Yeehaw, Pearl Jam is going on tour again. In case you missed the fact that I love Pearl Jam – I LOVE PEARL JAM. Fortunately I re-joined the Ten Club (their official fan club) a while back, which has now helped me get tickets to yet another concert. Unfortunately, this process is not as easy as it sounds.
Last summer when I got tickets, the server continually crashed under the load, and I spent close to an hour just trying to log onto my account just for a shot at buying tickets. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but people couldn’t even tell if they had sold out or what. This time around, the server didn’t seem to crash, but it still kept screwing up the process. I logged on just before 1 PM to make sure I was ready. As soon as the tickets went on sale, I saw them available and added a pair to my cart. No need to pause for additional merchandise, I immediately pushed the checkout button. Much to my amazement, everything was going smoothly. So far…
Confirm Shipping Address. OK. Confirm Billing Address. OK. Login. WHAAAHHH?!?! I got kicked out just before submitting my credit card. Five minutes later I was finally able to log back in only to find my cart was empty. Sure enough, tickets were no longer listed as available. This calls for writing an extremely acerbic post on a forum that will accomplish nothing! Instead, I stewed for a little bit, and read about other people’s woes with the system. Then somebody pointed out that tickets would keep getting pumped back into the system as incomplete orders fell through and credit cards did not clear. With some renewed hope, I logged back in and started refreshing the ticket page. After several refreshes, the BUY TICKETS button reappeared. I was determined not to screw this up. So no refreshes or second clicks – I just pressed each SUBMIT button as it appeared and let the server take 5 minutes per page. With enough patience, I came out the other side with a complete order.
On Saturday, May 27th, I (and a lucky as-yet-to-be-determined guest) will be rocking out to one of the greatest live bands ever. I’m hoping to add a second date today when the East Rutherford tickets go onsale. That would bring my grand total to 10 Pearl Jam shows. And I have no desire to stop. My goal is to hit at least 2 shows everytime they tour. It’s well worth it.
For those wondering about just how good these guys are after all these year, go download their new single “Worldwide Suicide” from their Myspace page (weird, huh?) for FREE! The new album will hit shelves on May 2nd. Once again, YEEHAW!