I have been told many times that I have great luck when it comes to attending concerts. While this is partially true, most of my experiences would not have happened without the work that I put in behind the scenes to put myself into the position to have been given these opportunities. Whether it be purchasing memberships to fan clubs to secure closer seats, constantly checking StubHub and Ticketmaster for the best tickets, doing research or simply reaching out to the artists, everything that has happened has not been by complete chance. It can all be credited to the way that I have marketed myself. This post is for those who have asked for my secrets over the years.
Many people are aware that I LOVE The Band Perry. This love began back when I was 16 and saw them with Brad Paisley and Scotty McCreery at the iWireless Center in Moline, IL. Since then I have seen them in concert countless times, met them multiple times, skyped with them, been an extra in one of their music videos, and was even presented an award for being their most prominent fan on social media at one of their fan club parties (my first marketing award may I add). These accomplishments are not only credited to the fact that they are absolutely amazing to their fans, but also to the work that I have put in behind the scenes.
To be front row at many of their concerts I had to plan ahead of time to secure the tickets. Did you know that for a year or two I was a member of the Rascal Flatts Fan Club? While I am a fan, I was only a member of this paid fan club to secure multiple pit tickets to their shows when they were touring with The Band Perry. I was also the first person at Fair St. Louis out of 10,000+ people once. I did have a connection to get me in early, but while those who I came with hung out in the air conditioned VIP tents and ate St. Louis Bread Co. I hung out with a security guard by the stage.
To win a contest to skype The Band Perry I forced all of the girls in my college dorm hall to dress in yellow and dance to TBP’s new song with me. This was not an easy task, but it was so worth it. As you can see in the photo, one of my best friends has a skull for a head in the video. This was not a joke, it was because she forgot that we were filming and took a shower. She refused to show her face and that is how the Halloween prop came into play. In the end it worked out though because I did win the skype. FUN FACT, my dad ran into Neil Perry and his father in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas the next day. Small world.
For both my appearance in The Band Perry’s music video for their song Live Forever and my major award I can thank social media and research. One day I was looking them up on twitter and saw that a talent agency was searching for extras to be in their upcoming music video. I called my mom and asked her, if I was selected, if she would travel with me to Nashville to be an extra in a video. She agreed thinking that it would never happen. Well it did and she and I, along with my grandparents, traveled to Nashville for the day. That trip was a hot mess, but I wouldn’t trade the memories for the world. When it comes to the award, I tweeted about The Band Perry’s fan club party the most using their hashtag. I joke that this was the award that set me on the path to becoming the marketing professional that I am today. I had always wanted to go into business, but I had just graduated high school at the time and that award proved to me that marketing was something that I enjoyed and could actually do. So thanks The Band Perry, where would I be without you?
My luck with concerts does not only consist of The Band Perry concerts. When I was in college my best friend Kaylee and I used several computers at the time of presale and sale for both of Taylor Swift’s 1989 St. Louis tour dates and could not get seats. We constantly checked StubHub for tickets, but could not convince ourselves to spend the money to secure tickets. The day of the show an entire section of the stadium went on sale three hours before the show. I don’t want to say how much we ended up spending, but we got second row tickets! A member of the band HAIM and I are now best buds as she continuously waved at me from the stage and even Taylor herself waved at us as she walked UNDER us to leave the stadium after the show.
This experience with Taylor led to me purchasing the exact same tickets to see the Jonas Brothers. Anyone who knew me in my preteen years knows that Nick Jonas is the love of my life, so to make eye contact with him would be the biggest moment of my life. And it was. The Jonas Brothers entered the stadium from the opposite side, so 20 minutes post show I thought all hope of having this life changing moment was gone. Luckily my mother said to wait just a bit longer because sure enough the next thing I knew I was making eye contact with THE Nick Jonas. Then Kevin. Then Joe. I was the only fan there, so my mom and I definitely had a moment with the Jonas Brothers. Life changing.
For many of my biggest concert experiences I have my father to thank. At a very young age he instilled in me the ideal later made famous by Ricky Bobby, “ If you ain’t first, you’re last”. My dad has had my family showing up early to events for as long as I can remember. Whether it be a concert, a sporting event, or even getting to the parks an hour before they open at Walt Disney World to stand in line, I have never been ‘on time’ to anything in my life. These morals have now been instilled in me as an adult. When I was in college my mom and I saw Shania Twain in concert. I’m not joking when I say that we were in the very last row of the center. We were still the first ones there. We were literally out of breath by the time we got to our seats. Next thing I knew, a lady came up to us asking if we would like to move to the lower bowl. She was going around to all of the people sitting in the last row at that time giving us better tickets.
Another time that being early really worked out in my favor was at a Paul McCartney concert. Did you know that Sir Paul McCartney normally does not sell tickets for the front row of his concerts? I didn’t either, but I sure do now! My best friend Montana is one of the biggest Beatles fans around, so when I heard that Paul was coming to the TaxSlayer Center I called her up and asked if she could make the trip from Kentucky to see him with me. She could, so on the day of the concert my parents and her picked me up from work, as I was working in the Quad Cities at the time, and we headed over to stand in line to get into the show. People always ask why we stand in line for shows that we have designated tickets for. It’s because of situations like this. Montana and I were the first people in our section sitting when a guy in a Paul McCartney lanyard approached us. He asked us some general questions about ourselves then asked if we would want to move to the front row. Obviously I said yes as Montana began to cry. It was the most amazing experience of my life.
I’m telling you about these experiences in the hopes that I can help others enjoy similar experiences once concerts resume. While I am extremely lucky, a majority of these opportunities were given to me based on how I marketed myself. It is important to remember that most things happen for a reason and how you place yourself in a situation can completely change the outcome.
Until next time,
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