Pearl Jam Tour to Take Alternative Ticket Route : Pop music: The group prepares for a 14-show trek at sites that do not have an exclusive contract with Ticketmaster.

By CHUCK PHILIPS

April 4, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Pearl Jam, whose touring plans were stymied last summer after a battle with Ticketmaster, will return to the stage in June for a 14-show national trek at alternative sites bypassing the ticket giant.

The band’s summer tour kicks off June 16 at the Boise State University Pavilion in Idaho, with tickets being sold through a new high-tech telephone system. No date for Los Angeles has been booked, but the quintet is scheduled to play June 26 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego County.

“Pearl Jam is back and we’re trying something brand-new,” the group’s manager, Kelly Curtis, said Monday in a phone interview from Seattle. “I hope the fans will be patient because we’re bound to have a few hiccups with this new ticketing system as the tour unfolds. But if things work out the way we plan, we’ll probably announce more shows before the summer is over.”

Tickets to each concert will be sold through a new touch-tone computerized telephone system developed by Irvine-based ETM Network.

Under ETM’s operator-free system, fans can order tickets by dialing an 800-number that will be announced in local radio and print ads weeks before each show. Patrons have the option to reserve seats by credit card or by sending a check or money order to ETM, which will then deliver tickets to their home by mail.

The ticket price for most shows will be $18 plus a $2 service charge--the exact amount that sparked a bitter feud last spring between Pearl Jam, the nation’s best-selling rock group, and Los Angeles-based Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticketing firm. ETM will also charge an additional 45-cent handling fee.

“What Pearl Jam is doing is unprecedented,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar, the nation’s leading concert trade journal. “Trying to stage a national tour at Ticketmaster is no piece of cake. There aren’t many major facilities in that category and trying to sell tickets through an unconventional system will only make the undertaking that much more difficult.”

A year has passed since Pearl Jam decided to bypass Ticketmaster after the firm refused to reduce its service fee per ticket below $2.50 (plus handling fees). The dispute eventually led Pearl Jam to file a civil complaint with the U.S. Justice Department, accusing Ticketmaster of exercising a national monopoly over ticket distribution. The move triggered an ongoing federal probe into anti-competitive practices in the ticket distribution industry.

Ticketmaster pays a portion of the service fees it collects to maintain exclusive contracts with the owners of the nation’s largest concert venues and promotion firms. Those contracts were reviewed in 1991 when the Justice Department’s antitrust division allowed the company to buy certain assets from its only major competitor.

The band’s action set off a consumer backlash regarding rising ticket prices and caught the attention of federal and state lawmakers, who have since introduced legislation to monitor ticket sales.

A spokesman for Ticketmaster, which denies Pearl Jam’s allegations, suggested that the band’s upcoming tour offers proof that competition is alive and well in the $1-billion concert business.

“We’re glad they’re touring,” the spokesman said Monday. “It proves our point that they have always been capable of scheduling concerts on their own, and further demonstrates that the accusations that they have leveled against us are reckless and untrue.” Industry observers note, however, that no other major artist has ever attempted to mount a national tour outside the mainstream concert circuit.

It has not been easy, Curtis says, to find venues with suitable acoustics where shows can be staged safely. Pearl Jam has performed only three times in the United States since the Justice Department investigation began. But the band remains the best-selling rock group in the nation. Its current album, “Vitalogy,” has sold more than 4 million copies since its release in December.

The band has turned down offers from major promotion firms in recent months to perform at Ticketmaster venues whose owners encouraged Pearl Jam to circumvent the ticket giant by exploiting contract loopholes.

For the past year, the band’s representatives have been scouting available parcels of open land and consulting with several promoters about staging concerts at remote outdoor sites.

But concerns about health, safety and comfort issues, as well as the additional costs associated with putting on such shows, caused the band to limit the number of outdoor field shows on this tour. (Tickets for this summer’s three scheduled field shows are expected to cost $21 plus a $2 service fee.)

“If we didn’t have a hassle with the existing ticketing situation, we could have set this tour up in a few weeks,” Curtis said. “But because of the exclusive contracts, we are going to end up having to play at weird places like a ski resort in Lake Tahoe and a fairground in San Diego. As far as L.A. or New York is concerned, it was almost impossible to book a show.”

In Los Angeles, Pearl Jam’s representatives explored booking shows at three facilities that don’t have exclusive Ticketmaster agreements: Dodger Stadium, the Memorial Coliseum and the Sports Arena. But the band rejected the facilities, citing what they felt was poor sound quality at the venues and a reluctance to turn into a “stadium band.” Pearl Jam also pursued the Hollywood Bowl, but the efforts proved unsuccessful.

Other major Southern California facilities--including Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, the Forum, Universal Amphitheatre, the Greek Theatre and Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion--have exclusive contracts with Ticketmaster. As of now, the band is no longer pursuing a venue in Los Angeles.

As a result, the tour itinerary includes a hodgepodge of stopovers at small amphitheaters, mid-sized arenas and large fields not affiliated with Ticketmaster, as well as one outdoor event expected to draw 50,000 fans to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

The band will employ local promoters as it moves from Boise to Chicago with stopovers in Salt Lake City, Denver, Lake Tahoe, Phoenix, Las Cruces, Austin, New Orleans and Milwaukee.

Curtis said Pearl Jam tried to book venues that did not charge customers additional facility and parking fees, but in some cases was unable to avoid the problem. If a building does impose a facility or parking tariff, the fees will be listed on the ticket.

“We’ve done everything we can to make this tour fair and safe and comfortable for the fans,” Curtis said. “The band has fought long and hard to come up with an alternative to the existing system--and in the process, I believe we’ve succeeded in changing some things for the better. Pearl Jam is finally ready to roll this tour out and get back up on stage where they belong.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

On the Road Again

Here is a list of the dates, venues and crowd capacities for this summer’s Pearl Jam tour. More dates and venues may be added.

* June 16: Boise, Ida. Boise State University Pavilion (10,000)

* June 17: Salt Lake City. Wolfe Mountain Amphitheatre (13,000)

* June 19 & 20: Denver. Redrocks Amphitheatre (9,400 per show)

* June 22: Lake Tahoe. Boreal Ridge Ski Resort (20,000)

* June 24: San Francisco. Golden Gate Park (50,000)

* June 26: San Diego. Del Mar Fairgrounds (13,000)

* June 29: Phoenix. Old Memorial Coliseum (12,000)

* June 30: Las Cruces, N.M. Pan American Center, New Mexico State University (10,000)

* July 2: Austin. South Park Meadows (25,000)