No Margaritaville For Scalpers

Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band are taking a break from the usual sheds and arenas to play a rare theatre gig at the 1,250-seat Fillmore in San Francisco October 20th to benefit hurricane victims. And the band is adopting the increasingly less rare tactic of distributing the $200 tickets on a “will call” basis only, in order to thwart resales of the benefit ducats.

Tickets will be available only via Ticketmaster.com and, even then, the purchaser will be able to obtain them only at the Fillmore box office the evening of the show after showing ID and the credit card used to buy the maximum two tickets. Once the tickets are redeemed, the buyer must enter the venue immediately.

The benefit is sponsored by Outback Steakhouse, and the $200 ticket doesn’t include Ticketmaster fees. Parrotheads can pick up their tickets starting at 6 p.m. for the 8. p.m. show.

Will-call-only ticketing has become more prevalent this year, particularly in the case of benefit concerts, in an effort to keep charity ducats off the secondary market. Most notably, the tactic has been used by Bruce Springsteen and Nine Inch Nails in recent months.

Buffett has already taken time away from his “A Salty Piece of Land” tour to aid relief efforts for Gulf Coast hurricane victims. He teamed up with Dave Matthews for a duet in the “From the Big Apple to the Big Easy” extravaganza at New York’s Madison Square Garden Arenain September.

His own New Orleans branch of Margaritaville Cafe has been closed since Katrina’s August landfall, and blue “Fins Up For Charity” bracelets can be purchased from Margaritaville.com for fans who can’t pony up the $200 or get to San Francisco to see the concert but still want to help the cause.