|||
I did not attend the music festival this past weekend. The show was sold out.
Of course, this is 2025. I had many messages letting me know the status of the ticket sales.
The first Instagram Story said “#lowticketwarning”
Local show promotors are in a tough spot. Concertgoers do not want to pay additional transaction fees if they realize they can avoid them, so some wait and see when it comes to buying tickets. The “low ticket warning” messages are, on the one hand, a courtesy. I am a calculated and veteran show ticket buyer, so I appreciate the “heads up.” On the other hand, if such messages are posted and the show does not sell out, the concertgoer feels like they were tricked into buying a ticket plus transaction fees.
If you named your band Low Ticket Warning, would more people attend your shows and would more of your shows sell out? This would be, perhaps, the contemporary equivalent of the old joke of naming your band Free Beer.
The second Instagram Story said, “10 tickets left. #lowticketwarning”
People in general in the United States of America are in a tough spot, financially. There has been a continuous cloud of doom everywhere I go since… oh, say… November, whispers about what to buy now, what won’t be available soon, a fixation on the price of eggs. I think the granular quantization of data only adds to this anxiety. Am I better or worse for knowing exactly how many tickets remain? The budget-conscious ticket gambler thinks they know the odds, but the house always wins.
The third Instagram Story said, “5 tickets left. #lowticket warning.”
At this point in my journey through the underground, it is easy to justify not going instead of going to any given show, and it is not just all old-person complaining. Of the five tickets left, maybe the one I would have bought will go to a young person attending their first music festival, a young person who just worked the money out to pay for the ticket. Maybe the music festival will be a great and memorable time for them, cementing their relationship with the particular subculture showcased as a vital, life-changing thing. I have already had my life changed. It is important to know when you are standing in the way of someone else at the show, literally (I am 6’5”) and figuratively. Let someone else get in the pit, let someone else have your spot… no reason to be salty about it.
The fourth Instagram Story said, “#soldout.”
So… yeah.
I did not attend the music festival this past weekend. The show was sold out.
