Live Nation Attempting To Take “Biggest Jerks In The Ticketing Biz” Title Away From Ticketmaster

noah | June 16, 2008 5:00 am
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From an e-mail blast sent by turmoil-filled concert behemoth Live Nation to New York concertgoers: “Live Nation announced today that effective immediately customers purchasing tickets on livenation.com will be afforded the privilege of entering shows prior to those holding tickets purchased other ticketing services.” Talk about two Americas! Although I guess that’s one way to make attendees a bit less grumbly about paying one company’s “convenience fees,” as opposed to those being demanded by said company’s competitors.

The New York branch of the company is calling this promotion the “skip the line” promotion (clever!) and is as I type this setting up separate admission lines for people clutching Live Nation-issued printouts at four of the city’s general-admission venues. Which are: the Blender Theater at Gramercy, the Hammerstein Ballroom, Roseland, and Irving Plaza. (Which I’m going to refer to by its real, Fillmore-free name as my way of weakly rebelling against this latest bit of corporately concocted idiocy.) What’s next, a free well drink to anyone who wears a Live Nation-branded shirt to the venue? VIP status for life if you tattoo the company’s logo on the back of your neck? Perhaps I shouldn’t be giving these people any ideas without letting them know my consulting rate up front.

Live Nation’s “Skip The Line” Ballyhoo [Sound Of The City]