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| Photo by Winston Murray |
There are a few people camped out in front of the Classic Center for Widespread Panic tickets that go onsale tomorrow. With temperatures nearing the frigid freezing mark, you often have to wonder about the sanity of people. But who am I to say anything? If it were my all time favorite artist, I’d be camping out too. The people in line are most likely uber-fans like yourself, right? Instant friendship right there.
I guess I just missed out on all that so called fun. By the time I was old enough to buy concert tickets, most had already begun to be sold online. While that sounds a lot better than waiting in a cold line for a day, we had dial-up. Anyone with a connection even marginally faster than us could snatch up those Hanson tickets uber-fast.
But buying tickets online has its own rush, thrills, and chills. Maybe it doesn’t have the same physical, real-life comradery that a line does, but it’s still pretty intense. I remember my first time trying to buy major concert tickets. The year was 2008 and the band was R.E.M. (big surprise, right?)
Refresh the page. Camped out with my Mountain Dew, a pack of Twizzlers, and my eyes glued to the computer’s clock. Refresh the page. There was no way in hell I was going to miss buying these tickets. I kept glancing nervously at the computer screen, back to the tv, back to my pile of pre-sale codes, phone numbers, and credit card. Refresh the page. Ugh, the stress was killing me. At the time, I was completely unaware of the Athens-only sale. Would’ve saved me some time and money but oh, well. We live and learn I suppose. Refresh the page.
What if they denied my card? What if all the good seats were taken? What if my computer froze? All of it was covered. I had a friend armed with his own card and my password on his own computer just in case. We were going to get those tickets if it killed us. Wait a sec, OH CRAP! Buy the tickets! Buy them now! *panic panic panic* I filled out those forms like a pro. *panic panic panic*
“Your order has been filled. You will receive a confirmation email shortly”
Whew. Now the only thing to worry about was if they got lost in the mail. Which they didn’t. My songwriting partner and I made it to the show with plenty of time to spare, found a spot directly in front of the band, and stayed there. It was such a good night and we made a ton of friends in the crowd. Sure, we didn’t have to stand in line to get the tickets nor did we have to jump through a bunch of hoops. I sometimes wonder at how many more friends we could’ve made in an actual line….
athensmusicjunkie.com 
Now, instead of camping out for concert tickets, we camp out for the shows to get a good spot up front. I've camped out before plenty of shows to ensure that I had that front row spot. Even more importantly, some of my best friends are folks that I met standing in line for some of my favorite bands. Call me a dork, but I love my favorite artists enough to sacrifice some of my time to build that fan community, even if it's just to sit in line for a day and share homemade cookies.