CONCERT OUTRAGE OVERBLOWN
Simply put, there are far more Calgary fans of Garth Brooks than there were tickets to his Stampede show, writes the Herald’s Mike Bell.
Life is only fair when you understand that it isn’t. Cynical? Perhaps. But something that could eventually save you a great deal of time spent outraged or indignant or any other emotion that can exacerbate pre-existing heart conditions brought on by flossing your teeth with bacon and polishing them with butter (or is that just me?).
And it’s pretty much the only thing that you can take away from what will now forever be known as the Great Garth Brooks Outrage of 2012 (trademark pending).
For those who chose to, oh, I don’t know, live their lives this weekend and are unaware of the furor surrounding the sale of tickets for the country superstar’s July 12 Saddledome show to help celebrate the Stampede’s centennial anniversary, allow me to break it down for you: It sold out fast; people are angry.
Normally we could all just go our ways and chalk this up to first-come, first-served, late-come, boo-hoo, but apparently the Great Garth Brooks Outrage of 2012 (yes, there will be bumper stickers) has elicited an unsubsiding chorus of “No fairsies!” from the populace at large, thanks to tickets being pre-sold and tickets being resold on other websites. (Note: for racial sensitivity purposes, the term “scalper” has now been changed to “cranium pelt procurer.”)
Fingers are being pointed at the Stampede and everyone’s favourite anger-magnet, Ticketmaster (whose role in the sinking of the Titanic has largely been overlooked by the liberal media), with accusations and conspiracy theories further fuelling the hard feelings of the ducatless.
“From the Stampede we understand for fans it’s disappointing to not get tickets,” said Jennifer Booth, publicity manager for the Calgary Stampede. “At the end of the day, we could have sold out a concert of 200,000 people.”
That, ultimately, is the biggest thing that has been lost in the entire GGBO2012: it is one of the most anticipated shows in North America, period.
The musician — one of the three top-selling artists of all time — is all but retired from touring, and the opportunity to see him in a non-vegas setting is as rare as a papal crowd-surf.
Brooks at a venue he previously sold-out for a three-night run? During the Stampede’s 100th? For $60-a-pop? Are these even questions? According to Booth, the overall show number for the Dome gig is around 15,300 — as a result of stage design, sound and lighting rigs, and sightlines — meaning your chances of getting a ticket to begin with were Slim Pickens to a flying Sally Field.
Further decreasing the odds, was, as per standard practise, around 3,300 were offered to President’s Club ticket-holders who had first right of refusal on buying their seats for the show — something Booth estimates that about 3,000 did.
Then you can add 350 tickets the promoter, Stampede Entertainment, kept for sponsors and promotions (“Keeping in mind that’s far fewer than typical industry practise,” Booth said), but not for employees at large, as well as 350 for Brooks’s own purposes and another 250 for “emergency” — all of which will be thrown back on sale should they not be needed.
In the end, Booth says that left more than 11,000 tickets available on Saturday morning from Ticketmaster (did you just get a shiver?), which meant that you’re mathematical odds of unwrapping the metaphorical Wonka Bar and seeing that golden glimmer were, like, six or seven billion to one (math really isn’t an exact science) and that them selling out in a minute was a no-brainer.
“But,” the most vocal of the GGBO2012 brigade have said, “I saw tickets online for a ridiculous markup at (insert website here) just prior to or just after they went on sale.” Um. And? “We understand and we appreciate that it’s frustrating to see the tickets on re-saler websites. But we simply can’t control what goes on there,” said Booth, noting they’ve been working with (cross yourself) Ticketmaster to go through suspicious accounts and will take whatever action they can, although in most cases it’s people taking advantage — with better technology and then on people’s desperation.
As for those tickets prior to the 10 a.m. on sale time, those, Booth said, can be chalked up to people selling on speculation that they’d get some and, presumably, some of those club seat holders looking to cash in on the singular event. (Booth and Brooks’s people have said a second show is not in the works).
All of this really means that there are approximately 15,300 happy people holding the rights to a once-in-a-lifetime experience and tens of thousands more on the outside looking in. Unfair? Probably. But at least you now know.
MBELL@CALGARYHERALD.COM FOLLOW ON TWITTER @ MRBELL_ 23