Pop Tarts + good seats = crazy delicious

(Updated May, 2007--this page seems to be popular again with the sixth-season American Idols Live tour, so I wanted to post this year's links for y'all: the 2007 Ticketmaster page for the tour is here; and the 2007 Pop Tarts tour info page is here. The 2007 presale password is CRAZYGOOD; it was posted at the PopTarts site on May 15th at 10 a.m.. But by all means, read the tips below! By using them, I went on to enjoy the show from seventh, eighth and fourth row seats in 2006, and I caught Bucky's guitar pick during the last concert--good times. Best of luck to the class of 2007!--Winnie)

It's been seven days and counting since we last saw Bucky grace the Idol stage, but even though we've lost that pleasure, we've still got something to look forward to--the cheesy, sweet summer sensation known as the "Pop Tarts Presents American Idols Live!" tour. (Their words and punctuation, not mine.)

Nope, it's probably not something most readers of this blog would have ordinarily thought of as part of their summer concert plans. Medleys? Group sings? Sitting through [insert name of contestant(s) you really can't abide, if applicable] just to hear Bucky sing two, maybe three songs, play some guitar (we hope!) and do some silly "tribute to" someone or other? Yeah, I know, I know. It's too crazy to even think about, let alone spend big bucks on, right?

Oh, stop kidding yourself. I'll see you there.

It's still too early to say whether this summer's American Idols tour will be a hot or a merely extra-warm ticket. Much depends on whether the this year's TV version of Idol can create that sense of Ruben vs. Clay-style suspense by finale time. (Uh-huh. I'll raise my eyebrow here, and say no more.) The Idols generally hit the road about a month or two after the finale airs; information about the tour will probably start turning up in a few weeks.

In the meantime, there's plenty you can do to increase your chances of getting a great seat without completely breaking the bank...

Set up a free email account specifically for concert info, and invest some time in signing up for spam. Yes, in this context, spam is your friend; presale passwords are usually sent via email to subscribers first. You'll want to get on the mailing lists for the following:

• The new, official Bucky Covington Online newsletter
  
• The "preferred customer" or "insider" newsletters of the major venues near you (usually free to join)
• The "listener's clubs" of your local top 40, AC, country and R&B stations
• Kelloggs.com and PopTarts.com (there should be tour info on either or both sites within a few weeks)
• Pollstar.com or another good concert news site; you can sign up to be notified when an artist or venue has a change of schedule.
  
• Ticketmaster.com (We all love the Ticketmonster--this isn't a newsletter per se, but you'll want to have an account there when the scramble begins. Sign up here to be notified before tickets for the Idols tour go on sale )
• The official American Idol newsletter from Fox. If you're feeling really extravagant, you can shell out $30 to join the "VIP Lounge"--the Idol fan club, basically--but there's no word yet as to whether the Lounge offers any ticket-buying advantages to members.

You'll also want to join a good "deals and freebies" forum like DealofDay, as well as popping in on the bigger Bucky Covington and American Idol fan boards, where the major news will spread like wildfire. (Newsletters are great, but nothing beats good old fan networking.)

All this communication has a purpose, of course--you'll want to be notified of the earliest possible presale passwords, in order to secure a good seat before the tickets go on general sale. Here's a bit from a helpful USA Today article about concert-ticket strategies; the reporter tried several ways of buying Toby Keith tickets:

After paying $15 to join Keith's fan club, we got a password that let us in on a pre-sale May 18 — three days before tickets were to go on sale at Ticketmaster.

At noon, we entered the fan-only site, indicated that we wanted a pair of tickets for the July 9 show and learned that our club membership gave us access to seats in section 303, more than 50 rows back from the stage. Cost for the pair: $160.70, plus the $15 to join the fan club.

Why so far back? One reason: The fan club "pre-sale" was the second pre-sale for the show. Five months earlier, the venue had sold a "Mega Ticket" for five country shows, including Keith's.

"We announced the Mega Ticket in January," says Mark Lapidus, marketing director for eight Clear Channel radio stations in Washington, D.C., including country station WMZQ. "If you were in our Loyal Listener Club, you would have gotten an e-mail." Great.

I rest my case. Spam is a tasty treat this summer.

If you don't get a good seat the first time you try, never fear--many excellent seats (usually held back as freebies/promotions/contest prizes/family-member tickets) are released just before the show date, and there's a lot of recirculation among message board fans--someone might be thrilled to have your 37th row seats if you manage to snag Row 3 close to the concert date. Again, from USA Today:

"Promoters will often release what they call 'production kills,' " Lapidus says. "Those are seats the band reserves for production or sound setup, and the band decides they don't need them. All of a sudden, amazing seats will show up" at Ticketmaster or the venue.

And after you've snagged your amazing seats, what should you expect? If this Idols show is anything like the previous year's, the concert will be divided into two acts; the first will feature individual performances by the singers in reverse order of their exit from the show (so Bucky would sing after Lisa and Mandisa), then an intermission and group songs, a few more solos and duets, and a big ensemble finish. (Bucky, as a guitarist, might even pop up during someone else's number, strumming away.)

It looks as though the "wear colors to support your favorite" meme is back for a brand new season; if you're looking for Bucky's online supporters, look for a lot of Carolina/sky/baby blue. (And Broad Street Tees is working on an official, authorized Bucky Covington tour T-shirt; check back with them for details.)

The first reports from Bucky's homecoming party at Hugo's in Rockingham are coming in--next post is just moments away!