Hang in there Tom... sometimes tickets will drive you nuts.
You want good seats in Texas and I have good seats I need to sell in PA, go figure. You are correct that you need to stay on top of it, for any concert these days. Register with pollstar and any other thing you can think of, keep up on the fan sites and be ready the minute the tickets go on sale. The box office is often a better bet the first day.
But you'll have fun no matter where you sit, but the closer in you are the less you have to deal with the 'casual' fans, LOL. Elitist ? You bet.
Bill