“Without music, life would be a mistake” is a famous old saying. However, without the great musicians there is no great music. Those who are really interested in live concerts would have come across the names Tom Petty, Kanye West, Kenny Chesney, and Jimmy Buffett. They are the real music legends. Spare a little time to reading on, to know more about these legends.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty will be familiar as a singer, song writer, and a guitarist to those who love heartland rock music. The songs like “Don’t Do Me Like That”, “Refugee”, “Runnin’ Down a Dream”, “The Waiting”, “Don’t Come Around Here No More”, “I Won’t Back Down”, “Free Fallin’”, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”, “American Girl”, “Learning to Fly” and “You Don’t Know How It Feels”, are heavily played hit singles by Tom Petty which act as medicines for broken hearts. Born and raised in Gainesville, Florida, USA, Tom was very much interested in rock and roll music early at the age of 11 when he met Elvis Presley. He began his recording career with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, the band’s 1976 debut album, which was initially unpopular in the United States. Their second album, You’re Gonna Get It! marked the band’s first Top 40 album.

Kanye West

Kanye West, who is one of the great American rap artists and a hip hop producer, released his debut album “The College Dropout” in 2004. His recent, third album being “Graduation” was released in 2007. All his albums received lots of awards (including nine Grammys). Kanye West who was born in Atlanta, Georgia was involved in a near car crash fatal in 2002 while driving home from the recording studio. The crash provided inspiration for West’s first single, “Through the Wire”. Kanye also won the ‘best new artist’ award in 2004.

Kenny Chesney

Everyone who loves to hear music of country genre would have come across the name ‘Kenny Chesney’. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Chesney has recorded thirteen albums, eleven of which have been certified gold or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America. ‘I will Stand’ Chesney’s third album for BNA, was released in 1997. “She’s Got It All”, which served as the album’s lead-off single, became Chesney’s first Billboard Number One single, spending three weeks at the top of the country charts.. Yet another enthusiastic artist in the globe!

Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffet, the 62 year old businessman is also a successful singer and a song writer. His band is known as “the Coral Reefer Band”. He has also produced movies recently including hits such as “Margaritaville”. Buffett began his musical career in Nashville, Tennessee during the late 1960s as a country artist and recorded his first album, the folk rock Down to Earth, in 1970. Jimmy Buffett has released over 30 albums, as of October, 2007. In 2007 Buffett received the CMA Event of the Year Award for his song “Hey Good Looking” which featured Alan Jackson and George Strait.

LET THE MUSIC BEGIN

Simple words cannot explain the capabilities of these great legends. You need to catch them live in action to have the electrifying experience of their live concerts. Getting the tickets to the live concerts of these musical legends has never been easy before. However, websites like seat exchange helps you fans of these great artists find their events and get the tickets for them all in one place with ease. So what are you waiting for? Grab your tickets and let’s experience the extravaganza.

Usually people who visit Athens are more impressed with the antiquities and the famous monuments like the Acropolis and the Parthenon and don’t get me wrong I am impressed too… how couldn’t I be, but there are more things to Athens than people think so, theatres, cinemas, shopping malls and the Concert Hall of Athens which is not too far from the center of town and boats state-of-the-art technology and acoustics.

It was designed by a consortium of foreign and Greek consultants to correspond to the stringent demands of contemporary audiences and performers and can be considered one of the finest in the world.

Apart from the main hall Filon tis Mousikis – Friends of Music- which seats an audience of 2.000 it contains a smaller hall seating 500 people, a music library, recording studios, a restaurant and a foyer in which exhibitions of various kinds are held. It also houses an ultramodern conference centre.

The Megaro schedules concerts of all kinds from classical music of all periods to jazz and folk preformed by world class soloists, groups orchestras, operas and ballet companies throughout the year, except in summer.

It started operating in 1991 and it is an important cultural center of the whole Europe. Its superb acoustics have been acclaimed both by the public and by renowned performers of the music and art world.

The Athens Concert Hall has welcomed top class artists, music ensembles, composers, conductors and performers in an artistic trajectory that has left its mark in the country’s culture scene.

It is very easy to reach the Concert Hall of Athens since there is a metro station named after it which is only a few meters away. It is really easy to find it if you have a Metro Map. Buses and taxis are also available in the area.

As far as accommodation is concerned, there are many Concert Hall Hotels, meaning hotels close to “Megaro Mousikis” to choose from.  Athens Hotels are among the best of Greece.

I went there many times for several performances and I even got the chance to see a classical concert dedicated to Antonin Dvorak, a famous musician. The Concert Hall of Athens really impressed me so I thought that I should really share this with you. Don’t miss an excellent opportunity to visit a place like this one!

Pssst, wanna buy some tickets?

Are you tired of missing out on tickets for your favorite band? If you’re like most fans, you’ve been forced to purchase high-priced tickets on eBay or from online ticket brokers because the concert you wanted to see sold out before you could get tickets.

Take heart! That’s all about to change. I’m going to let you in on some information that can literally take you to the front of the line the next time you want to buy concert tickets!

But before I do, I need to make sure we are alone.

Why all the secrecy you ask?

It’s simple. I’m about to divulge the very same information that the ticket sellers on eBay use to buy their concert and sports tickets for face value all over the country. I’m about to tell you little-known information that will take you from customer to competitor. In short, I would be in serious trouble if they found out I was practically giving away the store.

Think about it this way. If you had a hidden gravy train that let you purchase tickets for as little as $35 each and then sell them later for 200-300% profit, wouldn’t you be pretty ticked off if someone told the whole world about it?

And how do I know about this valuable information?

Easy, I’ve been using it to buy and sell concert and sports tickets for everything from WWE wrestling shows to Kenny Chesney to Beck to U2. This proven information has been refined and developed over the years to make people a lot of money. I know it can do the same thing for you, too.

While this may all sound like typical marketing hype, I can assure you it is absolutely true. Concert promoters, radio stations, fan clubs, booster clubs, and other groups sponsor ticket presales or special promotions for their members. These sales typically occur online a few days or weeks before the tickets go on sale to the general public.

These special advance ticket sales are offered as either an incentive to join in the case of a fan club or radio station mailing list, or as a perk for a loyal group of fans like season ticket holders of an NFL team.

Passwords may be distributed by the venue, artist, team, fan club, promoter, radio station, etc. Whoever is sponsoring the presale will handle the distribution of it. During the presale, a portion of tickets is made available to this select group of people so they may purchase tickets before everyone else has a chance. As you can see, this gives them a huge advantage over the general public. Obviously, the group sponsoring the presale only wants members of the intended group to purchase tickets during the presale. So in an effort to limit the presale, these special sales are, in essence, password protected.

In the past, virtually all presale passwords were a simple word, and anyone who knew this word could purchase tickets. These were considered generic passwords.Recently, in an effort to further limit who could use presale passwords, some groups have begin to utilize unique passwords. A unique password, as the name implies, is specific to each buyer, and may not be used for multiple purchases. Once the password has been used to purchase tickets, it’s no longer valid. Unique passwords are used often by sports teams for season-ticket holder presales or by fan clubs of the more popular musical groups and artists. Due to the additional requirements necessary for unique ticket presales, most of the passwords you find on the Internet are generic passwords, but you need to be aware of the type of password you receive.

Generic passwords are very often used during radio station presales or presales sponsored by concert promoters or venues. Traditionally most passwords have been generic, but more and more artists are employing unique passwords to thwart ticket scalping. Keep this in mind on your quest for a password. I would hate for you to think the password you scored for your favorite band was generic when in fact it was unique.Here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Presales are usually sold from a specified block of seats or a certain price level.
• An event may have more than one presale with its own password selling tickets from the same or different ticket pools.
• The tickets available during the presale won’t necessarily be the same sections that will be available during the general sale to the public.
• Presales provide the advantage of exclusive purchasing links which often results in less people competing for the pool of available seats.
• Presales may have limited seating available in various areas. Since presales are intended as advance purchasing opportunities, they don’t always provide access to better seats. In fact, it is possible that better tickets may be available when the tickets go on sale to the general public, but there will also be more competition for those tickets.
• Presales often have stringent purchase limits that restrict purchasers to 4 or fewer tickets each.
• Presales may be restricted to “will call” only.
• Presales may require you to purchase with a certain credit card or other form of payment, ex American Express.
• A presale may require an additional fee to join the bands fan club.

Hopefully I’ve shown you the value of presale passwords and how they can help you score tickets to your favorite band. With this information, and a little time and effort you, like me, can skip to the head of the line the next time you want to buy concert tickets.Stay tuned for part two of this guide to learn more specific ideas for finding and using presale passwords. Until then, I’ll be seeing you on the “inside!”

Concert promoters can easily be thought of as major event planners. Every detail of the concert has to go off without a hitch and that responsibility lies solely with the promoter. Concert promotion is a demanding career that requires serious attention to detail. In order to be an effective and successful concert promoter, a high level of organization is necessary. Losing track of important contact names, dates, telephone numbers or venue information could prove disastrous.

The world of concert promotions is full of contracts, legal agreements, insurance policies and riders. In order to make the best business decisions, a concert promoter has to have a working knowledge of all of these legal documents. Not understanding parts of a contract or rider can lead to confusion and difficulties down the road.

Concert promoters can make a huge amount of money, and then, they can lose money as well. Most people don’t realize that quite often, concert promoters actually use their own money to fund a concert event. All of the event expenses are his or her responsibility up front. Once the tickets have been sold, the band gets their cut and the bills get paid. It’s only then that the promoter gets what’s left. For this reason, it’s of the utmost importance to get as many paying customers in the door as possible.

Some of the major costs involved with concert promotion are the venue rental and event insurance. The promoter contacts the venue and works out a cost for the duration of the event. Some venues will require up-front payment while others may require a down payment with the remainder due at the end of the concert. Insurance is absolutely necessary and helps to protect the venue owners, concert promoter and band from possible litigation.

In addition, the concert promoter bears the cost of all advertising promotions and other marketing costs. Promoters these days have a variety of choices for marketing. They can use the internet, radio, TV and even flyers to get the word out about their event. Marketing, when done properly, usually takes up a fairly substantial portion of the concert promoters budget.

A successful concert promoter understands how to advertise to get the most people to buy tickets for the show. They’ve got to have a good sense of the band that they’re promoting as well as their fans. Whether a concert attracts a huge audience or a small one depends on how well the event was promoted, plain and simple. Concert promoters really have one objective; to make sure that enough tickets sell to make a profit. Ideally, all the tickets will sell for every night or day the event will run, but that’s not guaranteed.

The location, size and even layout of a venue has to be taken into consideration by the concert promoter. In order to put on a great rock concert, everything has to be just right. Everything must be considered, from band dressing rooms to the house sound system and lighting. Pleasing the band is only part of the story though. The audience has to be taken care of as well, both inside and outside the venue. Things like security, parking and even restroom facilities all fall under the concert promoters watchful eye.

At some concerts, the concert promoter will have to pitch in and help in other ways. Concert promoters are usually responsible for making sure things are ready for the band. This might include setting up the stage, doing sound-checks and lighting adjustments. Quite often it also means they’ll have to decorate the venue to suit the concert.

At smaller events, the concert promoter is often responsible for collecting tickets or working the merchandise table. At certain types of events, they may even have the task of checking ID’s at the door the day of the event. Promoters are often also responsible for helping to break down the stage used by the band. Clean-up after the concert may also be the promoters job, depending on the negotiated contract.

Being a concert promoter can be exciting, rewarding and risky, but it’s worth it. Concert promoters have great jobs because they work directly with the musicians. Besides that and the fact that the income can be excellent, remember, they’ve got some of the best seats in the house at every show.

Personal computers are becoming a necessity and an important fixture in more and more homes in the United States and across the globe. As home computer popularity grows, businesses and service providers are extending offers and wares through emails and online advertising. Gone are the days of junk mail, today, junk email and pop-ups are the norm. Along with advertising and sales, the Internet has opened doors for large multimedia events such as sports, concerts, and festivals, to be broadcast live into homes worldwide, reaching millions. New advances in broadband media abilities combined with advances in home computers are allowing interactivity and audience enjoyment and involvement in ways never before imagined by venue owners and concert promoters alike.

Live music shows are becoming more and more extravagant each year. Large fleets of commercial tractor-trailer trucks are now used to transport the millions of dollars of gear necessary to mount a show the size of an act such as the Rolling Stones or the like, and costs of putting on such shows, what with renting a venue, paying a crew, and renting equipment, are definitely on the rise. No matter how large a particular venue might be, there are only so many seats housed within, and only so many tickets available to be sold and bought by fans. What if there was a way to bring the show to fans, fans that would be willing to pay for tickets to view their favorite musicians from their homes?

Enter the world of live broadcasting and broadband media. New advances in broadband media are supplying solutions and new avenues to generate ticket sales and heighten audience experience. No longer do “superfans” of groups need journey thousands of miles to see their heroes prance about and play upon the stage. Broadcast media pioneers like Whiteblox can provide Internet viewers with the ability to not only hear their favorite music in pristine, high fidelity audio across bandwidth, they can provide viewers with high resolution visuals as well. With multi-camera ability, viewers are interactively able to pick the camera angle at will, zooming in on their favorite guitarist’s blistering solo, or perhaps checking out the beautiful girl in the front row.

The possibilities are endless and the forecasted sales are mind-boggling. Imagine what sort of numbers a reunion of an esteemed act like Led Zeppelin could generate if promoters would broadcast it on the Internet for eagerly awaiting fans? Would broadband be up to that sort of viewership challenge? Providers like Whiteblox would try their best to be up to that challenge.

Do you have what it takes to perform live in concert? It is simple really: you need to have the knowledge, as well as talent and equipment. Generally, bands gather by their interest in music as well as performing. A few issues will deserve your attention, before you can get the attention you deserve. Here you will find a few ideas and helpful advice while performing as a band.

You will require the talent for singing or playing an instrument. However, there are productive band members who only sing or only play an instrument. The characters in your band will depend on the people included in the band. Once you have the band staffed you will need a few more items, such as a microphones and microphone stands, cables, speakers, monitors, an assortment of jacks, you power mixer and guitar stands as well as any other instrument or prop you band may personally require for live performance. Keep in mind, however, that one essential aspect of successfully performing live in concert is the need for practice, since we all know that practice makes perfect.

Practice and determination for creating and performing your music in concert are only part of successful live band performance. One of the most important characteristics of a live band is knowledge of how to work the crowd. If it comes natural to you, then just go with the flow. However, if it makes you a little nervous to interact with the audience, you will need to learn how to do so. It is easy really, but first you have to relax within your own self. Think of the audience as hundreds of your very best friends gathered in one place, only you and your band have the microphones.

If performing comes natural to you, this is great, just work up some witty introductions, comments and banter to work into your live performance. You must get the audience involved and enjoying their time with you. If you are a bit more shy or nervous, sit down and write up creative and witty conversation to share with your fans. Then practice this commentary on your friends and family, however, you do not want to sound too rehearsed as you want your comments to feel fresh to those you are entertaining. You just want to create an air of fun and enjoyment for you and your audience.

Ideas for entertaining your live audience

- Have fun enjoy yourself.

- Tell the audience a funny story or joke.

- Perform the music of others, only in your own rendition of the music. If you need permission, then get permission before performing the music of anyone else.

- Let the whole band in on entertaining your live audience, bantering back and forth while cheerfully having a good time. However, stay away from any true personal comments.

- Introduce your band members and let them have the spotlight for a few minutes.

- Audience participation is always a winner, so interact with your live audience.

- Create a personal signature move for your band, and soon your audience will be making the same signature move.

- Be spontaneous and natural, just be your entertaining self.

Promoting your concerts will take time and you will need help, therefore when working with a band, delegate different duties to different members when promoting your band. Some ways to promote your band would be the use of several ideas below.

- Posters and Flyers

- Promotional materials from the manager

- Promotional material for radio stations, such as sound clips and song samples

- Create a website featuring your band, and then promote your concerts online

- Perform free while passing out your bands CD or tee shirts.

Remember, to be truly successful, you must get out there and let the public know your performing live in concert. Once you have your equipment and a set of songs to sing, you will need to promote your band. You will require a public location such as county fairs, school dances, restaurants, churches, a skating rink or perhaps a nightclub that features the type of music you play.

Any location that features an open mic night are generally a good bet. The point is to get out there and let the public know that you are available. Once you have begun your bands performance, it will not be long before you have adoring fans, waiting on batted breath to hear your newest release. Then like the pink battery bunny, you just keep going, and going and going. Keep up the good work, practice and remember to smile. Love your audience and they will love you in return!