For those of us who weren't lucky enough to traipse the grounds at this Lollapalooza festival during that breezy and beautiful weekend in August, and you missed the awe-inspiring spectacle that is The Arcade Fire, we have some wonderful news in store for you! Jam Productions just announced that The Arcade Fire will be careening onto the stage at the University of Illinois at Chicago's UIC Pavillion on Monday, April 25. more ›

The hype for the NFC Championship game between the Bears and Packers is just starting to kick into high gear. Yes, there's a higher gear. Unlike last week's game, tickets will be at a premium with brokers, on Craigslist and at NFL Ticket exchange. more ›

The Sun-Times reports local promoters Jam are suing Ticketmaster to get out of a 2006 deal they signed that allows Ticketmaster to sell tickets, for a cut of the profits of course, to Jam concerts. The fly in the ointment is Ticketmaster's merger last year with Jam rival Live Nation, creating what could be seen as a ludicrous conflict of interest. While Jam ain't exactly the little guy it does seem pretty unfair to expect them to basically pay their competition a portion of their own proceeds from ticket sales. The agreement expires next year but Ticketmaster is fighting to extend it, so we can see why Jam believes they have no choice but to fight it. more ›

Look, we can't believe the Department of Justice actually went ahead and approved the merger of Ticketmaster And Live Nation either, especially in light of the effects it will possibly have on the local concert scene. So we're going to do whatever we can to avoid further fattening their coffers whenever possible. more ›

Because those Ticketmaster fees just aren't enough of a pain in the ass, the City of Chicago is suing websites eBay and StubHub, claiming that as "reseller agents," the sites are required to an amusement tax on sports and cultural events tickets sold on the sites under a Chicago ordinance. If the city succeeds, future purchases on these sites could see an additional tax of up to 8% tacked on to the price. The two websites have vowed to fight the lawsuit, issuing a joint statement:

"We do not believe that the City's Amusement Tax applies to either eBay's or StubHub's business models nor do we believe that the Amusement Tax can properly be assessed here. We intend to fight this litigation vigorously."

We just learned that tickets to ALL Metro and Smart Bar shows are only available through their websites, or the Metro Box Office. There will still be service fees for tickets bought online, though we believe they will be much reduced due to Metro handling all sales internally, and there is still never a service fee for tickets bought at the Box Office. more ›