Dear Radiohead,
Not sure if you pay any attention to the postings here on W.A.S.T.E., but if you are, you will surely notice how burned so many of your REAL fans feel after some of the the agonizing ticket sale fiascos of the past few weeks. Getting to know some of these folks by their W.A.S.T.E. postings (which means they are true and engaged fans), it has been heartbreaking to feel their disappointment at not having any REAL shot at buying tickets to see you guys in the Southern California area; up all night to dutifully try the pre-sales, logging on at the exact time to try the on-sales, etc, being told SECONDS after logging on that you're SOL pal. Then minutes afterward, seeing tickets popping up on scalper sites, craigslist, etc. for many hundreds and even thousands of dollars. Really!!! What gives?
I know that this is not what you guys are really about. These fans in particular, are the ones who really love your music. They're not the people who got all worked up about you when you got really popular from The Bends and OK Computer because you were the hot shit flavor of the moment, then slammed you for being all "weird" with Kid A, etc. (remember?: "where are the guitars!!!?"), or even the idiots who said "King of Limbs... It's so short!" (imagine... morons). No... they are the core fans who are really down for the twisting, turning wild musical journey that you guys are on (that WE are on too), no matter where that takes us all. They are the ones really listening to the music, and not there for the "scene".
But the truth is, for better or worse, your preeminent musical vision has made you cultural "icons" as such, and therefore- there's all the bullshit that comes along with that. The scene-sters want to flock to you, and will pay anything to bask in your aura, and the opportunists, who recognize the deep passion of your true fans, seek to exploit that by re-selling them the "lucky" chance to participate in the musical journey (for mucho $$$$). You guys are great, but you're no Bieber! Meaning: as great as you are, most of the pop "mainstream" is still "Radio-who???" The intense demand for your tickets is not driven by mass pop hysteria, but mostly by deeply passionate music-heads. And unfortunately, passion like this is easily taken advantage of.
It is time to realize that you guys are both the creators AND the beneficiaries of a very unique, wonderful, and hopefully long lasting musical juggernaut, and that, again- for better or worse, this means you have to do things a little differently. I think you realized this when you revolutionized the joint with the way you got In Rainbows out there. Now, it seems time to take an equally revolutionary tack with the way your concert tickets are sold. The truly faithful need (and deserve) to have a clearer path to getting tickets for your shows. Please reference the way the Grateful Dead used to sell tickets to their shows: the GREATER percentage of their tickets (sometimes ALL the tickets for a show), were sold only through their fan club, via mail, and it was a true and fair lottery. Maybe you guys could come up with an approach which is as new, cool, and fresh as your music is! I know you can do it. If the Dead could do it for their Dead-Heads, you can do something right by your Head-Heads. And we Head-Heads hope there will be many many more years of wonderful music from you all for us to support, and that we will get a fair chance to be part of the ride. Thanks for listening.
Sincerely, Mad Johnny
