How to Rock Like a VIP: Five Pricey Packages Competing for Summer Tour Bucks

Go inside 20 of the season's biggest concerts — U2, Metallica, Green Day and more — in our Summer Tour Preview.

The 2009 summer concert season is loaded with unique ways to score exclusive merchandise, attend catered parties and even get some face-time with your favorite artists... provided you have a couple hundred bucks to spare. The supposedly recession-proof concert industry is being loaded with premium packages, allowing fans with bulging pockets — or slavish devotion — to see famous bands in style. Here are a few of the more extravagant ones:

U2
Official VIP Package: $515 - $555
For U2's upcoming 360° Tour, VIP ticket buyers get dibs on "preferred seating" — though U2's completely circular stage implies every seat is special. In addition to an exclusive piece of VIP merch and the ability to enter a drawing for a backstage tour, guests are treated to a two-hour pre-show buffet. There will also be an open bar in case you need to drink away some sorrow after seeing your bank statement.

Poison
Nothin' But A Good Time Experience: $625
A deluxe ticket to the Poison/Def Leppard/Cheap Trick tour gets you pretty much everything outside of a shot at love with Bret Michaels. Ticket-buyers can take a backstage tour before the performance and watch Poison play from velvet-roped side-stage seats. This ticket is a rose without a thorn in sight: everyone goes home with a ton of swag, including a laminate, an autographed photo, a T-shirt, a Poison coloring book, Poison guitar picks, Poison drumsticks and even a bandana to cover up that pesky hairline.

Fleetwood Mac
5 Star VIP Package: $695.00 - $795.00
Mac fans willing to shell out a few buckinghams can score a seat in one of the first 10 rows, meet Mick Fleetwood and have pre-show dinner and drinks. With crowd-free merch access and "hassle-free entrance," you can truly go your own way, as it were.