Getting tickets to popular events can be a ball ache! As band’s and festival’s reputations grow, the chance of you being there lessens! The days of waiting outside your local record store are almost over, as the majority of tickets now go on sale over the internet. Hopefully by following a few tips I’ll help you bag those sacred tickets! So…

Be prepared, when logging on always make sure you have your card details to hand. Nowadays, most bands offer presale tickets to those fans on their webase a day or two before going on sale to the general public. Make sure your signed up to their mailing list to ensure first pick of the tickets!

If presale isn’t an option for example, with festivals, make sure you know the date and time tickets go on sale so you can log on a couple of minutes beforehand. Also visit more than one site to try and get your tickets. As it gets closer to the sale time keep refreshing your page or re-entering the address (sometimes refreshing doesn’t work to stop spammers) until the ticket sale goes live. Fast typing is now essential to get in all your details before the pages expire!

If you didn’t manage to get tickets dont worry there’s still some options available to you…

If it’s a big event there will probably be a second batch being sent out in the next 24 hours. Keep checking forums or rumour sites to find out. With Leeds and Reading for example HMV had some tickets on sale the next day in store.

Alternatively e-bay is always an option, although you’ll probably find yourself paying a little more than you wanted to, it’s usually a dead certainty for tickets. If you want to risk it 2-3 days before the show, ticket websites sometimes release another small batch. If you’re really daring turning up the day of the show sometimes works, if the box office isn’t open there’s usually a fan or scout selling tickets at a reasonable price.

And Finally a quick tip, if you’ve decided to take the internet option a fast computer and a high speed connection will increase your chances of ticket success. Don’t give up persistance usually pays off. And remember, take care when entering your card or billing information, you don’t want, after 3 hours of waiting , to find out you’ve sent your ticket to the wrong address or it wont accpet you’re card!

Last but by no means least, when your tickets arrive keep them in a safe place, speaking from experience it’s not fun loosing them before the gig!