The Vault, the barnstorm, and the hardware
My friend Mitch was able to get Jack White tickets this week for his 2025 tour date in Brooklyn. He had been unable to score tickets during Jack White's current barnstorming tour of small venues. So he didn't take any chances this time around: he joined Jack White's subscription club through his label Third Man Records called "The Vault" which allowed him to have access to the pre-sale. For $75 not only did he secure 2 tickets to the show at The Brooklyn Paramount, but he's supporting other Third Man Records' acts by subscribing to The Vault.
I love this for so many reasons. Firstly, Jack White is on a tear. Pushing 50, he's touring like a 20-something driving the band van and delivering energetic small-club sets night after night. He's not making any money on the tour. By all accounts, he is having fun and honing his stagecraft. But he's also drumming up good will. Call him "Good Will Rocking" with apologies to Matt Damon.
What does good will mean in the Spotify era anyway? Well for starters, those shows are all sellouts. The hype that lands in each stop the day before the tickets are announced is part of a long career of legacy-making moves that Jack White is known for. Tour the arctic circle? Why not?! Dedicate himself to upholstery? Start a record label and open record stores worldwide before the current Taylor Swift-driven vinyl era? Of course. No one's worried about Jack coming up short performance-wise. For fans it's just a question of sacrificing a bit of convenience and being a little spontaneous.
Furthermore, he's outwitting the scalpers and Ticketmaster. With the barnstorm tour, the short window between the sellout of tickets and the performance itself almost completely zeroes out any possible scalping. This is what "dynamic ticket pricing" should mean.
Good on you, Jack. Keep carrying the flag.