Buy U2 tickets Ticketmaster in-store or on the website?
I’ve had to go the TicketBastard route on more than a number of occasions for Phish tickets, which sold out in seconds for smaller shows, if you can believe it. Here’s what I learned. Civil Disobedient’s Great Guide to Getting Face • 1. Avoid TM if at all possible. Being a member to, or a friend of a member to the fan club can get you access to the batches of tickets eligible for pre-order. • 2. Find a TM outlet far from a population center. Any TM outlet will do, the point is, you have to be first. So, the less remote the TM outlet, the most people will already be waiting in line by the time you get there. • 3. Find an outlet that doesn’t do bracelets or ticket numbers. This is a bullshit policy where if more than a certain number of people show up in line before tickets go on sale, they distribute numbered tickets to everyone. Then at a pre-ordained time, they draw a number out of a hat. The person with the number becomes first, and the next person in ticket number order follows.
It’s been a few years, but I always reloaded Ticketmaster until I got what I wanted. I’d start about thirty minutes before ticket sell and go a few hours beyond. Sometimes great seats would open up when people would ‘release them’ either through error or necessity. Do realize the website can be a frustrating but fruitful experience. I never enjoyed physical lines.
Especially after the fan club presale fiasco this week, I’d go to an outlet before I’d test my luck with Ticketmaster online. There are lots of very cranky people frothing at the mouth for tickets. Get there early. I’m waiting for the alleged third leg in the fall myself — supposedly 30 U.S. dates as opposed to this skinny little spring leg.
If it sells out or you get bad tickets, keep trying. The venues often reserve blocks of seats for promotions (radio stations, local corps.) Sometimes, if these seats go unused, they will open them up in the final days leading up to the concert or the day of the concert. I got extremely good tickets to Aerosmith and Eric Clapton on Ticketmaster 2-3 hours before the concerts started. Both shows had been sold out for months. Often these tickets that open up are often on the side of the stage (very close but you only see one side) but sometimes are in the front rows.
