“Jumping the queue” for gig tickets / concierge etc

[captaindave]

Hi all,

Just seen a gig scheduled in December this year for a band i desperately want to see, but only 1 UK location by the look of it..

Vaguely remember Amex doing some sort of “concierge” service, but then again i only hold the Nectar card currently, which might be too low down the food chain, most probably going to apply for Platinum , but that will be later in year.

Did i remember this accurately ? and is there a way to leverage Amex on this ?

Its about a week till tickets on sale, so i may just have to take my chances..

Thanks

[freckles]

Can’t comment on any Amex ‘concierge’ service, but depending on who it is and where the gig is, there are often various pre sales through artist mailing lists, venue mailing lists, promoter mailing lists and O2 priority.

Care to provide any more info on who and where?

[captaindave]

First Aid Kit @ Liverpool

Ive been with O2 for donkeys years, although i know of “priority” dont think ive ever looked at it properly.

[freckles]

OK, from Songkick looks like venue is Olympia? Tickets will be via Ticketweb, but not listed yet.
Suggest if not already, you follow the band on socials, get on their mailing list, get on Ticketweb mailing list, get on venue mailing list if they have one to stand best chance of any pre sales.

Nothing on O2 priority as yet, but does seem as though Songkick have got this early – bands Facebook page says ‘news Monday’ so could be more to come.

[captaindave]

Thanks for the advice Freckles.

Yeah its at the Olympia, capacity only about 2K – not the best venue from what ive read..

[can]

When I tried that prepandemic for a Ricky Gervais show, I figured that the concierge does two things
1. They have Amex presale for some ticketmaster shows
2. They get easier access for resale tix that you can also access online.

So practically in my experience they do nothing.

[Rob]

Annoyingly none of the loyalty schemes have deals at Wembley Arena so you can’t wait for seats to pop up for redemption anywhere.

[Bill]

https://www.songkick.com/concerts/40572608-first-aid-kit-at-olympia

[Karl]

The Olympia is an interesting venue. It’s a beautiful old building that has had a recent-ish refurb but is still very much rough around the edges. Plenty of character but don’t expect 02 Arena facilities. It’s also about half an hour walk out of town in an area where gentrification hasn’t yet reached. I’d personally get a cab from the city centre, it won’t cost much. Walking back afterwards should be ok as almost everyone will be walking down the main road into town. Next door is the legendary Grafton club which closed about 20 years ago. I’ve had many “interesting” nights there in my younger days.

I can see this gig selling out but it doubt it would be a problem getting tickets through the pre-sale or even on the Friday morning immediately after they go on sale.

[freckles]

@captaindave

Band tweeted UK tour news soon. Invite to a pre sale by pre ordering new album (but these also normally have a no purchase option too – see the asterisk and the ‘register for access’)

https://ukstore.firstaidkitband.com/

[captaindave]

Karl – yeah from doing a bit of research the Olympia sounds like a rough diamond 🙂

Will probably look to book the Holiday Inn @ Albert Dock, i like it there, had a few liveners round there when i was up for Aintree a few years back. So will just uber to the gig, if the local area is a bit sketchy… cant be any worse than getting legged across Stanley Park…

Freckles – Thanks ! i have registered and also pre-ordered the CD, so lets see.

If they announce other UK dates i might sack off Liverpool, and get somewhere nearer Devon !!

[freckles]

No problem, happy to help.

I’m sure a UK ‘tour’ will not mean just one date in Liverpool.

Just remember
1. Pre sale invite is not a guarantee of tickets
2. Only a limited number of tickets ever go in a pre sale
3. Be set up and ready to go the minute when tickets go on sale

Good luck. 🤞

[captaindave]

Earlier in the year they only played 2 dates in UK apart from Glastonbury ( Halifax & Bristol )

So i guess it is feasible they might only be doing the one date..

Its actually mad that they arent massively more popular, but then getting tickets would be difficult
Hype trumps pure talent sometimes …

[captaindave]

More dates added now, will probably try for Brum as its nearer, and is the only one that is a weekend date.

Reviews are pretty bad for the venue – O2 Academy, but think tkts on sale via O2 Prority a couple of days before general sale.

[captaindave]

Just to update : Secured a pair of tkts via O2 Priority Pre-Sale for the Brum date.
Thanks for all the advice folks.