Two of my favorite things…

Pearl Jam.

Wrigley Field.

Naturally, I lost my mind when I found out Pearl Jam was playing Wrigley Field in July.

I’m a member of their Fan Club…tried the Pearl Jam pre-sale for special fan club-only tickets right in front of the stage (on Wrigley Field)…but got shut out. That sucks, but whatever, that happens.

Second up, a friend of mine who has season tickets to the Cubs tried to help buy giving me with the Cubs season-ticket pre-sale, but it didn’t work either. I didn’t have high hopes for that idea, but appreciate the effort & help.

Then…the general public on-sale happened on Saturday at 10am. I was online at 9:30…two laptops in front of me…40 windows open on each screen. Red Bull next to me…Pearl Jam shirt on…leaving for Baconfest, put on hold.

For 40 minutes, my eyes went back and forth from screen-to-screen, checking every single tiny tab waiting for the verbiage to change from “Virtual Waiting Room” to “Purchase tickets”.

Nothing. Completely shut out.

My wife pointed out that every 5 minutes, my head got more and more close to the table until I finally was just face down on the keyboard.

A friend of mine in Chicago that always has good luck buying tickets for Cubs game texted me that even he wasn’t able to get through.

It sold out in about 39 minutes. Incredible. A co-worker got through around the 37 minute mark…only had single seats left. Yes, he’s going alone, but he’s going, and that’s all that matters.

Of course, I was bummed, but I tried to move on with my day.

While I was at Baconfest, I said to myself, I’ll check Stubhub later, maybe a few people have put up tickets already or something.

Around 9:00 that night, I checked Stubhub…and holy cow…did anyone buy tickets with the intent to actually go to the show?

Tons of tickets were for sale…of course, marked up 400%.

That sucks. Absolutely sucks.

I get buying tickets to an event…then finding out as you get closer to the show, that you might not be able to make it (maybe a wedding or something like that)…and you have to sell them. Totally fine with that.

However, a ton of people bought those tickets just to sell for a profit, and that sucks. SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS. Real fans, like myself, got totally screwed out of seeing a great show.

What’s even worse? I saw that there were some people selling tickets to the Fan Club-only section…from $5,000 to $25000. Shame on you fan club members. You should have your fan club memberships taken away, and be stripped of your tickets. That sucks.

I keep getting asked, what are you going to do? Are you going to spend the $300 for a ticket?

Sadly, I will not. It is my dream concert…but I will use that money instead for hopefully 2 tour stops when Pearl Jam goes on a fall tour. I will have to convince myself that it’ll be the same…but it’ll really be just a form of denial.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing can be done about this system. It is the way it is, and I’m sure many of you have been dealt the same hand, and that sucks.

ON THE PLUS SIDE

Umm…Lays potato chips have released three new flavors to try:

Chicken & Waffles

Sriracha

Cheesy Garlic Bread

I checked Target & HyVee yesterday…not on the shelves yet, but apparently, they’ll be getting there soon. AWESOME.

AWESOME is as AWESOME does!