The Explanation of Why Getting Concert Tickets Will Probably Be Harder For Me This Season

I know a lot of us are thinking ahead to warmer times and fun this spring. And if you’re like me, it means getting out and going to some concerts.

Which normally, would not be a problem. You just pop online and order them whenever you think about it, right? Sure, if you get there early you can get your pick of tickets, but you can just take what you can get when you can get it. That’s pretty much how it works for the Missouri State Fair and a lot of other local shows.

Well. That’s the way it works…. For you. For me, not so much. Specifically, with the artist I want to see live, there are going to be some hoops to jump through. And thousands and thousands of others are going to be jumping through those very hoops. At the same time.

First of all, let’s think back to how concert tickets were bought back in the day. Just for comparison. You’d have to go to the actual venue and wait in line for tickets, wait over the phone for ages to buy them, or you’d have to try to get them via a lottery. Seems almost archaic, doesn’t it. With the advances in technology over the internet, now you can buy tickets online, which on the surface seems easier. It is easier for you… but it is also easier for scalpers to buy up tickets with bots. And those scalpers re-sell those tickets online at sometimes four to five times the initial price.

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Scalpers have been around since the first concerts ever, that’s not a new thing. Someone is always looking to make a buck here and there. However, measures that legit sellers have taken to circumvent those scalpers has made the process a little more difficult for the average concert goer.

Let’s talk about my experience, for example. Or rather, what my experience hopefully will be. I am expecting my show to be as high demand as some of the biggest names out this summer. It won’t be a name you’ll know, but the fans that know it will be rabid to get these tickets, and it’s more high stakes than normal. The demand for these tickets will be larger than the average bear, and there’s several reasons for this circumstance. I’ll unpack that.

The artist I want to see live is a guy called Agust D. This is him.

Handsome devil.  ANYWAY.  For the purposes of our talk here, I’ll clarify that he could be referred to as his solo project name, Agust D, his stage name, Suga, or his birth name, Yoongi. He’s going solo on some dates this spring and summer.

Yes, he is one of the members of BTS. And I’m sure you’ve heard bits and pieces over the internet and the news. BTS fans are not so quietly freaking out over this tour, because he and the other members will have to serve in the Korean military soon for a year and half to two years. One of them has already gone, and the others won’t be far behind.

So we’ll be going from having content, new songs, live streams and concerts every day/month/year to…… nothing until 2025 at the earliest. Well, that’s probably a bit of an exaggeration. We’ll probably still get some content from their label, but they will be unavailable live in broadcast or concert until that time, because the government will have them working. They’ll be in basic training and then doing whatever they’re assigned to, post wise.

Our boy Suga has already begun his process, and it has already been announced he’ll be in the civil service section, which compounds our issue. Why? Because (as I understand it anyway, I could be wrong) if a young man serves in a more physically demanding or a more dangerous post, his required time in the military could be as short at 18 months. If a young man is behind a desk or far away from the front line (technically South Korea and North Korea are still at war, only in a tense truce), he has to serve 24 months. Yoongi is required to serve away from the front in a less physically demanding job not because of his celebrity status, but because he had a severe shoulder injury several years ago. He just had surgery to help correct it last year. So since he’s not 100% fit for active duty, his talents will be used in the civil service. Which means he’ll likely be gone longer than the others in the group, who do not have similar injuries (Seokjin, the member already serving, has been assigned to be an assistant drill instructor at the DMZ, right at the front, now that his basic training is complete). Basically, if you wanna see Yoongi live, it’s act now or hold your piece til 2025.

And most of his fans wanna act NOW.

Keep in mind, BTS fans are….. enthusiastic in a normal circumstance, even without these time limitations. When Bangtan came through the USA last time for a nationwide tour (2019), they initially chose four dates in major cities. When those tickets sold out in minutes, fan outcry caused them to add four more dates in those same cities, which also sold out in minutes. It was the same for the rest of the dates on the tour in Europe and Asia. Sell out, add more dates, sell out. These dudes sold out Wembley twice in an hour. Taylor Swift didn’t, for example. She got close, but she didn’t sell out Wembley Stadium. I’m not saying that to knock Taylor or her fans, but to point out how many of us there are, even if we aren’t visible on the mainstream radar.

I remember languishing in an online waiting room for a week to buy my tickets, and then being timed while selecting my tickets to make sure I wasn’t dawdling my place in line. Several of my fellow friends in this fan group got kicked out of the waiting room, lost their place in line, or missed out on the tickets they could afford quickly. To make a long story short (TOO LATE), there is high, high demand for this.

So to try to make it as fair as possible to fans, and to try to circumvent scalping bots, Ticketmaster has a couple of options. Basically if you’re a paying member of the BTS fan club, you can enter for a chance to get in on a special pre-sale. A chance. You’re not guaranteed to get access to the pre-sale. You must prove you’re a member, sign up, and wait for Ticketmaster to verify you. IF they approve, you get an email with a code the night before the pre-sale. Then there is a pre-sale for the fan club (who get access to the sale with the code), and then the day after, a pre-sale for anyone NOT in the fan club who pre-registered specifically for this tour. Then there’s the general sale after that.

Complicated, huh? Kinda reminds me of how far they went for the Renaissance Tour. Which would be comparable, but Beyoncé is going to be in much, much bigger venues than Suga will. The average crowd available at his shows will be 20,000 people versus 85 to 90,000 at, say, the Billy Joel/Stevie Nicks show at Arrowhead. So yes, those shows will sell out FAST. Limited tickets will make for an even higher demand with these shows.

It’s kinda stressful, if I’m being honest. But I did the pre-reqs. I signed up for the fan club (they already get enough of my money so I had not been a fan club member previously), I signed up for the fan pre-register (got the email verification), and my boyfriend is ready and waiting to join the second pre-sale if I don’t get selected to get a code.

All of this to see Min Elizabeth Augustine Yoongi* in person for a couple of hours. And if I get to go,… it’ll be worth it.  We'll find out.  Fan pre-sale is today, wish me luck.  What's the most you've done or spent to attend a special concert or live event?  Was it worth it?  Would you do it again?  Tell me all about it in the comments!

Tannily yours,

Behka

*That’s just another nickname of his. It’s a joke, his name is Min Yoongi.