Posted on Friday, April 16, 2010 4:11PM | comments (4)
Both! The 2 companies merged in early 2010. Although events and ticketing information are listed on the Live Nation website, all of the ticket transactions are actually done via Ticketmaster. So when you click to buy tickets on the Live Nation site you are actually redirected to Ticketmaster.
Pre-sale times are given in the time local to the particular venue unless otherwise specified. So a pre-sale that starts at 10AM in Los Angeles means 10AM PDT. A pre-sale that starts at 10AM in Chicago means 10AM CDT.
Music Today is the company that has been handling Rush's fan pre-sales for the last few tours. To participate in these pre-sales you simply need to sign up at the Rush Music Today website; it is free to sign up, you do not need to be a member of any Rush fan club (there isn't any official Rush fan club), and there are no pre-sale passwords. There will be a fan pre-sale for all of Rush's North American tour stops, including Canadian dates. The fan pre-sales for any given date generally occur the week leading up to the general on-sale date and usually run from 10 AM Tuesday or Wednesday to 12PM Thursday or Friday local venue time, or until the allotted number of tickets runs out. The upcoming week's pre-sales are announced via the Rush.com mailing list but that varies; sometimes they give several days notice and sometimes there's no information until the night before. When you are logged into the Rush Music Today site and a pre-sale is open, you will see a link to buy tickets on the Rush Music Today schedule. From that point things play out like most ticketing websites; you choose the level and number of seats (usually there is a max of 4 or 8) you want, they find tickets for you, you choose to either take the tickets or try again. If you decide to move forward with the purchase then you are asked to enter your payment information. Ticket prices are face value although the fees might make the final cost slightly different from Ticketmaster, but not significantly so. When you purchase tickets, you will be given the option to pre-order some exclusive merchandise (usually a t-shirt and some other item). By purchasing tickets along with the merchandise, you will be automatically entered into a contest where one winner from each tour stop will be selected for a meet-and-greet with Rush. These pre-sales are called out as Fan pre-sales in the Rush is a Band tour section.
NOTE: Occasionally the Music Today site will redirect users to Ticketmaster and have them purchase the fan pre-sale tickets there using a password of RUSHMT. It's not clear why this happens although it might have to do with Music Today's website going over capacity.
Rush VIP Premium Ticket Package pre-sales
The Rush VIP or Premium Ticket Package pre-sales simply allow ticket buyers to purchase a ticket bundle which guarantees a seat in the first 15 rows along with a package of Rush swag as detailed here. The definition of first 15 rows varies from venue to venue and you are not given the option of choosing where your seat is; they will give you something in the first 15 rows and you can either take the tickets or throw them out and try again. These pre-sales are available for most Live Nation sponsored shows and usually run the week leading up to the general on sale date from 10AM Tuesday or Wednesday to 5PM Thursday or Friday (or while supplies last). Tickets are purchased via Live Nation/Ticketmaster just like you would buy any other ticket through these outlets. The big difference is the cost, which runs from about $300-350 depending on the venue. These pre-sales are open to anyone willing to pay the price and do not require knowledge of any special password. You cannot purchase 2 or more tickets together without purchasing the entire ticket package for each ticket; if you buy 4 tickets, you need to get 4 ticket packages. A max of 8 ticket packages per transaction are allowed and are generally WILL CALL ONLY (although you can sometimes get them shipped to you after purchase if you call Ticketmaster). These pre-sales are called out with a code of RUSHVIP in the Rush is a Band tour section.
These pre-sales are sponsored by Citi Bank and are open to anyone with access to a valid Citi consumer or business credit card. These pre-sales are available for most Live Nation sponsored shows and usually run the week leading up to the general on sale date from 10AM Tuesday or Wednesday to 5PM Thursday or Friday. Tickets are purchased via Live Nation/Ticketmaster just like you would buy any other ticket through these outlets. When prompted to enter your Passcode or Member Code on the billing information page you simply enter the first six (6) digits of your credit card account number (no dashes) located on the front of your Citi card. You will then need to use a Citi credit card to complete your ticket purchase. These pre-sales are called out with a code of CITI in the Rush is a Band tour section.
If a pre-sale is sponsored by Live Nation, members of their mailing list in the city where the show is scheduled may receive an e-mail in advance of the pre-sale which will include any necessary password information. For information on how to sign up for their mailing list go to the Live Nation website. The Live Nation pre-sales usually will use the same password for all dates (it was POPSTAR on the 2010 tour) but this is subject to change. These pre-sales are available for most Live Nation sponsored shows and usually run the week leading up to the general on sale date for one or two days. Tickets are purchased via Live Nation/Ticketmaster just like you would buy any other ticket through these outlets. When prompted for a passcode simply enter the passcode that was provided to you. I will post these passwords in the tour section as soon as I become aware of them. These pre-sales are called out with a code of LIVENATION or VENUE in the Rush is a Band tour section unless the password is known, in which case the password will instead be displayed.
Radio station sponsored pre-sales often require that participants join the station's mailing list before receiving the password although some stations post the password on their site for all to see or announce it on air. Visit the specific radio station's site or check the Rush is a Band tour section for details. I will post any passwords I become aware of to the tour section as soon as I learn of them. These pre-sales are called out with a code of RADIO in the Rush is a Band tour section unless the password is known, in which case the password will instead be displayed.
As far as the quality of the tickets obtained in the different pre-sales, the Rush VIP pre-sales will guarantee you the best seats. But if you want to pay face value then the Music Today or Citi pre-sales is your best bet and usually get fans better seats than any of the Live Nation or radio pre-sales. Opinions vary on this though, so I suggest you check the comments on the various pre-sales posts to get a better idea of the types of tickets and experiences fans have had purchasing tickets thus far. A good general rule when purchasing tickets is to go into it prepared. Make sure you are very familiar with the seating at the venue for which you are purchasing tickets, have your credit card handy and decide how much you are willing to pay for tickets along with the seating you'll settle for.
