Billy Joel says he is happy playing at Madison Square Garden which is close to his home. Today he is worth almost$180 million and doesn’t really have much to worry about. But returning to the main topic, he feels that genuine fans are extremely important to him. He instructs ticket sales never to sell front row tickets and these are held up at every concert. "For years, the scalpers got the tickets and would scalp the front row for ridiculous amounts of money."
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Joel does the unthinkable which shows how nice the man is to his fans. At every concert he sends his crew to the back of the hall after the audience has entered and then brings all those at the back to sit in the front rows. He says in this way he gets people who are happy to be at his concerts in the front. These are his real fans he says.
This not only makes fans happy, but Joel too feels satisfied that he hasn’t allowed scalpers get their hands on the tickets.
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He says he has tried for several years how to get rid of scalpers but was never successful. He would try the wristband method and even hold up tickets but you can’t fight the secondary market.
"We don't want to play to big shots; I want to play to younger people, people who can only afford a low ticket price. They make the best audience, they make the most noise, they're the most enthusiastic," he said. This is why Billy Joel doesn’t allow front row tickets.
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This is what makes a performer remembered not just as a performer wanting to make a million but a true performer playing for the love of music for the pleasure of his fans.
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