Things (and people) are not always what they seem....

As I wanted to keep this blog new and fresh with thoughts on shows I've recently seen, the Seattle area is in kind of a lull for shows, lately. With the big show of the year, the U2/The Fray show, being put off until probably next summer, I really don't have anything people probably want to hear about for at least, another couple weeks.


This being said, I'm going to tell a story of things (and people) not always being what they seem. Back in the 80's, after high school, I got to know a man named Marc Kramer. At the time, I thought Marc was a real stand up kind of guy. Marc ran one of the ticket outlets in our state, pre Ticketmaster. As I went to a lot of concerts, I got to know Marc pretty well. When people asked how I ended up with such amazing tickets to shows back then, it was Marc Kramer. Marc had an idea, you see. One that, I'm sure, must've made him A LOT of money, and would have probably been extremely against the law, if guidelines had been set in to motion, at that time. If you were a regular concert goer, who spent a decent amount of money with him, Marc would set up an account for you with his office. You were able to upgrade your standing with Marc by buying more tickets to more shows. The more seats you purchased with Marc, the better seats he would pull you for the next show, too. I was just the kind of person that was probably his PRIME demographic for what he wanted to do, and right up until the end, always had a few hundred dollars in my account with him. I would get weekly phone calls from Marc saying "Ned, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are coming to the Tacoma Dome, and tickets are going on sale this weekend." "I would say, "Pull me some tickets, Marc" and I had them without even having to wait in line, as Marc would have the money to pay for them with money I had in my account with him. It was as simple as that! As I got smarter, I realized even if I didn't like the act, it would help me to find people that wanted to see the show, because I would be getting people tickets to shows, and improving my rating on where my next set of tickets would be. ALONG comes another act I really didn't care if I saw, at that point in time. Prince and The Revolution on the "Purple Rain" tour. I had seen the movie, thought it had some pretty cool songs, but his persona back then, was nothing I cared to see live, or so I thought. The seats came back from Marc, and they were second row, dead center on the floor. The girls in community college were literally having a war over who was going to be my date. I went to the concert, with a lady friend from community college, and we had a great time, I actually thought I was going to be the guy that Sheila E. stripped onstage, and I came away with a whole new appreciation for Prince, both as a talented songwriter, and an excellent showman. (Not as he seemed like he would have been to me, at the time.) Marc ended up doing a lot of really cool things for me, including asking if I wouldn't mind delivering some tickets for him. He wanted me to go up to BC PLACE, in Vancouver, Canada, and drop off 16 tickets to Michael and the Jacksons "Victory' tour, and for doing this he would give me 2 free tickets, and transportation up in a motor home with some of his BIG SPENDER clients. I said, "Why me?" He said, "Because I can trust you, Ned." So yes, because of Marc, I got to see Michael Jackson, in all of his moonwalking glory, with his brothers. Marc tried to open a new ticket office, and do it on funds people like me had invested into our accounts, but it never ended up happening. For the first time, since I started up with him, I only had $20 in my account, at that time, which I lost. Several people were swindled, Marc's new office never opened, and Ticketmaster came into being, shortly after that. They instituted guidelines after several antitrust issues. I never heard from Marc again, and it showed me that things(and people) aren't always as they seem ......So, for those of you that have asked how I got such great seats back in the day, that was how. Thanks for reading, hope you found it interesting.
~Ned