went to kut the wranglers midnight hockey game by myself ... tickets were still on sale ...
the crowd was unruly and mean ... the regular ticket lines were long ... i just bagged it and came home. if i'd been with someone else to cover my back, i would have stuck it out.
this is extremely rare ... it's one of only three times in my life have i ever gone to kut an event and come back empty handed.
12/27/10
12/17/10
the stuff i don't talk about ...
... my ticket subscription gets me into several shows that i otherwise wouldn't even go to ... i don't mention them here, but the list is impressive ... 40 events/things since the middle of august ...
... and i was gone for almost all of september and october.
... and i was gone for almost all of september and october.
maybe, maybe not
i may quit writing the synopses of these shows ... it wasn't the original intent of what i was doing here and i'm not hearing anything back from anyone, including solid G, on the side ... i don't really enjoy doing it -- especially since i have my sights set on a bigger thing in this immediate world ...
... and if i wanted to talk to myself, it's easier if i don't type.
{this comment was originally posted on "sinatra" below [a couple of minutes ago] but i brought it up for anyone who may be following here without looking at the post-dated items.}
... and if i wanted to talk to myself, it's easier if i don't type.
{this comment was originally posted on "sinatra" below [a couple of minutes ago] but i brought it up for anyone who may be following here without looking at the post-dated items.}
venus yoga
again, not a true kutrate experience, but worth noting ...
as part of my ticket subscription, i had the chance to take a "venus" beginning hot yoga class at vegas hot! a truly diabolical idea, it's 90 minutes of work in 105 degrees and 40% humidity.
it was going to be a challenge for me, for sure, because although my cardio-pulmonary physique is about as good as you can possibly get, my flexibility has always been terrible ... and it's getting worse as i get older.
we went through all the expected twists, moves and convolutions. some i could sort-of accomplish with difficulty, others i had to substitute lesser moves for. after about 75 minutes, i had to sit out about four sets of moves, just to let my heart get back in the "merely extremely dangerous" zone.
as you'd expect, the class was mostly 30-something females ... although i wasn't the oldest, nor heaviest, guy there.
just dropping in and taking the class as a one-off would've been about $15. (i'm not marking it down in the financials.)
i'd sign-up for this over the longer term, but it's a tad pricey compared to, say, a gym membership. i might try and negotiate a kutrate price.
as part of my ticket subscription, i had the chance to take a "venus" beginning hot yoga class at vegas hot! a truly diabolical idea, it's 90 minutes of work in 105 degrees and 40% humidity.
it was going to be a challenge for me, for sure, because although my cardio-pulmonary physique is about as good as you can possibly get, my flexibility has always been terrible ... and it's getting worse as i get older.
we went through all the expected twists, moves and convolutions. some i could sort-of accomplish with difficulty, others i had to substitute lesser moves for. after about 75 minutes, i had to sit out about four sets of moves, just to let my heart get back in the "merely extremely dangerous" zone.
as you'd expect, the class was mostly 30-something females ... although i wasn't the oldest, nor heaviest, guy there.
just dropping in and taking the class as a one-off would've been about $15. (i'm not marking it down in the financials.)
i'd sign-up for this over the longer term, but it's a tad pricey compared to, say, a gym membership. i might try and negotiate a kutrate price.
12/15/10
blue man group - venetian
in yet another score from my ticket subscription, i was able to get tickets to blue man at the venetian. i've seen them two different times in abbreviated form -once in a summer concert jam, the other in periods between a wranglers hockey match- but i'd never seen the full-on real deal.
it's every bit as good and as weird as you could hope, although the show as an entire piece doesn't stick together very well.
we had great "poncho" seats, nearly dead center, three rows back. they should have been $103 apiece. (the row behind was $150.) although there was a fair amount of splatter and spew, we didn't actually need the ponchos.
the audience was mostly younger semi-slacker types. lots of whoopin' and hollerin' from the audience -- which, of course, draws those quizzical looks from the blue men.
it's every bit as good and as weird as you could hope, although the show as an entire piece doesn't stick together very well.
we had great "poncho" seats, nearly dead center, three rows back. they should have been $103 apiece. (the row behind was $150.) although there was a fair amount of splatter and spew, we didn't actually need the ponchos.
the audience was mostly younger semi-slacker types. lots of whoopin' and hollerin' from the audience -- which, of course, draws those quizzical looks from the blue men.
12/14/10
sinatra -- wynn
twyla tharp has the choreographed the show sinatra that's been getting rave reviews in other parts of the world and the las vegas entertainment brain trust has decided to bring it here ... in typical vegas fashion (and unlike the lion king), they've chopped it down with no intermission.
the encore theatre (i assume they spell it the snooty way) is small with almost no passing room in front of you in the seats ... and the seats are also just a touch narrow. but the sight-lines, sound and static nature of the showroom are stunning. in row L i was about half-way back, and as the dancers are doing their thing it feels like they're right in your lap.
i guess most art types would call this show "dance" but to me it feels more like ballet. a live orchestra is playing with recorded sinatra. the dance "story," such as it is, is essentially couples going through the rigors of dancing and romancing in a bar setting -- with a little miming thrown in as well.
i'm not a fan of dance in general, but this show is stunning. the dress is cleverly modern sinatra. lots of women flying through the air. lots of men strutting in such a way that makes you realize you need to spend only about 12 decades more at the gym and then you'll be "in shape."
the lead female dancer, in particular, is so striking that it's hard to watch anyone else when she's on stage ... even if she's doing something as dopey as smoking an imaginary cigarette.
this is the opening week for the show and the audience was almost entirely white senior citizen types ... not surprising since nearly everyone there is probably on the casino comp list.
definitely something i would have tried to kut in the future, and i was happy to take the comp. $100 face.
the encore theatre (i assume they spell it the snooty way) is small with almost no passing room in front of you in the seats ... and the seats are also just a touch narrow. but the sight-lines, sound and static nature of the showroom are stunning. in row L i was about half-way back, and as the dancers are doing their thing it feels like they're right in your lap.
i guess most art types would call this show "dance" but to me it feels more like ballet. a live orchestra is playing with recorded sinatra. the dance "story," such as it is, is essentially couples going through the rigors of dancing and romancing in a bar setting -- with a little miming thrown in as well.
i'm not a fan of dance in general, but this show is stunning. the dress is cleverly modern sinatra. lots of women flying through the air. lots of men strutting in such a way that makes you realize you need to spend only about 12 decades more at the gym and then you'll be "in shape."
the lead female dancer, in particular, is so striking that it's hard to watch anyone else when she's on stage ... even if she's doing something as dopey as smoking an imaginary cigarette.
this is the opening week for the show and the audience was almost entirely white senior citizen types ... not surprising since nearly everyone there is probably on the casino comp list.
definitely something i would have tried to kut in the future, and i was happy to take the comp. $100 face.
12/12/10
leonard cohen - caesar's palace
i'd already seen leonard cohen this year in san jose.
leonard, probably the last great balladeer, is on an odd string of half-luck. he had success -really more as a writer, than as a performer himself- and then turn to hardcore buddhism in a monastery. it was at this convenient point that his manager decided to steal all his money.
mr. cohen comes out of the monastery, realizes he's broke, and, at the age of 73, immediately goes on tour to make money. in a heartbeat he's selling out show-after-show. the tour is hugely successful, lasting an interrupted three years.
the last night of the entire tour is his second night at caesar's palace. the first show selling so strong that they added a second ... but those sales languish.
vegas, being what it is in the 21st century, can have huge nights of entertainment. december 11th is one of these: it has three:
leonard, probably the last great balladeer, is on an odd string of half-luck. he had success -really more as a writer, than as a performer himself- and then turn to hardcore buddhism in a monastery. it was at this convenient point that his manager decided to steal all his money.
mr. cohen comes out of the monastery, realizes he's broke, and, at the age of 73, immediately goes on tour to make money. in a heartbeat he's selling out show-after-show. the tour is hugely successful, lasting an interrupted three years.
the last night of the entire tour is his second night at caesar's palace. the first show selling so strong that they added a second ... but those sales languish.
vegas, being what it is in the 21st century, can have huge nights of entertainment. december 11th is one of these: it has three:
- leonard cohen's last show
- andrea bocelli
- and todd rundgren doing an entire night of robert johnson covers (in a super-intimate venue, not two miles from my place)
this is also dead season. it used to be that vegas went dark from the monday following american thanksgiving to boxing day. only in the last decade or so have they started having shows.
and this means that the ticket market is super-soft. soft enough, in fact, that all three shows are selling tickets below face in the days running up. i hold back and decide to see todd rundgren, having already seen mr. cohen and knowing i can probably catch mr. bocelli sometime in the future.
and then my ticket subscription offered leonard cohen.
i snapped them up immediately.
the show was great and long. leonard continually referred to the caesar's colosseum as "friends" and met his promise that the super-tight, white-hot band for doing their absolute best.
four hours long with one intermission. the only other performer or group i've seen that could run that hard for that long was george clinton.
the set-list was longer than san jose -- maybe as much as 30% longer. the band was tighter. mr. cohen was more eager and digging deeper within himself.
the audience was unusual for a strip big show. dressed a bit nicer. maybe just a tad younger. there was a large contingent of leonard cohen fans that went down to the stage and started singing in unison while laying roses on the stage during intermission.
the only people i could see in the second mezzanine were either white or asian. lots of italian nationals.
it's very possible this is the last large show leonard cohen will ever perform. i'm sure as hell glad i saw it.
$50 for the cheapest seats in the house. free for me.
12/11/10
jon anderson - green valley ranch
i'd been in the green valley ranch (GVR) original pancake house (OPH) a few days earlier and seen that jon anderson was going to play in ovation -- their small, 450 seat theater. i'd never been in there, but a venue that small has gotta be good.
JA was the lead singer for yes and i found it odd that he might play a venue as small as this -considering that he once fronted for 500,000 people in brasil- and at the bargain face price of $25 before fees..
there was a little bit of flexibility for tickets on CL, so it definitely looked to be worth a kut.
after posting a couple ads and making a couple calls, i was able to score a pair for $15 apiece.
the house comp tickets were the crappiest in the house -- far back and to the left ... but once the show started, my guest and i worked our way more toward the center and the seats/view were fine. the sound levels low enough that i didn't have to wear earplugs.
JA was very talkative -in that odd british kind of way- and the audience was very chatty with him, although it became fairly clear that he'd rather have an odd british monologue, than an odd british conversation.
hearing jon anderson play yes solo acoustic is like reading abstracts of highly scientific papers. it strips out the everything but the very essence ... turning fractals of sound into something closer to curves.
the audience was almost entirely white, slightly overweight, and just a touch older than me. lots of older geeks that looked suspiciously like they should be home playing chess instead.
there were two white women in the audience (not together), 30-somethings, that were nearly acting out every damn song that mr. anderson played.
very enjoyable evening.
JA was the lead singer for yes and i found it odd that he might play a venue as small as this -considering that he once fronted for 500,000 people in brasil- and at the bargain face price of $25 before fees..
there was a little bit of flexibility for tickets on CL, so it definitely looked to be worth a kut.
after posting a couple ads and making a couple calls, i was able to score a pair for $15 apiece.
the house comp tickets were the crappiest in the house -- far back and to the left ... but once the show started, my guest and i worked our way more toward the center and the seats/view were fine. the sound levels low enough that i didn't have to wear earplugs.
JA was very talkative -in that odd british kind of way- and the audience was very chatty with him, although it became fairly clear that he'd rather have an odd british monologue, than an odd british conversation.
hearing jon anderson play yes solo acoustic is like reading abstracts of highly scientific papers. it strips out the everything but the very essence ... turning fractals of sound into something closer to curves.
the audience was almost entirely white, slightly overweight, and just a touch older than me. lots of older geeks that looked suspiciously like they should be home playing chess instead.
there were two white women in the audience (not together), 30-somethings, that were nearly acting out every damn song that mr. anderson played.
very enjoyable evening.
12/9/10
kutting it close ...
not a kutrate per se, but worth noting ... as part of my ticket subscription, i was given a chance for a "quality grooming experience" at american male salon. this included a wash before, a haircut, a wash after, conditioning, scalp & face massage, hot towel treatment, "spritz of toner," "slash of cologne," and a neck shave.
i guess you should think "metrosexual," but it wasn't as bad as all that.
it also included a "styling," which, when you have 15 hairs on your head, isn't that big of a deal and "neck shave." now if you're balding, neck shave is a big deal. i told my stylist, "do you have a black and decker trimmer? or maybe just a weed eater? you're welcome to quit, you know. you can say, 'i didn't sign up for abusive work practices' and just walk out."
oh, AND, it included a paraffin hand dip. now WHY you'd want to cover your hands in lotion and plunge them in molten candles is beyond me, but if it comes with a "free" sign on it, you better believe i'm there (even if it was something like "hit yourself on the thumb with this hammer").
it was great.
the stylist was korean national, so we talked a lot about missiles -- something remarkably easy to think about as a totally hot asian runs fingers through your hair.
REPEATEDLY.
it would've run $40, which is reasonable considering the service, but not something i'd do constantly without something like a silicon valley day job and no spare time.
all the stylists were female. all the guys seemed "business-like" and not disco-y.
i tipped $10, which seemed fair on zero.
i'm not marking it on the master tally, but this is what kutrate is about.
i guess you should think "metrosexual," but it wasn't as bad as all that.
it also included a "styling," which, when you have 15 hairs on your head, isn't that big of a deal and "neck shave." now if you're balding, neck shave is a big deal. i told my stylist, "do you have a black and decker trimmer? or maybe just a weed eater? you're welcome to quit, you know. you can say, 'i didn't sign up for abusive work practices' and just walk out."
oh, AND, it included a paraffin hand dip. now WHY you'd want to cover your hands in lotion and plunge them in molten candles is beyond me, but if it comes with a "free" sign on it, you better believe i'm there (even if it was something like "hit yourself on the thumb with this hammer").
it was great.
the stylist was korean national, so we talked a lot about missiles -- something remarkably easy to think about as a totally hot asian runs fingers through your hair.
REPEATEDLY.
it would've run $40, which is reasonable considering the service, but not something i'd do constantly without something like a silicon valley day job and no spare time.
all the stylists were female. all the guys seemed "business-like" and not disco-y.
i tipped $10, which seemed fair on zero.
i'm not marking it on the master tally, but this is what kutrate is about.
12/8/10
lion king -- mandalay bay
T-day to xmas is the slow time in vegas, so my ticket subscription is showing up with some of the big ticket things.
i wasn't familiar with "lion king," but i have double hatred for musical theater ... one for being brainwashed by my wife -- who loves traditional theater, but hates musicals ... and the other for hating theater in general because i can't get over the fact that i'm watching a bunch of actors on stage (a side-effect from having to watch "the seagull" [GODDAMMIT] as my first theater experience as a 13 year old).
it was a great spectacle. wide ranging audience. solid performances from all the cast with exceptional work by the actor representing zazu. great puppets. nice use of perspective-within-2-D.
i'm sure you already know all this stuff.
something i would have kutrate sometime next year because of all the fuss, but thanks to my ticket subscription, i don't have to.
$114 face.
i wasn't familiar with "lion king," but i have double hatred for musical theater ... one for being brainwashed by my wife -- who loves traditional theater, but hates musicals ... and the other for hating theater in general because i can't get over the fact that i'm watching a bunch of actors on stage (a side-effect from having to watch "the seagull" [GODDAMMIT] as my first theater experience as a 13 year old).
it was a great spectacle. wide ranging audience. solid performances from all the cast with exceptional work by the actor representing zazu. great puppets. nice use of perspective-within-2-D.
i'm sure you already know all this stuff.
something i would have kutrate sometime next year because of all the fuss, but thanks to my ticket subscription, i don't have to.
$114 face.
12/5/10
paul oakenfold
vegas is enough of an entertainment draw that several big names have semi-permanent shows here: barry manilow, penn & teller, cher, et al ... and in that vein, paul oakenfold is the house DJ at the palms.
yesterday night he spun a free-for-locals show in the rain nightclub. i haven't seen him there since he's been resident -i did, however, see him in lake tahoe a few years ago- so i went to check it out.
even though it was saturday night -shortly after the show had started- my accomplice and i were waved in quickly.
quite a place, quite a show. pyrotechnic lighting apparatus, go-go dancers, light-up men on stilts, glow-in-the-dark women working trapeze hoops from the superior illumination rigs, half naked men on ropes, a dozen high def. imagery TVs. think "death star if it had a cool disco."
an almost entirely white audience in their 20's. women in tight black dresses. men with their shirts unbuttoned one extra place.
loud. frenetic. bustling without feeling crowded. everyone having a good time. i stayed for about 45 minutes of paul and then left. it was the perfect dose of dance/techno.
not really a kutrate per se (anyone with a NV ID could get in free), but i consider free shows to absolutely be in the kutrate spirit.
yesterday night he spun a free-for-locals show in the rain nightclub. i haven't seen him there since he's been resident -i did, however, see him in lake tahoe a few years ago- so i went to check it out.
even though it was saturday night -shortly after the show had started- my accomplice and i were waved in quickly.
quite a place, quite a show. pyrotechnic lighting apparatus, go-go dancers, light-up men on stilts, glow-in-the-dark women working trapeze hoops from the superior illumination rigs, half naked men on ropes, a dozen high def. imagery TVs. think "death star if it had a cool disco."
an almost entirely white audience in their 20's. women in tight black dresses. men with their shirts unbuttoned one extra place.
zen freeman opened for two hours, then without break it was mr. oakenfold.
loud. frenetic. bustling without feeling crowded. everyone having a good time. i stayed for about 45 minutes of paul and then left. it was the perfect dose of dance/techno.
not really a kutrate per se (anyone with a NV ID could get in free), but i consider free shows to absolutely be in the kutrate spirit.
12/1/10
echoes of the 60s ...
... at the weird "what the hell is this place for exactly?" V theater.
essentially it's danny gans's back-up band playing music from the 60's. it started as "echoes of woodstock" but they expanded to have the whole decade.
this show set two personal records for me:
1. the most fun per capita in the audience of any show i've ever been to -- i counted 14 people in the audience and they were WHOOPING it up.
2. the most enthusiastic band relative to crowd size that i've ever seen. the band -who for several years would have played to a 1500 seat sold-out audience nightly- was clearly having a good time.
the crowd was super ethnically mixed, but mostly asian.
the band was very good. strongest when they played white standards, weakest when covering motown and sly (although they get super-bonus points for acknowledging that sly was the best part of woodstock ... something most people never mention).
the person who shall never be mentioned made a passing comment that is totally true: a show like this is one of the true strengths of vegas. to a person everyone was there to have a good time. no one cared about the size of the audience or was snooty about the music. you play this same show, with this same size crowd, in any city in the US (with the possible exception of new orleans) and the response wouldn't be nearly as good (from either side of the stage).
$40 face, free with ticket subscription.
essentially it's danny gans's back-up band playing music from the 60's. it started as "echoes of woodstock" but they expanded to have the whole decade.
this show set two personal records for me:
1. the most fun per capita in the audience of any show i've ever been to -- i counted 14 people in the audience and they were WHOOPING it up.
2. the most enthusiastic band relative to crowd size that i've ever seen. the band -who for several years would have played to a 1500 seat sold-out audience nightly- was clearly having a good time.
the crowd was super ethnically mixed, but mostly asian.
the band was very good. strongest when they played white standards, weakest when covering motown and sly (although they get super-bonus points for acknowledging that sly was the best part of woodstock ... something most people never mention).
the person who shall never be mentioned made a passing comment that is totally true: a show like this is one of the true strengths of vegas. to a person everyone was there to have a good time. no one cared about the size of the audience or was snooty about the music. you play this same show, with this same size crowd, in any city in the US (with the possible exception of new orleans) and the response wouldn't be nearly as good (from either side of the stage).
$40 face, free with ticket subscription.
11/25/10
the amazing kreskin
at the riviera. still uses a bunch of his original stage bits (e.g.
"think of 2 geometric shapes ... basic ones ... but not a square ... one
inside another ... how many people thought of a triangle inside a
circle?"). self-promoting. funny.
"think of 2 geometric shapes ... basic ones ... but not a square ... one
inside another ... how many people thought of a triangle inside a
circle?"). self-promoting. funny.
audience was mostly middle-aged whiteys ... definitely vegas local types
... oh, and robin leach was there with his not-quite fashion model GF.
face: $52. free w/ ticket subscription.
11/1/10
yet more TXT conversations w/ solid G
solid G: Rod stewart plays the night I arrive in vegas, but I don't get
in until 8ish.
in until 8ish.
b1: i wouldn't kut rod, but i'd go for free if someone gave me a
ticket. i'm still pissed about him ruining the small faces.
more TXT conversation w/ solid G
solid G: I don't mind a short review either, though I realize that's not
the focus. I do enjoy hearing about the crowd.
b1: yeah, i'll try it and see what happens ... i'm not really expecting
*anyone*, except for maybe you, your cousin and the grumbler to actually read
it.
the focus. I do enjoy hearing about the crowd.
b1: yeah, i'll try it and see what happens ... i'm not really expecting
*anyone*, except for maybe you, your cousin and the grumbler to actually read
it.
TXT conversation with solid G
solid G: Suggestion for the kkk blog: describe the crowd at each show.
b1: not a bad idea ... i'll mull it ... it starts walking me toward
reviews, though.
10/31/10
concert of the moment
Mini KISS Live at The Pub
Las Vegas' first headlining show comprised entirely of Little People
celebrity impersonators. You will never have a better time at a Vegas
show than at this production, which Las Vegas proclaimed "outrageous." A
raucously fun show for the whole family!
GENERAL ADMISSION - FIRST COME FIRST SERVE & POSSIBLE STANDING ROOM.
No guaranteed seating. A costume contest will also take place during
the event, so come dressed to win!!!!
MUST BE 21+ TO ATTEND
{so much for the "whole family"}
Located at The Pub at the Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino
{unfortunately i'm not going to this show.}
Las Vegas' first headlining show comprised entirely of Little People
celebrity impersonators. You will never have a better time at a Vegas
show than at this production, which Las Vegas proclaimed "outrageous." A
raucously fun show for the whole family!
GENERAL ADMISSION - FIRST COME FIRST SERVE & POSSIBLE STANDING ROOM.
No guaranteed seating. A costume contest will also take place during
the event, so come dressed to win!!!!
MUST BE 21+ TO ATTEND
{so much for the "whole family"}
Located at The Pub at the Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino
{unfortunately i'm not going to this show.}
10/27/10
10/24/10
bridge school concerts
bought and sold several tickets, including eight off of ebay with a $335 face value for $81. after it was said and done and the smoke had cleared, i was paid $39 for my concert mate and me to see both bridge shows ... and even ended up eating two tickets. i'll mark this as +$70 for face value and -$39 in the amount i paid.
10/12/10
9/27/10
ratatat; austin, TX
the ratatat show was solidly sold out, but my AYCJ accomplice was keen on seeing the show. kutrating at a new-to-me venue is always a challenge ... more so in a state where i'm not familiar with the after-market ticket laws.
solidly sold-out we were able to score a pair of $25 (+ fees) tickets for $20. i was happy, my accomplice was ecstatic.
ratatat were great. great night out in a fun town ... we spent the money we saved on salt lick barbecue.
solidly sold-out we were able to score a pair of $25 (+ fees) tickets for $20. i was happy, my accomplice was ecstatic.
ratatat were great. great night out in a fun town ... we spent the money we saved on salt lick barbecue.
9/4/10
9/3/10
barry manilow
now this is exactly the kind of show i would have kut.
i'm a barry manilow hater -but thanks to having been raised in the US in the 70's, and having a girlfriend who was a fan (i've actually bought a barry manilow album in my life, believe it or not)- i'm overly familiar with his work.
however, i also get that BM is an entertainer -- love or hate, he's not going to go out and do nothing. and he's got a multi-million dollar showroom in a vegas strip hotel.
that means i want to see him, but on the cheap. my ticket service came up with the tix before i had to use advanced kutting moves (actually, they've been running sporadically on craigslist for $25 apiece) and scored me four $75 tickets.
in one of those weird quirks of fate that only kutrating provides, i gave the other pair to the parents of a kid who had scored me a free ozomatli ticket ... for exactly the same night ...
i'd originally thought i wouldn't see BM this go 'round (for sure i'd only go if i went with someone else), but an old semi-flame of mine was able to go at the last minute ... i ended up sitting next to the parents of the kid who gave me the ozo ticket ... and they treated me like i was the star.
and yes, just for the record, barry manilow was good. two very clever arrangements where he played recorded duets with himself ... one when he was six and another from an early TV appearance.
i'd go see him again, but i wouldn't pay face.
as if i have to tell you that.
i'm a barry manilow hater -but thanks to having been raised in the US in the 70's, and having a girlfriend who was a fan (i've actually bought a barry manilow album in my life, believe it or not)- i'm overly familiar with his work.
however, i also get that BM is an entertainer -- love or hate, he's not going to go out and do nothing. and he's got a multi-million dollar showroom in a vegas strip hotel.
that means i want to see him, but on the cheap. my ticket service came up with the tix before i had to use advanced kutting moves (actually, they've been running sporadically on craigslist for $25 apiece) and scored me four $75 tickets.
in one of those weird quirks of fate that only kutrating provides, i gave the other pair to the parents of a kid who had scored me a free ozomatli ticket ... for exactly the same night ...
i'd originally thought i wouldn't see BM this go 'round (for sure i'd only go if i went with someone else), but an old semi-flame of mine was able to go at the last minute ... i ended up sitting next to the parents of the kid who gave me the ozo ticket ... and they treated me like i was the star.
and yes, just for the record, barry manilow was good. two very clever arrangements where he played recorded duets with himself ... one when he was six and another from an early TV appearance.
i'd go see him again, but i wouldn't pay face.
as if i have to tell you that.
8/31/10
8/29/10
LV 51s
bought 1 ticket for a fan promotion night that was giving away free jerseys for $5 (face: $8) with the intent of merely getting the jersey then turning around and leaving the game. although i got there 45 minutes early, the jerseys had been given away. TXTd the woman who'd sold me the ticket ... remarkably she'd got an extra jersey for herself and ran out of her way to give it to me a couple of days later ... i'm recording this transaction in the financials.
bought 4 tickets for the last home game of the year, face $32; paid $20.
also bought two game worn jerseys from the pro-shop. one (signed) in desert camo, the other bright red for the 4th of july game. spoke to the manager, who was very tired and seemed like he was in a good mood ... the price was $325 for both, i chatted him up for awhile, pointed out that if i bought his jerseys he wouldn't have to carry them on the end-of-the-year balance sheet and offered $200, which he took. i'm not showing this on kutrate accounting, but it's worth mentioning here.
bought 4 tickets for the last home game of the year, face $32; paid $20.
also bought two game worn jerseys from the pro-shop. one (signed) in desert camo, the other bright red for the 4th of july game. spoke to the manager, who was very tired and seemed like he was in a good mood ... the price was $325 for both, i chatted him up for awhile, pointed out that if i bought his jerseys he wouldn't have to carry them on the end-of-the-year balance sheet and offered $200, which he took. i'm not showing this on kutrate accounting, but it's worth mentioning here.
8/22/10
purple reign
great and hilarious prince cover band recommended to me by the steel panther. locals can see 'em for $10, it was free to me with my ticket subscription.
8/20/10
8/19/10
lady gaga
four days ago i saw lady gaga at the MGM. took almost the complete opening act, but i scored a $185 ticket for $25. dead center in the arena, straight above the sound board.
8/16/10
accounting for the KKK
i have a wrinkle that could make some of the accounting on here awkward. i'm a member of an organization that essentially gives away unsold tickets to events.
for $89 a year i'm given up to two tickets a day to events on an ever-rotating schedule. events range from whacky (and bad) off-strip stuff to the occasional big act. since joining last summer, i've seen 23 shows. (i could tell you what i've seen through them, but they reserve the right to revoke my membership immediately if i do, so i won't ... i also won't say the name of the organization ... but ask me through a side channel and i'll tell you either/both.)
although they probably wouldn't advertise themselves this way, i consider my ticket organization to be a KKK provider ... after all, my average so far is less than $4/ticket, and that'll drop with every show i see.
BUT not every show i see is something i normally would have kut anyway ... so i'm only recording the shows i would have tracked down and saw without any knowledge of my ticket agency (which means i'm excluding some truly excellent shows i have seen as well as some true crap).
also, ticket subscriptions aside, i often deal in multiple tickets for my friends ... in all cases i'm just reporting the savings and expenditures for a single ticket.
for $89 a year i'm given up to two tickets a day to events on an ever-rotating schedule. events range from whacky (and bad) off-strip stuff to the occasional big act. since joining last summer, i've seen 23 shows. (i could tell you what i've seen through them, but they reserve the right to revoke my membership immediately if i do, so i won't ... i also won't say the name of the organization ... but ask me through a side channel and i'll tell you either/both.)
although they probably wouldn't advertise themselves this way, i consider my ticket organization to be a KKK provider ... after all, my average so far is less than $4/ticket, and that'll drop with every show i see.
BUT not every show i see is something i normally would have kut anyway ... so i'm only recording the shows i would have tracked down and saw without any knowledge of my ticket agency (which means i'm excluding some truly excellent shows i have seen as well as some true crap).
also, ticket subscriptions aside, i often deal in multiple tickets for my friends ... in all cases i'm just reporting the savings and expenditures for a single ticket.
8/15/10
the purpose and rules of this 'blog
i've been kutrating shows for about 30 years (and i guess i'm sort of known for it to my friends). i do it not only because i'm cheap (which i most definitely am), but because i can.
the grumbler -an avid reader of mine- suggested i start 'blogging about it and that is why i am doing this. i will not be writing a lot about my tips and tricks for getting cheap tickets. i do this in part because i don't think it would be that interesting for people to read (that's why i haven't talked about this 'blog on the arch) and largely because i'm not interested in educating an audience here ... i'm playing in the margins and don't want to teach a competitor to get better than i am.
at first, at least, it'll mostly be accounting and boring stuff ... like the archipelago, the purpose of what i'm doing here may change over time, but that's what i'm doing right now.
the underlying principle of the KKK:
the price of all tickets, one hour after an event ends, is zero.
** i won't act as a seller of something that i also wouldn't buy and for this reason never sell a ticket for more than face value. solid G, on the other hand, doesn't believe this. more than once i've gone with him kutting to kut an event watched him score tickets only to then sell them away at a profit, occasionally above face value -- in some cases leaving us out of the event (but profiting) in others putting me in but leaving him outside. i'm certainly willing to make a profit, but it's not the reason i sometimes buy and sell tickets ... i do it to get mine for less and i never sell for more than face value.
{if you've read this entire article, you may also be interested in the history of the KKK.}
the grumbler -an avid reader of mine- suggested i start 'blogging about it and that is why i am doing this. i will not be writing a lot about my tips and tricks for getting cheap tickets. i do this in part because i don't think it would be that interesting for people to read (that's why i haven't talked about this 'blog on the arch) and largely because i'm not interested in educating an audience here ... i'm playing in the margins and don't want to teach a competitor to get better than i am.
at first, at least, it'll mostly be accounting and boring stuff ... like the archipelago, the purpose of what i'm doing here may change over time, but that's what i'm doing right now.
the underlying principle of the KKK:
the price of all tickets, one hour after an event ends, is zero.
tenets of the KKK as i see them:
- with a few notable exceptions, most concerts or events have an intrinsic value of about US$20. if the event costs more than that, kut it.
- ticketmaster is an evil organization and should be actively worked against. (one example: the most recent bridge lawn tickets had *$12* of service fees attached to a $35 face value ticket.)
- never pay face value with two caveats. one: if the event is less than $20, pay face value to support the organization and encourage the long-term sale of cheap tickets. two: extremely good seats are sometimes worth face value.
- kutting non-sold-out shows is easier when done in quantity.
- never sell a ticket for more than face value.**
- you don't need 10,000 tickets, you only need one (or two if you're with a friend.)
- changes in venue or date dramatically increase kutting potential
- judge your ticket ticket location based on event, not seating price. for example, you want to sit further back for the opera, but close for bela flec.
- been given a ticket to the world series (american baseball)
- been given a ticket to a sold-out no doubt show
- had oval-side seats at the sold-out cycling velodrome for the barcelona olympics at 85% off face
- saw ten sold-out hockey games for US$5 each at the albertville olympics
- recently saw lady gaga at a solidly sold-out show at the MGM in las vegas for $25 on a $185 face ticket
- due to buying and selling of tickets, i have effectively been paid to see the rolling stones, several bridge concerts and a few other events
** i won't act as a seller of something that i also wouldn't buy and for this reason never sell a ticket for more than face value. solid G, on the other hand, doesn't believe this. more than once i've gone with him kutting to kut an event watched him score tickets only to then sell them away at a profit, occasionally above face value -- in some cases leaving us out of the event (but profiting) in others putting me in but leaving him outside. i'm certainly willing to make a profit, but it's not the reason i sometimes buy and sell tickets ... i do it to get mine for less and i never sell for more than face value.
{if you've read this entire article, you may also be interested in the history of the KKK.}
the origin of the KKK
it was my fourth year of college. i was sitting in my dorm room with a (now-dead) pal and solid goldstein. with no obvious end in sight to my pursuit of a degree (jacked up by the fact that i had been voted "most likely to succeed" in high school), and teenage hormones flushing through my body, anything that happened seemed to be amplified in its "worse-ness." on this night, our collective angst was directed squarely at berry fey ... a colorado concert promoter that was essentially our low budget answer to california's bill graham, but every bit as slimy.
warren zevon was playing -with a full band- not 300 yards from where we lived, in less than two hours. there were, however, four problems:
goddamn it all.
it was solid goldstein who had the idea: why don't we go over and see if we can buy an extra from someone for less? we fight about it a little but there's one salient point: all it costs us is time ... and we're not that far away, so the time component is almost nil. if the experiment doesn't work, all we've really lost is about 45 minutes.
we go over, not completely sure what we should be doing. goldstein is braver than the rest of us and looks mildly more ominous because he's wearing his overcoat. "any extra tickets? ... any extra tickets? ... any extra tickets?"
pretty soon i see one of the local radio DJs (a guy i recognize from having won some contests before), i know for a fact that he'll do ethically questionable stuff because i've seen him selling radio station copies of records at the local used store -- if he has a spare (and he very possibily could) he may well sell it. i point him out to solid G, who immediately locks on target.
"hey pat, you got an extra?"
"sure. what'll you give for it?"
my mind spins. i hadn't thought this through to the next step.
goldstein is absolutely nothing if not the cheapest person i've ever known. incredibly cheap. unbelievably cheap. cheaper than me. i could go on and on with stories of his cheapness, like the time he was filling his backpack with soda as he left one of my parties ... or the time he took an unopened quart of half-and-half while in the VIP room at a bridge concert and then proceeded to drink it on the spot ("i picked it up because it was there") ... or any of a dozen more stories. .
the big question was WWSGD? what would solid goldstein do?
of course he already knew. "one dollar."
i want to hide my head in my jacket i'm so embarrassed. that is, until the DJ HANDS SOLID GOLDSTEIN THE TICKET.
for an instant i'm stunned.
but in immediate retrospect, it makes sense. make the lowest offer possible to mankind and see what the response is. who knows, you might get it ... and if not, you've got a great post stuck in the ground to negotiate from. worst you lose is what the asians call "face" ... and we're US college students, which means we have none to lose.
goldstein grimaces just a bit as he walks back. he mumbles, "i should have said, '50 cents.'" THAT is my goldstein.
we're emboldened. anyone can do this. we fan out to different entrances. in no time we've scored three tickets for a total of $4. (goldstein, of course, doesn't offer to throw in his 33 cent off-set for the single $2 ticket that tom gets ... i do, but i don't throw in solid G's 33 cents).
we ignore the seat numbering and sit in the middle of the still fairly-empty arena, just off the floor, to see zevon. the sounds sucks, but the band's great. {in fact this turns out to be the last time i ever see him play with a complete band.}
we leave after kansas's second song.
a great, great evening. cheap tickets. warren zevon. walk out of the main act and not even care about it. cheap tickets. go back for dessert in the dorms. cheap tickets. we couldn't have even listened to all the music we heard on a juke box for less than we paid for the full-on live performance.
my head swirls in exactly the same way it does when i win something in competition. in fact it's hard to say which i liked better: getting the tickets cheap or hearing warren zevon. and i liked the show.
the next day goldstein is pontificating to me. "know what we should call what we're doing here. the 'cutrate concert club.' but we should spell all the words with Ks."
"why?"
"because we're not part of a roosevelt administration ... and anyway, Ks are cooler."
"the KKK. you think we should call this the KKK? are you kidding me?"
he wasn't.
it took awhile to sink in. "minority" in my neighborhood meant you were catholic. there was one black kid that went to my high school of 1500. i didn't even know the word "nigger" was still in use until i heard muhammad ali drop it on frazier. but i knew one thing for absolute certain -- if you're wonder bred (sic) whitey you don't make even a glancing reference to racial or religious affiliations. not even as a joke. this isn't an early version of political correctness, this is about civility, decency and maybe even a small-hearted effort put the brakes on hatred of all forms. and that's without saying there's also some weird non-zero chance you could get your ass kicked if you didn't. who the hell knows?
and, yet, here's a jew telling me we should call it the KKK. it's not making sense to me. "are you sure?"
he nods and smiles in his typical goldsteinian manner.
the idea bugs me, so i sleep on it.
i wake up the next morning, and i decide i'm in. kutrate koncert klub. KKK. everyone else has to deal with it. if you're so warped that the KKK only means the klan to you then you are giving them power and not taking what you can have. i hate the klan. i hate what they stand for. but i don't have anything against the letter K. and i like alliteration. KKK has a snappy ring to it.
i'm going to take the moniker back. i'm going to make it mine. call what we're doing the KKK? sure. you bet.
i run across goldstein, but he now feels differently. "it's a bad idea," he says.
"too late," i say. "you built the train, but moved away from the controls. i'm the engineer now. stay on or get off. i'm not slowing down."
30 years later solid G and i are still very good friends -- in fact, we still kut shows together. every now and then he winces when i use the phrase KKK or any of its derivatives ... one of his recent TXTs to me said it all when we suggested that we should "cut" a particular show ... he'll come around. big ideas sometimes take time. don't take my word for it -- ask obama.
having said all that, i'm not as brave as i should be. what this 'blog should be called is "the KKK," and i apologize for not doing that for you, dear reader.
god only knows that i may well end up being categorized by a google robot somewhere as a racial threat ... as if i don't have enough problems in my life as it is.
no matter. this is the home of the KKK. and if i can't have kkk.blogspot.com, i'll certainly take kutrate.blogspot.com ...
... as long as it doesn't cost me anything.
{it's interesting that KKK.blogspot.com is already taken ... and like a LOT of the great domain names, by someone who sat it up and then never did anything with it.}
[if you've read this entire article, you may also be interested in the tenents of the KKK.]
warren zevon was playing -with a full band- not 300 yards from where we lived, in less than two hours. there were, however, four problems:
- the show was at the CU events center. a place that was unrivaled in CO for it's raw suckage. originally (and obviously) planned to include rock concerts -which at this time was nearing the loudest they'd ever be (with certain exceptions)- the builders yanked the sound baffling as the site went over-budget. the result was a booming monstrosity -- which, incredibly, no critics ever seemed to bitch about. {even today it's nearly unmatched in the entire western US with how bad it is. unfortunately there are notable exceptions like this fucking armpit -- a venue so bad that, more than once, i've driven 400 miles in the other direction to see bands live. the regency ballroom is a venue so bad, i won't even kut it.}
- warren zevon was opening for kansas, which meant the certain-to-be-stoners crowd would be completely uninterested. and kansas were well past their prime. that meant we could expect an endless amount of talking and drooling through zevon from the ambient crowd at large.
- tickets were expensive. thanks to a confluence of the jacksons and berry fey seeing an opportunity, prices were shooting through the roof. $15 to see a show? what are you kidding me? when records are five bucks apiece? we were still able to see bands like REM, at places like the rainbow, for a face value of five bucks ... why the hell would we pay 15 to see an opener everyone else in the audience would walk and talk through?
- we were college students, which also meant we were broke. that should go without saying, but i need to drive the point home because you're rich now and probably have forgotten how terrible this period of time in your life was from a financial point-of-view.
goddamn it all.
it was solid goldstein who had the idea: why don't we go over and see if we can buy an extra from someone for less? we fight about it a little but there's one salient point: all it costs us is time ... and we're not that far away, so the time component is almost nil. if the experiment doesn't work, all we've really lost is about 45 minutes.
we go over, not completely sure what we should be doing. goldstein is braver than the rest of us and looks mildly more ominous because he's wearing his overcoat. "any extra tickets? ... any extra tickets? ... any extra tickets?"
pretty soon i see one of the local radio DJs (a guy i recognize from having won some contests before), i know for a fact that he'll do ethically questionable stuff because i've seen him selling radio station copies of records at the local used store -- if he has a spare (and he very possibily could) he may well sell it. i point him out to solid G, who immediately locks on target.
"hey pat, you got an extra?"
"sure. what'll you give for it?"
my mind spins. i hadn't thought this through to the next step.
goldstein is absolutely nothing if not the cheapest person i've ever known. incredibly cheap. unbelievably cheap. cheaper than me. i could go on and on with stories of his cheapness, like the time he was filling his backpack with soda as he left one of my parties ... or the time he took an unopened quart of half-and-half while in the VIP room at a bridge concert and then proceeded to drink it on the spot ("i picked it up because it was there") ... or any of a dozen more stories. .
the big question was WWSGD? what would solid goldstein do?
of course he already knew. "one dollar."
i want to hide my head in my jacket i'm so embarrassed. that is, until the DJ HANDS SOLID GOLDSTEIN THE TICKET.
for an instant i'm stunned.
but in immediate retrospect, it makes sense. make the lowest offer possible to mankind and see what the response is. who knows, you might get it ... and if not, you've got a great post stuck in the ground to negotiate from. worst you lose is what the asians call "face" ... and we're US college students, which means we have none to lose.
goldstein grimaces just a bit as he walks back. he mumbles, "i should have said, '50 cents.'" THAT is my goldstein.
we're emboldened. anyone can do this. we fan out to different entrances. in no time we've scored three tickets for a total of $4. (goldstein, of course, doesn't offer to throw in his 33 cent off-set for the single $2 ticket that tom gets ... i do, but i don't throw in solid G's 33 cents).
we ignore the seat numbering and sit in the middle of the still fairly-empty arena, just off the floor, to see zevon. the sounds sucks, but the band's great. {in fact this turns out to be the last time i ever see him play with a complete band.}
we leave after kansas's second song.
a great, great evening. cheap tickets. warren zevon. walk out of the main act and not even care about it. cheap tickets. go back for dessert in the dorms. cheap tickets. we couldn't have even listened to all the music we heard on a juke box for less than we paid for the full-on live performance.
my head swirls in exactly the same way it does when i win something in competition. in fact it's hard to say which i liked better: getting the tickets cheap or hearing warren zevon. and i liked the show.
the next day goldstein is pontificating to me. "know what we should call what we're doing here. the 'cutrate concert club.' but we should spell all the words with Ks."
"why?"
"because we're not part of a roosevelt administration ... and anyway, Ks are cooler."
"the KKK. you think we should call this the KKK? are you kidding me?"
he wasn't.
it took awhile to sink in. "minority" in my neighborhood meant you were catholic. there was one black kid that went to my high school of 1500. i didn't even know the word "nigger" was still in use until i heard muhammad ali drop it on frazier. but i knew one thing for absolute certain -- if you're wonder bred (sic) whitey you don't make even a glancing reference to racial or religious affiliations. not even as a joke. this isn't an early version of political correctness, this is about civility, decency and maybe even a small-hearted effort put the brakes on hatred of all forms. and that's without saying there's also some weird non-zero chance you could get your ass kicked if you didn't. who the hell knows?
and, yet, here's a jew telling me we should call it the KKK. it's not making sense to me. "are you sure?"
he nods and smiles in his typical goldsteinian manner.
the idea bugs me, so i sleep on it.
i wake up the next morning, and i decide i'm in. kutrate koncert klub. KKK. everyone else has to deal with it. if you're so warped that the KKK only means the klan to you then you are giving them power and not taking what you can have. i hate the klan. i hate what they stand for. but i don't have anything against the letter K. and i like alliteration. KKK has a snappy ring to it.
i'm going to take the moniker back. i'm going to make it mine. call what we're doing the KKK? sure. you bet.
i run across goldstein, but he now feels differently. "it's a bad idea," he says.
"too late," i say. "you built the train, but moved away from the controls. i'm the engineer now. stay on or get off. i'm not slowing down."
30 years later solid G and i are still very good friends -- in fact, we still kut shows together. every now and then he winces when i use the phrase KKK or any of its derivatives ... one of his recent TXTs to me said it all when we suggested that we should "cut" a particular show ... he'll come around. big ideas sometimes take time. don't take my word for it -- ask obama.
having said all that, i'm not as brave as i should be. what this 'blog should be called is "the KKK," and i apologize for not doing that for you, dear reader.
god only knows that i may well end up being categorized by a google robot somewhere as a racial threat ... as if i don't have enough problems in my life as it is.
no matter. this is the home of the KKK. and if i can't have kkk.blogspot.com, i'll certainly take kutrate.blogspot.com ...
... as long as it doesn't cost me anything.
{it's interesting that KKK.blogspot.com is already taken ... and like a LOT of the great domain names, by someone who sat it up and then never did anything with it.}
[if you've read this entire article, you may also be interested in the tenents of the KKK.]
8/14/10
this 'blog is boring -- here's why
i'm keeping this 'blog both for the grumbler to read, and to keep a general score of my kutrating experiences. solid G has requested that i write about the shows and the crowds -- i'm doing a little of that, but really you'll mostly just find miscellaneous notes and odds and ends.
i expect things to be boring here and don't recommend your reading it.
if you're pathological enough to still be interested, you should read:
the tenets of the KKK
=and=
the history of the KKK
this'll give you a feel for the world i'm messing with here.
===============
addition 1/11/11: as i suggested, i will no longer posting reviews, nor crowd make-up, on this site.
i expect things to be boring here and don't recommend your reading it.
if you're pathological enough to still be interested, you should read:
the tenets of the KKK
=and=
the history of the KKK
this'll give you a feel for the world i'm messing with here.
===============
addition 1/11/11: as i suggested, i will no longer posting reviews, nor crowd make-up, on this site.
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