Sunday, July 01, 2007

Hi, My name is The Chieftain, and I'm a musicaholic...

I used to love going to gigs. There were times where I would go to several gigs a week. Once, I actually went to 4 gigs, 4 nights in a row, 4 different venues. All of them David Gray. I even went to a gig the day I got out of hospital after having an operation. I was, and still am, a music obsessive. I have a collection of over a thousand cd's, some of which I've never even listened to. I would, and have, bought a cd just for one song, even if I knew the rest of it was rubbish. Sometimes I get a song in my head, and I just have to listen to it. If I don't do it straight away, it becomes a low throbbing feeling, which eventually explodes into a crescendo of white noise inside my head.

The past few years I've had to curb my gig going habits, partly due to the pressures of being a home-owner, getting married, and all the usual expenditures that go along with becoming a responsible adult. but some gigs come up that are just impossible to miss. But oh, how I've discovered how different things are now, compared to ye olde days. I tried to get tickets for Arcade Fire a few months ago, my wife was ready at her computer in work when the tickets went on sale. 9am, but no joy. I tried to get Bruce Springsteen tickets before that, but no joy, same thing. Last week, my wife tried to get tickets for Justin Timberlake's after show gig in Vicar St, but same again.

What are ticketmaster up to? All kinds of rumours were flying around after the Bruce Springsteen gig that employees of Ticketmaster had been selling tickets prior to them officially going on sale, and that they had held tickets for friends and relatives. Between them, and the dreaded touts who buy up as many tickets as possible, it makes it next to impossible for the regular music loving public to get to see any gigs at all. Something must be done, because an awful lot of true musicaholics like myself are losing out. I don't want to have to go to Oxygen and spend a weekend rolling in the mud just to see great bands. Nothing beats watching a band playing in a small venue, and that experience is being lost for a lot of true fans. I want my children to be able to experience the same things I did at gigs.

Bring back the old ticketmaster desk in HMV, that's what I say...

5 comments:

  1. Could be worse. You could have lashed out well over the odds for the Vicar Street gig only to have it cancelled and then have to go to the outdoor version in the lashing rain instead with the same tickets.

    I'm just a cynic about gigs in general. I think society has been crumbling since we lost the old fashioned art of queuing for everything (and in that lies a post for the future).

    At least when you slept out overnight on Grafton Street or Henry Street you knew you'd get the pick of the front row.

    What this generation needs is another Vietnam! Thin out their ranks a litle! No wait, that's a different cultural reference.

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  2. I noticed the Spice Girls are doing a lottery for tickets to their comeback. Register on the site for what gig you want and they come back to you and tell you if you were lucky. It's the same way UEFA do tickets for the Champions League and UEFA Cup Finals. Would that be the way to go? Open up a window, 24-48hours during which you can enter your details on the basis that your credit card be deducted if your name comes out of the hat? Only problem is it would rule out people without (a) a credit card and (b) internet access....

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  3. You mentioned Vietnam … it’s a scary thought but I agree that with all the fakeness around ( hair, coulour, teeth, skin, nose, boobs, bum, nails, food, drink) we are running out of anything that’s original. What’s next?? Maybe another Vietnam or perhaps Global Warming biting us right up our ass: calamities, heat waves, tornados, heavy vintners, extreme rainfall !?

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  4. I think you're right about the queuing thing though... It gives you a sense that you've really achieved something...

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