Sherri and I are headed to Las Vegas to see the Dave Matthews Band during the last weekend in March to celebrate my birthday. I am a huge fan of the Dave Matthews Band and have been to 76+ shows (read this post for my history with the band) and I look forward to adding shows 77/78 onto my resume shortly.

The band is going to be playing the MGM Grand though we are staying at The Hotel @ Mandalay Bay as we’re going to make a nice getaway weekend out of the trip and want to stay clear of the slot machines when we can. I feel like I’m a regular to Las Vegas - been there 3 times in the past year and it was wonderful and I’m not even a real gambler.

The tickets went on sale to the event in early December and we carved out 45 minutes of our Saturday morning to make sure we were online 15 minutes early at Ticketmaster to purchase two tickets to each show (Friday/Saturday). We had a fast Internet connection. We were on a super fast computer. We were 15 minutes early to ticketmaster.com. We got through every Captcha correctly. We ended up with nose bleed seats to both shows. How is this possible?!?! We did everything correct. Am I frustrated? Yes, of course! Beggars can’t be choosers… we did get tickets in the end (upper section!) but how come we didn’t get floor seats?

My guess is that the MGM Grand has reserved most of the floor seats (or even 100 Section) for their high-rollers. They may have even presold the tickets to other hotels that could utilize them for their gamblers. But what about the other music fans…the TRUE fans who aren’t in Las Vegas to gamble, but rather to consume an unbelievable concert full of music, lights, and dancing nancies?

The argument some would utilize is that if I was a true DMB fan, it wouldn’t matter where in the venue I sit. Yes, while I appreciate that I could enjoy the show from anywhere, I love sitting up close and interacting with the band and watching them play off of each other. The energy that radiates from the stage is incredible - and that’s why I love the Dave Matthews Band.

There are places I could turn to: StubHub and sites like TickestNow. Do I want to pay over face value? No, not really. This is frustrating… I am coming all the way from New York City to see the show and am a true fan. I played by all the rules and I got left behind. Not fun.

BTW:Â Dave Matthews has a third child on the way - congratulations!