Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The concert we almost missed

Bryan Adams ticket queue

OK, here's a story on how the simplest thing in India can get really complicated.

I bought 3 VIP tickets to a Bryan Adams gig in Bangalore many months ago from Kyazoonga, which is like a local Ticketmaster equivalent. Our driver runs a lot of errands for us so I chose venue pickup as the delivery method. On Tuesday of the week of the concert my wife went to pick-up the tickets. "No tickets, come on Thursday" was the reply. OK, on Thursday our driver went and the reply was: "No tickets, come on Saturday". The concert was on Sunday, so this was cutting it a bit tight. On Saturday morning we sent our driver again, and got the reply ... wait for it ... "No VIP tickets, come after 5 PM".

At this point we were a bit worried. I had looked into the matter and the going rate for VIP tickets was 8,000 Rs. while our tickets had cost 3,500 Rs. a piece. The tickets sold for 3,500 Rs. were now called Gold class tickets, but when I called the ticket office they said those had been sold out. Ouch.

On the morning of the concert I went to the venue either to collect the tickets or to get a letter to prove we had not been given tickets. After a very short wait I walked out with 3 VIP tickets. Cool! Well, not quite - we had made 4 trips to the venue at this point and it's an hour's drive - one way. MENTAL NOTE: next time take couriered or print-at-home ones...

All's well that ends well, however - the concert was very good. Adams has built a good playlist over the years and has found an enthusiastic and loyal fan base in India.

Bryan Adams gig

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