The culture of rock’n'roll has long been characterized as having a problem with authority. In fact, certain artists have made a career milking that anti-establishment image, pandering to the lowest common denominator of people who obsess over a band’s image or perceived social stance instead of just listening for the music’s sake.

But last month, the English quartet Hard-Fi did the exact opposite. Not only did they uphold the law, they took it into their own hands. And not just any law, but Section 166 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994, to be exact. OK, so it’s not the sexy retribution of Hollywood’s scorned justice seekers. Mark Wahlberg is never going to star as front man Richard Archer, playing the part of a downtrodden vocalist who seeks revenge by any means necessary to correct those who have wronged him. The Hard-Fi story is a made-for-TV movie at best, not a feature film. But in all likeliness, it’s only the thing of long-winded newspaper columns

Section 166 is the portion of the law that pertains to ticket touts – or ticket scalping.

In preparation for the band’s soon-to-be-released second album, “Once Upon a Time In The West,” the foursome scheduled a series of five intimate gigs to premiere music from September’s LP. Word got back to the band that some of the 200 tickets for the Edinburgh, Scotland performance had leaked and were being sold on eBay for lofty prices. Archer and his bandmates sprung into action.

“We wanted it to be our fans getting the tickets,” Archer said in the only official statement regarding the issue. “People on our mailing list went into a ballot but it got leaked on a public Web site.”

So what did the Hard-Fi camp do about it? They tracked down those selling the tickets ahead of time, and demanded the tickets back. One by one.

“Some people may have bought tickets then were genuinely not able to go so they sell them, which is fine,” Archer said. “If we found out who did it, we took the tickets off them and reallocated them to a real fan.”

Nobody from the band or it’s management could be reached for further comment on how exactly four scrawny lads from Staines could finagle the passes away from the brokers. Or whether “reallocated” meant “sold” or “gave to.” But it’s funniest to imagine the guys dressing in the matching cargo gear from their “Cash Machine” video and embarking on a middle-of-the-night reconnaissance mission. However, most scalpers resemble Woody Allen instead of burly characters from seedy back alleys, so it’s safer to assume the band bought them back. Or threatened a lawsuit. Or simply voided those tickets in favor of an entirely new crop.

(NOTE: This is probably as good of time as any to mention the blaring coincidence of the band’s breakout single, “Cash Machine,” being about a man unable to afford a ticket to his desired location.)

In most other instance, the band would have been entirely out of line and wrong to do anything close to recalling certain tickets while allowing others. But this case is special because the tickets in question were released illegally. It’s no different than if “Once Upon a Time In The West” found its way onto the Internet and the band decided to re-record its 11 tracks. Had the tickets been sold officially and then withdrawn in a fit of anger, Hard-Fi would have overstepped the line of rockstar arrogance. But they weren’t put on sale properly. They were acquired by chance, without a fee, by opportunists. And the combination of those details allows the group the freedom to cancel the passes without infringing one people’s rights of property.

Artists have performed guest-list-only shows for ages. It’s one of the perks of joining a band’s fan club or venue’s mailing list. New York trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs recently put on two free performances in a 100-person capacity nightclub, with the stipulations that attendees adorn only black clothes and be female. Although the no-boys-allowed YYYs request is rare, the concept of an audience having to meet criteria is not. Which is why Hard-Fi didn’t think twice about debuting its newest material for audiences of die-hard fans willing to enter a random drawing.

Federal governments in both the United Kingdom and North America have regulations about ticket scalpers. While Web sites such as eBay and StubHub get around the laws by auctioning the products, the crackdown against price hikes has been underway for a number of years. Since the U.S. leaves scalping laws to the discretion of individual states, Illinois forbids the selling of tickets for anything more than printed face value. The Illinois General Assembly lays the terms out in a much wordier fashion.

Last year the U.K. launched an offensive spearheaded by the office of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, saying, “[The office wants] to see ticket agencies squeezing ticket touts out of business to protect genuine fans from being frozen out of the market.”

Apparently Hard-Fi wasn’t satisfied with the government’s ability to keep fans happy.

Other acts have taken up the cause of ticket pricing. When Pearl Jam was arguably the biggest band in the world following the release of 1994′s “Vitology,” the Seattle group railed against Ticket Master and used a private hot line to sell vouchers for its world tour. The two camps eventually reconciled, and the group’s ticket prices have increased slowly during the subsequent years.

But where Hard-Fi needs to be cautious compared to Pearl Jam has nothing to do with the band’s level of success, and everything to do with the timing of the recall. Withdrawing the leaked tickets prior to the official sale date is one thing. But telling people who legally bought tickets that they aren’t big enough fans to attend, that they aren’t cool enough to get into the gig, or regulating what a person can do with his or her ticket is entirely different. It will be interesting to watch how this plays out, to see whether the group slips down that self-righteous slope and begins to regulate its fan base with a tone of indignation.

And that’s not upholding the law, that’s pomposity.

Northwest Herald, Aug. 1, 2007