It was a stressful three days, but I succeeded!
Lockdowns and restrictions forced many to go online. But after two years of the pandemic, the world is ready for live events again. If you’re into the music scene, then you know the sheer amount of concerts coming to the Philippines this year. I’m most excited about SEVENTEEN’s Be The Sun concert.
Here’s how I got tickets.
Live Nation takes charge of SEVENTEEN Concert
This concert’s event organizer is Live Nation PH. Live Nation partnered with local organizers before establishing a presence in the Philippines. Live Nation was involved in all but one of SEVENTEEN’s concerts in Manila.
I’ve been to Live Nation events. I’ve been to two SEVENTEEN concerts. I’ve bought from SM Tickets before. What was new about this experience were pre-sale events. There was one for fan club members and another for Live Nation members.
I already had a Carat membership, so I was good on that end. I signed up for a Live Nation membership as soon as I learned about their pre-sale events. I was ready and all that I was waiting for was the ticket selling itself.
In short, I felt more and more excited as the selling dates got closer.
Carat pre-sale experience
The Carat pre-sale event took place on July 12, 2022. Tickets were sold at 10:00 AM, but fans could join the online queue at 9:00 AM.
At 10:00 AM on the dot, I got my queue number. I also got an estimated time for when I’d be able to enter the site. I forgot what my number was, but I remember I had to wait 23 minutes before I could access the ticket-selling page.
I was aiming for lower box tickets for the second day of the concert. But upon entering the site, my preferred section no longer had available tickets. I settled for two upper box tickets for the first day.
I had a smooth experience but I’ve seen other fans have terrible ones. Some had trouble with their credit card OTPs, which led to failed transactions. Although the transaction failed, SM Tickets considered the Carat membership used. So, some fans were unable to buy tickets despite having them in their carts.
The LNPH pre-sale and a savior to the rescue
After seeing some horror stories about the Carat pre-sale, I could only hope for the best for the Live Nation one. I joined the online queue at 9 AM but entered a site with a number over 21,000. I had over an hour’s wait to get into the ticketing page. And by the time I got in, tickets were no longer available.
Many fans treated the general sale as the last chance to get SEVENTEEN concert tickets. I still didn’t have tickets for the second day, so a few friends offered to help.
Not long after getting my queue number, a friend told me that she was already on the selling page. Both of us were thankful that we had good internet connections and fast typing speeds. She located two available seats in my preferred section. I sent her all the necessary details afterward. I’m forever grateful to her for helping me buy those tickets even if she wasn’t a fan herself.
Claiming my concert tickets
Anyone who’s bought event tickets from SM Tickets knows that the online voucher is not the show ticket. There are several rules for exchanging vouchers for tickets. One of which was that the SM Ticket account and the credit card used should bear the same name.
I was anxious about one voucher since it was my friend who completed the transaction. But again, I felt lucky when the SM teller allowed me to claim my tickets after she heard my explanation.
As of July 24, I have two tickets for each concert day in my hands.
A learning experience
While the ticketing experience was stressful, I’m happy that I got my tickets. All that’s left for me to do is wait for the actual event itself.
Perhaps I can also try my chances to catch SEVENTEEN abroad.
Featured Image Daniella Sison
