Stuck at home due to a Chicago snowstorm one break, I had started getting bored of playing bridge with my grandparents. Trying to find something to occupy my time, I thought about the city: The United Center, Guaranteed Rate Field, the Chicago Theater, and Second City. Suddenly, I realized what I would do: everything. All I needed were tickets. 

In every American city, there are unique events ad infinitum. However, expensive tickets often prevent many from partaking in such activities. With only a summer camp counselor’s salary to fund my adventures, I needed to find a way to do everything without spending everything, hence my obsession with finding affordable tickets emerged. 

Both my hometown, Chicago, and my college city, St. Louis, offer countless ways to obtain event tickets: online, at the box office, from the artist, venue, or a reseller. Initially, it can be overwhelming. To best explain the process that I utilize, I have broken it down into a few key steps.

First, let’s discuss finding the events you want to go to. Two websites that I recommend using for a database of events in St. Louis are songkick.com for music concerts and dead-frog.com for comedy shows. Sites like these list events happening on any particular day as well as future events. Even so, these lists are not exhaustive and often concerts fall through the cracks. Therefore, the unfortunate reality is that I recommend subscribing to the mailing lists of most of the venues in the city and those of your favorite artists, festivals, sports teams and more. You should follow them on social media. This helps you stay ahead of presales, discounts, and on-sale dates for popular concerts that will sell out.

(Illustrated by Tuesday Hadden)

I love going into a show knowing nothing and discovering if I like the artist or music in real-time. Almost all of the music I listen to is from artists I have seen live, and most I did not listen to before then. I look for any band with very passionate fan bases, artists who have been interviewed by Nardwaur (an awesome, quirky journalist who has interviewed everyone from Nirvana to Jay-Z), and artists whose shows are almost sold out. Selling out a smaller venue like Blueberry Hill may not seem like the biggest accomplishment, but when filled up, it’s electric: I saw indie artist Andy Shauf there, and it was one of the best concerts I have stumbled upon. 

Secondly, in regards to tickets, set your reservation price. That is, come up with a price you are willing to pay for the given ticket you want. When or if the ticket is below the price, buy it right away. 

Once I want to go to an event, I first look at the venue’s primary method of selling tickets (often Ticketmaster, a greedy, bloated company of which I am not a fan). I then move on to re-selling sites. I prefer Gametime and SeatGeek, not because they are necessarily the cheapest, but because they are the most transparent about their fees, have good customer service, and deliver tickets relatively quickly. 

It really sucks when you have to wait outside the venue because you are waiting on your ticket to be delivered, so I recommend at least 10-15 minutes of expected wait time when buying from those third party sites to deliver your tickets. Lesser-known sites like CashorTrade and TicketExchange by Ticketmaster sometimes have significantly cheaper tickets than other sites. For example, I wanted tickets for Willie Nelson, Zach Bryan, and the Turnpike Troubadours at a Country music festival, and they were nearly triple the price on every site except Ticket-Exchange. 

I highly recommend going to the venue in person to get around paying ridiculous processing fees. If I am unsure if the event will sell out before I have the chance to buy tickets at the box office, I call ahead. 

Additionally, take advantage of being a student. The St. Louis Blues offer student discount tickets and Broadway in St. Louis offers $30 student tickets you can buy at the box office ahead of that night’s performance. 

For Cardinals’ baseball games, each April and September, I buy the ballpark pass — a $40-a-month pass that gives you standing room only tickets to every home game. Depending on the number of games you want to go to, this pass can be worth it. I have gone to up to 11 games in a month and have received giveaway jerseys, bobbleheads, and hats. 

Often, buying tickets early is the way to go, especially for festivals. I always check last-minute for online tickets, though this is often random and can be a matter of luck: for example I got $9 tickets to Bob Dylan, but have had to pay more than I wanted for many other concerts, like Turnstile, because they sell out. 

Lastly, I would be wary about buying tickets on social media, especially X (formerly known as Twitter) and Reddit since I have gotten scammed before (I missed out on Noah Kahan at the Pageant!). Even the WashU Party Tix GroupMe is not entirely safe and I always recommend doing the transaction in person if possible to avoid any funny business. 

Have fun! There is a lot to do in St. Louis and you don’t have to break the bank to do it.