TBT: Buying Concert Tickets

The new year has brought a ton of really exciting concert announcements and major tours [Pearl Jam, Tool, Nickelback/STP...], so it is no surprise that many conversations lately have been about upcoming shows an who is on your 2020 concert list.  I was talking with some friends today about the ticket buying process for major shows, and how things have drastically changed over the years, and got kind of nostalgic.

Anyone remember having to buy tickets on site, at a Ticketmaster location/site?

I grew up here in the Hudson Valley, and was lucky to have the coolest mom who was always down to cart me, and a mini-van full of my friends to whatever show (read, boy band) we were headed to, but before the show, there was the ticket buying process.  Who remembers when Filene's was in the Poughkeepsie Galleria, and they had a Ticketmaster counter in store?

I vividly remember begging, and somehow getting my parents to agree to let us camp out in the parking lot/outside the entrance to Filene's in order to be first in line when they opened the doors, us running through various departments, almost knocking over displays to get our concert tickets.  No matter which venue or show we were going to, how early we got in line and how many tickets we were shooting for, somehow, we always landed seats in the last row of the venue.  I think i've experienced the last row in every venue in the tri-state area, and i'm damn proud of it.  Didn't matter though, "lucky to be in the house" is what we used to say.

Camping out for tickets with my girlfriends and discussing our game plan for the concerts are some of my favorite memories, and something that concert-goers these days don't really get to experience.  Now, it's how many devices you can get on simultaneously to try and snag seats to see your favorite artist.  The things we do for the love of live music, right?