Cincinnati concert-Did all tickets go on sale?

Cincy Parrothead · Post by **Cincy Parrothead** » July 13, 2003 4:12 pm

I can't find anybody who got tickets in sections 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 or 600! People who were first in line only got 700, 800 or 900 the last three sections in the back.
If you got tickets in sections 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 or 600 please let me know.
Also tell me how you got them: box office, over the phone, season ticket holder, Gold seats, R.S.V.P., scalpers or any other way.
Every year the show sells out in 13 minutes. I just don't see how that can happen if all the tickets are available.
If I can show that nobody got any tickets in the first six sections Jimmy's management people will be very interested in knowing this.
Also do you try to buy tickets every year and get told that the pavilion is sold out after the first person in line buys their ticket?
Please help me by letting me know where you are sitting and how you got them.
Three of the major scalpers in town each had 30 tickets apiece the next day. How do they get their tickets?
Thanks for your help!

Steele1161 · Post by **Steele1161** » July 13, 2003 10:17 pm

I can never figure that out either.

I remember last year the day before the show they released plenty of tickets in the front section. I posted an E-mail on the ticket exchange board when they fdid. They had tickets from about the 10th row all the way back up the 100,200 and 300 sections.

So if you are still looking ,hang in there to the day before the show you'll get them

trentonleonard · Post by **trentonleonard** » July 13, 2003 10:37 pm

i get my tickets the min the they are available online and can only get lawn seats

rickcrystal · Post by **rickcrystal** » July 13, 2003 10:46 pm

trentonleanard, here is what i believe the scoop to be. until about 5 months ago i worked for clearchannel. you know clearchannel entertainment that does all the concerts theses days. they buy up almost all the seats to give away to big name clients that advertise on there stations. i worked in radio sales division and that is what they did. we didnt even get a chance to get a pair. i tried to get tix online as soon as they went onsale but it said that they were sold out. i remember when aerosmith came last year and before they even went onsale the manager where i worked had probably over half of the pavilion tix ready to give away to big name clients. it bullsh*##.

Cincy Parrothead · Post by **Cincy Parrothead** » July 14, 2003 1:14 pm

Thanks for the replies.
I too worked for radio stations years ago in Cincinnati before big bad clear channel took them over. For years we were allowed to order through the radio station, but as soon as clear channel bought them out they stopped doing that for their employees. I know the tickets didn't stop coming they just went to schmooze clients. It stinks!!!!

I was told that pavilion went to the first people in line at the box office and people on the internet. Now I read here that all they got was lawn. Something is really rotten about this whole thing.

Please keep the replies coming. People that are still looking for tickets.... how did you get short changed? Were you at the box office, the phone or online?

Thanks again.

Phinford · Post by **Phinford** » July 14, 2003 1:51 pm

I got my tickets very early and best we could do was 800. My husband and I were told THE FAN CLUBS had bought all the good tickets up first.
Veddddy Interesting.

rickcrystal · Post by **rickcrystal** » July 14, 2003 2:08 pm

fan clubs? what fan clubs? i was online and my fiance has road runner internet access which is very fast. no dial up connection, as soon as the time was right to order, that very second i pushed the button and it just kept saying it was searching for tickets. then a minute later it said it was sold out. we just got engaged a month ago and cant afford paying an arm and leg for tickets, its driving me crazy because i want to go very badly. last year when buffett came clear channel bought up almost entire pavillion and a good portion of lawn. i remember i worked for them then and i thought it really sucked a*s for the true parrotheads that work hard and pay there hard earned on a show and in the end clear channel raises prices or also they give the tickets to clients to schmooze them when in the end people who got the tickets only have songs you know by heart, and to me that is a crime.

DrunkenIrish · Post by **DrunkenIrish** » July 14, 2003 2:37 pm

rickcrystal wrote:fan clubs? what fan clubs? i was online and my fiance has road runner internet access which is very fast. no dial up connection, as soon as the time was right to order, that very second i pushed the button and it just kept saying it was searching for tickets. then a minute later it said it was sold out. we just got engaged a month ago and cant afford paying an arm and leg for tickets, its driving me crazy because i want to go very badly. last year when buffett came clear channel bought up almost entire pavillion and a good portion of lawn. i remember i worked for them then and i thought it really sucked a*s for the true parrotheads that work hard and pay there hard earned on a show and in the end clear channel raises prices or also they give the tickets to clients to schmooze them when in the end people who got the tickets only have songs you know by heart, and to me that is a crime.

Don't quote me on this, because I read about it on this site, but I guess there are clubs that voluteer their time in their communities in Buffett's name, and he rewards them with tickets in certain sections.

I probably got the facts of it wrong, but here's a website I found

http://www.phip.com/

rickcrystal · Post by **rickcrystal** » July 14, 2003 2:48 pm

i have heard aBout that also. i would love to start something up in my area but dont know how.

Everybodys Cousin n Miami · July 14, 2003 4:06 pm

You can always get tickets (without paying scaplers) if you try hard enough.

I know its' a struggle and it's frustrating but if you really want to go you will find a way.

And I know the real fans often get left out.

But nothing is going to change.

The only thing you can change is your determination and your attitude about how badly you want to see that show.

rickcrystal · Post by **rickcrystal** » July 14, 2003 4:10 pm

oh i am sure i will find a way. i did my senior year of highschool in 96. they were sold out and i went to the ticket master everyday, a month before the show. i am sure the lady there was sick of me but i went everday and they eventually sold more tickets. so i am determined to go.

Everybodys Cousin n Miami · July 14, 2003 10:49 pm

rickcrystal wrote:oh i am sure i will find a way. i did my senior year of highschool in 96. they were sold out and i went to the ticket master everyday, a month before the show. i am sure the lady there was sick of me but i went everday and they eventually sold more tickets. so i am determined to go.

That's all you can do becasue the ticket situation will never change.

Cincy Parrothead · Post by **Cincy Parrothead** » July 17, 2003 4:24 pm

There is a Cincinnati Parrot Head Club and you can get more information by e-mailing cincyparithd@aol.com. They are not the ones snapping up tickets. My money is on clear channel or the venue itself and the deals they have with the scalpers. I personally know a lady who bought tickets from a scalper the day they went on sale from Ticketmaster. There has to be some kind of deal worked out for the scalpers to be selling tickets the same day.

The way tickets are sold can be changed if enough people voice their opinion about it. Or Jimmy could go to a bigger venue. In fact there is a campaign to do just that. They want everybody to wear battery operated lights (NO LASERS) to the Cincinnati show to get Jimmy to either play for two nights or go to the Great American Ball Park. Riverbend holds 20,000, but the Ball Park holds 41,948. The lights in the audience will show Jimmy we are tired of not getting tickets every year. If he plays two shows then everybody could get a ticket and the same goes for one show at the Ball Park.

As far as I know Jimmy is aware of this campaign. Last year they only asked for two nights and he liked all of the attention and he said he would think about it. So everybody going to the show light up and show how much a pain in the butt it is to year after year not to get tickets.

If the fans don't voice their opinions then nothing will ever get changed. So wear something that won't blind Jimmy, but something he can see from the stage. He absolutely hates lasers so please do not bring one. Riverbend will take it away from you any way and the idea is not to p*** him off. Just to politely ask him to consider selling more tickets in Cincinnati. I hope everybody will wear something. It will be cool to see everybody glowing.[/b]

jbphan1 · Post by **jbphan1** » July 17, 2003 5:58 pm

The same thing happened in Detroit, but he sold out in about 1 1/2 minutes. I was asking the same question about the pavillion in Detroit. Apparently, judging from the crowd in the pavillion, most were corporate people there because it was the hottest concert ticket, not necessarily because of Buffett and the music.

ParrotheadCMC · Post by **ParrotheadCMC** » July 17, 2003 9:29 pm

Here's how the ticket thing works....If Cincy is anything like detroit.

In detroit we sold out in 90 seconds (confirmed by TM). The pavillion is almost always pre-sold out. Why?

* Season Ticket holders. Anyone has the right to buy a seat for the entire season. Season ticket holders also get the opportunity to by additional tickets (normally a limit on the higher demand shows). This is what the scalpers do!

* Corporate tix- We all know that Jimmy's people get tickets. The promoter gets tickets, the record label gets tickets, radio, etc. Sure it's not the whole pavillion but unless you're at Tinley, most pavillions are tiny.

* Other season tix holders and suite owners. Pine Knob and the Palace are owned by the same company. Suite owners at the Palace have the opportunity to pre-buy tickets to events. Also season ticket holders at the Palace (NBA, WNBA, etc) have the opportunity to pre-buy tickets. (Again some scalpers fall in this category).

* Parrot Head Clubs. The don't sell out the entire pavillion, believe me. I think this area (Michigan) was given 300 some tickets. Being in a PHC isn't a sure way to get a ticket either. And clubs can't lure you in with promises of tickets or even really mention them at all. I found this out the hard way!

* Employees- While it isn't allowed, TM employees and venue employees pull tickets. How do I know?!?! We used to have an insider who did it for us. For the Pine Knob 2000 show he managed to pull 100 lawn tickets!

* Leftovers- After all of the above, you're lucky to find a few pavillion tickets here are there. There are deals to be found. Last year we snagged 20th row center for Tinley at only $20 more than face (and for the Sat night show!). Also some tickets will get turned back before the concert.

*Luck- You can always rely on luck too! We went down to Cincy in 99 with 2 tickets, needed 3 total. Within 1 hour someone had walked up to us and handed us a ticket for free. On the way to the bathroom we spotted 2 tickets on the ground with NO one around! We ended up selling those for $10 (hey we just wanted t-shirt money).

Hope this enlightened you some

Cincy Parrothead · Post by **Cincy Parrothead** » July 18, 2003 3:16 am

It was mentioned that you can always get a ticket (without paying scalpers) if you try hard enough.

Are we talking lawn or pavilion?

Yes lawn is pretty easy, but in Cincinnati getting a pavilion ticket is extremely hard.

How do you reccomend to go about getting pavilion? I know people who call in every favor and still they can't get tickets.

What's your secret?

Cincy Parrothead · Post by **Cincy Parrothead** » July 18, 2003 3:23 am

How many pavilion seats are there in Detroit?

Riverbend in Cincinnati holds 5,500 pavilion and a total of 20,000.

But they do cram more into the lawn than they normally do. I think it's
18,000 for any other show.

hodag007 · Post by **hodag007** » July 18, 2003 2:53 pm

I have explained this on a few other boards so I thought I would share on this one.

Most of the pavillion seats do not go directly to scalpers. They are reserved for patrons and tour sponsers (Corona).

In Cincinnati, the Lindner's are big contributors to the CSO, which owns Riverbend. Several months before tickets go on sale, all of Lindners employees (Provident, Great American, Chiquita) were given a form to fill out to get first crack at all concerts at Riverbend. (Buffett requests were limited to 4 and were not guaranteed a specific day) A lot of employees would then sell them to scalpers.

Now, not all of these seats are claimed. About 2 weeks before a concert the venue will drop the tickets WITHOUT an announcent. Keep checking and your diligence will pay off. I got 20th row seats in Atlanta this year one week before the concert.

ParrotheadCMC · Post by **ParrotheadCMC** » July 19, 2003 6:21 pm

What is the capacity of DTE Energy Music Theater?

15,274 Total *7,202 pavilion, *8,072 lawn seats

That being said...you really want pavillion for Cincy?!?! Hit ebay or start calling scalpers! We paid $600 to see him in Cincy last year 4th row. We were so close you could see his eyes roll during songs

Cincy Parrothead · Post by **Cincy Parrothead** » July 24, 2003 3:44 am

$600 for pavilion! That's what I'm talking about. We shouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg just to see Jimmy in Cincinnati. Is it that bad every where else? Or is Cincinnati alone on this?