Since I will be watching the Black Lips puke all over hipsters on Bedford Avenue,

Yep you hear right, the Black Lips will be playing two shows tonight in Williamsburg, the first at Sound Fix on Bedford and then there will be a circus parade to the show at the new Music Hall of Williamsburg, i.e. old North 6. Hopefully these fools will not get arrested before the show I spent about 14 dollars extra on because I had to buy them through Ticketmaster.


Source

I thought since I was bashing Ticketmaster this morning, I would publish this amazing email I saw on Brooklyn Vegan. They got the email from EJazz news and its dishing on why the music industry is suffering a very fast and angry death from us the consumers. Last night I had pretty much the exact same conversation with my friend when she was complaining about spending $60.00 on TWO Pinback tickets. Just a few years ago, these bands were having shows at Knitting Factory for $12 or less and now they are moving to bigger venues, who only deal with the devil, IE Ticketmaster. So please people, if you can avoid it, do not buy through this corporation. If enough of us stop, maybe it will make a dent, especially here in NYC.

So lets get to it and thanks again for Brooklyn Vegan and EJazz News for highlighting this every growing issue in what should be the "underground" music scene of New York.

E-Mail re this today:

Want to hear something that's FUCKED UP? I purchased tickets to a Bela Fleck and the Flecktones concert in Birmingham, AL through Ticketmaster. Face value of ticket - $43. Total Charge once it's run through Ticketmaster - $111.10 for two tickets. That's ridiculous, but I like Bela Fleck and want to see the show, so I'll pony up the cash. Apparently not enough people were willing to pay $55/ticket to see the band, ticket sales were sluggish, and they canceled the show. So I check my credit card statement today to confirm the refund, and it is only for $107. I call Ticketmaster and they say that even though the show was canceled by the artist/promoter, I am not going to be refunded the full amount due to a NON-REFUNDABLE processing fee. Are you ***** kidding me? Think about that for a second--that means that if 500 people have purchased tickets, Ticketmaster is pocketing $1,500 of the CONSUMER'S money. And the consumers being ripped off are the band's dedicated fans--people who bought tickets IN ADVANCE to guarantee entry to the show! What should I do the next time this band announces a show--wait and see if they sell enough tickets so that it looks like the show is going to happen, then buy my tickets?

Let's say that this happens in a couple of cities 2-3 times per week--you're talking over $150,000 per year pocketed by THE MAN. No wonder consumers are sick and tired of the music industry! Working with bands and having promoted shows, it infuriates me to think that this happens to enthusiastic music fans. If a band or promoter overshoots and realizes they are going to lose their ass if they go through with a show, they shouldn't further penalize the music fans they are already disappointing--they should absorb the "service fee". I'm actually glad this happened to me--a lesson learned so I don't piss off my patrons in the future. Thought you would enjoy this "fleecing of America".

Here is the rest of the article hating on the most hated about today's music industry: 10 Most Hated things about the Music Industry