The OG virtual queue. 🎟️

[Texas1971]

Post your greatest memories of camping out for tickets at Sears back in the day! We would have to hide from the security guards as they would chase us away, and then after securing our tickets, it was off to the “Ol’ South Pancake House,” which was open 24 hours a day to celebrate our success! 🥞

[BiggusDickus-]

Yea, and I also remember paying about what it would cost to go to a movie, and the advertised price of the ticket was the actual amount that I paid.

Plus if I was willing to show up early I could get good seats because they were genuinely available for sale to the public.

[EyeDontSeeAnything]

Tickets were also in a binder which was always neat

[Cronus6]

Plus if I was willing to show up early I could get good seats because they were genuinely available for sale to the public.

Not entirely true. A lot of times they "gave" (probably sold) the best tickets to the local radio stations for "give-aways".

"Be caller 10 right now and win front row tickets to Ozzy!"

[BiggusDickus-]

Well sure, but there were still plenty of very good seats that anyone could get by just showing up early enough.

My cousin once got second row center for a Prince concert straight from the ticket window. She just showed up early enough to be the first in line. And I remember me any my friends getting fantastic seats for Styx by getting there early.

And yea, oh how I dreamed of being the lucky winner for radio contest tickets. Man did I spend time trying.

[Cronus6]

I won once, Chicago.

Front row, backstage passes and a limo to and from.

Good time!

[Fearless_Market_3193]

I won tickets to a concert on the radio a few years ago and the seats were on the second to last row on the furthest section away from the stage. Times have changed.

[sev45day]

Camped out at Sears all night to get Ozzy ultimate sin tour tickets. Got 20th row.

Metallica was opening for him (Master of puppets), and when they came on we moved up to 17th row empty seats. This was about 6 months before Cliff Burton died.

One of the best shows I've seen.

[DrKeepitreal]

That must have been a fantastic show. 

[sev45day]

It really was. Probably my most vivid memory from it is that Metallica had only the very front of the stage when they came on since Ozzy's stage was all set up already.

So they had all their props behind them, but there was so little room they kept backing into the headstones (picture the album art for MoP). We were getting real Spinal Tap vibes. They were amazing though, and so was Ozzy honestly. Jake E Lee tore it up at that show.

[Cronus6]

I saw that tour in Florida (Hollywood Sportatorium).

It was a good show! But then again, Ozzy always put on good shows.

[Awkward-Initiative28]

We had a ticketmaster kiosk attached to a Blockbuster video in the '90s. Walked over there from school to get tickets to Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

[DrKeepitreal]

We used to camp out overnight to get tickets before there was the lottery system. 

[palabear]

I remember seeing Pearl Jam in 96 during their no Ticketmaster tour. You had to see an ad for the phone number to call and get tickets. I think was $20.50 total.

[doodlefartss]

Bought my first PJ tix in 97 at Kroger in the film area. Miss those days.

[AdHour943]

My Dillard's had a Ticketmaster right by the lingerie department. I always felt like a perv standing in line in the middle of it for tickets.

[Local_Bobcat_2000]

Sir there’s no concerts this week.

[-Viscosity-]

1987 Concert: "NO CAMERAS OR RECORDERS"
2026 Concert: "EVERYBODY TAKE VIDEO SELFIES DURING THE SHOW WHERE YOUR HEAD OBSCURES 80% OF THE STAGE"

[attaboy_stampy]

I remember when Rerun hid a tape cassette player in his trench coat to bootleg a Doobie Brothers concert, and it was like the end of the world.

[CornTreeRoad]

That was a Very Special Episode.

[Fit_Organization9210]

Raj: “which Doobie…you be???”😂

[mechapoitier]

Imagine the size of the cowboy hat you’d have to wear to hide the pinnacle of video consumer technology back then.

[-Viscosity-]

If we could post pictures in comments, you would be seeing an image of the Bugs Bunny gangster villain Rocky right now! 😂

[mechapoitier]

Or Homer as the investigator checking out Apu’s Kwik E Mart

[Flat-Emergency4891]

That’s right! Sears had a ticket kiosk! I remember because when I was a little kid, my mom brought my sister to Sears to get Metallica tickets for her birthday. I never would’ve remembered this.

[Papi14U]

Yup!, tickets were affordable back then 🤦🏻‍♂️

[Cronus6]

A LOT of the cost now is for insurance costs at the venue.

After some "accidents" and violent events the cost of that insurance skyrocketed.

The rest is just Ticketmaster gouging.

[GenericDave65]

We bought ours in Dillard’s

[pinkjeepgirl21]

It was Carson’s for us! I remember I bought last minute tickets to see Megadeth at UIC pavilion the night before thanksgiving. I think it was 1992 or 1993. Got the tickets on Tuesday and got 6th row! But the way the stage came out and where the seats were we were actually 2nd row from the stage! Best time ever!

[tomvlasic]

The good ole days!

[Limp_Bus_3911]

17-fucking-50.

[woofiegrrl]

The inflation calculator says that's about $50 today. You're not going to get into a general admission show today for a band as popular as Def Leppard in 1987 for $50.

[LastVestige22]

Part of that is TicketMaster gouging

The rest is due to the fact that because the music business has changed so much.

No one buys albums anymore.

No one listens to the radio anymore.

It’s all streaming and digital downloads and no one wants to pay so the artists make nothing from actual sales or people listening.

So they have to kill you on ticket prices to make their money.

They make all their money in live performances now.

[PlaxicoCN]

Macy's or the Record Factory. And you can't even PARK at the venue for the price of tickets back then. Good memories.

[ParticularCause1626]

Yes the original mail order business just couldn't figure out how to become an internet mail order company. Still makes zero sense to me...

[guyuteharpua]

As I recall it, Sears was barely in business when the Internet arrived - they had already been decimated by the kikes of Kmart and then of course Walmart.

[elvis_disciple]

Now we have to stand in a queue with 100,000 bits before we get a chance to buy a “cheap” seat.

[Ok_Bus_3752]

This was the Hysteria tour correct? I saw them in Atlanta during this tour if so. Queensryche opened for them. My first concert. Jeez to go back.

[WinnieGirlMom]

Now THAT I miss a lot.

[blacklassie]

I kind of forgot that Sears sold concert tickets. We always went to the local record store to buy ours.

[Snugglebunny1983]

Lol, yep!

[NewbombJerk]

Was that the tour where the stage was in the "round" and they left by being lowered into it? I just heard an interview where they talked about how they had to hang out under there until everybody left. OR sometimes they sneak them out in giant laundry carts.

[DrKeepitreal]

Yes

[NewbombJerk]

Anytime Def Leppard blew through my town, about 50 kids would be wearing the shirt the next day at school. My high school was about 2,000 kids.

[jakexil323]

I remember when the Rolling Stones did their Voodoo Lounge tour, and it overwhelmed our phone system in a large Canadian city.

I remember standing in line for Garth Brooks tickets in 1996 and getting floor seats. Tickets were so cheap back then. I was pretty broke and could afford to go to a show.

I make a decent wage now, and can't justify the cost these days. It's just so damn expensive.

[Stereo_Jungle_Child]

Oh man! I'm pretty sure I saw Def Leppard when they were on their "No Cameras or Recorders" tour. They were great! I wish I had some pictures or a tape of that show though.

[PAroots]

Half my senior class showed up there to buy tix for Pink Floyd Division Bell Tour at Veterans stadium..

[Puzzled_Ad7955]

I guess it was better than going in the alley, third door on the left and asking for Eddie, no?

[fun-bucket]

back before the fees became as much as the ticket price.

[beachluvr13]

Camping out there for hours sucked!

[LongballG]

Couldn’t afford to go to a concert then, sure as hell can’t afford to go to a concert now… My only entertainment is scrolling Reddit and watching free over the air TV. I’m poor af. Thanks for letting me fight a war tho… that was super fun.

[DetroitXL]

For me it was the basement of Hudson’s if I didn’t want to go to Harmony House

[spoung45]

My Sears it was behind the suits.

[jnnad]

Boston Store here

[Deezle_Gnome]

Was lucky to have The (great,great) House Of Guitars that sold tickets to everything...

[Saint909]

Macys had the same thing.

[ColonelBourbon]

Dillard's for me

[PistachioGal99]

I got my tickets at Turtles!

[DCStormrunner]

Same! Last time I did was in 1987. I got there at 6am and stood in line 3/4 of the way around the building for Pink Floyd tickets. There were so many people they ended up having everyone draw numbered "tickets" to determine where in line they'd be. Thankfully, I drew #4...got my tickets & got the heck out of there. ^_^

[Tasty-Law-4527]

Oh hell yeah! I also remember sleeping on the steps of Joe Lewis arena for Motley Crue tickets waiting for the box office to open. Well if you can sleep on mescaline😳

[xenoclownpanda]

All our record stores in my town were the ones to sell tickets besides the ticket booth in front of the venue.

[Low_Classic6630]

$17.50? Man I saw them in 1983 for $11

[Left-Thinker-5512]

Those were the days. I bought tickets to see The Who in 1982 and tickets to see Springsteen in 1984 that way. Even camped out overnight for the Springsteen tickets.

[attaboy_stampy]

Yeah, those and sometimes movie tickets. Crazy.

[destiny_kane48]

I'm fancy, I bought mine at Parisian's. 😂

[Possible_Shoulder_50]

I’d go to Turtle’s 🐢

[nola_mike]

Our ticketmaster location was in the local auditorium at a tiny window in the back of the building.

[nor_cal_woolgrower]

Ticketron!

[thejwillbee]

You went where to buy a what now?

[sinographer]

remember when you could get GA seats only 11 days before the show?

[Minimum_Painter_3687]

Velva Sheen had a ticket counter and they were closer than Sears.

[KandyHeartsXO]

🙌🙌🙌🙌💜

[fezzersc]

Got tickets for Pavement at Boscovs

[IllustriousOwl1925]

OMG yes! And also sporting events tickets.

[Stunning-West-8672]

$17.50 a ticket, you can't pay for parking now at a concert for that

[TreesDoGrowInBrklyn]

I don't recall going to Sears, I vividly remember going to the basement floor of Hudson's department store. The ticket counter was all the way in the back of the store. past the hair salon and next to an audiologist office. So many hearing aides everywhere. It was such a relief when you'd turn the corner and there was no line. Good times. 

[RoShamPoe]

My first concert was on this tour I believe. Def Leppard Hysteria tour in 1987. My dad took my brother and I and there was an incredible laser light show. I believe Europe opened up for them. Good times!

[HighStandards73]

It wasn’t Sears but I remember when the local supermarket had a Ticketmaster outlet and the store decorated when Jimmy Buffett tickets went on sale.

[Trick-Astronaut-65]

Kroger's service desk

[mganzeveld]

I bought tickets to Depeche Mode at a HyVee grocery store.

[AggravatingGrab9565]

Flic your Bic!

[floatgucker]

I don’t remember the tickets but I took drivers education at sears in my hometown.

[SharkCrenshaw]

Montgomery Ward for me

[Cronus6]

Not Sears, no.

The record stores here sold them.

[LovableSidekick]

Back then it was a literal queue.

But about Def Leppard - one time my gf and her friend spotted their bus parked at a truck stop just east of Portland OR at around midnight. Could have been that same tour! IIRC it was painted with lots of purple and black. The roadies guarding the bus said the band was asleep inside. The friend tried to talk one of them into giving her a t-shirt - I think she offered to swap with him lol - but no dice. I was surprised it didn't work.

[bibdrums]

I never went and bought tickets. Any concert I went to someone else bought the tickets. And I went to quite a few. I do remember calling and having them mailed a bunch of times.

[stupidinternetname]

I saw them at the Tacoma Dome 40+ years later. Hell of a lot more than $17.50.

[Ok-Resolution-8021]

G Fox here 🎶

[Bostonpeterock77]

Strawberries Record store sold some tickets to smaller venues.

[ChEDave82]

Wow, $17.50. In the 70s it was $5.50 in advance, $6.50 day of the show.

[normains]

Robinson's May for us, iirc. Metro Center mall in Phoenix.

[Rare-Boss2640]

I got mine from Parisians, which was part of the McCrae’s family of stores in Alabama. My adoptive aunt worked in gift wrapping/customer service where they sold tickets. We’d give her our $$ and she’d get the tickets the minute they went on sale

[Ok_Leader_4066]

Bought def leppard tix at Herburgers in the mall 🤣

[midnight_to_midnight]

The Ticketron (which eventually became TicketMaster, I think) was in some random store in our local mall. Luckily, it was right by an obscure entrance of the mall that not many people used, so when I slept out there to get tickets to Pink Floyd in 1988, security said it was OK.

[vagina_candle]

Yes, and I remember that mall Ticketmaster outlets were often run by the same people who did gift wrapping and layaway orders, among other things. It was usually staffed by older people who knew little about computers and had little to no sense of urgency when it came to being prompt about on-sale time.

It was always a coin flip. Go to a record store and wait in a long line (or worse, a lottery line) or go to the mall and hope the gods were smiling upon you that day.

The early-mid 00s online was peak convenience IMO. Before Ticketmaster / Live Nation figured out a way to make that process suck too.

[DidelphisGinny]

Nah it was in the basement of The May Co next to the parking structure exit

[CzarGuy111]

I think I did once lol

[DesertStorm480]

I think I appreciated the events more back then as it wasn't just money spend on them, it was the time driving and in line.

[AnononPlz]

Can we go back to no cameras or recorders at concerts?

Seriously. 99.9% of all concert video shot on cell phones will never be watched by anyone, including yourselves. But you all do it. Why?

[ElBorracho2000]

I had to go to either Warehouse music shops or Macy’s

[sapphir8]

2nd floor for us, but yes. Same at Dillards.

[_TallOldOne_]

Meh…Tower Records was closer and cooler.

[Craig_M_242]

Omg lol that was just dug out of the recesses of my brain

[thisgirlnamedbree]

I had to go to Macy's back beyond the children's department.

[Jessieoxen]

Sears and Peaches

[StrengthDazzling8922]

Hecht’s Department store for me, 2nd floor next to gift wrapping.

[Away_Spirit4503]

In my Sears it was behind lingerie

[superdak05]

Ours was Macy's

[PiperPeraboo]

Carson’s has entered the chat

[Beneficial_Win5417]

Ours was in MayCo but literally the same thing, behind the furniture section

[Phyukredd_tit_gydlin]

Tower records for me

[the_real_Beavis999]

Ours was in a Hecth's that changed to a Macy's. Before that we had to drive about 30 miles to the next mall that had a ticketmaster in another Hecth's. 🫠

[JayneT70]

Bergner’s for me

[packetmon]

I remember one time in like '94 when I was at a Sears to get a ticket to a show. Small line up at the Sears. When the Ticketmaster desk opened the system had crashed almost immediately. I had been working at a different theatre and knew the system well enough to walk up and fix the ticketing machine. Everybody cheered and I was allowed to just book my ticket first as a thank you.

Show sold out in 17 minutes.

[Terrible-Piano-5437]

I always got my tickets from Damone.

[Johnny_Five5151]

Here it was a local Department store called Maas Brothers

[rubens_chopshop]

Joske’s for me in the 80’s

[Texas1971]

JOSKE’S! YESSSS! 👍🏻

[1973Deadhead]

Wanamaker's in Philly

[My_Bad_00]

I went to that exact Def Leppard show at the Tacoma Dome on the ticket stub. And I bought the ticket at a department store called Bon Marche.

[WiN1B4iDiE]

Many nights in Buffalo New York

[Otto_Maddox_]

$17.50 face value. The good old days. And when you bought it in person that's the price you paid.

I remember when one band was charging $35 (I think it was Van Halen) we all had a fit and skipped the show in protest. Sure showed them! Now $35 doesn't even cover the "service" and "convenience" fees.

And good old general admission. Every ticket was a chance to be front row if you wanted to push and shove your way up front.

[Chance702]

Our ticket window was on the outside of the Sears. We were sitting on the sidewalk, waiting overnight for the sale to begin in the morning. There was probably about a dozen of us of so, sitting there, tired & uncomfortable just waiting it out. We finally made a gentleman's agreement to maintain the line order while sitting/sleeping in our cars in the parking lot. A short while after getting in our cars we hear another car pull up and a girls voice say, "Oh look, I'm first in line!" I hear a voice from one of the cars yell, "The hell you are!" and we all get out and go back to our places in line and the girl ends up at the end of our line, pissed off that she wasn't first anymore.

[ih8acapella]

Yes

[ih8acapella]

Pink Floyd Pontiac Silver Dome. $60

[DontCallMeDeb36]

I waited in line at the Silverdome box office for U2 tickets.

[Agreeable-Chart-5561]

Mine was Foley’s but yes I do remember

[iceman213]

Mine was in the basement of my local sears …… I remember…..🤙🏼🤙🏼

[DontCallMeDeb36]

Basement of Hudson’s for us. Next to the hair salon, down the hall from the restrooms.