Credit cardholders earn exclusive access to cool concerts designed for a select few

She didn’t mind standing in line in rain for 13 hours to get up close to one of her favorite bands, but Elise Dorgan was worried about getting left out in the cold the next time the Killers or another artist she adores comes to town.

“I’m very excited I got a ticket this time, but I don’t like the idea of it being exclusive,” the Maple Grove music fan said while waiting outside the Palace Theatre before showtime Thursday.

Tickets to the Killers’ sold-out concert in St. Paul were made available only to holders of Wells Fargo’s Autograph credit card, which promises its users “big artists in small venues.” No card, no ticket.

The show lived up to the pledge. The Killers have played Xcel Energy Center and Target Field on recent tour stops, so the 2,500-person Palace was one-sixth or less the size of their typical venues.

This was the first major cardholders-only concert of this sort in the Twin Cities, but they have regularly occurred in bigger U.S. markets and other countries.

Over the past two years, Wells Fargo has previously produced concerts in cities such as Atlanta, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco by artists including the Dave Matthews Band, Brandi Carlile, Imagine Dragons and Halsey — all theater-size shows by acts that usually play in arenas or amphitheaters, according to a Wells Fargo entertainment website.

These programs mark a new level of involvement by credit card companies in the concert biz.

Mastercard also recently partnered with Live Nation to launch the Priceless campaign in Europe and Asia, offering similar concert exclusives to its users. Capital One is known for its multiyear partnership with Taylor Swift, which included cardholder presales for the Eras Tour.

American Express also offers presales and exclusive “reserved seats” for tours such as the Lumineers coming to Xcel Energy Center on July 25.

For decades, different sponsorship tie-ins have given fans presale access ahead of the general public with the right credit card whenever concert tickets go on sale at Ticketmaster or axs.com. Those deals apply only to a small cut of the overall tickets, though, typically around 10-20%.

Fans at last week’s concert sounded uneasy about Wells Fargo controlling all the show’s tickets — even fans who were happy to have landed one of those tickets, which were priced $at 75 (below average for a Killers concert).

“I would not want to see this become the norm,” said Katie Prokop of St. Paul, who applied for the necessary Autograph card but was too late. Thankfully, she fell in with another fan online who did get tickets.

Ironically, Prokop’s go-to credit card was an American Express she got for its presale access for another concert.

“It just lacks common sense to make it this complicated” to buy tickets, Prokop said.

Other fans complained about the strict polices to prevent the exclusive tickets from being resold, including the requirement that everyone in their party shows up at the same time for entry.

One mother and daughter combo, who did not want to provide their names, were desperately trying to get into Thursday’s concert at showtime after they bought a pair of tickets on resale site Stubhub for $1,765.23 that turned out to be fakes. (A concert representative eventually came and gave them tickets, but not until he saw them being interviewed by a reporter.)

Inside, the promotional event featured several extras for attendees, including a VIP area with hors d’oeuvres, free posters, a selfie backdrop and a spin art station where fans could make their own Jackson Pollock-like vinyl record — all with the Wells Fargo Autograph logo brightly displayed in the background.

For now, these exclusives are still more of an anomaly in Minnesota.

“Right now, we aren’t working on any additional cardholder-only shows,” said Nate Kranz, general manager at First Avenue, which runs the Palace. “I don’t remember ever doing one in the past either, but I know that in other markets these have been more common.”

Representatives from Wells Fargo said they’re just getting started.

“Yes, there will be more concerts to come,” promised Marcia Osborne, Wells Fargo’s chief marketing officer for its consumer lending department.

The No. 2 bank in the Twin Cities, Wells Fargo launched the Autograph card in 2022 as a travel and lifestyle card notably with no annual fee. Its Autograph Journey card has a $95 annual fee, expanded points earning and access to these exclusive concerts, such as the Killers’ Palace gig.

Wells Fargo’s representative described their Autograph program as a win-win for their cardholders as well as the performers involved. Those headliners can fend off the rising costs of touring and concert production with a well-paying sponsorship gig even while downsizing their show.

“The artists we work with — who typically tour in large arenas or stadiums — enjoy coming back into smaller venues,” Osborne said. “Connecting fans with their favorite big-name artists in an intimate setting is what makes [the program] so special.”

After waiting outside the Palace since 4:30 a.m. to be up front on the floor for last week’s concert, the fan from Maple Grove still believed the intimate connection offered by Wells Fargo should be open to all fans.

“How many people who’ve been Killers fans for years missed out on this show just because they didn’t have the right credit card?” Dorgan asked.

Star Tribune Travel editor Simon Peter Groebner contributed to this report.