Sixties rock hero’s attempt to shake up concert industry ticketing policies fizzles

Aidin Vaziri

So how did Bob Dylan’s great “ticketless” concert experiment go at the Warfield? You know, the one where the 69-year-old rock and roll veteran asked his fans to line up outside the venue for a few hours with $60 cash in hand to get inside — eschewing extra fees, printer errors and scalper markups?

Just okay!

There was a substantial line outside the Warfield beginning Wednesday at noon — abetted by the swarming local news vans — but by the time the show kicked off a little after 8 p.m. the 2,250 capacity room was visibly undersold.

“I think it was not what everybody had hoped for but it was an experiment worth trying,” said Goldenvoice Vice President David Lefkowitz. “The attention and buzz we created within the industry made it worth doing. But I think it just proves people are very used of the convenience of sitting at home and buying their tickets on a computer.”

By comparison, much pricier tickets for Dylan’s concert the night before at the Fox Theater in Oakland sold out within an hour, fees and all.

Lefkowitz thinks a few factors worked against the “ticketless” model, which admitted concert-goers on a first come first served basis.

Aidin Vaziri

“Some people may have been intimidated by the line,” he said. “Some people maybe didn’t like the idea of leaving home without a ticket; the uncertainty. Most of his fans probably have jobs so to get here before 6 or 7 p.m. was probably a stretch. It was challenging.”

The idea came directly from Dylan, maybe as a nod to the old school way of doing things. But in the end it might just make everyone stop complaining about those oh-so-modern convenience charges that sometimes make a ticket cost double its face price.

Would Goldenvoice give the whole thing another shot; maybe with an artist who has a more fervent, foolhardy following?

“I would do it again given the right circumstances,” said Lefkowitz. “Yeah, definitely.”