Yeah I am with you Rob I am not a fan of phone tickets as I am always worried I will not be able to access them at the venue.

I turn 67 next month and like paper tix as I have something in hand and a memento from the concert.

Saw the North Mississippi Allstars last night at a 500 seat club, The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA. and I had the option to buy no fee Digital tix or pay a small mailing fee for paper tix and took the paper tix option.

Wish all concerts offered us a choice like that but more often then not digital tix the only option now. But you can't stop progress I guess and pretty soon we will have no choice except digital tix.

Maybe you can call the venue and ask them what gives with the no phone policy?

@bill_graham:  "Maybe you can call the venue and ask them what gives with the no phone policy?"

Good idea Bill and that hadn't even occurred to me.  I will call Abraham Chavez Theatre on Monday.

I saw Bonnie Raitt a few years ago in Liverpool England. She had a no phones policy then, but all it means is she doesn't like you taking your phone out during the show and taking Pictures/video.

Yeah I'm with @peach-head, "no phones" usually just means ushers will tell you to knock it off if you take them out during the show. It doesn't mean you can't bring your phone with your ticket on it, just that the artist doesn't want hundreds of lights shining on them from the crowd. I'm sure the venue has this all figured out. I appreciate it, the crappy video and audio that phone is going to capture is not worth obstructing the view of the people behind you.

I like having tickets on my phone. The less stuff in the mail, the better. One year we were in a cab on the BQE to the airport on the way to Wanee and I realized I'd left the tickets at home. Had to turn around, barely made the flight in time. If I had digital tickets it would have saved us a lot of trouble.

@porkchopbob:  Ever had your phone malfunction?  A piece of paper never malfunctions.

@robslob Actually, a piece of paper can get lost or forgotten or destroyed or stolen or duplicated. Scalpers do it all the time. Sure, phones can malfunction, but a box office will likely be able to sort it out if you are unable to present a single ticket image/code on your phone for some reason. They’re not trying to keep you out of the show.

A friend of mine forgot her ticket to Wanee completely, they were able to look it up. She had to wait in line about an hour (it’s a festival, not a small box office) but it got sorted out.

If airlines can do it it millions of times a day, a theatre in El Paso can do it. I doubt HAL is working the box office. So, stop yelling at clouds 😉 

Not a fan of the digital tickets.  Plus, if you see a show in Chicago, you need a parking app to save money on parking.  My wife and I saw Jim Gaffigan in January - first time to a show downtown in 2 years due to covid.  We didn't know to use a parking app, and it cost us $55 to park for 3 hours.  Would have been $18 with an app.  Saw Porcupine Tree a couple of weeks ago.  I downloaded an app and paid using it - $10.  My brother didn't use an app, parked in the same garage - for $41.  Problem was I couldn't get into the garage until 6:30.  I got there 10 minutes early - and was lucky enough to find a place to park on the street for 10 minutes until I could park in the lot.  Too much extra stress for an old guy (I'm 66).

I just got tickets to see Jason Isbell at the Ryman in Nashville.  They use AXS for their digital tickets.  I bought them thru the Ryman and gave them an email address.  Turns out I used a different email for the AXS app.  So I got an email saying my tickets were in my account - except they aren't.  Had to send in a form online for them to change the email address so I can get the tickets on my phone - hope that works.  What a pain - nothing said make sure your email matches your AXS account.  So no, not a fan of digital tickets.   They all have different rules - Ticketmaster wants you to put the tickets in your digital wallet on your phone, in case there are bandwidth problems at the venue.  AXS doesn't have that feature.

Yes, too much reliance on tech that may fail. 
the worst , IMO, is TMs flexible pricing. The tix I buy today at face may be more or less in a few weeks

🙄

all I can say is I hope the artist gets the extra $, not TM. Somehow I doubt it 

Since I refuse to even own a cellphone,I've accepted that my concert days are over.

If they don't want my money,screw them.

No fan of digital tickets complete BS. I have a stack of tickets stubs as have saved most of them. 

They are time pieces. I showed my kids the ticket stubs a while back (i am 60). I saw EC at age 15 for $6.

ABB at age 16 for $ 6.50  I caught Doobie Brothers with Eddie Money she (RIP) drove as no license at 15. 

My kids get it nothing but a vague memory without the ticket. My stubs usually indicate who I saw the show with. 

Posted by: @uponthe2ndfloor

Since I refuse to even own a cellphone,I've accepted that my concert days are over.

If they don't want my money,screw them.

My own old-man-ness caught up to me when I tried to buy Jason Isbell tickets (Birmingham) a while back.  I used to pride myself on my TicketMaster savvy - now, not so much.

I was attempting to buy 4 tickets for myself and a cousin and her husband.  This was going to be my treat - on me.  I'm also one of those guys who never wanted a cell phone at all.  I knew that when I did that it would become a leash on me for my then boss.  Anyway - I got on TM in time to score good seats.  Jumped through all the hoops - dotted all "i"s and crossed all the "t"s - all that stuff.  Then it came time to choose delivery method.  The only option was for a "smart" phone.  In all fairness, this is really something that TicketMaster should've told me from the get-go.

So with no "smart" phone - I had to call cousin and ask HER to order the tickets.  This meant having her use her credit card, phone etc.  She was a good sport about all this and was able to pull off the feat.

Okay, closer to show time good old Covid reared its ugly head.  Again.  The hospitals in the city of the show (Birmingham) were backed up with Covid cases.  This aroused a fear (or phobia) of being involved in a traffic accident (or something) and finding myself (or my wife's self ...) in a Covid ward environment.  It also spooked us over staying in a hotel full of potentially infected Covid music fans.  We decided not to take risks.

With this new "smart" phone ticket protocol - especially with tickets on a phone that was not mine - there was no easy way to re-sell these tickets (at face) to another fan.  I ended up eating about $700 worth of Jason Isbell tickets.

I know - I'm old.  My TM savvy now is reminiscent of those people who try not to be their parents on those insurance ads.

If a "smart" phone is the only means of buying concert tickets my concert going days are likely over.  Between the artist, the venue and TicketMaster - they charge out the wazoo for tickets.  Exactly how much would a home-printable ticket cost these guys?  This is nowhere near what I'd call "half-a$$ customer service".  

@rusty:  Your post says it ALL regarding the logistical NIGHTMARE that digital tickets create.  But I'm sure Ticketmaster does not care..........it's easier........for THEM.  FYI Rusty, your cousin could have transferred the tickets to someone else via her phone.  But why should you have to deal with all this nightmare just because you choose not to own a smartphone??  I am with you 100%!!

Fast forward to the Bonnie Raitt show last night.  Standing out in front of Abraham Chavez Theatre, trying to get to my tickets on my smartphone.........I WAS UNABLE TO LOG INTO THE TICKETMASTER APPLICATION, which I already had in my phone.  I don't know what the problem was, but I can tell you, I was standing out in front of the theatre emitting QUITE a few four letter words.  Finally I remembered that Ticketmaster had sent me an email regarding the show.  I clicked on "view tickets" in the email and finally was able to access them.  But yeah.......due to problems with my phone......I stood out in front for 5 or 6 minutes just to get into my Ticketmaster application and view the tickets.  And add to that the frustration of NOT knowing if I can get inside the theatre without consulting someone at the box office, knowing also that if I had a paper ticket I would already be inside.  

I HATE THIS DIGITAL TICKET BS!!!

And yes Rusty, I agree with you 100%.  You choose not to own a smartphone.  That should be your right and getting into a concert venue should not be dependent upon owning one.  I also agree with VTAB:  "Ticket stubs are timepieces".  A memory of a special night.  That has disappeared with technology.  

I am glad Rob you got in, that is the bottom line.

I share the concerns and frustrations and criticisms of most.  But I've adapted.  There is a convenience factor to having the tickets on your phone, but I also miss the ease and simplicity of holding, buying, selling, trading and keeping a ticket as a souvenir.  All those things can still be done with the digital tickets, but it is quite different.

Additionally, the phone being used might have some feature within it called a "wallet" or some other name.  You can put your digital tickets into the wallet where they can be quickly found without a log in or network connection.  I'm glad to hear you had a TM email that linked and worked for you to access the ticket.  In the future, you can explore this "wallet" type feature.  Note, screen shot of a QR or barcoded digital ticket sometimes works, but sometimes it definitely does not.  Always best to have the actual digital ticket ready for entry.

While I am not a fan. I have to be honest that once I used them a few times I did not find it that difficult to use digital tickets but like many of you older fans I am stuck in the past and prefer something I can hold in my hand. Same with music (vinyl and CD's) and books (no kindle for me) in that I prefer something physical I can hold in my hand.  

That being said the world is moving away from physical objects and it is less expensive for companies like Ticketmaster to go completely digital and increases their cut I guess not having to handle physical tickets and employ people to manage them.

We may never see it in what is left of our lifetime but I think physical money will be a thing of the past in the not too distant future so you can't stop progress.

Short story on getting burned with resale paper tickets.

Back during the Rolling Stones 40 Licks tour a buddy and I decided to go last minute and try to scalp tickets to see them in Boston. We hung out outside TD Bank North arena and asked if anyone had tickets to sell. A guy approached us with two very good floor seats at a face value so we bought them excited at our good score.

We go to enter the concert and the ticket taker scans the ticket and tells us there is a problem and to go to the ticket office. We go to the ticket office hand the ticket to the person working there and after they check with their computer tell us the tickets were cancelled by the buyer who was given a refund so they are no longer valid and proceeds to confiscate them so we can't stiff someone else trying to resell them. 

We are floored and pissed off and are ready to give up and go home as we only had just over $100 cash left between us and don't want to pay big money for tickets. I convinced my buddy to wait and see if we can get a last minute cheap seats tickets from someone who has extras.

Right before show time we lucked out as we scored two very good floor seats by the small stage for $100 for both from a group that had a couple of friends back out on them and they didn't want to eat the tix. Since the group of fans were going to the show we just followed them in so we knew we were not getting scammed again.

It worked out for us but when buying resale tickets I can see the value in digital as the person you are buying from can just transfer them to you and you will have peace of mind you are getting a valid ticket. Eliminates counterfeit tickets as well.

Robslob, Bill_Graham and others - it is NOT that I am technically challenged -contrary, I am quite literally not!  I was introduced to computers and digital technology well before most people that I know.  I was among the first to use non-linear digital editing programs (Avid, Adobe etc.).  I KNOW how stuff works.

I am not a fan of $2K phones for many reasons.  Yes, they can simplify our lives to a great degree.  A good example:  a person can carry an entire library of books with ease.  This has been a great advent for people like building inspectors, who often must reference an entire library of building code books.  I wonder why the school kids still lug around a cumbersome and heavy backpack when a smart phone or I-Pad could be loaded with all of them.

I do not care much for what I call the "bent neck generation".   Once a person has spent hundreds (if not thousands) on a fancy phone - they seem to feel ... required or compelled  to use the phone CONSTANTLY!  I've noticed people sitting in parks that failed to see a rare or magnificent bird, people in shows or movies who missed critical parts or songs because they were checking their Facebook status.  I've even seen a baseball fan get beaned by a foul ball because he was paying more attention to his screen than the game around him  (OUCH!).

My little antique and obsolete flip phone (with rotary dial and pull cord) will make any phone call that I need to make - especially 911 calls.  As someone mentioned, concert tickets make great souvenirs.  My recent Ringo & Allstarrs ticket will appeal to collectors of Beatles ephemera - as it has the original 2.5 year old show date on it (show thrice cancelled due to Covid).  This ticket was sold back when printed tickets were still the norm.

In my opinion - restricting sales to those who own smart phones could be construed as a restrictive or proprietary practice.  

@rusty

I get it Rusty, Most of the people I see are staring at their phones the whole time they are awake. My wife and two daughters are addicted to their phones. I only carry my phone when I am out and about or at work in case someone needs to get a hold of me and I need to check e-mail or someone sends me a txt. I only use txt under protest but that is the way most people communicate these days so I have conformed when necessary.

The place my Pixel 6 Pro smartphone provides me the most value is listening to music in my car or on the run through bluetooth earbuds. I have over 100GB of music ripped to my phone, and still have 142GB left to add more music, as I do most of my listening in my Jeep which has a really nice Harman Kardon system. My current Grand Cherokee does not have a CD player so I was forced to come into the new century and ripped all my favorite Live CD's and bootlegs to the phone. Have to admit it is nice to not have a bunch of binders full of CD's cluttering up my car now.

As far as the cost of a smart  phone you can get a nice one from most carriers these days either cheap or for nothing so that should not hold you back.

@nebish:  Good tip regarding the "wallet".  Someone on Facebook tipped me off to that this morning and I downloaded the Google Wallet app to my phone.  Next time I will save the tickets there so I won't have to be dependent on an internet connection.  I guess I have to conform if I am going to continue to attend shows.  I'll probably stop doing that when I'm 6 feet under, it's a bit of an addiction as many here would know.

Someone mentioned ticketmaster's dynamic pricing. This makes reselling tickets a nightmare. Upgraded my tickets to a sold out Paul McCartney concert (for the Mrs). Listed the old ones for sale on tickemaster site. Ticketmaster then constantly released more seats and used their computer LogRhythm's to change their prices and release/hold back tickets. When I dropped prices theirs seemed to drop. They sell their own tickets and broker your sale simultaneously - and use their info to compete unfairly

Posted by: @emr

Someone mentioned ticketmaster's dynamic pricing. This makes reselling tickets a nightmare. Upgraded my tickets to a sold out Paul McCartney concert (for the Mrs). Listed the old ones for sale on tickemaster site. Ticketmaster then constantly released more seats and used their computer LogRhythm's to change their prices and release/hold back tickets. When I dropped prices theirs seemed to drop. They sell their own tickets and broker your sale simultaneously - and use their info to compete unfairly

It's supposed to be about buying concert tickets - not trading stock!  😉

I have tried to learn from several TicketMaster ninjas - most of whom I've met through this site.  One pearl of advice that I was given:  "don't (always) take the first seats that pop up.  If you try a few times, you'll likely get better seats".  I think it was a Dylan show in St. Augustine 4 years ago - I decided to try this.  The first seats were okay ... I decided to try again.  The second ones - not as good as the first.  On my third attempt I was given a TicketMaster message that said (words to the effect) - we think you are a scalper (whatever) - and got booted out of my session.  To get back on, I had to switch computers and browsers.  Ended up with some $hitty seats.  Sometimes, I miss the days when you'd show up to the TicketMaster outlet (usually a record store or something) to get a good place in a physical line.  I guess I'll be shopping for a smart phone if I ever want to go to shows again.

Well, luckily AXS changed the email and the Jason Isbell tickets showed up in my account.  Went to see Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt last night - what a fun show.  I bought 4 tickets and  put them in my wallet.  Got a notification from Ticketbastard that it was about showtime, with a link to the tickets.  Pretty easy.  The weird thing is for the other 3 people with me - they get up to go to the bathroom, they don't have a ticket.  Venues will have to change how they get everyone seated.  I gave them each a piece of paper with the seat number.  I haven't tried transferring tickets yet, but I think each person has to have a Ticketbastard account to do it.

I also don't usually use stubhub or other brokers, but I have the same concerns.  My wife and I are going to Nashville next week to see Jason Isbell.  I looked for other things going on, and The Wallflowers are also playing while we are there.  Their show is sold out, but there are tickets available on resale sites.  How do I know I will get digital tickets in time for the show?   Such a pain.

I wasn't looking to "trade stock" "scalp." Just trying to make the Mrs. Happy and get my money - or close to it back. Ticketbastard sets the high bar at an every changing height to meet their needs

@sang After you get in with the 1 person's cell phone at the door, just screen shot the tickets and text them to your concert mates so they have one on their phone as they roam around without you.

After you get the hang of it, selling & transferring tickets is much easier today than when you held a hard ticket only.   I do miss adding to my ticket stub collection, though.  I have every concert ticket stub for all shows I saw 1983-1988 and probably 2/3 of what I saw 1988-2015.  And virtually nothing since.    

And I did have an issue where my iphone wasn't cooperating and it took me talking to 5 Apple support people to get it figured out which made using the ticketmaster app a total pain (or didn't work and I'd have to have someone else log in to my account for me).    Now that I have the issue resolved, I'm a convert and appreciate the ease of electronic / mobile tickets now.   

But I do still miss my ticket stubs!    

Posted by: @hotlantatim

@sang After you get in with the 1 person's cell phone at the door, just screen shot the tickets and text them to your concert mates so they have one on their phone as they roam around without you.

Too much work.  Once I'm in I don't want to bother with things like that.

Re: sending a screen shot of the ticket to your friends, at MetLife Stadium they check tickets again on the way to the sections. They wouldnt let my son to his seat when I tried to by food

When I complained to Ticketmaster re: all theses issues, they told me "It was Sang's fault."

I understand pretty much everyone's perspective on this. A few weeks ago I attended my first show since COVID, Oteil. My friend had all four tix on his phone. Four of us were there so he showed the guy at the door his phone and we got in, no problem. This was general admission so we didn't have to worry about seat/section numbers so no issue there.

However, if you go to an event and the seats aren't on YOUR phone, say your buddy's and you get up to get a beer, bathroom, whatever you better know where your seat is when you come back because you can't check a ticket. In these cases, I always make sure I know the section and kind of look for "landmarks" to find my way home. 

A problem happened a few months ago. I went to a White Sox game and I was waiting for a buddy and it was getting close to game time. Tix were on my phone. Pal wasn't there. I asked my other friend who WAS there what to do. He said there was nothing we could do but go in. I couldn't leave a ticket at will call. I think there might be a way to send this guy one of the three tickets but the security guy said no. So if someone is running late, what are you screwed? My "buddy" never showed up and didn't offer to pay for the seat I ate.

Regarding having a particular app on your phone I think that is true. It isn't that big of a deal. This past summer I exchanged baseball tickets a few times and you need the MLB app on your phone to do it. I think if someone sends you tix you get an email and a link to the app anyway so it isn't a big deal. But also, you are relying on getting internet service. Not always easy. 

I had one situation where I was given tix to a game so they were on my phone (from my friend's). I told him I couldn't go and to find someone else. He was able to basically make my tix null and void, retract them and resend them to someone else. I need to ask him how he did that. 

Regardless, I do miss the old days. I've waited overnight for seats to see Springsteen as well as Clapton. Ah. fun times!

I went to a playoff baseball game last week and was meeting a buddy inside.  I just transferred one of my tickets via ticketmaster to him using his cell number.    No issue.  So you don't have to all walk in together.   And you can email someone a screen shot of the ticket before you all go in so you don't have to worry after you are in the door.

Just this Friday night a buddy calls me late and asks if I want to see Ryan Adams on an extra ticket.  He transferred to me via my cell number but he transferred the seat he had already used!   So I got rejected at the door.   Doh!   Good thing it was a the Tabernacle (2500 seats) and he was able come to the door and they scanned the unused ticket off his phone.

Ryan Adams by the way was incredible, hilarious (his interaction with the crowd), very frustrating (his repeated reaction to the crowd) & boring (only a handful of songs) all in one show.   I walked in during the 5th songs and left during the 2nd to last (had to be back home) and I still was there for 2.5 hours!   Add one more concert to my list where I don't have a ticket stub to add to my collection...

I think it's horrible and ridiculous that you must now own a smartphone to attend a concert.  Here is a copy and paste of a post right here in this thread from Uponthe2ndFLoor:

Since I refuse to even own a cellphone,I've accepted that my concert days are over.

If they don't want my money,screw them.

@robslob Earlier I used the term, "proprietary practice" - admittedly without knowing exactly what I was talking about.  

If TM - and the artists want to maximize their bottom lines by not printing and mailing tickets - or even offering a print-at-home option - it seems to me that they are REQUIRING music fans to PURCHASE proper phones.  Suppose that say, grocery stores and pharmacies adopt this model?  Will those without smart phones starve and die of their illnesses?  They are basically taking a section of society and telling them that they cannot attend shows anymore - unless they buy phones that they don't really need (until the grocers and pharmacists join their ranks).

How long before the merch booths start selling virtual t-shirts?  Will they accept imaginary money for payment?

Yeah, I know - whiney old man!  Now get the f*#k off my lawn!