Tips and Tricks for Scoring Cheap Event Tickets Around Chicago!
In today’s day and age, the price of everything keeps going up and up. As someone who does not work primarily in the music or entertainment industry, I have to keep a conscious budget when buying tickets for concerts, comedy shows, and musicals. Here are my biggest tips and tricks for scoring tickets without breaking the bank around Chicago.
1. Small venues are the best venues - Smaller venue = smaller ticket prices. I love a venue that is under 1,500 people. My favorite venues are Joe’s on Weed Street, Carol’s Pub, Joe’s Live, and The Bluebird in Bloomington, Indiana. I can usually score tickets for under $50, including fees, be up close and personal with the artist, and the beers are under $20. But avoid buying same-day tickets at the door as the price typically increases on the day of.
2. Avoid Ticketmaster and Live Nation - If you can, avoid going to venues that use Ticketmaster as their ticketing system, as it has the highest fees. I prefer venues that use Ticketweb.
3. Support up-and-coming artists - Small artists = smaller ticket prices. I love seeing artist early on in their career, and it’s typically cheaper to do so. I remember seeing Morgan Walen in a dive bar for $20 right after his “If I Know Me” album was released. Now I can’t even get a Morgan Wallen t-shirt for that price. It’s also a great feeling to say, “I knew them before they were big.”
4. Enter radio station contests - There are options to call in, text keywords, or enter online. Some stations even offer rewards based on how many hours you listen. iHeartRadio.com and Audacy.com always have trips, meet and greets, and ticket sweepstakes going on. SiriusXM subscribers also have a chance to enter their exclusive sweepstakes as well.
5. Enter artist giveaways - I have won meet and greets, tickets, and merchandise through entering artist giveaways. Giveaways are often towards the end of fan club emails and not in the email subject line, so you have to keep your eyes peeled.
6. Enter other online contests - Tunespeak.com is one of my favorite sites for this. You get entries just by following artists on social media, adding their songs to playlists on Spotify, and watching their YouTube videos. It is completely free and legitimate.
7. Check for day of discounted tickets - Often, resale tickets are higher than face value, but I recommend checking the day of, as people are struggling to offload their ticket and might charge less than what they paid for. Gametime is my personal favorite for resale, but you can check StubHub, Ticketmaster, and SeatGeek as well.
8. Day of discounted tickets to Broadway shows - Go to the box office on the day of to get last-minute tickets at a discount (or at least without the service fee).
9. $30 Broadway tickets on the 30th - Broadway in Chicago also offers a promotion for select tickets being $30 on the 30th of each month. On the 29th of each month, Broadway in Chicago announces which shows will be selected for the reduced price. Then, on the 30th at 10 AM CST, a link becomes active on their Facebook page to purchase the tickets. Mark your calendars because they go fast.
10. Sign up for presale – Always sign up for presale and hop in the presale queue to avoid having to pay high resale prices. This is also your best chance at the best seats. I have an email strictly for entering contests, artist fan clubs, venue weekly email subscriptions, and shopping deals to avoid keeping my primary email cluttered.
11. Get a DoMore ticket subscription – For just $7 a month, DoMore will send you 2 free tickets at least once a month for events around your city based on your interests. The events range from cover bands, smaller concerts, drag shows, and comedy shows. If you do not live in Chicago, DoMore partners with several cities around the US. They also have a section on their website just for giveaways if you do not want to pay for the subscription.
12. Free tickets for attending comedy shows - Comedy clubs often give away tickets just for attending a show. These are usually in the form of vouchers to come back for smaller local performers. Unfortunately, the 2-item minimum is not included.
13. Free tickets for first people in line - Some smaller venues, like The Rave in Milwaukee, will hand out free tickets to the first few people in line for an upcoming show that might not be selling well. So it pays to get to the venue early.
14. Follow your favorite venues online for promo codes - A lot of venues will post venue presale codes, promo codes, BOGO sales, and giveaways for upcoming shows. I would also recommend subscribing to the venue’s newsletter.
15. Keep an eye out for pop-up shows – Check social media daily for free pop-up shows happening in your area.
16. Check fair and festival lineups – Small fairs and festivals typically offer free performances. State and county fairs also provide opportunities to see big-name artists for a reasonable price. If you are in the Chicagoland area like me, Elk Grove Village puts on a free summer concert series. This year’s lineup, to name a few are Jake Own, Foreigner, Smash Mouth, and Air Supply.
