To all of you Metallica fans who didn’t get to purchase tickets – I’m sorry.

Growing up my brother and I would often listen to various heavy metal bands including Ozzy, Iron Maiden, and of course Metallica. Over the years I’ve seen many, many a concert including Metallica at least four times. As fans, our love of music and these bands multiplied every time they made a tour stop in El Paso. We both were even fortunate enough to see Metallica at the Don Haskins Center back in 1989 and 1992 when tickets were less than $20.

Fast forward to 2018 – Metallica announces their return to El Paso and fans swell with anticipation in hopes of buying their tickets to the show slated for February 28, 2019.

If you were like me, I had three presale passwords ready to pounce on my keyboard in hopes of purchasing at least a pair of tickets for my brother, but it didn’t happen. I walked away empty handed. That didn’t deter my inner rocker spirit and decided that the day tickets went on sale to the general public, that would be our chance to see Metallica in the twenty-first century.

As the seconds counted down to the general public ticket sale this morning, several co-workers and I were ready. We were prepared to spend up to $150 a ticket, but none of that mattered because not even a minute after Ticketmaster made tickets available – they were all sold out. That’s right, ALL SOLD OUT!

But wait, Ticketmaster allows buyers to quickly turn around and gouge patrons with inflated prices sometimes five times their worth. Resale apparently is a way to prevent folks from scalping tickets but guess what; we don’t care about these fools who dare risk buying tickets from scalpers, that’s on them. Let the real fans have a fair shot at buying tickets. If Ticketmaster didn’t have a resale option we might be holding a pair of decent seats to the concert right now.

How does this happen you may ask – well, I just don’t know.

The problem is not Metallica – the problem is the way Ticketmaster functions.

How can Ticketmaster fix itself? For years Ticketmaster has been confronted by artists who try to lean the advantage towards their fans when buying concert tickets, even Pearl Jam once upon a time tried to fight the behemoth ticket outlet to no avail. Not only does Ticketmaster charge a ridiculous amount in fees, they also obviously care nothing for their patrons.

So, I’m sorry if you didn’t get to purchase tickets to see Metallica. I too was super bummed this morning as I perched over starring in desperation at my computer screen only to see “Try Again, No Matches Found”. I’m right there with you – sad, mad, and frustrated – but that’s ok, I still love Metallica and always will. Come February 28, 2019, I’ll be happy for everyone attending the concert especially for the fans that haven’t seen them live because they truly do slay on stage and you will without a doubt be blown away. Enjoy my fellow concert goers – you won’t be disappointed!