This is a warning for even the most frequent of concert-goers: remember that the live music enterprise is a cash-fueled, sick cold, try hard business.

Last Tuesday’s Lana Del Rey show at the House of Blues cruelly (but deservedly) whipped me back from my momentary naivete in thinking the show would actually be about the fans. I expected above-average ticket prices and outrageous demand – every ticket at $70 a piece sold out in mere minutes. But I took my miraculous ability to actually snag one off Live Nation as a sign I need to be at this concert. It was a performance I thought would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the mega-starlet in a semi-intimate venue.

I’m only slightly ashamed to admit my obsession with the enigmatic, order pouty-lipped singer, so when the day of the show rolled around I was hyperventilating from excitement. But it only took a couple minutes at the venue to realize my hopes had been way – way – too high.

The whole night was a mix of nightmare logistics and corporate greed that made me wonder how I couldn’t have seen this coming. Here’s what went down:

I headed down Landsdowne around 7:30. The opening act wasn’t scheduled until 8, and Lana didn’t take the stage until 9. I never expected to get an amazing view (LDR fans are the epitome of fanatics and had been in line since that morning to snag a spot close to the stage), but I figured I could still settle somewhere decent on the floor.

When I made it to the venue box office, though, the line to pick up tickets was strung down the street – about a 45 minute wait (screw that). So I met with friends, returned at 8:45 to pick up my ticket, headed inside and accepted the fact I’d likely end up towards the back of the concert hall.

But I was stopped at the door. My $70 “general admission” ticket, the same purchased by the majority of the crowd, was for some reason only good for the mezzanine. If you haven’t been to the venue before, this is the section that wraps around on the second level like a balcony; you overlook the performance from above and unless you’re in the front, you’re stuck with a terrible sightline.

As one of the highest-demanded events ever at the venue, the House of Blues oversold the show (like when an airline oversells a flight, only the HOB doesn’t offer you $300 and a fancy hotel to make up for getting kicked off your trip). The HOB went on damage control, meaning it was first-come-first-serve to see the show from the first floor, a chance I didn’t get because I didn’t wait 45 minutes to pick up my ticket.

I had never encountered this policy at any other HOB performance, even at sold-out gigs. But it was for fire safety, an employee told me. Fair enough, so I reluctantly trotted upstairs.

The mezzanine’s notoriously mediocre views were worsened, I found out, thanks to the HOB’s partnership with jewelry line Alex & Ani. The joint venture meant huge banner ads were hanging from the balcony railings right in front of about one-third of the mezz crowd. With everyone else piled around the few remaining open spaces, there was no chance for a view of the stage.

It was when two flower-crowned girls, sitting on the floor of the balcony underneath one of these ads to catch a glimpse of their idol, were told to get up off the floor or leave the venue (another fire hazard) that I decided the HOB had gone too far this time in prioritizing profits over the fan experience.

Of course the HOB can’t be entirely to blame. Music fans are forced to accept high ticket costs, surcharges, members-only presales and the overall inconvenience of fighting for a chance to see their favorite acts. And the music industry is just that: a money-making industry. But smaller venues are supposed to be about having that grip of corporate greed lessened to actually enjoy the art of live music performance. The House of Blues botched that job real hard last week.

When the venue lets a literal advertisement sit between you and the stage, you really feel the sting of wasted money.

A little heads up from the venue about how this was all going down would have been nice. But here’s your warning: don’t expect to get what you pay for.