How to get concert tickets easily

Okay, so if you grew up in the 90s then the chances are all of your favourite artists are touring. There is Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, Celine Dion and Shania Twain. Robbie Williams and a few others are also touring. Of course, when artists tour this means that there is huge anticipation to secure tickets to their shows. There will always be people who miss out, but there are some ways that you can increase the likelihood that you will get tickets to see your favourite artist.

1 - Try to get tickets in the presale: Presales are basically limited sales for the die hard fans, or the people who are willing to go the extra mile. It's really easy to access them. Sign up to the mailing list of the touring company and see if you can get access to credit card or telco provider presales. If you're not with Telstra then here's a little trick. Buy a Telstra sim card, create an online account and use that to access the presale.

2 - Don't try to buy heaps of tickets. This one is trickier if you plan to go with a few people. If you can, it's best if you all sign up to the mailing lists and the telco provider presale. That way you can try and get smaller quantities of tickets. You may end up sitting apart from eachother but that shouldn't worry you as you can simply hang out together before or after the show.

3 - Camp out on the website before tickets go on sale. If you can then make sure you're on the website prior to the presale or general on sale. Most ticketing companies will start queuing people prior to the on sale so if you're already in line "before the shop opens" you have a much better chance of getting tickets. Make sure you do not refresh the page. Refreshing the page every five seconds can actually push you further back in the queue and reduce the likelihood that you'll get tickets.

4 - Create your membership a few days before the on sale. Okay, it's very unlikely that you wouldn't have purchased tickets from Ticketek or Ticketmaster previously. If however you haven't then you will need to create an online account. By creating an online account prior to the day of the on sale you can ensure that you're all prepared to purchase tickets.

5 - Look at a seat map prior to the on sale. If you can get hold of a seat map prior to the on sale. Doing so will mean that you know exactly what type of ticket you're after. For example, if you want to be in the first elevation then you will either need A or B reserve, but if you're okay with being at the back then that's the cheapest option - normally D reserve. If you've been to the venue before you will also have a good idea of what a good seat is. I made this mistake a few years ago when I saw Taylor Swift at ANZ Stadium in Sydney's Olympic Park. I'd never been to the venue, so I thought "okay, section 321R isn't too bad", and it wasn't too bad in all honesty, but I did spend most of the time watching the concert on the screen. I later saw Ellie Goulding, Delta Goodrem and Green Day at Qudos Arena. I was in Elevation 2 for the first 2 and Elevation 3 for the latter. I wasn't aware at the time but a side view is actually better (but beware of the side view right near the stage) than directly facing the stage. When you familiarise yourself with the seat map and the pricing categories you can quickly get in and get your tickets without mucking around.

For some shows Ticketek allows you to play around with the seat map. They haven't allowed this with either Shania Twain or Celine Dion so you'll have to try your luck.

These are a few tips to help you get tickets to a show you want to. If you have any tips of your own please let us know.

Concert Review: Alanis Morissette - ICC Sydney January 2018

If you’re anything like me you grew up in the 90s listening to Alanis Morrisette and to this day you still do so when it was announced that she was touring Sydney you just had to buy your ticket to this must see show.

Let me tell you, she did not disappoint. It was a stripped back show that opened with You Learn. As you would expect the majority of songs were from her standout record, Jagged Little Pill which was released in 1995. She did offer a track from her follow up, supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and a couple of songs from Under Rug Swept, Hands Clean and Precious Illusions.

When she sung Hand in My Pocket, Ironic and You Oughta Know the crowd joined in. It was obvious from looking at most of the members in the audience that they’d grown up with Alanis.

There was no Encore with Alanis telling the audience that she didn’t want to leave the stage.

The management at the ICC is appalling and security was over the top (with bags being confiscated) but the acoustics of the venue were excellent and as long as you had a good seat you could see everything.

It would’ve been great if she’d sung a few songs from Supposed Former Infratuation Junkie such as So Pure and Unsent, but given the album tanked it’s not surprising that she didn’t.

It was great to see an artist just focus on singing rather than over produced music, which Alanis did so effortlessly. 

All in all this was a great show and I would give it a 4/5.