#RockNRoll – barrelassin

I call my husband, Jay and me: Ricky and Lucy. Essentially because he calls me a Lucy and that makes him Ricky by default.

At some point earlier in the year I made the decision that we would take ourselves on a concert tour. Now, Ricky’s a great guitar player and all but me, I’m no singer. My claim to music fame is playing a mean air guitar and I do it proudly, and typically while wearing a fantastic pair of beer goggles. So, this tour would have to include performances by other bands and we’d stick to being fans.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to purchase all of the tickets. Sure, we bought some of them, and sure it costs money to travel, but we hit a few strokes of luck and also with proper planning it worked out quite well .

We bought the cheapest Gun N Roses/Chris Stapleton tickets we could get for Nashville, TN., which is about 3.5 hrs away from where we live. We had enough Hilton points for a free room a bit far away from the show itself, but we used Uber and paid quite a bit for it due to surge charges at a peak time. However, the room was free and once we got to the very top of the stadium, we were given tickets ( if we wanted them) to go all the way back down to the lower section on the side. It was a side view and wasn’t a fantastic view of everyone on the stage, but it was a much better view than what I started off with! Fantastic show by the way!!

It just so happened that Ticketmaster settled a thirteen year lawsuit with fans over extra fees when purchasing tickets. Seriously, sign into your Ticketmaster accounts and see if you have any free codes. I had two free codes. Each code is good for two lawn seat tickets at one of their many LiveNation owned pavilions.

Not only did I have two codes but, one of my sisters had eighteen codes and gave me four of hers. I decided to share in the wealth. I chose the shows we wanted and got at least one more set of tickets to each show. I went into my Facebook and invited anyone who was willing to split a room and gas to the location of the show and I’d give them tickets. Friends of course, not complete strangers.

We went as far as Bristow, VA., seven hrs from home to see Def Leppard/REO Speedwagon. Ricky had a meeting and had to cancel on this one so it turned into a big girl’s trip. We had a blast! Another great show.

Ten days later, Ricky and I made that same trip to see Black Sabbath:The End tour. Another amazing show!!

The next week we headed off to Charlotte, NC., three hours from home to see Rick Springfield/Night Ranger/ The Romantics. This time we took advantage of staying with Ricky’s brother and family, who not only lives thirty minutes from the venue, but also dropped us off and we only had to Uber back late that night. This was another show where we found ourselves a spot on the back of the lawn when this time, the radio station approached us with two free upgraded tickets to a real seats about fifteen rows back. We’re two for two on the seat upgrades! This time we shared an Uber with someone who split the cost of the ride.

Now, long before the free tickets came along, we purchased tickets for that same Charlotte location to see Heart/Joan Jett/Cheap Trick. We invited friends, we bought lawn seats in a four pack (did you know you could do that?), and therefore we got a discount and each ticket ended up being $11.25.

When the free tickets came along, more friends got tickets to the same show and we reserved a two bedroom, two bathroom room at Homewood Suites minutes from the show. We now had nine people splitting the cost of a room that had four double beds and a sleeper sofa. But guess what? The hotel overbooked and our room was no longer available when we arrived. Now they had a room with one King bed and two doubles, so they provided that of course, and at no extra charge to us, they gave us the connecting suite with another King bedroom, kitchen, living area with sleeper sofa.We now had three bedroom, two living areas with two sleeper sofas, two kitchens, and three bathrooms. I’d say that worked out very well in our favor!

In between our tour shows, my mother, sister, teenage daughter, and myself had been holding onto Maroon 5 tickets that we had purchased last Christmas as a gift to ourselves. We held onto them for about ten months and finally it was showtime. Again, great shows all around. Ricky skipped this one as well.

He also skipped the last minute Bret Michaels concert that was nearby and Momma and me took advantage of that one. Momma is seventy-four years old and she loves his show. She fell in love with him after watching him on The Apprentice lol. Even though we already have tickets to see him in November at the Casino about an hour away, we saw this one as well.

Our free tickets ended with the Heart show back in Charlotte, but our upcoming Bret show is a birthday present for my bff and if you haven’t guessed it by now, we’re all splitting the cost of the room. Approximately $34 each. I can dig it!

Ricky ended the Summer tour with a minor, outpatient surgery yesterday to have a Lipoma removed from his back. As you can see in the photos, he made even that fun!

If you’re not super picky you can definitely see what you want and go where you want to go on a budget.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our tour story as much as we’ve enjoyed living it