Thursday, July 20, 2006

Just a Friendly Warning

Looks like everyone is stepping up to the plate on this little tour in regards to scalpers:

Tom Waits tickets that have been purchased via resale sites such as eBay and StubHub.com will not be accepted at any of Waits’ upcoming shows.
Because all eight dates of his tour immediately sold out, many tickets have been available for sale online and through ticket brokers. Tickets sold from these entities are assumed to be fraudulent, and many tickets may also be counterfeit.

[Via: Paste Magazine :: News :: Tom Waits Tickets Bought on eBay Won't Be Accepted (Page 1)]

31 comments:

AlexG said...

According to Ticketmaster, my tickets are coming in the mail (Chicago show, main floor, but near the back right). I though only the really great seats were Will Call only. Am I wrong?

TCCBodhi said...

I think as long as you bought your tickets from TicketMaster, you are fine. I believe Paste may be misstating that ALL tickets are Will-Call.

People that have bought from Ebay or other resellers may have problems by the sound of things. Buyer beware!

B said...

I think you are right Alex, my front row balcony tix are being shipped.

I applaud anti-scalping measures but how is this legal? More of a rhetorical question. Once I buy the tickets, don't I own them, why can't I give them away as gifts?

I have purchased numerous tickets to shows as gifts.

Anonymous said...

I can appreciate the steps being taken to prohibit scalping. However, for some fans the only way to get tickets was through ebay. How in the world can they detect which tickets were purchased on ebay if they were not will-call tickets???

B said...

Mickey, if you got your tix in the mail, I don't think they can.

I think they are referring to people who walk up to willcall and try to get the tickets purchased by someone else. Unless they make all of us show IDs regardless......

Anonymous said...

Just got tickets for kentucy 13th row. Keep trying..............

Anonymous said...

wwwhhhaaaaa WWWhhhooooo!!! JUst got 2 for the Louisville show. Orch Row K....Keep trying guys. .....I'm so happy right now......

Anonymous said...

I think its cool that the promoters/ tom waits folks set it up via will call. I do however think its in a strange way kinda limiting to sell via ticketbastard. They are after all basically a monopoly and further more scalpers in their own right. Convinience charge my arse! Straight up mafia fee would be just a little more honest. They make more on the show than the artist I bet. Whatsmore they cannot deliver the service they charge so much for. Therefore ebay and the mercinaries who scalp have an instant market. In the old days before ticketbasterd, scalpers didnt have it so good.
I have given up on the shows. I hope all you lucky fans who got tickets enjoy them. Maybe Tom will play the west coast sometime again????

Anonymous said...

eeek - this could get a bit uncomfortable at the nashville and chicago shows since there are so many tickets for those available at ebay

Anonymous said...

Scare tatics!!!

I think it's good that they trying to rid the world of scaplers, but they aren't doing a very good job of following through.

They said that all the tickets were will call only. That is not true. I recieved my tickets in the mail earlier this week.

See: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/thefall1978/twticket.jpg

They say that tickets sold on ebay will be assumed as fradulent. That can't be true. Say if I were to sell my tickets on ebay. How the hell would they know? They wouldn't.


Moral of the story: Scalpers are bad, but so are liars.

Anonymous said...

Not all tickets are willcall. Here's the actuality:

1. Atlanta, Detroit and Louisville ARE all WILLCALL only.
2. The other venues have either WILLCALL, PREMIUM or STANDARD Seating.
3. If you bought a WILLCALL or PREMIUM ticket, they ARE WILLCALL.
4. But if you bought Standard Seating, you will be getting your tickets in the mail.
5. Yes there are some orchestra tickets that are NOT willcall. Only the closest seats are willcall.

I hope this clears the confusion. The press release at Paste is modified. (I dont know why they would do that!)

I understand to scare people of scalpers but giving misleading info is also not very useful.

Anonymous said...

During the last euro tour I ordered 4 tix for Berlin as the operation involved phoning german ticket agencies, transferring cash from bank accounts and waiting for 3 weeks. I honestly expected just to receive 2 tickets and lose the others in the mists of mistranslation but got all 4.

Now, I'm not a lover of ticket scalpers but neither am I made of money, so I sold my spare tickets on ebay, managing to pay for my travel to Berlin with the difference. There was no way I was going to miss out on Waits even if it involved a little free marketeering. The Berlin shows didn't sell out as quickly as these current shows so I don't think there was the same level of bitterness around at ticketing agencies. The buyer was obviously prepared to pay money to see the show. She got her tickets and I got the money to get to Berlin. No one was hurt or harmed in the process.

Richard Gibson said...

Does anyoneone know if Tom Waits will come to Europe again anytime soon?

Last year the tickets sold out and scalpers or Ticket touts as we call them were selling them for GBP 400 which is just under US$750.

Anonymous said...

I was thinking the same thing as well. I wasn't sure if the purpose was indeed to scare people, or if Paste just had their facts that mixed up.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see a set list!

Anonymous said...

I purchased 2tix from ebay to the memphis date.Seller said they are not willcall and are located in the grand tier.The orpheum layouts are very basic.Small worried about my 800 mile hike with this whole scare.Anyone know about the venue?
Is grand tier balcony????

Anonymous said...

Tickets bought online thru ticketmaster with a credit card and scalped thru ebay
(not will call)Could these be rejected somehow at the shows??
Don't understand this madness!!!

Anonymous said...

I would not worry too much about the ticket cancellation threats. Unless, of course, the seller is unhandy. Certain touts actually include a scanned image of the tickets in their eBay ad, with the ticket number clearly displayed. In the case of the recent Springsteen concert in London, those ticket numbers were checked on a daily basis by certain agencies. If the numbers matched one of the tickets they had sold, those tickets were cancelled. True story.
As to Ticketmaster: check, re-check and check again the TM website. Ticket drops do occur. I was lucky enough to get two for the aforementioned Springsteen concert during one of those ticket drops.
And regarding selling tickets with a profit: that is a matter between the seller and his corrupted conscience. I sold my spares for Europe last year at face value and earned the eternal thankfulness and friendship of an excellent barkeeper in Brussels. Free Duvel ever since!

Anonymous said...

General Admission Tickets are back up for Atlanta (Will Call only). I just snagged two!!!

My cell phone number is 865-591-0056. That's so you can arrange to buy me a drink before the show if you get some tickets thanks to my info.

Cheers,
Ryan

Anonymous said...

Haven anyone's tickets for Akron been printed/mailed yet?

Anonymous said...

Want to see crazy? Check out what this pair of tickets just went for at the Louisville Palace...un-freaking-believable. You have to copy and paste the whole url:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:112&item=120008879351&id=

Anonymous said...

Holy hell! I have third row tickets for the Chicago show. I could only imagine what they would theoretically fetch! Of course, they're not for sale.

Anonymous said...

Thanx Ryan,just got two for Atlanta!!!!!!
Tried the cell and It's not working, But I owe you a drink FOR SURE!!!!!!!!Thanx a million!!
Shango,

Anonymous said...

Glad you got in that window Shango, looks like they are off the market now. Don't know why the cell didn't work. Should be fine.

But it looks like fans are meeting up at the "Sidebar" 3 blocks down from the Tabernacle pre and post show. I think someone reserved a Tom Waits fan room.

I probably will be in line during the pre meetup but if anyone wants to have a frontal labotomy post show give me a shout....

Ryan

Anonymous said...

oh yeah forgot about the call line.
Post labotomy will have to work.
I got section 208 row C1-2 by the way.A hell of a lot better than the crap balc seats for Memphis I bought for three arms and a leg on ebay.Refunded of course...
Salute!
-shango

Anonymous said...

I think that the South Loop bar received some recommendations. It's very near to the theater.

Anonymous said...

Quite frankly, any shows Tom Waits does now and in future will be inevitably subject to scalpers/touts. He doesn't tour often and when he does, the shows are amazing. There aren't enough tickets to go round and there are always people wanting to make a fast buck who luck out and get tickets from agencies at the expense of real fans. And, of course, there are friends of the ticket agencies and promotors who seem to score front row tickets but somehow don't seem to actually go to the gigs.

I paid way over the odds for Amsterdam tickets in 2004 because it was borderline impossible to get tickets via the official channels. I don't regret it, but I wonder how many money-grubbing urchins managed to get tickets through official channels for the sole purpose of selling them off at a premium. Quite a few, I imagine.

The answer?

Tom plays gigs at huge stadia week in, week out. Which isn't gonna happen, is it?

Anonymous said...

No, it's not going to happen, But if it did, These shows would not be the intimate masterpieces they
are.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know of any plan for a Canadian date? idol_odds@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

Tripod, How on earth did you hear this?!! Seven Hours?!!?

Brian K Reese said...

All Chicago Waits attendees: i work right around the corner from the Audiorium Theatre and am planning to have some beverages at a nearby pub before the show. I can recommend places to go, or, conversely, i'm trying to set up an unofficial little Waits fest thingy before the show...no prizes or nuthin', just drinks and general Waitsness...check out my blog or email me (jukejoint@gmail.com) for further details/plans if you're interested.