Live Nation's "No Service Fee Wednesday" Puzzles Buyers

Live Nation's No Service Fee Wednesdays promotion has come under fire after buyers discovered that some tickets purchased today would in fact carry some Parking, Facility or Charity fees, CNN reports. Today's No Fee promotion was supposed to offer lawn seats to every Live Nation tour without extra add-ons; typical fees tack on an average of $13 per ticket.

Many shows under the promotion's umbrella include a $6 parking fee per ticket, a cost that is added to every ticket regardless of the buyer's plans to drive to the venue. "We eliminated all ticket service fees, which in most cases is about a one-third discount, a substantial savings for fans by any measure," Live Nation spokesperson John Vlautin told Rock Daily, adding that the promotion overall has received positive feedback from consumers. Vlautin, who also said that advance parking fees help alleviate back-ups at venues (where money is collected by hand), said Live Nation receives the parking fees from concerts at their own venues.

The parking charge puzzled some Live Nation customers today, but Blink-182 fans purchasing tickets to the band's summer reunion tour faced some seriously confounding options. When Blink-182 announced the trek, the band and Live Nation revealed that lawn tickets would only cost $20. However, when tickets went on sale this past weekend, fans purchasing tix to certain shows encountered an option to buy $20 Lawn tickets or $7.75 Lawn Special tickets — Live Nation did not specify any differences between the options, like whether Lawn Special was obstructed or farther from the stage. As a result, some fans purchased the previously advertised $20 Lawn seats, only to discover that those tickets carried an additional $15 in service fees.

In actuality, Lawn and Lawn Special were the same thing, and it was the $7.75 ticket — after service fees — that was the $20 ticket. According to Vlautin, both options were listed so fans wouldn't think the lawn seats were entirely sold out if the $20 tickets got snatched up quickly. Vlautin recommends that anybody who accidentally purchased the $20 plus fees Lawn tickets instead of the actual Lawn Special "all-in" tickets should contact Customer Service.

No Fee Wednesday tickets are being sold for the Blink shows as well. At some venues, like West Palm Beach, Florida's Cruzan Amphitheatre, these No Fee tickets come out to $26 after the $6 parking charge, which is still more than the $7.75 "all-in" ticket price of $20 after fees. In short, Blink tickets are more expensive through the No Fee promotion — which is being heavily featured on the Live Nation Blink tour page — than they are at the regular "all-in" price. Vlautin encourages buyers to compare the ticketing options and prices before purchasing lawn seats.

Vlautin also told Rock Daily that this week only marks the first of a summer-long promotion of No Service Fee Wednesdays, with each subsequent week spotlighting a certain venue, tour or artist whose fans will benefit from no service charges.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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