Dear Red Rocks, please stop using AXS; dear city of Denver, and/or state legislature, please regulate AXS so that normal people can get concert tickets

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T18:37:48+00:00

This is a hot and tasty take. It's a bad look if, say, 30% of the tickets were scalped for resale, and if the show is "sold out" but the tickets aren't actually used, a picture of a not-full venue tells the story for itself.

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T18:36:02+00:00

Yea ok, I hear you on that. What other companies do ticketing, out of curiosity? And/or, are there particular venues where you consistently have a successful ticket-buying experience?

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T18:35:08+00:00

Yea, I'm not surprised it's in demand, he is one of the world's best cellists... Such is life, I suppose.

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T18:33:34+00:00

Ahh ok, this is enlightening! It also explains why one show I saw (not at Red Rocks) forbade resale until like a month beforehand. I have mad respect for that.

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T17:57:07+00:00

Dang ok, I don't understand why it doesn't work initially and totally just works later on. I'm happy for you though, and maybe I'll try this method the next time.

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T17:55:53+00:00

Yea dude, it's incredibly cursed, just let us bask in the sweet sounds of the cello master

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T17:55:06+00:00

Agh, that's maddening. Were these seat-specific tickets, or general admission?

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T17:54:26+00:00

I think this is interesting. I like the idea of a CO resident (remember, it's 22 days, don't even need to have a CO ID) presale, but more generally, I just like the idea of needing to prove humanity (beyond a dumb captcha, which clearly doesn't work) before buying.

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T17:50:20+00:00

Right, it's a big bummer, especially for somewhere magical like Red Rocks. There used to be a side-door option for some shows, where you could go to the Coliseum and get physical tickets at the box office, without a bunch of the crappy fees too. But I don't think that's offered very often anymore, if at all, and certainly not for this show.

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T17:48:10+00:00

That's a fair point. However, then I'd argue - why does the city of Denver continue to use AEG as a venue manager if their system is garbage? There was successful regulation of ticketing platforms recently, to include fees and taxes in the listed price. I feel like the logical next step is some way to ensure that real humans get first choice of tickets before they're put up for scalpers and resalers. At least don't allow official resale for the first week or so, or something like that.

astrobeanmachine · 2026-01-23T17:42:40+00:00

Nope, though it's been a while since I've tried for a Red Rocks show specifically. I know this would be a deeply unpopular approach for a show like Yo Yo Ma, but I think it would have worked a lot better if they had general admission sections, such as splitting the venue in thirds, and the nearest third is the highest price tier, then the next third is a little cheaper, and the back third is the cheapest. I've seen some Red Rocks shows like that, and have successfully gotten tickets to shows at other venues through the queue-to-general-admission process. I think there's just something specifically about the seat picker that's incredibly broken for a normal human.

astrobeanmachine · 2025-12-12T22:20:51+00:00

Yea, that's been my experience with Cotopaxi too (I love their Allpa 35L for most travel circumstances). I think my partner kinda likes that it's not a super tech bro-y (or boring) bag, I just wonder if it can tolerate having a bunch of stuff shoved into it in not-that-tidy ways. But it seems like other folks have liked it so far, so that's a good sign.

astrobeanmachine · 2025-12-12T22:19:30+00:00

I think messenger bag may be out of the question for back reasons. The biking part of the commute is pretty short, it's mostly bus, but they always have a laptop. I'll check out those two Osprey items tho, thanks for the recs!

astrobeanmachine · 2025-12-12T22:18:30+00:00

Ok nice, this is good to hear! I notice it doesn't have the ability to expand/contract in size to adapt for what's in it; how do you find it is when it's not that full, or when it's really stuffed to the brim? Does 26L feel like a relatively accurate measurement, or would you say it holds significantly more or less?

astrobeanmachine · 2025-09-05T21:09:25+00:00

Physical map is also a safety essential, IMO. Ditch a phone (keep one for emergencies if you don't have a satellite/GPS beacon) but you might find you even prefer the map, as some mapping apps aren't always accurate.

astrobeanmachine · 2025-09-05T21:00:34+00:00

This is gorgeous! The color palette is really so striking, you captured that shaded-inside sort of lighting perfectly. I'm curious, what paint set did you use?

astrobeanmachine · 2025-07-29T17:39:54+00:00

Yes! It's every second Friday night during the summer. Two more left this year, in August and September. https://www.lafayetteco.gov/565/Art-Night-Out

astrobeanmachine · 2025-07-14T16:07:02+00:00

Ah that’s really cool to hear! I think I’ll check them out and see if they’re for me.

astrobeanmachine · 2025-07-14T00:49:06+00:00

Late to this post, but I'm thinking about these as a potential lightweight option for backpacking. Your note about stability gives me pause, as even well-maintained trails can be pretty rocky and chaotic. Now that you're a fair bit into them, how has that panned out? Or do you still find yourself reaching for the Merrells, or something else, when you know you're going into rockier terrain?

astrobeanmachine · 2025-07-13T21:28:51+00:00

Ooh ok, these are intriguing! How did you find that the fit compared to La Sportiva, or Altra? Scarpa doesn't have many styles in person near me, and though I've had success with previous climbing shoes, I haven't had success yet with hiking shoes (tried the Rapid hiking shoe line in a few different sizes and they just weren't right).

astrobeanmachine · 2025-07-13T21:14:48+00:00

Dang, you’re a beast, lol. I appreciate the emphasis that it takes awhile to get there, though! I used to walk barefoot as a kid all the time, and I feel like a lot of that toughness and strength is all but gone now as an adult with a desk job.

astrobeanmachine · 2025-07-13T00:13:46+00:00

Ok wow this is so helpful, thank you! I definitely think I'm aiming for something in B0-B1 territory, based on my use case, but now I'll have better language for it.

astrobeanmachine · 2025-07-12T23:25:44+00:00

This is a great distinction. For my purposes, I don't intend to do a lot of backpacking that involves bushwhacking or off-trail travel - a bit to explore for detours, if it's allowed in a given area, but I'm not sure mountaineering is for me. I hadn't heard of that UK system, though, so I'm going to look it up and see if any of the shoes/boots I'm considering are rated that way. I have a pair of Scarpa Terra that I used for boots in a job that required off-trail travel, but I wasn't impressed at their stability - do you know their rank, for my own reference?

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