Red Rocks Ticketing Story Provokes Reader Response | Westword
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Reader: It's Torture to Get Concert Tickets to Red Rocks

Nobody denies it can be dispiriting to sit in a virtual waiting room, hoping to get Red Rocks concert tickets, only to find out every seat sold out within minutes of going on sale. Yet that's exactly what happens to Denver concert goers each year.
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Amphitheatre Brandon Marshall
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Nobody denies it can be dispiriting to sit in a virtual waiting room, hoping to get Red Rocks concert tickets, only to find out that every seat sold out within minutes of going on sale. Yet that's exactly what happens to Denver concert-goers each year. Who's to blame: the ticket sellers, nefarious bots, or street-side scalpers? Chris Walker's cover story, "Bot and Sold: Who's Really Gobbling Up Red Rocks Tickets," looked into the question, provoking quite a response from readers. Says Mike:

The fact that the companies that sell tickets own the re-sell sites is a problem.. there are tickets available on these re-sell sites the second after they become available for purchase (in some cases I've even seen them listed before they go on sale) and for twice the price or more.. not to mention the slap in the face when they direct you to their re-sell page and show you all the tickets you can now buy for a huge mark up.
Adds McLain:
AXS is the problem. It's torture to get tickets. They do things like making you go through reCAPTCHA Hell BEFORE telling you that there are no tickets available instead of after you have tickets in your cart, to top a huge list of annoyances.
Then Benjamin weighs in:
Whether it's bots is irrelevant. It's scalpers and and the ticket seeking companies have figured out how to make money off of them. This won't be fixed until people stop buying tickets, which isn't going to happen.
In addition, the fees for just buying a ticket are insane, and there's no alternative locations to buy. Again, they don't care u till we stop buying.
And Fritz:
The AXS ticketing system sucks, but the truth is 9500 just isn't a lot of tickets. Especially considering the level of acts that are booked and the venue's status as a bucket list/destination location for many people.
Keep reading for our coverage of Red Rocks and ticketing in Denver.

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Buell Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex.
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How Ticketing Works for DCPA Shows Like Frozen and Hamilton
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Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull
Miles Chrisinger
The Worst Riot in Red Rocks History
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A man who allegedly assaulted fellow concert-goers is treated for inebriation at the May 2 Chance the Rapper show at Red Rocks.
Brandon Marshall
Punches and Public Urination at the Chance the Rapper Red Rocks Concert

What do you think about the ticketing system at Red Rocks?
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