How I got nine Ticketmaster vouchers and how you can get yours! (Also, you won’t believe how much I’ve spent on concerts.)

The first band I ever saw play live was at the middle school talent show.

I was in 5th grade at the time which was still elementary school. Going up to the middle school for the show was a big deal.

One of the acts at the talent show was a band of eight graders. They played Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin.

IT BLEW MY MIND!

I can still hear the drums kicking off the song and the sound of the guitar is something I’ll never forget.

I got home that day and immediately asked my parents if I could start taking guitar lessons.

That was it, I was hooked on music. Playing and listening.

I can remember specific moments when I heard certain bands for the first time. Pink Floyd at the neighborhood pool. Led Zeppelin at the middle school talent show. The Beatles from my dad’s CD collection. Billie Idol, Elton John and Fleetwood Mac on MTV. And hundreds more.

I can still smell the hairspray from the bathroom in the mornings while my older sister got ready for high school while listening to The Rolling Stones. Paint it Black and Ruby Tuesday are the songs I remember well.

Music has been a big part of my life and seeing big bands at big concerts is one of my favorite things to do.

When I saw that Ticketmaster was giving away free tickets as a results of a class action lawsuit, I thought I’d see if I got any.

YUP! I HAVE NINE TICKETMASTER VOUCHERS!

Here’s a bit from the news release…

Last month, Ticketmaster settled a $400 million class action lawsuit over its exorbitant fees. This month, they’re paying it out—in the form of discount codes and vouchers. Chances are, you have a free show or two sitting in your inbox.

The suit affects about 50 million people who bought tickets on Ticketmaster between October 21, 1999 and February 27, 2013 and paid the company’s ridiculous overcharges.

As part of the lawsuit, Ticketmaster is also offering $42 million worth of discount codes on an annual basis for the next four years.

In all, I got 9 free tickets and 9 $2.50 discount codes and they don’t expire until 06-18-2020!

Go here to see if you’ve got free concert tickets! https://www.ticketmaster.com/member/vouchers

I was surprised to see how many free tickets I got and it got me thinking about how many concerts I’ve been to.

So, I went down to the basement and dusted off a cardboard box I keep all my ticket stubs in. I laid them all out on the kitchen table and took a fun walk down memory lane. (Even though I don’t remember a few of the shows! haha!)

It turns out I’ve been to over one hundred concerts.

Here’s a pic of most of the tickets. There are a bunch of shows I’ve been to that I don’t have the ticket stub for anymore.

Then I got to thinking about how much money I’ve spent on concerts.

YIKES!!!

Spoiler… I’ve spent at least $3,775 on tickets alone.

Not including travel, drinks, food, and uh… “*other”. Also not including all the smaller local shows I’ve been to.

Add in all the extras and the missing tickets and I can easily say I’ve spent over $6,000 on concerts. Add in the local shows and I don’t even want to know how much.

That’s a lot of money!

But I would never wish for it back.

Life is about making memories and I’ll take the memories from these concerts any day over the cost of the ticket. Everyone has that one thing they blow their money on and music is my thing.

If you are smart with your money in other areas, it’s okay to have something that give you tons of happiness that also costs.

Derek’s Concert Fun Facts:

• First concert: Screaming Trees, Soul Asylum, Spin Doctors. I was 14.
• Favorite concert: Roger Waters, The Wall.
• Favorite music festival: Tie between Phish NYE 1999 and Bonnaroo.
• Band I’ve seen the most: The Flaming Lips, 13 times!

Here’s a mostly complete list of the shows I’ve seen…

Band	Ticket Price	Date	City
Phish	39.5	7-17-2003	Kansas City
Keller Williams	25	11-15-2005	Oklahoma City
Metal Wars!	8	2-10-2006	Kansas City
Black Sabbath	50	2-17-2016	kansas City
Guns and Roses	140	6-29-2016	kansas City
Beach Boys	40	5-14-2016	kansas City
Flaming Lips	24.5	6-9-2003	Oklahoma City
Polyphonic Spree	14	11-14-2003	Bolder CO
String Chees Incident	26.5	4-18-2001	Tulsa
Pink Floyd Laser Light Show	23	1999	Oklahoma City
Hookah Brown	15	3-15-2003	Oklahoma City
Kings of Leon	46	10-13-2009	Kansas City
Allman Brothers Band	35	6-13-1999	Denver
TOOL	40.25	11-16-2002	Oklahoma City
Widespread Panic	27.5	7-21-2002	Houston
Moe	23	2-4-2006	St. Louis
Nine Inch Nails	44.5	3-28-2006	Oklahoma City
Widespread Panic	33.5	10-23-2005	Oklahoma City
DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist	25	2-5-2008	Kansas City
Bob Dylan	70	8-28-2008	Kansas City
KISS	48.5	4-4-2000	Oklahoma City
Beck / Flaming Lips	43	11-14-2002	Ft. Worth
Metallica	39	5-11-1997	Oklahoma City
Widespread Panic	32.5	11-4-2006	Austin
Moe / Umphrey’s Mcgee	25	6-1-2006	Tulsa
Tim & Eric	15	4-29-2008	Lawrence, KS
Flaming Lips	23.5	9-15-2006	Oklahoma City
The Black Crows	39.5	11-20-2005	Oklahoma City
GWAR	40
Yonder Mountain String Band	20	2-25-2007	Tulsa
Maynard Furguson	10	4-4-1996	Oklahoma City
Wakarusa	120	6-7/8/9/10-2007	Lawrence, KS
Bob Dylan / Willie Nelson	53.5	8-22-2004	Oklahoma City
H.O.R.D.E. Fest	15	7-15-1998	Oklahoma City
The Beach Boys	40	6-17-2005	Oklahoma City
Counting Crows	21	1-28-1997	Oklahoma City
RUSH	43.5	8-23-2007	Kansas City
Widespread Panic	20	3-25-2007	Tulsa
OZZFEST	50	8-18-2000	Dallas
Phish	33	11-25-2000	Kansas City
Animal Collective	31.3	1-22-2009	Chicago
G3	53.25	10-10-1997	Dallas
Motley Crew	45.5	4-30-2005	Wichita
Spin Doctors / Soul Asylum	21.5	8-1-1993	Oklahoma City
Fastball	10	4-19-1999	Oklahoma City
Smashing Pumpkins	28	7-23-1996	Oklahoma City
Widespread Panic	40.5	7-1-2008	Kansas City
Reel Big Fish	10	6-9-1997	Oklahoma City
Goldfinger	12	12-14-1997	Oklahoma City
Tim & Eric	31.9	1-21-2009	Kansas City
Lynyrd Skynyrd	31	11-12-1999	Oklahoma City
Metallica	67	10-25-2008	Kansas City
Roger Waters	36	6-11-2000	Dallas
Ozzy Osbourne	36	1-22-2011	Kansas City
Steve Miller Band	25	8-25-1995	Oklahoma City
Killswitch Engage	31.4	4-1-2007	Kansas City
Tim & Eric	33.75	11-15-2010	Kansas City
Roger Waters	114	10-30-2010	Kansas City
Rock Fest ’97	50	6-21-1997	Dallas
Megadeth	48	12-5-2009	Kansas City
The Flaming Lips	27	12-31-2009	Oklahoma City
Bob Dylan	30	7-6-2000	oklahoma City
Phil Lesh	56	10-3-2007	kansas City
Phil Lesh	30	?	Oklahoma City
Phish	30	7-26-1998	dallas
Harvest Fest	70	11-21-2007	Ozark, AR
Doc Severinsen	15	10-17-1995	Oklahoma City
Priscilla Ahn	12	8-14-2009	Kansas City
Blind Melon	32.25	3-25-2008	Kansas City
Phish	150	12-31-1999	Florida
Wakarusa	100	?	Lawrence, KS
Bonnarroo	250	6-10-2010	Tennessee
Bonnarroo	150	6-13-2003	Tennessee
Bonnarroo	250	6-10-2009	Tennessee
Bonnarroo	150	6-13-2002	Tennessee
Besnard Lakes	20		Kansas city
Postal Service	50		kansas city
Trey Anastasio	50		kansas city
Weird Al	40		kansas city
Keller Williams	25		Colorado
Total	3775.6

I’m looking forward to seeing another nine shows for FREE. Even though I guess I’ve already paid for them.

Let me know if you have any Ticketmaster vouchers in your account. https://www.ticketmaster.com/member/vouchers

Maybe we can go see a few shows together.

What was your first concert?

Keep on rockin’ in the free world!

-Derek

P.S. *t-shirts! What were you thinking? 😉

P.P.S. Photo at the very top is from the Black Sabbath show!

P.P.P.S. I have been told that each voucher is good for 2 tickets. 18 tickets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!