Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on his site

Re:Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on hi... by drzaiusapelord on Monday June 25, 2012 @07:53PM (#4159365)

I wonder if he's having issues with being denied access to certain venues. The reason why ticketmaster and the rest can get away with those fees is because they give a kickback to the venue owner. The venue owner can tell acts to get lost if they don't go through the ticket vendor that gives them $5 per ticket for nothing. Obviously CK is a huge act and you can't blacklist him, but you may need his level of star power to pull this trick off. Even Pearl Jam couldn't do this and they were hugely popular. Maybe stand-up venues aren't as greedy/stupid.

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Re:Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on hi... by rsbrown on Monday June 25, 2012 @07:57PM (#4159385)

Indeed, he says as much in the message: it was a real challenge to find venues around the country that could work with our exclusive ticketing service under these perameters [sic]

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Re:Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on hi... by tptacek on Monday June 25, 2012 @09:42PM (#4159725)

He is playing at offbeat venues; The Chicago Symphony center, for instance, and the Symphony Center in San Francisco. A quick peek at both venues will show you that neither are popular among mainstream touring acts.

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Re:Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on hi... by stoic on Monday June 25, 2012 @08:25PM (#4159465)

I only checked the Texas shows, but the Magnolia Theatre in Dallas is a pretty "classic" theatre that has hosted plenty of top-tier comedians, and ACL Live in Austin books all kinds of heavy-hitting musical acts in addition to the stuff you see on the Austin City Limits television show. Not exactly comedy-specific clubs, but probably more appropriate than the places run by Ticketbastard/AEG Live.

They're certainly still getting a cut, it's just not itemized during checkout for all to see, I guess. The only other thing on the receipt besides the ticket price was sales tax, which came out to an even total of $45.00.

Should be a good show =)

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Re:Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on hi... by goatforce5 on Monday June 25, 2012 @09:00PM (#4159598)

I'm curious... I went through to the buy page and there was a big notice saying that the tickets might become Will Call tickets.

Do you have a ticket you can print out now, or are they telling you to turn up on the night of the show with ID?

(I'm seeing him during September in Toronto - tickets available exclusively through Ticketmaster! http://jfl42.com/ )

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Re:Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on hi... by mahyarm on Tuesday June 26, 2012 @02:55AM (#4160639)

I bought a ticket for SF, and I got something I could print out.

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Re:Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on hi... by lukekarrys on Monday June 25, 2012 @07:58PM (#4159389)

In his post he said he had trouble finding venues that would work with him on this. I know last time through Arizona he played Comerica Theatre (capacity 5500) and on this tour he is playing the Celebrity Theatre (capacity 2650). I would guess that this specific venue change was due to Comerica Theatre not wanting to work with his exclusive ticketing.

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Re:Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on hi... by dagw on Tuesday June 26, 2012 @04:13AM (#4160777)

I'll bet you that if you look closely enough you'll find the Comerica (and most other equally large venues) is owned by Livenation/Ticket Master and as such will only deal with acts who work though Ticketmaster. That's the hardest problem to solve with ticketing, the fact that most venues of a decent size won't touch you unless you also use their ticketing service.

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Re:Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on hi... by marquis on Monday June 25, 2012 @09:25PM (#4159663)

Pearl Jam is really a different example: you can't use, say, a local movie theater that converts to stage because of the sheer size of the equipment needed (Metallica had their own jumbo jet for this). For smaller bands and other groups however, I hope to see this kickstart a new era.

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Re:Louis CK selling tickets to latest tour exclusively on hi... by adventureful on Monday June 25, 2012 @07:57PM (#4159384)

Yes, it is practically guaranteed this locks him out of numerous larger venues that have exclusive ticketing deals. A price he's willing to pay clearly.

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