Arcade Fire Tickets Are Still Available, Though There May Be A Catch Or Two

Tomorrow night, the Arcade Fire will start a five-night stint at New York City’s Judson Memorial Church, and it’s easier to gain passage to Kabul than to get tickets. But that hasn’t stopped various Craigslisters from scheming and dreaming like crazy, doing everything they can to be your plus-one.

At this point, there are very few “for sale” listings remaining–meaning that most of the Craigslist posts are from die-hard fans who really, really want you to get them into the show. There are several methods for doing this, the first being to appeal to the ticket-holder’s sense of music-community karma:

(Light My) Arcade Fire – Help an Old Lady on her B-day – $1 Reply to: sale-276536845@craigslist.org Date: 2007-02-10, 12:58PM EST

Aging hipster, probably old enough to be your mom, desperately seeks a ticket for any night of AF @ Judson. Help bring a little joy into my life as I slip into senility. Used to be young and hip like you; I knew Tom Verlaine when you were a zygote etc. Promise I’ll lurk in the shadows so the crowd will still be young/hip. Thanks in advance.

A word of warning: This poster could very possibly be Patti Smith, and she gets pretty cranky around the second encore. But while a self-proclaimed “aging hipster” can probably afford a ticket with a $300 mark-up charge, most indie-rock fans are living hand-to-mouth-to-bong–thus the time-honored “if you give me a ticket, I will give you all sorts of random shit that’s lying around my studio apartment” approach:

Wanted Arcade Fire tickets-Money + 2bottles Champagne and much more – $1 Reply to: sale-275934497@craigslist.org Date: 2007-02-09, 10:47AM EST

I need Arcade Fire tickets to any night, I’ll give money(reasonable) plus two bottles awesome Champagne(pierre gimonnet 1er cru) 80 dollars in store, 1 six pack Sierra Neveada, 1 used diesel denim jacket, 1 signed 1st edition paperback of Patrick Mcgrath’s Asylum, 1 new heavy vinyl record of White Light White Heat by The Velvet Underground and 1 beautiful painting I made (its very good I promise).. Thanks

Paintings? Gothic fiction? Lou Reed records? Actually, maybe this poster is Patti Smith.

Another popular technique is to offer entry into some other, less popular show–the idea being that someone out there accidentally bought an Arcade Fire ticket, when what they really wanted to do was see Grizzly Bear. This swap-offer struck us as especially desperate:

Selling 2 Silverchair Bowery Ballroom – $1

Reply to: sale-276479080@craigslist.org

Date: 2007-02-10, 11:06AM EST

Have 2 tickets for Silverchair at Bowery Ballroom on Monday and I can’t make it. Will sell them for the best offer over $100 for the pair or would trade them for 1 Arcade Fire ticket for 2-13 or 2-14…let me know!

Come on. This would have been a bad deal even back in 1995, when the Arcade Fire didn’t even exist, and Neon Ballroom is no Neon Bible.

Finally, when all else fails–when you’re out of money, and nearly out of time–there’s one last desperate measure:

Will trade for Arcade Fire at Judson- any night – $1 Reply to: sale-277108773@craigslist.org Date: 2007-02-11, 4:22PM EST

I have tickets to almost every good show in NY. Will trade for one (or more) Arcade Fire ticket. Let me know what you want. I’m also a Yanks season ticket holder if that’s your thing. I can trade some big games (Sox, Mets, etc). Let me know. I also have screen legend Anthony’s Quinn’s undershit, which I swiped from him as he was doing sit-ups in the park. I’ll be willing to part with it for a ticket.

It’s possibly the best deal to be found: A great concert will last you only a few hours, but a dead celeb’s undershit will be a conversation piece for years.

New York Craigslist :For Sale/Wanted [Craigslist]