, staff and contest winners.
Many artists will also make tickets available to fans with special pre-sales, which in this case happened on June 1. Fans were tipped off through the brianwilson.com Web site and could buy up to six tickets an hour at Ticketmaster outlets between noon and 6 p.m. on that day.
For many shows that use a national ticket service such as Ticketmaster, you are competing with ticket buying fans across the country who are interested in that show, not just those buying locally.
With this in mind, we weren’t all that surprised to find that when tickets “officially” went on sale June 5, all of the top-priced ($99) tickets had been scooped up. Only tickets with a base price of $35 to $75 were available.
Here’s the skinny on what we were able to buy:
