Thom Yorke fans kill Ticketweb ... briefly

 

Well that was expectantly fast.

Thom Yorke's last-minute show tonight at the Echoplex went on sale today via Ticketweb, and the site reported the gig was sold out by the time Pop & Hiss was even able to access the show listing.

For those keeping score at home, it took about seven minutes to crack through to the site, with every regular concertgoer's worst nightmare -- the dreaded "processing" page instructing users not to touch their Web browsers -- creating a virtual moat between us and the opportunity to see Radiohead's frontman in cramped quarters.

Worse, some of our office comrades who actually fought their way through Internet traffic jams and found an on-sale screen were still waiting for Ticketweb to process their requests at 12:28 p.m. -- almost 30 minutes after the on-sale time (we're good at math, to boot). Of course, with a capacity of well under 1,000, we expected as much. 

Tickets soon hit Craigslist and eBay. As of the time of this posting, Craigslist seemed to be the better bargain, with tickets selling for around $750. On auction site eBay, expect to shell out a couple months' rent for a pair, as tickets are listed for about $3,500 -- buyer beware, of course.Yorke will also appear at downtown's Orpheum Theatre Sunday and Monday, and those tix are more of a bargain -- a seat looks like it can be snagged for about $150 on Craigslist.

Anyone who had success getting tickets, we invite your stories of ticket-purchasing heroism in the comments section below. Those who failed, we want your horror stories as well.

--Todd Martens

Screenshot: Ticketweb

Comments

[mcp]

Gosh, you'd think a thoughtful guy like Yorke would have foreseen this disgusting usury and figured out a way democratic to let some innocent fans see the show...instead he feeds the monster with one hand while writing ever-popular-tortured-artist-effect songs with the other. Makes you wonder, is it all a racket?

[Michelle Fergason]

I logged on at 12:00 and had no problems getting tickets!

[J Zemke]

Let's see, tickets announced (officially) and sold the day of the show online only for $20 with a two ticket limit and held at will call so that the person buying must be there to pick them up. Not sure what he could have done any better to prevent/discourage scalping.

Although, my good will can be directly traced to my luck at having gotten through and picked up two.

[TheBender]

@Michelle: Well hooray for you. B*tch. ; )

[trouble]

That's what happens when you try to shove an elephant in a shoe box. There are only 5 golden tickets in the world.

[Jordan]

No heroism, just quick with the click.

Firefox gave me the dreaded processing bar, switched to Safari and boom, 2 tickets. It's going to be a good night.

[celia]

Got into the queue at 11.59 (according to the official US time clock) so why was the site already open before the time stated. Waited in queue for 25 minutes then was told it was sold out. Still, my son got tickets for Monday at Orpheum so some true fans were successful.
All I can say is, have a great time everyone - worshipping at the church of Yorke

[ep girl]

had no trouble ,got 2 tix. best of all ? 1 block walking distance from my childhood home !i knew if after 40 years something cool this way would come ! and im not talking bout the newbie hipsters ! i'll have a beer for y'all !salud b*tches !

[Tanya]

I had two computers on to score some tix and still didnt get any! i went on firefox and safari and still nothing. whoever got tix, how did you do it?!

[radio girl]

Got onto Ticketweb at 11:59am and then got lost in the "processing" vortex for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Had to hide the page from my boss at one point!
Held out small ounce of hope that I would get through. Finally it came up with the "sold out" page.
I honestly didn't think I had much of a chance though for such a small venue and such high demand.
Not sure how the scalpers are selling the tix. It said they were "non-transferable."

[Linette]

I already bought tickets for the 5th at the orphuem, but right at noon, I figured it would be difficult to get them, but I got tickets on accident. I had a pay screen for 2 tickets, but I abandoned the check out and thought it would be selfish of me to see him twice in one week while so many fans haven't a single opportunity. I also realize I could have scalped them for a heavy sum of money, but I think it's immoral to do that. Some say I made a tremendous mistake, but I just took a screen shot of the check out I abandoned to remind me of the good deed I have no regrets for. Some happy fans get to see the wonderful close up intimate event in my place. =)

[ZZBottom]

Artists who care about their fans would never do crap like this. Years ago, when Prince had an exclusive gig at the Empire Ballroom in Vegas, you could get the actual tickets only at the door, then enter right away. Of course, you needed to book them ahead of time, but there was no space for scalping.

As the above example shows, all it takes is a smart and caring manager or artist himself. If, however, they only care about money, you get what you got.

[Burn]

Great show. Showed up with no tickets and no hope. They eventually let everyone in after about 5 songs. Story here: rsmithworld.blogspot.com

[James D.]

I don't know how I did it. But @ approx. 12:01pm I had gotten through ticketweb and successfully earned a pair of tickets. I'd like to think I was just extremely lucky, but for those of you wondering what I might have done differently, I think it might have been that I was repeatedly clicking the ticketweb link from Dead Air Space into new windows, as an attempt to avoid refreshing. Sure enough, I succeeded.

Anyways, upon success I was trembling in fear that I would accidentally close the window or be in such an utter paralysis that I'd type in wrong information and be denied entrance to the venue. Thankfully I kept myself together and was grateful to see one of the greatest performances of my 20 years.

[Malcolm Powder]

Echo/plex talent buyer Liz Garo called me & said I was on the guest list. That wasn't so hard now, was it?

[Terry]

I was lucky and smoothly got in the cue at noon and two minutes later had two tickets. No snags whatsoever. My date couldn't go
due to work and I planned on selling it at face value at the show. I figured it would have been wrong to be a jerk try to gouge a fellow
fan. But the Echoplex was pretty thorough about keeping non ticket holders away from the will call line and moved us pretty fast at the front of the line to the will call list- making it hard to find a person to take extra tix. Damn. I had to absorb the second one.