U2 at The Grammys back in 1988. They don’t look like that any more.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It crossed my mind to try to buy U2 tickets to the upcoming May concert. I went online yesterday to see when tickets go on sale. Supposedly they don’t until next Monday, but I quickly found a website already selling after-market tickets. Odd. The prices ranged from less than $100 to well over $600 for tickets.

Then this morning I got an email from Ticketmaster saying I could purchase my tickets now. I just have to buy a ticket plus a U2.com Subscription package for an additional $50. Ticket prices ranged from $41 to $325. And there are other options available if you know the offer code, which I don’t.

So, no, looks unlikely that I’ll be going to see U2 this time ’round. Methinks all the gravy seats have either already been purchased or are going to cost well above my bullshit threshold to see a band whose heyday was two decades ago. And I’ve yet to have a positive experience at a Century Link / Qwest Center concert — no matter how much I’ve paid in the past, the seats were always bad-bad-bad.

Who remembers the old general admission days of concerts? The trick wasn’t how much you spent, it was when you were willing to get in line the day of (or day before) the show to get your seats or a spot on the floor next to the stage. We can thank the 1979 Cincinnati Who concert disaster for bringing festival seating to an end (who remembers the WKRP in Cincinnati special episode?). And I guess the way U2 is doing it is a safer (if not a more profitable) way to go…

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Bloomington’s Bugg plays tonight at Petshop. The band’s full-length debut came out last winter on Pop Wig Records. Fellow Bloomington rockers Jacky Boy also are on the bill along with our very own Jocko and FiFi NoNo. $7, 9 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.