What's Your Musical Score?

Use Mick Jagger's Entrance
Sold-out music fest and not into paying the scalper surcharge? You can still pull off a concert Hail Mary, says Randall Roberts, pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times. "Most festivals have a VIP entrance apart from the civilian one," he says. "The VIPs often have extra wristbands, so you can hang there and use your charm to score the leftovers." Invoke a little Almost Famous: Talk up the band you drove miles to see, maybe throw in some insider trivia. But keep it to you and a pal; your odds of snagging those free passes diminish with each extra person in your party.

Achieve Concert Nirvana
If you don't care about the first act, plan to arrive 75 minutes after the doors open. Typically that's halfway through the opening set, says Dan Bogosian, a critic at the music blog Consequence of Sound. So you'll still have time to find a good vantage point. If you drove, snap a photo of your row number in the parking lot. Also, check a previous night's setlist: This tells you when to make a beer run. Speaking of suds, toss a bottle cap into your pocket (bartenders are often required to confiscate them). You'll reduce the risk of spilling that $10 brew while rocking out.