We know that some of you guys don’t like it when we let breaking concert news slip. By now, we get it: presale passwords are for true fans only. And by “true fans” we mean people who read this website instead of this website.
But we can’t bear to let the newest piece of secret, insider-only scuttlebutt pass: as they announced at their show last night, local boys made good Army Of Me will be playing a “secret show” at the Black Cat on Friday with MTV favorites Good Charlotte — who, while not exactly a local band, were at least mild-mannered D.C.-area humans before they signed their bodies over to the RIAA’s cadre of evil scientists. They’ve probably even ridden the Metro.
But don’t rush to Ticketmaster.com just yet! This show is so super-secret that you have to have a MySpace connection in order to get in. We’re probably not supposed to be telling you this, but with the immense journalistic resources available to us, we’ve managed to track down the info. Just head over to this MySpace page (brought to you by Chili’s!) and make friends. Don’t forget to thank the nice publicist on the other end for the add.
Once you’re safely on the list you’ll be free to line up at the Black Cat at 3 p.m. on Friday, at which time you’ll be issued a wristband that may give you a chance to be eligible for a ticket to the secret show, possibly. Remember: this is meant as a way of saying thank-you to the true fans.
Okay — deactivate snark. As glad as we are to see a local band playing a high-profile bill, this episode serves to show presales and passwords for what they are: ludicrous marketing gimmicks, not genuine efforts to reward fans. If bands actually cared a whit about you they’d be perfectly able to send single-use passwords to their fan club mailing lists, foiling scalpers, giving fans a chance to get tickets and preventing leaks. But that wouldn’t help build pre-show buzz, would it?
Still, we’ve learned our lesson: some of you really, really don’t like it when we shatter the marketer’s beautifully-crafted illusion. So don’t take this as a change in DCist policy — we’ll keep mum in the future. Enjoy the show tomorrow. And afterward, why not treat yourself to some zesty southwestern eggrolls?
