« October 2004 | Main | May 2005 »
I got tickets. It involved me, a scalper, Ebay, and about $200 more than I would've spent if I'd gotten them at face value. But I have them. And now I'm completely worn out. Talk about an emotional wringer. The tickets are pretty good and I will post more about it later. Right now I'm going to go lie down or something.
I entered my first request for tickets at 10:04 (went on sale at 10) and I could not get anything. Apparently no one else could, either, judging by the thread on the McCartney forums. Which begs the question: if they didn't sell the tickets to the general public in the "general public sale" then where the hell did they go? I've tried upwards of fifty times and the two times tickets came up they were bad seats and not worth the money. Now all that's left is ticket brokers, scalpers and Ebay, for those who have available credit lines or lots of cash, or, for people like me, who could barely scrape together enough for tickets at face value, it's the end of the line. Oh, sure, I could probably find some upper-level tickets from a broker for the amount of money I have. But I'm not spending five hundred dollars to watch a stupid concert on a stupid Jumbotron.
So, thanks a lot, Paul and all who were involved in this brilliant decision-making process. Glad all the corporate bigwigs and radio stations and rich people were able to get their tickets. You must have had half the arena reserved for them because there were people who were on at 10:00, exactly, and couldn't get tickets. I didn't realize I'd have to have superhuman powers to secure tickets. Thanks for wasting my time. Hope you have a good tour.
Just having a mini-panic attack over buying the Paul tickets tomorrow. What if I can't get good seats? I am hoping for seats at least as good as the ones I got last time, if not better. I keep thinking, though, what if the first ones I pull up aren't that great? Do I buy them anyway? Or do I take a huge risk and throw them back and try again? Most of his shows are selling out in about half an hour. Now, I will be specifically requesting the best available $250 seats, which does keep me out of the upper levels (I think). And Ticketmaster.com is the way I got the seats last time so I do have a good chance, I think, of doing at least as well this time. I don't know, I'm just freaking. I am going to be devastated if we are so far away that we can't even tell it's Paul. I mean, why would I pay 500 bucks for to watch a concert on the Jumbotron? It's important to me to be close enough to actually see him because you never know if this will be my last chance. Who knows when he will retire? This could be his last tour! And I want Madalyn to be able to look at him and see that, indeed, that is Paul and not just some indiscernible blob with a guitar.
I guess if I am really unhappy with the seats we get I can keep an eye on Ebay for better ones between now and then, and maybe do some kind of swap, buying a new set and then selling the other ones. Hopefully that is a decision I won't be faced with.
Okay, breathe....breathe....certainly after this past year fate owes me a good turn....
Have I mentioned I'm going to see Paul McCartney? Really? Because I could totally say it again.
Tickets go on sale in under 59 hours, people. Come Saturday morning it's me at the computer, Mastercard in one hand, seating chart in the other. Ticketmonster had better be good to me.
(Added bonus: I probably won't mention the subject again for a good five months after the tickets have been purchased. Till then, give me a break, it's all I've got going for me right now.)
The official Paul McCartney tour dates were announced today.
Naturally, the announcement comes one day after I spent most of the money in my Paypal account at the Galleria in Dallas. *sigh*
However, according to Ticketmaster, the Dallas show does not go on sale until the 30th. So we have almost two full weeks to scrabble together enough money for two tickets.
As thrilled as I am over this development, I am also exceedingly disappointed. Paul will NOT be coming back to Oklahoma City. No, he has decided, instead, that stops in Des Moines and Omaha are necessary. Let me repeat that. O. ma. ha.
Between that and "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" I have given up ever trying to figure out what goes on in that man's head.
Robert and I have been talking, though, and we have a plan. It is thus: I will only be buying tickets for the Dallas show immediately. Then, as the summer and, hopefully, our financial situation progress we will try to plan for me to see Paul in some other city. Possibilities include Vegas (very large pie in the sky -- that will only happen if things improve dramatically) or perhaps Milwaukee (never been to Wisconsin before) or who knows where else.
Now to begin the countdown to November....
And, snap, just like that, the information I got a few days ago has been rescinded. "They" (whoever "they" may be) are now claiming Paul will be somewhere totally different on those days, Houston and Dallas are still up in the air....and STILL no official announcement on the tour schedule or when we might expect tickets to be on sale.
*Sigh* If it was anyone else, Paul, I'd have thrown up my hands in disgust and sworn off seeing them, just on principle!
Last night I got word that the Dallas concert date for Paul McCartney is confirmed and that tickets go on sale on the 16th -- and then had a mini-breakdown when I realized that I really, truly am going to see Paul again. I'd have been okay with just getting the information but then "Maybe I'm Amazed" came up on the playlist I was listening to and I lost it, briefly.
I saw Sir Paul three times in 2002 -- in Vegas, Dallas and Oklahoma City. The first concert was great and it just got better each time I saw him. The Oklahoma City concert ranks in my top five favorite memories of all time. I was so sad the day after because it was all over and because I just didn't know if I was going to see Paul again -- ever. But now I am and I'm just beside myself. When the song came on it hit me that this is really going to happen and I got emotional.
Finances are such that it has been a struggle to get together the money to go, whereas last time I just charged whatever I wanted. However, I have managed to save enough to get one ticket, any seat I want, for the Dallas concert. So the next hurdle after that is the issue of Oklahoma City.
You see, after the last concert, I swore that if Paul ever toured again I would see him -- and take Madalyn with me. My intent has always been to take her to Oklahoma City and then see him on my own in Dallas (a longer drive from here). However, none of the other tour dates have been announced yet. So the big question right now is, will Paul return to OKC? Will they announce the rest of the dates before Dallas goes on sale? Will I buy one ticket for Dallas and then later discover that's the closest he's coming to here? I surely can't imagine them starting to sell tickets for a venue without announcing the rest of the venues, first. I don't need them to go on sale at the same time (I'd prefer they didn't, to give me more time to get money together after purchasing the Dallas ticket). But I really need for them to announce the dates so I know where we stand. I don't know why Paul wouldn't come back to OKC. The Ford Center is considered one of the top venues in the country -- and Paul sold it out last time. At the same time, though, I can't count on it. OKC is one of those "cusp" cities. Unlike Los Angeles, or Chicago, or NYC, you can't assume anything will come here. It may....but it's equally as likely that it may not. You just have to suspend planning until you have official word one way or the other.
As for the financial aspect of it: if OKC tickets go on sale directly after Dallas, I probably will not be able to buy them. I need a couple weeks, at least, to replenish the account. If I do miss it, though, I have other options I will pursue. The first option is to save up more money and then go to a ticket broker, possibly getting better seats than I'd have gotten with Ticketmaster. The second option would be to watch Ebay closer to the time of the concert. I have heard of people getting excellent seats for reasonable prices a week before a concert because the seller was getting desperate to unload them. The last option, which I will use if necessary, would be to just take myself and Madalyn up the day of the concert with a wad of cash and see what I can find from a scalper. I could probably get pretty good seats because that would give me until fall to save. That's the last resort, though, as I would prefer to have things confirmed long before the date arrives.
Well, that's all I have to say about this right now. I apologize to those who waded through all this looking for something entertaining. Sometimes I just have to write out a post to organize my brain (it gets awfully noisy in there) and this was one of those times. Things have settled down in there, somewhat, so at least I've accomplished something for the day!