Do you love music, but for some reason you’re not a regular fan, and you’ve been to a live concert for an obscene amount of time?
Since then, there is the possibility of online booking tickets and many other fancy chips that you have never resorted to, although you assume that it saves time and money?
If you answered your questions positively, then we suggest you read the list of tips that will help you prepare for the concert and get an unforgettable experience only with a plus sign.
Where to buy tickets?
The most trivial option is at the ticket office at the venue or at the organizations that distribute tickets to theaters and musical performances. There are ticket offices in every city, but keep in mind that they only sell tickets to the most well-attended events. If you are going to visit a small club or concert is not a very famous artist, look for tickets at the box office of the club. It is almost the same system online – the organizers’ websites often contain links to ticket sales services, where they are presented or they have phone numbers, by which you can contact admins to reserve seats.
Be careful if you decide to buy a ticket out of hand. Do not buy it if you are not one hundred percent sure of its authenticity. Remember that organizers are not responsible for tickets not purchased from official dealers.
How far in advance do I need to take care of buying tickets?
It is best to buy as early as possible, ideally during the announcement and presale, when prices are lowest. Closer to the date of the event the prices usually go up and on the day of the concert they will definitely be higher. Take into account also the level of fame of the performers, for some of the stars of the concert tickets sell out long before the cherished date. Such performers are, of course, a few. However organizers like to play on the audience’s nerves, pouring oil on the fire by mentioning that the tickets are flying like hotcakes. Don’t worry: tickets are more often placed on the market in batches, so that they are evenly sold before the X date, and in exceptional cases they print additional copies and decide how to accommodate more people.
How severe is the age-appropriateness check?
Most often at large venues it is impossible to ask all spectators for their passports, but spot-checking can certainly be. As for the smaller clubs, where they sell alcohol – face control is usually more thorough. You should understand that even if you have a paid ticket, the administration has the right to refuse you if you do not meet the age requirements.
Should I buy an electronic ticket?
Yes and no. On the one hand, an electronic ticket saves a lot of time at the time of purchase: it can be paid for with a bank card over the Internet by clicking a few times on the mouse. On the other hand, event organizers often can not provide a prompt access to spectators with electronic tickets. The reader “glitches”, or the ticket must be printed (in some places it is necessary, in others the QR code is read directly from the display of mobile devices), and you are sent to a special terminal, or the queue where you stand for twenty minutes is only for visitors with regular tickets. All of this, of course, has a negative effect on your mood before the concert, where you came to have fun, not the other way around.
In what format do I print an electronic ticket?
You can print out a ticket on a black and white printer. The most important thing is that the bar code must be clearly legible and easy to read. One more thing: If you are one of those who just cannot resist the temptation of photographing the tickets you have just bought and publishing them on the internet, make sure you always close the barcodes when you do so – cheaters can use them and get to the concert before you do.
Meet and Greet
It’s a format of communication between audience and performers, when they can take photos with musicians, get autographs and souvenirs, and share their opinion about the show. M&G doesn’t accompany every event, but organizers of big shows usually try to entertain the audience by organizing contests and quizzes, during which they often raffle the passes to the backstage. Sometimes you can buy an invitation to the Meet and Greet for money in addition to the main ticket, but it is not cheap.
How can I get a star’s autograph?
Besides visits to M&G, it is possible to get an autograph at special autograph sessions: they often precede concerts, are free of charge and are held as a kind of advertising. Also you can win an invitation to autograph session in different competitions from organizers, often executions that sponsor the event may offer an admission ticket to the event as a prize in a particular game, usually such bonus offers are highly publicized and attract a large number of players.
If you abhor the mainstream, then try your luck after the concert, waiting for the idols at the service entrance, at the airport, at the hotel. This option is the most questionable in both ethical and practical terms (not all the idols and especially their bodyguards like the close attention of fans), but an autograph obtained in such extreme conditions often warms the soul more than an artifact from official meetings.
Besides calligraphic presentation, there is a chance to get a piece of more material goods: drumsticks, picks, and sometimes even the stars’ clothes. All these things are flying from the stage, but they are available only for the most enthusiastic spectators in the front rows of the fan zone.
Should you take your camera to the concert?
At most of the concerts photo and video shooting is prohibited, because all of the action on stage is the object of copyright, however, sometimes the organizers close eyes to amateur filming. In this case, the bigger, more visible and professional-looking photo equipment, the less chances to sneak it into the concert, provided that you do not have accreditation as a journalist.
Also, you should consider that the events at big venues like stadiums and multi-thousand concert halls are guarded more carefully, so that the crowd before entering passes through a metal detector frame. In this case, photo equipment is withdrawn, as it is easy to hide an explosive device, according to security services, and all phones are allowed to take only when turned on.
Thus, think at once whether it is worth to carry a bulky camera to the concert, risking that it will be taken away at the entrance, or limit yourself to taking pictures with an ordinary smartphone, with which there are usually no problems.
