Billy Joel on why he holds front row tickets at his concerts: “It turns out the real fans were always in the back of the room in the worst seats. We now hold those tickets, and I send my crew out to the back of the room when the audience comes in and they get them and bring ’em in to the front row”
Went on a whim to see him a few years back and still one of my favorite concerts! We were in the nosebleeds but the entire section was dancing and singing along to every song. 10/10 experience
DearPaleontologist67 on
That’s *literally* every (poor) concert-goers dream (like myself).
Sleepy-Giraffe947 on
I’ve heard about Bill Joel doing this before and he’s a real one for it! Tickets these days are ridiculous. There’s so many artists I’d love to see, but bills and other adult responsibilities take precedence.
Stinkycheese8001 on
He’s really close to the root cause.
Ticketmaster has their own resale service. So they make money on both the original sale and the re-sale. (Edit: I initially said they owned StubHub because I am a dope).
Artists have a pretty decent amount of input into how their tickets are sold, too. They don’t have to allow dynamic pricing, re-sales, super high ticket prices. Ticketmaster is the devil but part of that is because artists let them be.
catharsisdusk on
It’s a sweet sentiment. But I paid $600 to see Gorillaz from the Pit. And that’s not a small amount to me. But I’ve been listening to them for 25+ years now and have always wanted to see them live. I’d be PISSED if they started dragging people up from the nosebleeds to supplant the spot I paid so dearly for.
EagleEyezzzzz on
Billy Joel, MVP
TrueCrimeInTheBuff on
👍 excellent
Iron Maiden did this for my husband and me a couple of decades ago. We were seated in the crappy nosebleeds with a blocked view and were among the first 20 people inside the venue. They sent someone out to collect all the early fans and moved us in to the pit. It actually happened twice. We ended up right on the rail near dead center. 👏
Groundbreaking_War52 on
We strictly do 80s Joel music, sir
OvulatingWildly on
I worked in this industry for a long time and it’s so nice to real fans up there in the front rows instead of just bored rich people
Cool_Jelly_9402 on
So now I know to book the cheapest tickets and hope I get moved to the most expensive ones lol but seriously that is quite nice of him. I heard he puts on a great show
No_Pianist5264 on
This is pretty cool he know where the real fans are at
Lowly-Worm_ on
This is why we sit at the bar and put bread in his jar
15 Comments
Absolutely based ❤️
Went on a whim to see him a few years back and still one of my favorite concerts! We were in the nosebleeds but the entire section was dancing and singing along to every song. 10/10 experience
That’s *literally* every (poor) concert-goers dream (like myself).
I’ve heard about Bill Joel doing this before and he’s a real one for it! Tickets these days are ridiculous. There’s so many artists I’d love to see, but bills and other adult responsibilities take precedence.
He’s really close to the root cause.
Ticketmaster has their own resale service. So they make money on both the original sale and the re-sale. (Edit: I initially said they owned StubHub because I am a dope).
Artists have a pretty decent amount of input into how their tickets are sold, too. They don’t have to allow dynamic pricing, re-sales, super high ticket prices. Ticketmaster is the devil but part of that is because artists let them be.
It’s a sweet sentiment. But I paid $600 to see Gorillaz from the Pit. And that’s not a small amount to me. But I’ve been listening to them for 25+ years now and have always wanted to see them live. I’d be PISSED if they started dragging people up from the nosebleeds to supplant the spot I paid so dearly for.
Billy Joel, MVP
👍 excellent
Iron Maiden did this for my husband and me a couple of decades ago. We were seated in the crappy nosebleeds with a blocked view and were among the first 20 people inside the venue. They sent someone out to collect all the early fans and moved us in to the pit. It actually happened twice. We ended up right on the rail near dead center. 👏
We strictly do 80s Joel music, sir
I worked in this industry for a long time and it’s so nice to real fans up there in the front rows instead of just bored rich people
So now I know to book the cheapest tickets and hope I get moved to the most expensive ones lol but seriously that is quite nice of him. I heard he puts on a great show
This is pretty cool he know where the real fans are at
This is why we sit at the bar and put bread in his jar
wholesome