AC/DC ticket!
So I was on the phone with ridesandruns, telling her sadly how I was not going to be able to see AC/DC in concert. They are not coming anywhere near my town; the closest (and I use that word loosely) venue is Chicago, on Thurs. Oct. 30. I'd have to take a couple of days off work just to get there and back, and anyway they sold out Chicago about an hour after tickets went on sale. And as I'm telling her this, I'm pulling up acdc.com just to stare and wallow in my misery... and to my disbelief, I see that a second Chicago date has been added. Sat. Nov. 1 -- not a weekday! not a workday! And fan club tickets are still available!
Ridesandruns urges me to quit talking, get off the phone and buy that ticket.
So I am now the proud owner of a ticket on the floor at Allstate Arena. I have a terrific floor seat right next to the catwalk, for the Nov. 1 show in Chicago. (Not General Admission, but an actual seat.) And I got it through the fan club at face value of $89.50. I can't believe it.
I am even more amazed I got this ticket when I read the stories about ticket scalping. I can't believe the scalping that is going on. Apparently scalpers bought themselves multiple fan club memberships and used them to buy multiple seats at multiple venues. Now they are re-selling the floor seats for up to $2,000.00 each (face value $89.95) and they are selling seats in the nosebleed section for up to $500.00 each (face value about $50). AC/DC tried to prevent scalping with an elaborate system I won't go into, but sure nuff, the scalpers have figured out a way to get around this system.
But the worst story I read on the AC/DC community board is that Ticketmaster sold all the Vancouver, B.C., Canada show tickets to companies called TicketExchange and TicketsNow, and these companies are now engaging in legal scalping, re-selling the tickets for $500 to $2000. According to the Canadian fans, there are no laws regulating ticket scalping in B.C. The B.C. fans never had a chance to buy the tickets at face value. I don't see who on earth can afford tickets at these prices.
So I am going to be thankful for my own luck, while feeling bad for fans who got shut out by scalpers.
I reserved a room at a decent hotel for a decent rate within walking distance of Allstate Arena. My plan is to leave home at the crack of dawn and drive to Chicago on Sat., Nov. 1. Drive back on Sunday, Nov. 2. The big, big problem with a Nov. 1 date, no matter what my mode of travel -- snow. If there is snow, I have to give up and eat the cost of the ticket. I won't be able to give the ticket away due to AC/DC's anti-scalping measures. So I have a hotel room that I can cancel the morning of Nov. 1 without penalty, and I am not going to buy a plane ticket because the refundable ones are too expensive. I'll just see if the weather allows me to drive on the day. The most I will lose is the cost of the concert ticket.
Wow, I have a great seat at an AC/DC concert, can't believe it.