The Qwest center is drawing the "A-List" to Omaha. Five of the 11 top-grossing acts have already performed there but you have to understand the ticket game if you want some of the better seats.

Craig Samuels attended a recent concert but he's not clear on where his tickets came from.

He says, "My mom got them for me. So I have no idea where she got them from."

Justin Ahrens is a concert fan who turned to the Internet for help.

He says, "We got them online. I don't know. My wife got them. She's all fired up. We came down first to get them. There weren't any left and then they opened them back up and we got some."

Most of us grab the phone or head online to Ticketmaster, the official Qwest ticket seller, yet many fans get seats well before tickets ever go on sale.

One way that's done is through fan clubs.

Aerosmith has one and if you're a member, you get to buy 72 hours before everyone else.

It's common practice. If fact, it's so common for some concerts, it's about the only way to get tickets.

Roger Dixon, executive director of the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority says, "Use to be when the Grateful Dead came into your city, a good 75 to 85 percent of the tickets went to the fan club. There's a couple of other bands like that now; Dave Matthews; Phish.

Another strategy is to join the Qwest Club. For a price, Qwest lets fans buy before tickets go on sale. For $750 a year you get first crack in their concert club seat program. More than 800 fans have already signed up.

There's another way to get great seats, even at the last minute but no one wants to talk about it, especially the ones doing the selling. The sellers are ticket brokers and the ones in Omaha turned down our request to talk.

Two hours before concert time, one broker, Ticket Express, still had tickets for just under $300. The mark-up is considered a service charge.

Dixon says, "The brokers have become a way to buy. A lot of executives have used that if he or she doesn't have time to surf the net or wait in line.

With all these options, the average concert fan is probably better off just dealing with the box office. That's the only place to buy without paying handling and convenience charges and despite all the technology, the first in line there still get some of the best seats.

Here's the strangest twist to the ticket game. Your best chance of landing in the front row is getting a ticket all the way in the back. Bands often hold the front row, grabbing fans from the nosebleed sections to fill the best seats in the house.

"They want fans down there. They don't want corporate types sitting there. They want people that enjoy their music and someone who bought tickets in the upper reaches of a facility, they know that is a true fan."

It's definitely worth checking all your options before you buy. The night of the Aerosmith - Kiss concert, Ticketmaster still had tickets available and they were only a few rows back from what the ticket brokers offered, for half the price that the brokers were asking.