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angee

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latebloomer


Little Queenie, you don't know me, but I am glad to see you'll be at whatever IORR gatherings there are before/after the concert, I don't want to be the only girl. Sorta silly, I know, especially since I am certainly not a teenager anymore, but still, we girls have to stick together.

What am I a boy? (Check your email, lb...)

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lmatth8461
OK, so after all the build-up, I finally made it in.
I arrived at the O2 around 5pm with £200 cash set aside, and the intention that I would spend no more if I could possibly help it. Scoped out the official ticket office, and then headed over to Seatwave to find out what the deal was. They told me the leftovers would go on sale at 7:45...cutting it fine! I suspected that was my best option, although I also wanted to see if anyone had any genuine spares closer to the time.
Headed down to the Pilot Inn where I spent a very pleasant hour with Sweet Virginia and her friend (sorry mate, didn't catch your board name), then back to the venue around 7pm to see what fate would bring me. Nobody obviously selling spares, although there were a couple of touts around. I was offered a £106 ticket for £150. 'Are you going in?' I asked. No came the reply. Forget it. Touts were my absolute last option anyway, but I heard there were some fakes going around on Sunday, so I nixed that idea. If someone had a spare to shift, and was actually going in with me, that's a different matter.

The box office was pretty crowded, and I doubted I could get anything at my price range anyway, so headed back to Seatwave at the appropriate time.There was quite a scrum, and the priority was given to people collecting, of course, so time dragged on and on. One guy in particular spent ages trying to sort out his purchase, and his credit card kept getting rejected. 8pm came and went...some people actually buying on their smartphones while in the office, so they could collect quicker. I suspect this was expensive - the prices were dropping minute by minute after official showtime...but not being updated on the site - not enough time. Three came up for cash sale, but they wouldn't split them - I was only after one. By this time I was right up against the desk. Then a pair was announced for £209 each. A guy next to me inquired, but he was only after a single, and as soon as he was told they wouldn't split, I immediately asked if he wanted to go in with me. The deal was done, and then the lady asked for £270! The price had literally dropped in a minute. Bear in mind this was probably 8:15 by now. He paid with his card, and we did a mad dash to the venue. We passed by manofwealthandtaste on the way in, who was less fortunate than us, I think; bad luck mate, must have been a real pisser to get so close.
Only once we were on the escalator did I have the chance to evaluate our purchase - row F, block 418. I paid him £140 (neither of us had any fivers), which meant that I got in for £60 less than I had bargained for. After the gig, I checked the face value - £326, which meant I got a 57% discount! Arriving to the sound of the samba drums - great, the band haven't taken the stage yet! - we took our seats about two minutes before they went on. Real seat of your pants stuff!

There were three factors involved in this outcome:
1. Nerves of steel - no doubt I would have been very disappointed if I couldn't get in, but I was certainly prepared to walk away empty handed if that's the way the cards fell. Worth pointed out that I'm fairly local - I live in Lewisham, so the O2 is literally a bus ride away for me - it's not like I had to travel a great distance to take this chance.

2. The original ticket prices - let alone what the secondary market was charging - certainly left a bad taste in my mouth. There was a certain amount of taking a principled stand, not unlike Gazza in this respect. Think about it: in 2007 - pre-recession, mind - I paid £1500 in total, including charges. That got me, my wife, and her sister in to all three nights. Opening night: Third row, middle night: second row from the b-stage, final night, seventh row. I paid £150 per ticket then, and last night I paid £140 to be way up in the gods. This may be the 'new normal'...but not for me.

3. Overwhelmingly the most important factor was that I just couldn't afford anything except the £106 tickets, which were gone in a heartbeat. My firm is laying off a lot of people, and it's quite possible I could be made redundant before the year is out. It's arguable that I shouldn't even be thinking about going to gigs right now - but I'll cross that bridge if or when I come to it.


Many thanks to all the posters on this thread - while luck certainly played its part, the information here certainly shaped the course of action I took.
Many thanks obviously to my 'partner in crime' who I doubled up with the score the ticket - much appreciated,if you get to read this! I didn't even catch your name, but you did mention IORR, so you are probably a member.
...and finally thanks to whoever had to sell his pair of £326 tickets for £270. Win some, lose some, eh?

Review to follow, posted on the appropriate thread.

Lee

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SILBE64
Ticketmaster.com show tix for the 13th, Section 10 (Keithside) Row 18 at the moment, (wish I could get those for us but have to work that day, no way to fly in from London) - maybe someone here would like to try for those ...

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little queenie
paulywaul, drbryant, angee, beast, kahoosier, i will be in section 16 both nights at newark...hope to see you at the shows or afterward?!

i'm tempted to buy some obstructed view for brooklyn but the $500 level are just a bit too obstructed at this venue

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paulywaul
Pit tickets ?? Now that's a different story. I'd be amazed if TM started dropping those. I may well just succumb to temptation though and get one off STUBHUB or something like that for the Brooklyn show, if they come down to a little less than USD$ 1000 .... I probably will. Haven't done the pit yet, gotta try it. I'm in block 10 for both Prudential shows, so Brooklyn's THE ONE I guess !! We'll see !!

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Beast

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paulywaul
Pit tickets ?? Now that's a different story. I'd be amazed if TM started dropping those. I may well just succumb to temptation though and get one off STUBHUB or something like that for the Brooklyn show, if they come down to a little less than USD$ 1000 .... I probably will. Haven't done the pit yet, gotta try it. I'm in block 10 for both Prudential shows, so Brooklyn's THE ONE I guess !! We'll see !!

Congrats on those tickets, paulywaul, and make sure you DO succumb to that temptation! I can't recommend the pit highly enough.

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gotdablouse
Too bad I can't come up with a good excuse to fly to NYC next week ;-) I can't believe how "little" they're asking for the pit tix too compared to London.

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mickschix
I really want to find 2 decent seats for Dec 8...is Ticketmaster just letting some seats go at random?? What are your thoughts on these greedy broker bastards dropping prices and when?

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paulywaul

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mickschix
I really want to find 2 decent seats for Dec 8...is Ticketmaster just letting some seats go at random?? What are your thoughts on these greedy broker bastards dropping prices and when?

I can't judge the U.S. market, or at least not as well as I can the U.K. one. But I think it is highly likely that TM will be dropping decent seats in the next few days, following their customary habit of filling up the venue "from the top and from the back" ......... in other words selling the crap first and the best stuff last. Just keep searching (repeatedly), the tickets you want will turn up eventually I'd think.

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JoT839
The Brooklyn pit ticket dropped to under $1000 here gruvr

That's it, I'm in!

See you there,

JoT

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odean73

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paulywaul
YES YES YES YES YES



Just got me two in SECTION 10 (aaaaagh shriek ) for the 15th .....

NYC here I come ...................... !!

Sorry folks, gotta do more cartwheels ......

There's one VERY happy American cousin in New Jersey right now, she's never seen the Stones before. Can you believe that ? I know I know, it's OK, I'll have strong words with her when I get there. Don't worry, she'll see the light by the time I've finished with her !!

Now do concentrate Paul .... Brooklyn and Prudential 1 to go (sound of man furiously rattling laptop keyboard )

Nice one paul.

At the moment looking at new york and hoping to obtain some cheap air tickets through my sister in law who works for british airways <sorry>><

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colonial

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odean73

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paulywaul
YES YES YES YES YES



Just got me two in SECTION 10 (aaaaagh shriek ) for the 15th .....

NYC here I come ...................... !!

Sorry folks, gotta do more cartwheels ......

There's one VERY happy American cousin in New Jersey right now, she's never seen the Stones before. Can you believe that ? I know I know, it's OK, I'll have strong words with her when I get there. Don't worry, she'll see the light by the time I've finished with her !!

Now do concentrate Paul .... Brooklyn and Prudential 1 to go (sound of man furiously rattling laptop keyboard )

Nice one paul.

At the moment looking at new york and hoping to obtain some cheap air tickets through my sister in law who works for british airways <sorry>><

All those seats behind the stage do people actually seat there

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treaclefingers

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colonial

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odean73

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paulywaul
YES YES YES YES YES



Just got me two in SECTION 10 (aaaaagh shriek ) for the 15th .....

NYC here I come ...................... !!

Sorry folks, gotta do more cartwheels ......

There's one VERY happy American cousin in New Jersey right now, she's never seen the Stones before. Can you believe that ? I know I know, it's OK, I'll have strong words with her when I get there. Don't worry, she'll see the light by the time I've finished with her !!

Now do concentrate Paul .... Brooklyn and Prudential 1 to go (sound of man furiously rattling laptop keyboard )

Nice one paul.

At the moment looking at new york and hoping to obtain some cheap air tickets through my sister in law who works for british airways <sorry>><

All those seats behind the stage do people actually seat there

Yes, but those are the cheap seats. They only go for around $350, plus service fees.

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colonial

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odean73

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paulywaul
YES YES YES YES YES



Just got me two in SECTION 10 (aaaaagh shriek ) for the 15th .....

NYC here I come ...................... !!

Sorry folks, gotta do more cartwheels ......

There's one VERY happy American cousin in New Jersey right now, she's never seen the Stones before. Can you believe that ? I know I know, it's OK, I'll have strong words with her when I get there. Don't worry, she'll see the light by the time I've finished with her !!

Now do concentrate Paul .... Brooklyn and Prudential 1 to go (sound of man furiously rattling laptop keyboard )

Nice one paul.

At the moment looking at new york and hoping to obtain some cheap air tickets through my sister in law who works for british airways <sorry>><

All those seats behind the stage do people actually seat there

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colonial

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treaclefingers

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colonial

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odean73

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paulywaul
YES YES YES YES YES



Just got me two in SECTION 10 (aaaaagh shriek ) for the 15th .....

NYC here I come ...................... !!

Sorry folks, gotta do more cartwheels ......

There's one VERY happy American cousin in New Jersey right now, she's never seen the Stones before. Can you believe that ? I know I know, it's OK, I'll have strong words with her when I get there. Don't worry, she'll see the light by the time I've finished with her !!

Now do concentrate Paul .... Brooklyn and Prudential 1 to go (sound of man furiously rattling laptop keyboard )

Nice one paul.

At the moment looking at new york and hoping to obtain some cheap air tickets through my sister in law who works for british airways <sorry>><

All those seats behind the stage do people actually seat there

Yes, but those are the cheap seats. They only go for around $350, plus service fees.

Is the stage designed so those people can see the band?

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angee
Colonial, only the side blocks 11 and 15 are sold so far, not the very back sections.

True, Pauly, they are 499.00. I am in block 11. I think I will be quite pleased with the view, hope so,
pleased enough, anyway.

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chriseganstar

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paulywaul

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mickschix
I really want to find 2 decent seats for Dec 8...is Ticketmaster just letting some seats go at random?? What are your thoughts on these greedy broker bastards dropping prices and when?

I can't judge the U.S. market, or at least not as well as I can the U.K. one. But I think it is highly likely that TM will be dropping decent seats in the next few days, following their customary habit of filling up the venue "from the top and from the back" ......... in other words selling the crap first and the best stuff last. Just keep searching (repeatedly), the tickets you want will turn up eventually I'd think.

Where you staying Paulywaul? Pam & I were in the pit at the back with bv on Thursday, I'm travelling over on my own on Thursday for the 15th gig.

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paulywaul
I'm staying with a cousin in New Jersey mostly, she's coming with me to the 15th show. Am on my own for Brooklyn & the Prudential 13th, staying in a Manhattan hotel for those two nights (8th & 13th) - only because it's too complicated to get back to hers late at night by public transport.

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Manofwealthandtaste

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paulywaul
I'm staying with a cousin in New Jersey mostly, she's coming with me to the 15th show. Am on my own for Brooklyn & the Prudential 13th, staying in a Manhattan hotel for those two nights (8th & 13th) - only because it's too complicated to get back to hers late at night by public transport.

Re your accommodation, I sent you an email Pauly.

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paulywaul

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chriseganstar

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paulywaul

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mickschix
I really want to find 2 decent seats for Dec 8...is Ticketmaster just letting some seats go at random?? What are your thoughts on these greedy broker bastards dropping prices and when?

I can't judge the U.S. market, or at least not as well as I can the U.K. one. But I think it is highly likely that TM will be dropping decent seats in the next few days, following their customary habit of filling up the venue "from the top and from the back" ......... in other words selling the crap first and the best stuff last. Just keep searching (repeatedly), the tickets you want will turn up eventually I'd think.

Where you staying Paulywaul? Pam & I were in the pit at the back with bv on Thursday, I'm travelling over on my own on Thursday for the 15th gig.

I'm staying with a cousin in New Jersey mostly, she's coming with me to the 15th show. Am on my own for Brooklyn & the Prudential 13th, staying in a Manhattan hotel for those two nights (8th & 13th) - only because it's too complicated to get back to hers late at night by public transport.