One reason I don't travel to Japan for Nobu's concert is that, due to his popularity, his concert tickets there are difficult to come by. I used to get a good laugh reading postings from folks in Japan about the hardships that they have to endure to get tickets for Nobu's concerts. Like these:
I am not laughing any more. Yesterday, I got a taste of those ticket battles.
For months, I had been waiting to get tickets for Nobu's debut concerts in Hamburg, Germany (on Oct 27 & 28, with Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg& conductor Kent Nagano). First, Nobu will be playing Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1, new to his repertoire. Second, Elbphilharmonie -- the venue, newly opened in 2017 -- is an attraction on its own. Third, the city of Hamburg beckons me: besides the concert hall, the city offers good hotels, good food, museums, botanical garden and Lübeck for a day trip -- my favorite things.
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On the website of the Hamburg Phil, I learned that non-subscriber tickets for their concerts of the 2019-20 season would come on sale on June 20, starting at 10AM Germany time, the witching hour for the general release of concert tickets, worldwide. I set my Google Calendar: 10AM in Germany is 1AM my time.
I am no stranger to purchasing tickets online for European concerts. And there was never any big rush. In all cases -- even for a big opera at the Vienna Opera House -- I was able to make my purchases on the first day of ticket release, after I get up in the morning (when it is already afternoon in Europe).
But a knowledgeable friend warned me that tickets for the Elbphilharmonie go fast. Very fast. It seems the concert hall is such a draw that some people would go to a concert there just to be inside. Getting tickets this time was not going to be easy. I dug in my heels. I set about to get familiar with the orchestra's website. The user interface is good -- it has an English button, for example -- but somewhat cumbersome. First, one must navigate to the exact concert on the schedule page, and then one must click on a "Buy tickets" button (see image below).
![]()
Clicking the "Buy tickets" button takes you to a "Tickets" page customized for the selected concert ... but you have to click yet another button labelled "JetTicket Online Service" to be "redirected to our online ticket ... to quickly and easily buy tickets." Quickly and easily ... I liked the sound of that.
![]()
I created a user account on the orchestra site, always a necessary step for online purchases. I chose a performance whose tickets were already on sale, and went as far as I could, to be sure that my American credit card would be accepted. I emailed the ticket office to seek advice. The reply was prompt and courteous:
The big day finally came on June 19. I behaved myself all day: did my workout, ate good meals, and took a nap. When midnight came around, I was stationed in front of my laptop, battle-ready, my credit card at hand. I had bookmarked the page for logging in, which I opened and refreshed every 10 minutes. At 1AM exactly, a "Buy tickets" button magically appeared next to the "2nd Philharmonic Concert." Bless the preciseness of the Germans!
Alas, the magic did not hold up after that. The site's response time was sluggish, and error messages cropped up. To my great relief, there were numerous seats still available for each performance -- if only I could manage to lay claims on one at each concert! It took a lot of patience and a great deal of trial-and-error, but 30 minutes of fumbling later, I finally managed to see two tickets materialize in my virtual shopping cart. With trembling fingers, I navigated through several more screens and held my breath as I pushed the last "continue" button. After all that chaos, the transaction was finalized with surprising speed. Mission accomplished!
But ... staring at the screen, I realized that I had just bought two tickets for the Sunday Oct 27 matinee instead of one each for the Sunday show and the Monday show. It clearly said so on the screen display, but, in my mad rush, I failed to notice it. I cursed my stupidity. The mistake will have to be dealt with later, but more urgent is that I had to go through the whole process again to get a ticket for the Monday Oct 28 show. By now, I was an expert in navigating the site, and, 15 minutes later, I made another purchase.
It was now 2AM my time. I had my tickets -- one too many, in fact. I crawled to my bed wondering if the whole ordeal was really necessary.
At 8AM next morning, I checked the website and clicked the "Buy tickets" button next to each of those two concerts. Each time, there was a message that says "no ticket available for this concert." Whether that means the concerts have sold out remained to be seen. Later that day, when I tried again, I got an ominous message that says there are too many connections. Later still, the site completely crashed, displaying a system error message not meant to be seen by customers, see image below:
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辻井伸行のコンサート行きたかったけどチケットあっという間に完売
I wanted to go to a Nobuyuki Tsujii concert, but tickets were sold out in no time
激戦覚悟で、イープラス１本に絞って１０時前にＰＣ前スタンバイ。１０時と同時に申込ボタン！
上手く行ったと思いきや、途中で「エラー」…！？
辻 井伸行君ソロリサイタルの一般発売♪
Getting ready for fierce battle, I narrowed it down to the ePlus online site, and stood in front of the PC before 10:00. At 10:00 there was an 'application' button on screen! I thought that went well, but then there came "error" message ...!? General release of tickets for solo recital of Mr. Nobuyuki Rsujii
辻 井伸行のチケット取りに711行ったら、完売だったでござる
Seven Eleven [the convenience store that's everywhere in Japan] was sold out of its ticket allotment of Nobuyuki Tsujii by the time I got there
辻井伸行のサントリーホールのチケット、取れなかった（；；）30分で売り切れなんて。。。２００８年のサントリーホールのＤＶＤ観て敗北をかみしめてます
Tickets for the Suntory hall recital of Nobuyuki Tsujii took less than 30 minutes to sell out. ..I watched the DVD of the Suntory Hall recital of 2008 and feel profoundly defeated. - twitter
12月20日 熊本県立劇場 辻井伸行コンサートのチケット買うために、8時過ぎに家をでた。 9時発売なので、余裕 と、思ったのは大間違いだった。 到着したときはすごい列。後ろにも長い長い列ができた。 何と、二時間ならんでなんとか、S席をゲットできた
On December 20, I left the house just after 8:00 to buy tickets for the Nobuyuki Tsujii concert at the t Kumamoto Prefectural theater. Because the release time was 9:00, I thought the margin was enough. The line was terrible when I arrived. I had a long, long line behind me. I lined up for almost two hours and was able to get S tickets somehow. - twitter
三浦文彰×辻井伸行ジュオリサイタル先行431席。。。 取れませんでした(＞＜) 次は一般販売頑張りますよー💪 夜中2時には並んでたらしい😱
Miura Fumiaki × Nobuyuki Tsujii recital advance sales for 431 seats... I was not able to get mine. Next, I will do the general sales at two o'clock in the morning
I wanted to go to a Nobuyuki Tsujii concert, but tickets were sold out in no time
激戦覚悟で、イープラス１本に絞って１０時前にＰＣ前スタンバイ。１０時と同時に申込ボタン！
上手く行ったと思いきや、途中で「エラー」…！？
辻 井伸行君ソロリサイタルの一般発売♪
Getting ready for fierce battle, I narrowed it down to the ePlus online site, and stood in front of the PC before 10:00. At 10:00 there was an 'application' button on screen! I thought that went well, but then there came "error" message ...!? General release of tickets for solo recital of Mr. Nobuyuki Rsujii
辻 井伸行のチケット取りに711行ったら、完売だったでござる
Seven Eleven [the convenience store that's everywhere in Japan] was sold out of its ticket allotment of Nobuyuki Tsujii by the time I got there
辻井伸行のサントリーホールのチケット、取れなかった（；；）30分で売り切れなんて。。。２００８年のサントリーホールのＤＶＤ観て敗北をかみしめてます
Tickets for the Suntory hall recital of Nobuyuki Tsujii took less than 30 minutes to sell out. ..I watched the DVD of the Suntory Hall recital of 2008 and feel profoundly defeated. - twitter
12月20日 熊本県立劇場 辻井伸行コンサートのチケット買うために、8時過ぎに家をでた。 9時発売なので、余裕 と、思ったのは大間違いだった。 到着したときはすごい列。後ろにも長い長い列ができた。 何と、二時間ならんでなんとか、S席をゲットできた
On December 20, I left the house just after 8:00 to buy tickets for the Nobuyuki Tsujii concert at the t Kumamoto Prefectural theater. Because the release time was 9:00, I thought the margin was enough. The line was terrible when I arrived. I had a long, long line behind me. I lined up for almost two hours and was able to get S tickets somehow. - twitter
三浦文彰×辻井伸行ジュオリサイタル先行431席。。。 取れませんでした(＞＜) 次は一般販売頑張りますよー💪 夜中2時には並んでたらしい😱
Miura Fumiaki × Nobuyuki Tsujii recital advance sales for 431 seats... I was not able to get mine. Next, I will do the general sales at two o'clock in the morning
I am not laughing any more. Yesterday, I got a taste of those ticket battles.
For months, I had been waiting to get tickets for Nobu's debut concerts in Hamburg, Germany (on Oct 27 & 28, with Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg& conductor Kent Nagano). First, Nobu will be playing Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1, new to his repertoire. Second, Elbphilharmonie -- the venue, newly opened in 2017 -- is an attraction on its own. Third, the city of Hamburg beckons me: besides the concert hall, the city offers good hotels, good food, museums, botanical garden and Lübeck for a day trip -- my favorite things.
On the website of the Hamburg Phil, I learned that non-subscriber tickets for their concerts of the 2019-20 season would come on sale on June 20, starting at 10AM Germany time, the witching hour for the general release of concert tickets, worldwide. I set my Google Calendar: 10AM in Germany is 1AM my time.
I am no stranger to purchasing tickets online for European concerts. And there was never any big rush. In all cases -- even for a big opera at the Vienna Opera House -- I was able to make my purchases on the first day of ticket release, after I get up in the morning (when it is already afternoon in Europe).
But a knowledgeable friend warned me that tickets for the Elbphilharmonie go fast. Very fast. It seems the concert hall is such a draw that some people would go to a concert there just to be inside. Getting tickets this time was not going to be easy. I dug in my heels. I set about to get familiar with the orchestra's website. The user interface is good -- it has an English button, for example -- but somewhat cumbersome. First, one must navigate to the exact concert on the schedule page, and then one must click on a "Buy tickets" button (see image below).
Clicking the "Buy tickets" button takes you to a "Tickets" page customized for the selected concert ... but you have to click yet another button labelled "JetTicket Online Service" to be "redirected to our online ticket ... to quickly and easily buy tickets." Quickly and easily ... I liked the sound of that.
I created a user account on the orchestra site, always a necessary step for online purchases. I chose a performance whose tickets were already on sale, and went as far as I could, to be sure that my American credit card would be accepted. I emailed the ticket office to seek advice. The reply was prompt and courteous:
Yes, there still is an immense interest in our new concert hall (Elbphilharmonie) so tickets are sold out very fast.
I'm not sure if there is a perfect way but if you have already registered and have your credit card ready it should be no problem.
Please make sure to get logged in BEFORE booking. You should be able to select each concert and choose from various seats.
A week before the big day, I logged in daily. To make a practice run, I went through the whole process to buy a relatively inexpensive ticket for a ballet show that I wouldn't mind attending if indeed I would make the trip to Hamburg. The purchase went smoothly.I'm not sure if there is a perfect way but if you have already registered and have your credit card ready it should be no problem.
Please make sure to get logged in BEFORE booking. You should be able to select each concert and choose from various seats.
The big day finally came on June 19. I behaved myself all day: did my workout, ate good meals, and took a nap. When midnight came around, I was stationed in front of my laptop, battle-ready, my credit card at hand. I had bookmarked the page for logging in, which I opened and refreshed every 10 minutes. At 1AM exactly, a "Buy tickets" button magically appeared next to the "2nd Philharmonic Concert." Bless the preciseness of the Germans!
Alas, the magic did not hold up after that. The site's response time was sluggish, and error messages cropped up. To my great relief, there were numerous seats still available for each performance -- if only I could manage to lay claims on one at each concert! It took a lot of patience and a great deal of trial-and-error, but 30 minutes of fumbling later, I finally managed to see two tickets materialize in my virtual shopping cart. With trembling fingers, I navigated through several more screens and held my breath as I pushed the last "continue" button. After all that chaos, the transaction was finalized with surprising speed. Mission accomplished!
But ... staring at the screen, I realized that I had just bought two tickets for the Sunday Oct 27 matinee instead of one each for the Sunday show and the Monday show. It clearly said so on the screen display, but, in my mad rush, I failed to notice it. I cursed my stupidity. The mistake will have to be dealt with later, but more urgent is that I had to go through the whole process again to get a ticket for the Monday Oct 28 show. By now, I was an expert in navigating the site, and, 15 minutes later, I made another purchase.
It was now 2AM my time. I had my tickets -- one too many, in fact. I crawled to my bed wondering if the whole ordeal was really necessary.
At 8AM next morning, I checked the website and clicked the "Buy tickets" button next to each of those two concerts. Each time, there was a message that says "no ticket available for this concert." Whether that means the concerts have sold out remained to be seen. Later that day, when I tried again, I got an ominous message that says there are too many connections. Later still, the site completely crashed, displaying a system error message not meant to be seen by customers, see image below:
The site was messed up for the rest of the day, and when I checked again before I went to bed ( at 10AM June 21 Germany time), the "Buy tickets" button still failed -- OMG that meant no one could buy tickets online for that entire time!
In the morning, I checked again, and -- and this is what I saw:
![]()
You will have to forgive my schadenfreude - but I am SO GLAD that I didn't stay up till 2AM in vain! 😆
Incidentally, of the 10 regular concerts of the Hamburg Phil [Philharmonic Concerts] next season, this is the only one that has completely sold out at this point. And some other concerts of theirs held in the Elbphilharmonie have not yet sold out ... so, I think it is reasonable to assume that Nobu is a factor in the ticket sales.
It was worth the battle!
FOOTNOTE
I wasn't aware of just how active the classical music scene is in Hamburg, but velow is a screen grab of the October calendar of the elbphilharmonie.
Nobu's Oct 27 concert comes a day after a Lang Lang performance, and on the same day (Oct 27) as a Martha Argerich performance!!
![]()
In the morning, I checked again, and -- and this is what I saw:
You will have to forgive my schadenfreude - but I am SO GLAD that I didn't stay up till 2AM in vain! 😆
Incidentally, of the 10 regular concerts of the Hamburg Phil [Philharmonic Concerts] next season, this is the only one that has completely sold out at this point. And some other concerts of theirs held in the Elbphilharmonie have not yet sold out ... so, I think it is reasonable to assume that Nobu is a factor in the ticket sales.
It was worth the battle!
FOOTNOTE
I wasn't aware of just how active the classical music scene is in Hamburg, but velow is a screen grab of the October calendar of the elbphilharmonie.
Nobu's Oct 27 concert comes a day after a Lang Lang performance, and on the same day (Oct 27) as a Martha Argerich performance!!
