Students get first dibs on Counting Crows

The University wants students to know that the Petersen Events Center is for them.

That’s… The University wants students to know that the Petersen Events Center is for them.

That’s why tickets to the Pete’s Oct. 13 inaugural concert, the Counting Crows, will be accessible to Pitt students 29 hours before the rest of the world can buy them.

Scott Michaels, the general manager of SMG, the Pete’s concert contractor, said the point of the gesture was to focus on the students.

“The priority was the effort to make it a student-based activity,” Michaels said.

Pitt students can log onto Ticketmaster’s Web site and enter the password “GOPITT” in order to buy the tickets, beginning today at noon. The tickets go on sale to the general public at 5 p.m. Friday.

Michaels said the University “pushed hard” with the Crows’ promoter in order to get the student-exclusive period. He said most bands play so many college audiences that they don’t offer student discounts, but that this time the University wanted to ensure students “preferential treatment.”

“What the University wants is to give students the upper hand,” Michaels said, adding, “It will probably not be the norm.”

Michaels said the University wanted to hold a concert with a nationally known band before basketball season started in order to “show the flexibility of the facility.”

“It’s not just a basketball venue at this point,” Michaels said.

The concert will be held at the end of the arena, meaning the concert will not be in the round. Michaels said they will not sell tickets behind or to the side of the stage, which some arenas do, despite the limited view.

The Pete’s box office will also sell tickets this weekend from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets will cost $20 to $30, and the price will increase $2 if purchased on the day of the show.