If you’re a music fan, then you know that April’s Coachella marked the official start of the summer festival season. Between Drake’s OVO Fest, Osheaga, and Blues Fest there are a ton of concerts in your future—and that’s not even counting bands like Arcade Fire and The New Pornographers that are travelling North America on their own in the upcoming months.
Summer is always a financially trying time for you and your bank account. Tickets at even the most modest venues can add up, but when you’re vying for passes to weekend-long festivals, you can see your extra cash evaporate instantaneously. Unfortunately, it can seem like the band-fan life is against your efforts to save, as vendors like Ticketmaster are notorious for heaping on ridiculous fees and taxes to already expensive tickets.
Luckily, Ticketmaster isn’t the only way to get a hand on the passes you need. Usually a local tribute band show venue will sell a portion of the tickets on their own, and they can end up being cheaper — in which case you can buy them over the phone or in person. If the band you want to see a relatively big name, waiting until the night of the show to buy a ticket isn’t always an option. For those scenarios, the following apps could help you shave off a few dollars from your ticket price:
- StubHub: Sister of the StubHub website, the app offers mobile access to the largest secondary market for event tickets. You can use it to find other people near you looking to sell their tickets, making it a good way to find inexpensive seats or tickets to sold-out gigs.
- E-Seats: As ticket brokers that deal with event promotors and venues, e-Seats is another valuable app for any unusual or exclusive concert you couldn’t get tickets for.
- TicketIQ: It’s a highly customizable app that lets you keep track of your favorite bands and festivals. When you key in the venues you’re willing to travel to, it will send out notification when a tour brings a band close by.
- Festlove: As another tracking app, Festlove lets you build a profile that lets it know which festivals, genres, and artists you want to see. Like TicketIQ, it will notify you when anything comes close to you, so you can get first dibs on tickets.
Even with these apps, you can end up spending more than you’d like on your summer festivals. While there are a few that you’re willing to miss, there are some that you have to splurge on—even if that means your ticket clears out your savings and leaves you unprepared for an unexpected bill or repair. Though it may seem like alarmist thinking, emergencies do happen. On your way to Montreal’s Osheaga, your car could break down and need immediate repairs, or you could get slapped with a speeding ticket trying to keep up with Quebec drivers.
When you’re stuck with these unfortunate bills, a short term loan can be a convenient and quick way to cover these new expenses. A lender like GoDay offers anything between $100 and $500 for first time borrowers, making them perfect for these small, non-recurring hiccoughs. And they’ve made it incredibly easy to apply, even if you find yourself away from home when you need their help. Just open up GoDay.ca on your phone or tablet and follow the instructions there. You’ll only need basic contact and financial information to send off your application and in many cases you can get same day access to the cash you need.
Being a devoted fan can get expensive, but it doesn’t have to do irreparable damage to your finances. Check out the best music apps when your favorite band comes to town. They can help you shave off some of the fees associated with the biggest venues. And if they can’t, then there are always lenders of short term loans that can help flesh out your savings should your splurges put you in the red.
