A Guide to the Best of Southern California : TIP-OFF : Chasing the Elusive Hot Ticket

IN AND AROUND the entertainment capital of the world, there are a handful of hot-ticket events. Tickets for these coveted shows are difficult--if not impossible--for us Nobodies to obtain. People don’t buy good seats to Lakers games; they inherit them. Maybe 100 not-so-good season tickets--at $3,870 per person per year (compared to the really good court-level seats that go for about $15,000 each)--come up for sale every season and are snapped up quicker than a shark bite. Oh, sure, there’s always a seat or two up in nosebleed country; anyone ascending to that altitude is advised to bring powerful binoculars. Short of buying the Great Western Forum itself, the only way to get within naked-eyeball distance of a full-court press is to cozy up to a season-ticket holder.

It’s a lot easier (and cheaper) to cultivate culture at the Music Center; there are almost always “sporadic” cancellations of hot-ticket shows. But don’t ask about possible cancellations over the phone; you must show up in person.

Great tickets at big rock concerts can be obtained from two sources: the record-company publicity or artist-relations department and a ticket agency (of course, these people hold back a few good seats for their pals). For the former category, don’t even ask if you’re not Somebody. For the latter, you will, of course, pay dearly, and besides handing over cash, you might even have to do something immoral, illegal or, worse, distasteful (like sitting next to the ticket agent), but then these are desperate times.