Hungry hearts for The Boss

Fans go to great lengths, knowing tickets for Lowcountry show were born to run out early

Melissa Haneline
The Post and Courier

Barbara Ward rushes to the ticket window at the North Charleston Coliseum Friday for her turn to buy Bruce Springsteen concert tickets.

Melissa Haneline
The Post and Courier

Lori Smith (right) talks on a cell phone while in line for Bruce Springsteen tickets Friday at the North Charleston Coliseum box office. Smith was ready to try to get tickets over the phone in case they were sold out at the box office.

They were up with the rising sun, folks willing to drive all night to avoid a Montague Avenue freeze-out on Springsteen tickets.

Problem was, it seemed everybody born in the U.S.A. wanted them too.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Aug. 16 show at the North Charleston Coliseum effectively sold out in less than two hours Friday, seats scattered all across these badlands by folks snapping up tickets over the Internet. There were only about 150 single seats remaining.

In other words, if you want to go to the show, count on a lonesome day.

Lori Smith, a local CPA, was one of 75 folks who showed up for a pre-sale lottery to get a spot in line. She spent much of the morning worrying if she'd get in, with good reason. This show is tougher than the rest. Springsteen is one of the most popular acts in the country, and his fans travel. Since starting this tour last fall, he's sold out practically every venue in a matter of minutes.

"That's a big problem with getting tickets," Smith said. "They say they're going to sell out in five minutes."

They lasted a little longer than that, but the best seats were gone in minutes. Although Steve Rusvoldt and Kim Collins got to the box office at 7:30 a.m., the lottery for spots in line pushed them toward the end.

"I got two, but I couldn't get four together," Collins said. "We wanted to go with another couple. But I'm glad we got two."

Some people groused, like they did when Oprah came to town, and others cried foul. But the simple truth is that many folks got lost in the flood. With tickets available online, people all over the country — some of whom may not plan to attend the show — will buy tickets and come to town or sell their tickets. That's a lot of competition, a lot of seats lost in the E Street shuffle.

By mid-afternoon, there were a few hundred tickets — many of them lower level seats and the coveted general admission floor seats — for sale on eBay and various online broker web sites. Alan Coker, marketing manager at the North Charleston Coliseum, said none of those people had access to tickets before 10 a.m. Friday, the same time everyone else did, and said to beware: Some of those folks may be guilty of false advertising.

"There are lots of people trying to buy tickets at one time," Coker said. "We're all pulling from the same pool."

The ticketing system gets complicated. If 10,000 people or more try to grab tickets online at 10 a.m., all of those people put holds on tickets. If they decide to try again, those temporarily reserved tickets are put back into the pool — which is why you occasionally get better seats on a second try.

Albert Lopez, the vice president of strategic communications with Ticketmaster, said brokers — or scalpers — don't have early access to tickets. In fact, Lopez said, Ticketmaster recently won a federal lawsuit against a company that developed software that allowed users to jump to the front of the digital ticket line. The company was ordered to pay $18 million to Ticketmaster and quit selling the software.

Ticketmaster has upgraded security on its Web site to combat this cyber-cheating, but brokers are still getting a share of the tickets.

"It's fair to say whatever tickets anyone got, they acquired them in a fair manner," Lopez said.

Folks looking for two seats or more together late Friday were directed to a Web site called TicketsNow, a domain owned by Ticketmaster that facilitates deals for after-market tickets between "licensed brokers" and fans. Ticketmaster, Lopez said, does not hold back tickets or own the ones for sale on the site.

It is, in some ways, like StubHub and other brokerage sites that offer high-demand tickets for sale. On most of these sites, premium seats were being offered for $179 to $650 — that's the price you pay.

Coker pointed out that some of those sites aren't real reputable. Earlier this week, one online broker was offering lower-level seats for the North Charleston Coliseum show in rows M and Q.

Trouble is, there is no row M, much less a Q, in the lower level at the coliseum.

For Friday's ticket sale, folks were out in the street running between Publix, the coliseum and their home computers, many ending up with sad eyes. When George Reinert saw the place in line he drew for buying seats, he sent Patty Martin racing in the street to try on the home computer.

And where did they end up?

"Nosebleeds," Reinert said.

Reach Brian Hicks at 937-5561 or bhicks@postandcourier.com.