In an article published in Tuesday’s Burlington Free Press, ticketless Phish fans may have to dig deep to catch the band’s final two shows in Coventry, VT.
JEFFERSONVILLE — Adriane Whitfield and Ryan McDonald are going to Vermont jam-band Phish’s last show in Coventry next month.
But because the Lamoille County couple is unwilling to spend $450 a ticket — the going price on eBay for the tickets originally sold for $150 each — the question remains whether they are going to get into the two-day concert.
“I didn’t think it was going to sell out at first,” said McDonald, who works restoring homes and painting. “It seemed like there were tickets everywhere. Then it became the last show, but even then I figured, how could they turn you away?”
Like all but the 70,000 people who have tickets to the show, he just might find out.
Phish fans seeking concert tickets are encountering mind-blowing prices now that the band has announced it will split up after the August show. The 200 percent increase on eBay might even be a bargain. Brokers are selling tickets to the show for as high as $915 apiece. That’s 510 percent higher than the $150 face value.
Sky-high prices
Veronica Lusk, sales representative for the Internet broker eSeats.com, has only about 40 tickets left. That’s not many for a show this size that’s over a month away, she said.
Because eSeats.com resells tickets for clients who name their own prices, eSeats lists tickets from $515 to $915. Lusk said the demand for even the $915 tickets is there.
“At this price, they are going really fast,” she said. “We can sell them for this much. People are buying them. I’ve never really seen general admission tickets for this much.”
Whitfield and McDonald were planning to buy their tickets on the Internet at face value. They waited until after they moved into a new home to sign up for online service. Credit card in hand, McDonald logged on to buy tickets.
“I stared at the screen,” he said. “Sold out.”
Whitfield, 30, has been following the band for 14 years. McDonald, 25, has been to 120 shows since he began following them at age 15. The couple met at a Phish show.
Their love for the band is on display throughout their hilltop house — a bootleg DVD alongside their movies, old Phish newsletters on their bookshelf, Phish photos on their walls, the shirt on McDonald’s back, posters in his room, signed memorabilia tucked away in hiding spots, the Phish pint glass McDonald sips his beer from.
Whitfield and McDonald have looked for tickets on eBay. They’ve called ticket brokers they’ve used in the past. They called friends. They’ve yet to find anything affordable.
But they refuse to miss the last show.
“I’m very nervous about going,” said Whitfield, a seamstress and designer. “Yes, I’m going with or without tickets, but I’ll never be a gate-crasher. I want to respect the band and the town. I’m praying.”
She and thousands of others.
Ticketless in Chicago
Brad Feldman, a 23-year-old Chicago business analyst, hopes to score a ticket. He’s been a Phish fan for 10 years, and is pretty sure he’s showing up with or without the right enter the Newport airport, where the concert is being held.
“I’d rather have a ticket and not have to worry, but if it comes down to going without a ticket, I’m going to go to the show,” he said.
He refuses to pay much more than the cost listed on the stub. He said he’s sold extra Phish tickets before, and he’s always sold them at face value.
“Phish is different,” he said. “When people need a ticket and you have some, you sell it at face. Hopefully good karma comes back.”
Internet message boards are full of Phish-hungry fans willing to spice up offers with money, tickets to other shows and even more personal enticements.
As a member of the Jambands.com message board found out, it’s a seller’s market.
“i offered making clothes, sex and cookies/brownies for a coventry (ticket) plus the cost of the ticket……,” wrote a user with the moniker Gabby23. “im still searching.”
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/news/2000h.htm
