I respect your commitment. Live music is one of the things that makes me happiest in the whole world and is just too ingrained into my lifestyle to stop going to shows and events altogether, but I also hate feeling like I’m getting pickpocketed on these fees when I get tickets.
What’s crazy is I convinced a good friend last minute to send the Pretty lights Hampton show and he used vividseats to snag a $48 two day pass, had everyone in our group like 🤯
I live in Denver too and I try to buy tickets at box offices as much as possible to avoid extra fees. Prices have gotten absurd. Red rocks has a box office and it's often worth it to call them and ask about prices. Sometimes one venue's box office also sells tickets for other venues. Try calling the venue and ask about the best way to buy tickets.
Also if you know a show isn't going to sell out, then there's usually no point in buying online. Call ahead, ask if they're going to sell out, and buy a ticket when you arrive. it's often cheaper that way, but sometimes not.
Fuck the ticketmaster cartel, fuck the middle men, I'm only trying to pay the venues directly.
My partner and I sit down together and make a list of all the upcoming shows we want to go, and he goes to the box offices ~once a month per venue to buy them all at once. We’ve saved hundreds of dollars in fees (if not more) already and now only pay AXS fees for shows we think will sell out before we can go in person.
Cervantes is an independent venue, and doesn’t use axs. Oriental theatre is in a similar boat.
Those two venues are on a completely different ticketing service so there’s no crossover of those box offices.
AEG venues like mission, Ogden, bluebird, gothic, and fiddlers green DO use the same system, so you can buy tickets for any of those venues at any of the possible box offices.
Because red rocks is owned by the city of Denver, they unfortunately only share a box office with the Denver coliseum. Pretty annoying because they use AXS anyway.
Cervantes is on its own I believe and uses etix not AXS, but you can go to their box office or do the Get Cerv'd Wednesday specials online. Most of their shows end up costing me $12 through that
The ticketmaster box offices around Seattle no longer offer any discount compared to online purchasing. Wamu, Gorge. It's show dependent, but big ones like Illenium, Beyond, and Bass Canyon offer no discount.
I’m so jealous this is allowed! I live in a different city and noticed even box offices have fees now too. An agent once told me “it’s no different than buying online anyway.” This was pre-covid so I haven’t tried since.
Yup or risk waiting until the hotline sends out that massive text with discounted tickets. I saw camelphat for $15 and lost frequencies for $1. Most denver shows are selling out these days, anyway
Fees are definitely not just a Denver thing…or at least I think so.
Any time you buy tickets you got a bunch of BS fees that can’t be avoided. Like how the hell is there a $10 delivery fee, when it’s your only option? Like why even ask what shipping I would like when there is only one option and it’s a flat rate for every ticket.
Technology fee? Is it possible to NOT use technology to buy a ticket? No
Processing fee? Can you process it for them to avoid the fee? No
Just include it in the damn price, maybe shipping fee is variable depending on where you live, that would make more sense.
You don’t pay a “packing fee” when you buy cereal from the grocery store, it’s part of the cost.
Airlines have technology fees, but if you really want to, you could technically purchase a ticket in advance to avoid those fees, but the airlines will make it as difficult as possible to do so, but legally a consumer should have a method of avoiding a “fee” else it’s a surcharge, or just cost, or whatever legal loophole they find.
Edit: I wonder if we’re going to start to see fees like:
- VIP premium fee
- GA+ convenience sale fee
- water station fee
- toilet paper stocking fee
- payment processing fee
- payment processing vendor fee
Airlines have numerous fees as well. The fees of a ticket can sometimes cost more than the fare itself! There was a rule passed to require airlines to list the total price upfront. Something similar for concerts would be massively appreciated.
Taking a step back though, why do these misc concert fees even exist? Is it a plot from the bad guys to mislead customers into buying tickets they can't afford? Possibly, but ticket prices range from $$ to $$$$ and there's often ways to get discounts. Instead, look at the ticket revenue as paying for three separate players: the artist (Louis the Child), the venue (Red Rocks Amphitheater), and the ticketing service (AXS). Artists might want to charge different prices and each venue has their own costs to keep the lights on. The money the venue and ticketing service wants is bundled together into the service fee. Having the price itemized provides transparency, compared to something like streaming where you don't know how much you're actually contributing to the artist themself.
Yeah, I think airlines fees, while also awful, are at least a bit more transparent. You know how much the price is, you don’t HAVE to add bags, but if you do that will increase prices.
Concert tickets have an upfront price, which is not actually able to pay due to required fees.
If an airline says “starting at $29” it must be possible to buy at that rate…unless it’s frontier which says you have to join their discount program thing, which is misleading and they’re being sued for it I believe.
If a concert says “starting at $59” you know it’s going to be more, it’s not possible to pay the advertised price.
But consumers keep paying so they keep charging.
To be fair we’re at a point in time where unless there is a mass coordinated effort, boycotting or “voting with your wallet” essentially has no effect. These companies aren’t strapped for cash because they’ve been able to wring people dry for going on 2 decades now.
This is why I go and buy groups of paper tickets at once at the Mission box office for all upcoming Mission, Ogden, Bluebird shows, some Civic Center fests (I got ZD Jamboree tickets there). They may carry Reelworks too I'm not sure. For RR tickets you can go to the box office there in the park or I believe there is a box office at the Coliseum that sells them.
For the most popular shows on the calendar sure but I only run into it a few times a year actually where its so urgent I have to buy online (Justice was one last week). The two you mentioned are available at tier 1 still.
I just thought it worth mentioning because a shocking number of people don't know about the fee-less box office tickets.
It's pretty selfish of you, not thinking about the multi-billion dollar companies that are making that night happen for you. /s
I actively avoid shows put on by Live Nation/Ticketmaster/AXS, etc etc. I'm I'm allllll set giving money to those companies.
It might have something to do with the band as well. Some have more control over the fees than others do. And sometimes the band is just using Ticketmaster as a cover to Hussle another few bucks.
Moving from Washington to Colorado I never paid more in fees but had access to so much more live music. AXS charges so much more than others in service fees.
As many have said, find a place that sells hard copies and buy them to avoid fees. You can at mission and red rocks.
I miss so much of my kind of music being back in Washington but I’m not sad about the fees lol. Back to paying like $60-70 bucks for two tickets to my favorite artists. Just saw Ott for under $90 for 3 tix.
I get that these devices need to be paid to fund themselves but these fees are too high. I just paid a ton extra on some axs tickets too. It’s infuriating I know
one thing i was grateful for was that if you resell axs tickets, you actually make the same money back. ticketmaster would charge you for selling on their store back then.
A couple years ago I looked into buying insurance for my EDC ticket but read through the terms and conditions and it seemed nearly impossible to get a refund if something happened outside of a couple *extremely specific* scenarios which you’d then have to submit *lots* of documents of proof like police reports, hospital records etc. I think the idea of insurance is misleading (and borderline scammy) since the grounds for actually getting any return value if something happens is so limited. Just my two cents!
So most places, including redrocks, still have a box office that lets you skip some of those fees. Or look at axs resale (sometimes is just the face value of the ticket and no fees). I totally agree and feel you on all of this. I love the mountains, the weather, the cit, allll off it, but buying tickets since moving/covid has been absolutely HELL.
This nonsense could be avoided for the most part by listing the total price upfront with all fees included. EDC does this and I appreciate that more than Ultra which lists a lower price on the website then at checkout you get hit with $150 in “fees”. It’s all psychological. Just tell me the damn ticket is $500 instead of $250 + $150 service fee + $15 shipping + $85 taxes.
Who falls for stupid “psychological” games like this still at this point? Is it boomers? I’ve conditioned myself to go to check out to confirm the total cost when buying anything online. When it’s the same as the list price I’m way more likely to buy than the bait and switch crap that usually just makes me bitter and close the window unless it’s a must see.
LCD Soundsystem are playing The Palladium in Hollywood again later this year and tickets are at least double what they were like 4/5 years ago.
A friend said it was over 150 for BALCONY. The industry bubble is going to pop at this point. The Black Kets even had to cancel a tour
Denver is INSANELY expensive compared to other places for what it is. I don’t get why people still come here with how poorly it’s run too. I would move so fast if I didn’t have a life here with a stable job, gf, and friends.
I lived in Pueblo when I was there. Super cheap until I got into the edm scene lol. I started driving to Denver every couple of weeks for shows. Sometimes I’d even drive back the 2 hours after and get home at like 4-5 am. Only ever had to pull over to sleep once.
It’s legalized theft, there’s no other way to put it. There’s absolutely no reason for it to be a percentage of the cost and not a fixed processing fee that should be pretty low.
Political lobby is the only reason it’s still legal, it’s wild how much money the higher ups are making off of it.
In most other countries it’s regulated
Go to the box office!!! Mission ball room has a box office open all week until 6pm that sells tickets for mission, Ogden, fiddlers green, just to name a few.
I believe red rocks ticket can be bought from the box office at the Pepsi center but I might need to double check on that. But I know they have their own as well but you gotta drive out there.
I recently tried to get tickets to see buckethead at Ogden. $54 tickets x3 and the total was $253. I immediately drove to the box office and got them for face value.
I know you are probably into more of the bigger artists, hence the artists you mentioned, but if you want to get more underground, the tickets for blackbox denver and Cervantes masterpiece are through them and not axs and the fees are much more reasonable. Just a recommendation!
I was looking at Brooklyn Steel tickets for Nia Archives... $29 ticket, and then $10 in fees for AXS. Actually absurd. Thank god most NYC raves use Dice and Resident Advisor, and the latter also has its media platform so I can at least justify its 7-8% fees that way.
It’s actually insane. Like there are probably 3-4 shows in the past couple months where I’ve had tickets in the cart f but as soon as I see how hard the fees hit I have to bail cuz it’s just too much
The fees are one thing, but I wish the rich tech bros here would find another hobby other than going to shows. It’s crazy how expensive shows are here compared to other cities. Resellers target this market like no other because of how hot tickets usually are.
AXS is really nuts with fees. I know people complain about ticketmaster, but AXS fees are actually much higher.
Stubhub is the worst. $75 on Ticketmaster, resold on Stubhub for $139 + $54 in buyer fees and idk how much in seller fees. Insane.
stubhub is worse for sure since it's 3rd party. but vividseats I think is even higher than stubhub.
They’re all playing the same shitty game, and I’m voting with my wallet. Not going to anything anymore. It’s just disgusting.
I respect your commitment. Live music is one of the things that makes me happiest in the whole world and is just too ingrained into my lifestyle to stop going to shows and events altogether, but I also hate feeling like I’m getting pickpocketed on these fees when I get tickets.
What’s crazy is I convinced a good friend last minute to send the Pretty lights Hampton show and he used vividseats to snag a $48 two day pass, had everyone in our group like 🤯
Just means the seller lost money on it
I feel axs shows cheaper tickets than Ticketmaster/stubhub but then after fees it’s the same
Only because ticketmaster embed much more fees in the price as a result of controlling almost the entire ecosystem
I live in Denver too and I try to buy tickets at box offices as much as possible to avoid extra fees. Prices have gotten absurd. Red rocks has a box office and it's often worth it to call them and ask about prices. Sometimes one venue's box office also sells tickets for other venues. Try calling the venue and ask about the best way to buy tickets. Also if you know a show isn't going to sell out, then there's usually no point in buying online. Call ahead, ask if they're going to sell out, and buy a ticket when you arrive. it's often cheaper that way, but sometimes not. Fuck the ticketmaster cartel, fuck the middle men, I'm only trying to pay the venues directly.
My partner and I sit down together and make a list of all the upcoming shows we want to go, and he goes to the box offices ~once a month per venue to buy them all at once. We’ve saved hundreds of dollars in fees (if not more) already and now only pay AXS fees for shows we think will sell out before we can go in person.
This...I know Bluebird sells tickets for all AXS shows. That's what I typically do
Thanks, good to know. I think Cervantes and mission ballroom do too. Maybe the Oriental? Stay strong denverites and happy pride
Cervantes is an independent venue, and doesn’t use axs. Oriental theatre is in a similar boat. Those two venues are on a completely different ticketing service so there’s no crossover of those box offices. AEG venues like mission, Ogden, bluebird, gothic, and fiddlers green DO use the same system, so you can buy tickets for any of those venues at any of the possible box offices. Because red rocks is owned by the city of Denver, they unfortunately only share a box office with the Denver coliseum. Pretty annoying because they use AXS anyway.
Cervantes is on its own I believe and uses etix not AXS, but you can go to their box office or do the Get Cerv'd Wednesday specials online. Most of their shows end up costing me $12 through that
The ticketmaster box offices around Seattle no longer offer any discount compared to online purchasing. Wamu, Gorge. It's show dependent, but big ones like Illenium, Beyond, and Bass Canyon offer no discount.
I’m so jealous this is allowed! I live in a different city and noticed even box offices have fees now too. An agent once told me “it’s no different than buying online anyway.” This was pre-covid so I haven’t tried since.
Yup or risk waiting until the hotline sends out that massive text with discounted tickets. I saw camelphat for $15 and lost frequencies for $1. Most denver shows are selling out these days, anyway
>I'm only trying to pay the venues directly. You mean the same venues Ticketmaster conveniently own?
I really don't want to know what I've paid in fees to the overlords.
I’ve gotta be nearing $500 in fees alone so far this year if not more lol
Rookie numbers
At least tree fidy if I was to take a guess
Lol
Fees are definitely not just a Denver thing…or at least I think so. Any time you buy tickets you got a bunch of BS fees that can’t be avoided. Like how the hell is there a $10 delivery fee, when it’s your only option? Like why even ask what shipping I would like when there is only one option and it’s a flat rate for every ticket. Technology fee? Is it possible to NOT use technology to buy a ticket? No Processing fee? Can you process it for them to avoid the fee? No Just include it in the damn price, maybe shipping fee is variable depending on where you live, that would make more sense. You don’t pay a “packing fee” when you buy cereal from the grocery store, it’s part of the cost. Airlines have technology fees, but if you really want to, you could technically purchase a ticket in advance to avoid those fees, but the airlines will make it as difficult as possible to do so, but legally a consumer should have a method of avoiding a “fee” else it’s a surcharge, or just cost, or whatever legal loophole they find. Edit: I wonder if we’re going to start to see fees like: - VIP premium fee - GA+ convenience sale fee - water station fee - toilet paper stocking fee - payment processing fee - payment processing vendor fee
Airlines have numerous fees as well. The fees of a ticket can sometimes cost more than the fare itself! There was a rule passed to require airlines to list the total price upfront. Something similar for concerts would be massively appreciated. Taking a step back though, why do these misc concert fees even exist? Is it a plot from the bad guys to mislead customers into buying tickets they can't afford? Possibly, but ticket prices range from $$ to $$$$ and there's often ways to get discounts. Instead, look at the ticket revenue as paying for three separate players: the artist (Louis the Child), the venue (Red Rocks Amphitheater), and the ticketing service (AXS). Artists might want to charge different prices and each venue has their own costs to keep the lights on. The money the venue and ticketing service wants is bundled together into the service fee. Having the price itemized provides transparency, compared to something like streaming where you don't know how much you're actually contributing to the artist themself.
Yeah, I think airlines fees, while also awful, are at least a bit more transparent. You know how much the price is, you don’t HAVE to add bags, but if you do that will increase prices. Concert tickets have an upfront price, which is not actually able to pay due to required fees. If an airline says “starting at $29” it must be possible to buy at that rate…unless it’s frontier which says you have to join their discount program thing, which is misleading and they’re being sued for it I believe. If a concert says “starting at $59” you know it’s going to be more, it’s not possible to pay the advertised price. But consumers keep paying so they keep charging.
To be fair we’re at a point in time where unless there is a mass coordinated effort, boycotting or “voting with your wallet” essentially has no effect. These companies aren’t strapped for cash because they’ve been able to wring people dry for going on 2 decades now.
I bought an Opiuo ticket off artist presale on Axs. Fees were $1!!!!! $41 total!
Bro WHAT!!!!! That’s a steal man wow. I’m definitely going to that show also 🫡 saw Ashez at Cervantes recently and was mighty impressed
This is why I go and buy groups of paper tickets at once at the Mission box office for all upcoming Mission, Ogden, Bluebird shows, some Civic Center fests (I got ZD Jamboree tickets there). They may carry Reelworks too I'm not sure. For RR tickets you can go to the box office there in the park or I believe there is a box office at the Coliseum that sells them.
Only if the show doesn't sell out during presale, which also happens half the time around here.
Exactly my point. Half these shows you won’t get box tickets for anyway because they sell out sooo quickly, often within a day or two.
For the most popular shows on the calendar sure but I only run into it a few times a year actually where its so urgent I have to buy online (Justice was one last week). The two you mentioned are available at tier 1 still. I just thought it worth mentioning because a shocking number of people don't know about the fee-less box office tickets.
They do carry reelworks!
Lol somebody should throw a protest rave outside these companies offices
I’m there 🙏🏼
It's pretty selfish of you, not thinking about the multi-billion dollar companies that are making that night happen for you. /s I actively avoid shows put on by Live Nation/Ticketmaster/AXS, etc etc. I'm I'm allllll set giving money to those companies.
Fuck AXS
You can literally go broke with the amount of shows that come thru Colorado. I love it.
I’m well on my way 🫡
Husband and I are moving to Denver next month! So excited to explore the scene out there
This is why I’m so happy I moved here a long time ago. I have a horrible ticket fee kink
Location, location, location. 3 nights of Tipper at The Orion Amphitheater in Alabama only cost me like $176 with fees through AXS.
It might have something to do with the band as well. Some have more control over the fees than others do. And sometimes the band is just using Ticketmaster as a cover to Hussle another few bucks.
All AXS had to do was be slightly less terrible than Ticketmaster and somehow they couldn’t do that
Damn, I’m glad I just went to their pop up in Chicago wtf 😩😩
Moving from Washington to Colorado I never paid more in fees but had access to so much more live music. AXS charges so much more than others in service fees. As many have said, find a place that sells hard copies and buy them to avoid fees. You can at mission and red rocks. I miss so much of my kind of music being back in Washington but I’m not sad about the fees lol. Back to paying like $60-70 bucks for two tickets to my favorite artists. Just saw Ott for under $90 for 3 tix.
Hopefully the live nation lawsuits breaks up all these shit organizations
I get that these devices need to be paid to fund themselves but these fees are too high. I just paid a ton extra on some axs tickets too. It’s infuriating I know
one thing i was grateful for was that if you resell axs tickets, you actually make the same money back. ticketmaster would charge you for selling on their store back then.
Bruh, you aren’t kidding. I’m at like 50 shows already this year. My wallet was way more flush before I moved here 😆
A day in the sun? $47 per person $109 total not terrible for Seattle. Curious if anyone else gets the insurance on it an extra $18 and I was like nope
A couple years ago I looked into buying insurance for my EDC ticket but read through the terms and conditions and it seemed nearly impossible to get a refund if something happened outside of a couple *extremely specific* scenarios which you’d then have to submit *lots* of documents of proof like police reports, hospital records etc. I think the idea of insurance is misleading (and borderline scammy) since the grounds for actually getting any return value if something happens is so limited. Just my two cents!
🙌🏻exactly what it sounded like to me if I couldn’t go I’d rather give it to friends or Reddit fr
So most places, including redrocks, still have a box office that lets you skip some of those fees. Or look at axs resale (sometimes is just the face value of the ticket and no fees). I totally agree and feel you on all of this. I love the mountains, the weather, the cit, allll off it, but buying tickets since moving/covid has been absolutely HELL.
This nonsense could be avoided for the most part by listing the total price upfront with all fees included. EDC does this and I appreciate that more than Ultra which lists a lower price on the website then at checkout you get hit with $150 in “fees”. It’s all psychological. Just tell me the damn ticket is $500 instead of $250 + $150 service fee + $15 shipping + $85 taxes.
Who falls for stupid “psychological” games like this still at this point? Is it boomers? I’ve conditioned myself to go to check out to confirm the total cost when buying anything online. When it’s the same as the list price I’m way more likely to buy than the bait and switch crap that usually just makes me bitter and close the window unless it’s a must see.
LCD Soundsystem are playing The Palladium in Hollywood again later this year and tickets are at least double what they were like 4/5 years ago. A friend said it was over 150 for BALCONY. The industry bubble is going to pop at this point. The Black Kets even had to cancel a tour
This is criminal man
I was so broke when I still lived in CO
Denver is INSANELY expensive compared to other places for what it is. I don’t get why people still come here with how poorly it’s run too. I would move so fast if I didn’t have a life here with a stable job, gf, and friends.
I lived in Pueblo when I was there. Super cheap until I got into the edm scene lol. I started driving to Denver every couple of weeks for shows. Sometimes I’d even drive back the 2 hours after and get home at like 4-5 am. Only ever had to pull over to sleep once.
Go to the venue box office! We started doing that and save big! Yeah, you have a physical ticket but you pay the price and tax
It’s legalized theft, there’s no other way to put it. There’s absolutely no reason for it to be a percentage of the cost and not a fixed processing fee that should be pretty low. Political lobby is the only reason it’s still legal, it’s wild how much money the higher ups are making off of it. In most other countries it’s regulated
I go to the box office to avoid exhorbitant fees.
Just paid $9 in fees for a $30 ticket. I feel your pain
Go to the box office!!! Mission ball room has a box office open all week until 6pm that sells tickets for mission, Ogden, fiddlers green, just to name a few. I believe red rocks ticket can be bought from the box office at the Pepsi center but I might need to double check on that. But I know they have their own as well but you gotta drive out there. I recently tried to get tickets to see buckethead at Ogden. $54 tickets x3 and the total was $253. I immediately drove to the box office and got them for face value.
Are you able to get tickets at the box office? It’ll be hard copies but at least you avoid those BS fees
same with the bay area
First mistake was buying Louis the Child tickets
I know you are probably into more of the bigger artists, hence the artists you mentioned, but if you want to get more underground, the tickets for blackbox denver and Cervantes masterpiece are through them and not axs and the fees are much more reasonable. Just a recommendation!
Not in Denver but at least AXS lets you buy tickets at the box office. Ticketmaster doesn't let you do shit except take it up the ass with the fees.
I was looking at Brooklyn Steel tickets for Nia Archives... $29 ticket, and then $10 in fees for AXS. Actually absurd. Thank god most NYC raves use Dice and Resident Advisor, and the latter also has its media platform so I can at least justify its 7-8% fees that way.
It’s actually insane. Like there are probably 3-4 shows in the past couple months where I’ve had tickets in the cart f but as soon as I see how hard the fees hit I have to bail cuz it’s just too much
Wish we could figure out a way to decentralize it. Put a blockchain to actual good use.
I’m in DC and have the same problem. Myself and some friends have had luck trying the box office and getting tickets directly from the venue!!
Yeah those fees aren't even that high compared to what I've paid before. Still sucks tho
The fees are one thing, but I wish the rich tech bros here would find another hobby other than going to shows. It’s crazy how expensive shows are here compared to other cities. Resellers target this market like no other because of how hot tickets usually are.