COLUMN: Smith’s leaves fans in the cold
There was a time, which most of us can probably remember, when you could show some dedication to your favorite band and be able to see them in concert. Thanks to Smith’s Tix those days are over.
When bands were coming to town, the people who really wanted to see them used to wait outside for hours, often overnight, and be rewarded for their suffering by being the first ones in line when the tickets went on sale and getting the best seats.
Sometime around 1994, Smith’s decided it wasn’t the best way to sell concert tickets, and they started the wristband system.
In many ways, the wristbands still allowed fans some control over their tickets. At the exact moment a concert was announced on the radio, Smith’s Tix began handing out wristbands. Usually 100 were given out at each location, assigning a place in line for when the tickets actually went on sale.
The only major downside to this was you had to be listening to the right radio station at the right time to hear when wristbands were given out.
The system was used for five or six years before they really screwed it up.
My first experience with the new system was in 1999 when the Dave Matthews Band came to West Valley City. After the wristbands were given out, a number between one and 100 was selected at random. That was where they started the line.
At that moment, dedication became a meaningless term when trying to see a concert in Utah. I had the No. 1 wristband for that show, because I (like many other people), raced to Smith’s when the announcement was made that wristbands were available.
The line started at No. 23, which put me, and everyone else who dropped what they were doing to get in line, almost to the back of the line.
This is how Smith’s Tix has been selling tickets ever since, until now.
Last week, when wristbands were given out for the free Olympic concerts, they made it even worse.
Wristbands were given out in three waves: One Monday, one Wednesday and one Friday. A small range of those wristbands (again, numbers picked at random) would get tickets.
After they had given out the max 100 wristbands on Monday, and had to begin turning people away (I was one of them, but I wasn’t one of the first ones there, so I didn’t have the right to complain) they decided to continue giving out wristbands until closing on Wednesday and Friday.
When I got to Smith’s on Wednesday morning and stood outside in the cold for a couple hours, I felt like it was worth it, because there were only a handful of people in front of me, so I would be rewarded by getting tickets. That night they gave out more than 1,000 wristbands, making it completely pointless that any of us sat outside in the cold all morning for our low numbers. It also gave the reward to the people who put it off all day and who couldn’t be bothered to go out of their way to get the wristband. First come, first serve? Not at Smith’s. I guess when you’re the only place to get tickets, customer service doesn’t mean much.
Smith’s should go back to the way that’s always worked for the people who are actually giving them the money. Let the people who really – I mean really – want the best seats wait outside overnight. Suffering for the reward makes it that much better when you get it, and it gives people a fair chance to get the good tickets.
Jason Robey’s column runs every other Friday in The Statesman. Comments can be sent to jasonr@cc.usu.edu