I've ranted and raved about fan clubs a lot as of late. I find it disturbing when acts scalp their own tickets, add on unnecessary service charges and well, flat out manipulate their fans for every last cent. I'm a believer that most acts shouldn't even have fan clubs, it's pointless unless you plan on serving the fans. I find most clubs to be pointless and fruitless hence why I stay away from them. However, I belong to two of them; Pearl Jam and U2.Pearl Jam still charges only $20, you get a 45 rpm Christmas single every year, a magazine and access to tickets. It's a no-brainer and even though my tickets aren't often great (I joined late), I give them credit for rewarding their most loyal and long standing fans first. U2 is another story. Without question, they're the biggest band on the planet. Almost every single show they have done post 2001 has sold out (there were 1,400 unsold seats in Kansas City in 2001). Their fan club came under scrutiny in 2005 when their pre-sale tickets for their 2005 tour were horrendous and everyone seemed to have been shut out. However, I give them credit. They didn't hide and ignore the uproar, they publicly acknowledged their mistake and took care of their fans on the next go round.
Ever since then, they have managed to rise above the impossibility of being an enormous band while still having an connection to their fans. They offer a 20% discount to existing members when renewing (only $32 a year) and offer a 2 cd set to their fans every year. It's amazing how a little touch can go a long way. However, the cynic in me felt that I'd be here ranting about them when their tickets went on sale for their current tour. The pre-sale is put into three distinct categories for the fans.
Day One: For Long Standing Members
Day Two: For those who have small breaks in their membership
Day Three: For new members
I scored a day one pre-sale code and was pleasantly surprised when GA tickets seemed to be plentiful, but that wasn't what impressed me most. I was able to score amazing 100 level seats (for a stadium) for $95 a ticket. How? It appears that in every section around the stage in the lower level, there are both $95 and $250 tickets. They appear to be spreading the wealth and not limiting some sections to those who have the most money. With the entire floor being GA, my hunch is that GA's will not be as tough to come by as on previous tours.
U2 is the biggest band in the world and they shouldn't care about taking care of their most devout fans, but they do and they proved it today.
