This Is How You Used to Buy Concert Tickets in Grand Junction
Have you attended a Country or Rock concert in Grand Junction lately? Have you gone online to purchase your tickets and print them from home? How did one go about buying concert tickets in Grand Junction before the advent of the computer?
In the good ol' days, you could attend a concert at The Rose, Castle Creek, Two Rivers Convention Center, or if you go back far enough, the Jungle Bar. How did you go about getting advance tickets?
There were a number of ticket outlets. Here are a few which will no doubt jog the memory.
Check out this concert for the group Exile. They played the Rose in Grand Junction years and years ago. Look at those ticket prices.
This poster is proudly displayed in the bathroom in the downstairs storage dungeon. Wow. Reserved seats for $14. Okay, so where did you go to get them? Check out this list of ticket outlets.
What in the world was Airtime Video Tapes & Records? If you're a member of the younger crowd, you're probably wondering what tapes and records are.
Airtime was a way cool store at 11th and North. You could buy cassettes, records, VHS tapes, Beta, and more. In this case, you could buy $12 concert tickets.
What about Castle Creek? That was another awesome concert venue. This one was located on West Main in Grand Junction. Check out this show bill for a Nicolette Larson concert, with special guests Ralph Dinosaur and the Fabulous Volcanos.
At this time, Back Porch Music was located downtown. The Piano Works... I haven't a clue. I believe that may have been my buddy's shop out by Enterprise Plaza. Oh, look. Another one of those "tapes and record" stores. This concert comes in at a whopping $8 per ticket.
So, did these ticket outlets make big bucks by handling the tickets sales? No. As a matter of fact, in most cases, they didn't, and still don't, make a dime. They would sell the tickets from their stores in order to generate foot traffic. Most of the time, they hated it. Selling tickets was a hassle, and when it was all said and done, they had nothing to show for it.
Yes, kids, in the old days you actually had to go and physically purchase your tickets at an outlet location. There was no email. On one hand, it was necessary to make an extra trip. On the other, the tickets were something physical. We call them "hard tickets." In any event, that's how you went about it in the good ol' days in Grand Junction.