and then i die in july? (part iii)

so, now this has happened…

i will one hundred percent admit that my ultimate music festival would have, in this order, these bands for the nightly headliners…new order on thursday night, the cure on friday, depeche mode on saturday…and then duran duran on sunday? i almost feel my hand is forced here – even with the ministry show looming as well.

the cure tickets were an interesting experience – you had to become a “verified fan” by clicking a link on their website which took you to a form on ticketmaster, which then generated an email you replied to in order to show you were a real boy (or girl or whatever). you then were told to pick your location and, to play it safe, two back up locations.

you then got an email confirming all your selections and letting you know you’d fall into one of two categories – people that get codes, and people that get on the waiting list. the code people would get to pick tickets first, then the list people would be sent codes to bat cleanup, as it were. if you had multiple locations you were automatically put on the list for anything after the one you initially got a code for, and would receive one after the people with codes for that location got to pick. limit of four tickets per code per venue, and codes were only allowed if the person they sent it to was using it and it was use it or lose it, they were non-transferable. also, no tickets would be physically generated (everything would be electronic) and there was no reselling of tickets except through a band approved portal that would only allow you to sell your ticket for exactly what you were charged.

make sense? let the games begin!

unbeknownst to me one of my co-workers got a code, i got a code, and apparently absolutely ZERO of my clubbing buddies got a code, they all got wait listed. you got an email the day before the on sale telling you which situation you were in, and were told you’d get your code via text the next morning when tickets were about to go on sale. this proved to not be true, however – they sent out the codes within the same hour as the email the day before.

so i scheduled my morning so i was in a shop with the fiber WiFi to myself. i logged into the waiting room ten minutes ahead like they said to do, and when the queue kicked in i had over 500 people ahead of me already, but with the venue holding considerable more than 2,500 people and tickets capped at four per person, i knew i’d get something.

it took less than a minute for me to get in. my guess is several folks logged in without codes just to see if it would work. i left the default of two tickets selected (accidentally) but when i saw price after service charges i dropped to one since i had no guarantees that i had someone who would pay for the other and i took advantage of the “all tickets will be released – no vip set asides” thing and just clicked the front center floor section, ending up with seventh row, but when i dropped to one it defaulted to the better seat, which would be one closer to center than the aisle, so i lost the aisle seat.

these things happen – i’m seventh row center floor for less than my arena depeche ticket.

i’ve seen the cure four times across the last four decades. the first time (1989) was at the summit in houston (huge arena) from waaaaaay back in the arena. the second time (1992) was at the frank erwin center, from waaaaaay back in the arena. the third time (2008) was at the music hall (rip), which only held around 3,500 people, i was still literally at the top of the balcony. that was technically still closer than i was the fourth time (2016) which was also from a sideways angle, again back at the erwin center:

but this time will be 7th row on the floor, so hopefully for my FIFTH time (2023) i’ll get some really good pics!