You like music. You buy your tickets online. And when you do, you scoff at the $6 service fee on a $12 ticket, think about boycotting in protest, but click purchase anyway.
Sound about right? Well then, you probably have some free tickets sitting out there in cyberspace and didn’t even know it! Thanks to a class action lawsuit against Ticketmaster, anyone who’s purchased tickets since 1999 is entitled to some restitution due to these nondescript and wholly unreasonable processing charges.
Each voucher entitles you to a pair of tickets for select concerts, and you can check how many you have here. Ticketmaster has released a list of eligible shows at their Live Nation venues across the country. So we were wondering, what’s the best place to live if you want to make the most of these payback parties? We took the time. We ranked them. Organized by state, we present to you, the Ticketmaster Show Voucher Power Rankings!
1. Georgia
Atlanta holding it down as one of the strongest cities for free concerts. There’s a good variety of shows here to quench your thirst for 80’s and 90’s nostalgia, some delicious jam band vibes, Flight of the Conchords, and freakin’ Seal. You can’t get that anywhere else. Oh Georgia, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah!
Noteworthy Shows:
- Barenaked Ladies
- Counting Crows and Rob Thomas
- Fifth Harmony and JoJo
- Flight of the Conchords
- Goo Goo Dolls
- Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Cheap Trick
- O.A.R
- Pat Benetar, Melissa Etheridge, Neil Giraldo
- Rick Springfield
- Salt N Pepa
- Seal
- String Cheese Incident
2. North Carolina
This is the only state where you can see Kool & The Gang, in two locations to boot, and that is absolutely amazing. It almost makes up for the overabundance of country music. Yes, these are the top country acts in the game, but ask me if I care? It’s also the only place you can see Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa. Strong showing.
Noteworthy Shows:
- Brad Paisley
- Brantley Gilbert
- Counting Crows & Rob Thomas
- Def Leppard
- Darius Rucker
- Dierks Bentley
- Gwen Stefani
- Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Cheap Trick
- Keith Urban
- Kool & The Gang (two shows)
- Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa
- Toby Keith
- Tributes to Fleetwood Mac, Elton John and Billy Joel
3. California
You knew this had to be somewhere near the top. Points deducted because, well, it’s California and everyone else should be playing with a slight handicap. Available acts are actually not as all-encompassing as I would have expected, but in terms of a mainstream menagerie, they probably beat every other state. Go see the San Francisco Symphony and do something different.
Noteworthy Shows:
- Brand New/Modest Mouse
- Blink 182 (two shows)
- Counting Crows & Rob Thomas
- Darius Rucker (two shows)
- Def Leppard
- Dierks Bentley (two shows)
- Dolly Parton
- Flight of the Conchords
- G-Eazy & Logic
- Gwen Stefani
- Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Cheap Trick
- Keith Urban
- Korn & Rob Zombie
- Pitbull
- Rascal Flatts (two shows)
- San Francisco Symphony
- Weezer, Panic! At the Disco
4. Pennsylvania
It appears that Philly hasn’t grown out of their adolescent angst, based on the prominent pop-rock offerings out there. Still, there’s some decent quality here. Sunflower Bean for the best sleeper show on the list. Also the only place you can see Azealia Banks, if artists with irredeemably intolerant views are your thing.
Noteworthy Shows:
- Azealia Banks
- Boys Like Girls
- Cam’ron
- Dead Kennedys
- I Prevail
- Jeremih
- K. Michelle
- Sunflower Bean
- Sun Kil Moon
- Switchfoot and Relient K
5. Maryland
We did it, folks! Squeaking into the Top 5, Fillmore Silver Spring is holding it down for the DMV, and you actually get a fair amount of decent shows there. Most aren’t my thing, but they’re other people’s things, so that counts. Better take a look before everyone else reads this article and that per-show voucher allotment runs out. There’s also an 80’s vs. 90’s Dance Party with our boy Biz Markie, who rocked our We The Party People event last week.
Noteworthy Shows:
- 80’s vs 90’s Dance Party with Biz Markie
- Boyce Avenue
- Blue October
- Cam’Ron
- Gojira
- Jeremih
- KONGOS
- Skillet
- Streetlight Manifesto
- Switchfoot & Relient K
6. Texas
Drops some points for being such a massive place with comparatively little to show for it on free concerts, but gains nearly infinite points for being the only place that you can see Echo & The Bunnymen. The Dallas lineup is weak, the Houston lineup features tribute bands to 70’s Yacht Rock, Nirvana and AC/DC, and Austin has absolutely nothing, effectively proving that Live Nation has no grip on the overly hip.
Noteworthy Shows:
- Beats Antique
- Belanova
- Boyce Avenue
- Boys Like Girls
- Echo & The Bunnymen
- Eric Johnson
- K. Michelle
- Stephen Marley
- Zack Wylde
7. Massachusetts
Actually a pretty sparse list, and there’s surprisingly little of note for Boston. I kinda like Sorority Noise and they’re playing with a couple other bands. Most noteworthy, however, this is the only place you can go see Duran Duran playing with Nile Rodgers. More than enough to carry the state based on Ticketmaster’s current offerings.
Noteworthy Shows:
- Bayside, The Menzingers, Sorority Noise
- Cam’Ron
- Duran Duran and Nile Rodgers
- K. Michelle
- Keith Urban
8. Ohio
Some angry rock at the forefront with Cincinnati and Cleveland obviously leading a rather uninspired charge.
Noteworthy Shows:
- 10 Years
- Buckcherry
- I Prevail
- The Lacs
- Perpetual Groove
- Ratt
- Stephen Marley
- Tributes to Stone Temple Pilots, Metallica
9. Indiana
Not a ton going on here, but if you live in Indianapolis you can probably spend all your vouchers right now. Go see The Beach Boys. This is the only place you can see The Beach Boys. The Beach Boys are the reason your indie music doesn’t suck.
Noteworthy Shows:
- Being as an Ocean, Hundredth, Trophy Eyes
- The Beach Boys
- Us the Duo
- The Wombats
10. New York
Expected more from the Big Apple, to be sure. There are a lot of shows, but Live Nation doesn’t hold the keys to the best venues in the city, so New Yorkers will undoubtedly have so much more to do with their evenings.
Noteworthy Shows:
- Beats Antique
- The English Beat and Soul Asylum
- I Prevail
- Lemaitre
- Pablo Milanes
- Periphery
- Sammy Adams
11. Florida
This is the only place you can see Steely Dan. Go for it, I guess.
Noteworthy Shows:
- Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
- Steely Dan
12. New Jersey
The only thing they’ve got for us is ZZ Top and Gregg Allman. That’s not a bad thing.
Noteworthy Shows:
- ZZ Top, Gregg Allman
13. South Carolina
This is tribute band heaven. If that’s not your speed, then I suppose you’ll want to go to see Buckcherry. Because of course you do. You’re from South Carolina, and you probably play their music at your wedding.
Noteworthy Shows:
- Buckcherry
- Tributes to Kid Rock, Michael Jackson, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac
14. Kentucky
Electric guitars and excessive vamping. That’s about all I know to expect here.
Noteworthy Shows:
- Ratt
- Savages
15. Nevada
Some cheesy tributes, a Boogie Nights shindig, just about everything you’d expect from Las Vegas. I’d probably go to a Doors tribute for ha-ha’s.
Noteworthy Shows:
- (hed) P.E.
- Tributes to Def Leppard, The Doors, Boogie Nights, The Bee Gees, Journey, The Who
16. Missouri
There are two shows here but really there is nothing here.
Noteworthy Shows:
-
Probably that guy playing violin under the arch in St. Louis
There you have it! And here you are thinking, “Those are not all the states.” Good for you. You are good at math and counting and basic things. But do you live in any of those remaining 34 states, assorted U.S. territories, or perhaps the unrepresented capital of the free world? Well, tough shit! Ticketmaster has nothing for you. This is what they have to say:
Under the terms of the settlement, Ticketmaster is required to provide tickets across a variety of events that take place at a sufficient number of Live Nation owned and operated venues. If the initial list of events does not include an event in your area, please check back periodically, as new events will be added.
Well hey there, bare minimum! It seems 32% of states has been deemed “sufficient.” No doubt this is what we’ve come to expect from a company that, post-settlement, still charges a service fee of about 20-60% the cost of your ticket. Yeah, I managed to find some events charging a $9 service fee on a $16 ticket.
We also want to note that this list may be completely and utterly useless in, say, 24 hours? When we began our research, the vast majority of the 50 states had available shows. There were also shows at Jiffy Lube Live, and no indoor shows at spots like The Fillmore. All of the Jiffy Lube shows are gone. And when we tried ordering tickets yesterday, we hit several error messages. These rankings are current as of publication, but “current” seems to be this amorphous, evolving entity that lives to screw us over like the fees that spawned it.
In any case, the list of available events should see additions on a rolling basis. You might want to go ahead and bookmark this page and check periodically. The website notes that vouchers will be available for shows through May 2017, but the expiration date listed on the vouchers is 2020. We’ve taken this to mean that we don’t know if free shows will continue beyond next May. We’ll probably be jumping ship and cashing in if we don’t see new stuff by March. Your mileage may vary.
