Adventures in Getting Beaten by the System

So, I've got a little adventure to write about. Some friends and I went out to get tickets for a couple concerts last week in order to avoid the ever so stupid service charges which, when combined equal another ticket. We set out feeling vaguely proud that we were beating the system. Oh brother. The first fiasco was trying to locate the first venue, after getting some sketchy directions from someone finally we pulled up and parked in a place which we could only hope, would not result in the towing of my friend's car, only to find...

It was closed. Really. All of that and the place is sealed tight...and it's not like they even mentioned business hours on the website, because I looked. That really blew a hole in our plan then, because we were going to get directions to the second venue at the first. So basically all we had to go on was the place was on 3rd and another street. How do we get to 3rd? I'm awful at navigating and somewhat unfamiliar with the area, leaving my third friend...who is not even from this geographic region of the country, siting in the back seat with a map from AAA trying to get a grip on the downtown layout. After a lot of street weaving, and a couple bad judgments (like which way to turn once we found 3rd...we should have gone right) we were nearly there, just keeping an eye out for that intersecting street. All along, I'm drawing some amount of comfort from having in my mind the painting of the facade which they show on their website. I figured maybe I'd be able to recognize it. Wrong. The place looked nothing like it! At all! Except for the fact it had the name written across the top! That aside we parked and went in.

There wasn't exactly a hostess waiting inside. We stood there a moment, trying to see if we could find someone who at least looked like they worked there, amid blaring music. Some guy, presumably the owner or manager, poked his head out from the bar and I seized the opportunity to ask if the box office is open; can we get tickets? He asks, "what show?" I yell back because the music is garishly loud, "Matt Nathanson." His answer? "Those tickets are only available online."
That's it folks, I'm done.
Peace