letter from larry @ u2.com

[beli]

lol. Lets see how long it lasts before the whineybabies complain to management.

 

[Axver]

I'm thinking of changing my signature from its current nothingness to

"U2.com subscription date is in International Format. This message has been repeated many many many times so shut the fuck up dickhead!!!!!"

What do you reckon?

Nice! I burst out laughing. Though you typed 'may' as 'my' in the sig. Might want to fix that one up.

 

[beli]

Nice! I burst out laughing. Though you typed 'may' as 'my' in the sig. Might want to fix that one up.

Thanks

 

[shaun vox]

larry needs to chill!!!!! he has all our money, why is he bitching??

chill out dude and dont make crap music!!!!!!!!!

 

[Cutters10C]

I am just wondering, are a lot of the people in love with this letter former propaganda members? I just don't agree with the idea that some people are higher priority than others. Didn't everyone pay the same amount and deserve to be treated equally?

 

[Cutters10C]

Sorry, I hadn't read the entire thread and didn't know that point had been addressed.

 

[username]

Personally, I am happy to hear this from Larry. All I think I wanted was to know that they gave a shit and wanted to do something about it. I got that from him today and therefor I will let them keep my $40 and hope that they do the right thing and make an effort for their fans.

Thanks Larry!

 

[thrillme]

Hehe, should I print out the email (from my inbox) and frame it, it has my name on it!

 

[LiveFire]

This is why I didn't bother plunking down the $40 on a subscription. I plunked down the money for Propaganda during the Elevation tour and got thouroughly fucked on it because the GA seats were less than the shitty seats a mile away.

This presale shit is a good idea if you organize it better and make everything Will Call or put in some other sort of precautions to guard against scalpers. Unfortunately that's not how it is. In my opinion if you're going to do it you sell as many tickets as you can in the presale and then for the regular sale everyone else gets the left overs.

I was justifiably pissed in 2001 and someone who got screwed this time should be equally pissed. I mean for Elevation I wound up choking up 130 bucks for seats that were fairly shitty. The entire process seemed very backhanded and not well thought out.

U2 is in a position to have power over these sorts of things. Smaller less powerful bands can say that they don't have control but ultimately the buck stops with U2 in this. If U2 wanted to auction off the tickets they would. If U2 wanted to presale only to people who sent in video tape auditions they would.

Also Larry should have been more specific about his last little bit. "unseemly behavior" is a pretty broad statement.

 

[Zootomic]

Dude or dudette... Larry CLEARLY said that U2 was at fault for some of the mess in his little letter. Why are people even denying culpability of the band when Larry even admits it is beyond me.

Did you even read my post? My point is that just because Paul McGuinness and his management people screwed up the pre-sale it doesn't mean the BAND MEMBERS are at fault. That's what some people have been screaming since the start of the pre-sale - that Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry personally ripped them off, which is just stupid. U2 is two things, a band made up of four guys who make music and also a large business run by Paul McGuinness. The business side is at fault for this mess. Larry is stepping up here and accepting some of the blame on behalf of the business side of U2. But nowhere in his letter does he CLEARLY say that U2 (the band) was at fault. Larry says "There was a mess up in the way the tickets were distributed through U2.com for the Vertigo pre-sale. Some of it was beyond our control, but some of it wasn't." Meaning some of the pre-sale problems could have perhaps been prevented if the people on the business side of U2 had run things better.

 

[JOFO]

The same reason they couldn't get the rest of the stuff (I'm not going to open old wounds). Some U2 fans are fucking stupid.

excuse me:

I posted a clear statement describing the 2 types of fans that were complaining over the ticket mess. I "get" larry's last statement. I think it's a little immature for him to drop to that level. but fine, he's quick-tempered; so am I.

I don't appreciate you saying that because there may have been some confusion over who he's addressing with his "2 words" that I may be "fucking stupid".

 

[Flying FuManchu]

"There was a mess up in the way the tickets were distributed through U2.com for the Vertigo pre-sale. Some of it was beyond our control, but some of it wasn't."

Then who the heck is OUR referring to? Our = possessive form of WE

Sorry Zootomic, when Larry says "Some of it was beyond our control, but some of it wasn't," he's not referring to just u2.com or Paul and his management team. Otherwise, why not spell it out that "management and our website is at fault" instead of using the possessive form of WE.

Even if you were to lay the blame on Paul McGuinness, Paul gets the same pay as other band members and is sometimes considered the 5th U2 member b/c they split U2's profits 5 ways, with Paul getting that fifth. U2's members also run the business side of things... to infer that only Paul runs the business aspect and the band just makes music is ludicrous.

ALSO U2.com HAS said that there was someone in the band who was specifically working on the whole ticket/ concert part of the tour (even before this pre-sale fiasco/ mess). So someone in the band already had their fingerprints on this mess.

Again, denial by some people of the band's culpability is weird when Larry admits to it plainly IMO.

 

[beli]

excuse me:

I posted a clear statement describing the 2 types of fans that were complaining over the ticket mess. I "get" larry's last statement. I think it's a little immature for him to drop to that level. but fine, he's quick-tempered; so am I.

I don't appreciate you saying that because there may have been some confusion over who he's addressing with his "2 words" that I may be "fucking stupid".

lol. That comment was directed at you at all for the very reasons you mentioned.

peace.

 

[Zootomic]

Then who the heck is OUR referring to? Our = possessive form of WE
Again, denial by some people of the band's culpability is weird when Larry admits to it plainly IMO.

It's pretty clear to me - 'Our' (We) = the people on U2's end who were working on the ticket pre-sale and those people would be the members of the management team NOT the band themselves. Larry posted his message on behalf of the entire U2 organization and therefore used the all encompassing 'our'. I'm sure that as a member of U2 he feels personally responsible for what the business people do wrong but that does not mean that he IS personally responsible.

Don't get me wrong. I think the U2 organization screwed up the ticket sale. But I put the blame 100% on Paul McGuinness whose very job is to handle these situations professionally and skillfully so the band members themselves don't have to get involved. That is pretty much the job description of a band manager - handle the business so the band can just focus on the music. The fact that Larry Mullen has to be posting messages to the fans and has to get more personally involved in such things as ticket sales means that Paul McGuinness did not do his job properly. Therefore, I put the blame squarely on him and not on the band. You see if differently. So be it.

 

[jick]

It's pretty clear to me - 'Our' (We) = the people on U2's end who were working on the ticket pre-sale and those people would be the members of the management team NOT the band themselves. Larry posted his message on behalf of the entire U2 organization and therefore used the all encompassing 'our'. I'm sure that as a member of U2 he feels personally responsible for what the business people do wrong but that does not mean that he IS personally responsible.

Mullen is a drummer, not a lyricist. So he doesn't talk in riddles like Bono does. The "we" is direct and obvious, it is your interpretation that is too much of a stretch. Perhaps its time to take off those rosy tinted glasses and realize Mullen is admitting fault. If you are really so obsessed with clearing the rest of the band, then you can only have Bono, Edge and Clayton come clean. Not Mullen because when he says we, he includes himself. Otherwise he would have said "they." It's a class act for Mullen to admit fault, it's just sad some other people can't realize it and want to interpret his statements to make the band come clean.

Cheers,

J

 

[beli]

lol. That comment was directed at you at all for the very reasons you mentioned.

peace.

oh shit! What a typo! I meant to say "That comment was NOT , repeat NOT, directed at you at all for the very reasons you mentioned.

My sincere apologies. Wow. What a typo.

peace

 

[beli]

JOFO, I just tried to email you an apology in case you read my typoed one in this thread, but you have turned your email option off. Again, my sincere apologies.

 

[ramblin rose]

oh shit! What a typo! I meant to say "That comment was NOT , repeat NOT, directed at you at all for the very reasons you mentioned.

My sincere apologies. Wow. What a typo.

peace

That was so funny. I read your original response and said to myself:

"Wow, now there's being direct. I wonder if the "peace" will actually make a difference when JOFO reads this?"

 

[Flying FuManchu]

It's pretty clear to me - 'Our' (We) = the people on U2's end who were working on the ticket pre-sale and those people would be the members of the management team NOT the band themselves. Larry posted his message on behalf of the entire U2 organization and therefore used the all encompassing 'our'. I'm sure that as a member of U2 he feels personally responsible for what the business people do wrong but that does not mean that he IS personally responsible.

Don't get me wrong. I think the U2 organization screwed up the ticket sale. But I put the blame 100% on Paul McGuinness whose very job is to handle these situations professionally and skillfully so the band members themselves don't have to get involved. That is pretty much the job description of a band manager - handle the business so the band can just focus on the music. The fact that Larry Mullen has to be posting messages to the fans and has to get more personally involved in such things as ticket sales means that Paul McGuinness did not do his job properly. Therefore, I put the blame squarely on him and not on the band. You see if differently. So be it.

Why do I feel so trolled...

 

[beli]

lol. Theres no way to stop him from reading my bloopered message first.






lol

 

[sallycinnamon78]

Hehe, should I print out the email (from my inbox) and frame it, it has my name on it!

We should sell copies of the email on e-bay for $2000 a shot. We can fake Larry's autograph on them as well...

(I nearly paid a few quid for a signed Bono photo from e-bay today - I'm new to e-bay, and I trusted the person as they had a huge amount of positive feedback. Fortunately for me, I got an mail from e-bay telling me not to bid as this person was a fraud. )

 

[Flying FuManchu]

LOL at beli...

 

[Zootomic]

Why do I feel so trolled...

Disagree with me, call me names, whatever, but don't call me a troll. I mean, ick! I feel so dirty.

I've been a U2 fan for nearly 24 years now. Just because I haven't been a longtime poster on this message board does not mean I'm new here. When I first went on line back in 1996 the first thing I did was join Wire so I've been around U2 message boards for a long time.

I have never felt that Paul McGuinness is a very good manager. I have posted before that I think that he is a small-time manager who happened to latch onto a big-time band who have remained loyal to him. So when something like this happens I put the blame squarely on him. He has misguided U2 in the past (my favorite example is how he allowed them to become so overexposed during the Rattle and Hum promotion). He runs their business, he advises U2 and they listen to him. So he is at fault when things go wrong with their business.

Not Mullen because when he says we, he includes himself. Otherwise he would have said "they."

How do you know he is definitely including himself? Larry Mullen put his name on a response to the fans because the organization screwed up. Period. There is absolutely nothing in his letter that states that he, Bono, Edge or Adam personally screwed up. Nothing. No matter how hard you try to make it be there, it isn't. No matter how many times you say it's there, it isn't. Period.

Bye, bye.

 

[JOFO]

JOFO, I just tried to email you an apology in case you read my typoed one in this thread, but you have turned your email option off. Again, my sincere apologies.

no worries beli.

 

[yolland]

Given the polarisation and highly charged emotions from all sides that have characterised this issue, I think 'constructive critics' like JOFO could be forgiven for finding Larry's wording unsettlingly ambiguous. Or maybe more to the point, for wincing in anticipation of how it might be exploited by certain individuals who would rather wield a bully club than an olive branch.

Some of the 'whining about whiners' threads have been every bit as overwrought, mean-spirited, and indiscriminate as the 'whining about U2' threads to which they responded. And in my view, more so--because they were attacking fellow members who actually read their posts regularly and will be affected by what they say, whereas let's face it: Bono, Larry, Edge and Adam make some great music, but they don't read our posts, couldn't give a shit less about whether any of us as individuals lives or dies, and won't be running spot checks to see which among us strapped on their halos and rushed to 'protect' them when the big, bad, scary wolves started...whining.

Anyhow, the sooner we can all let go the urge to fire off 'just one more' snide remark, the sooner things will return to normal around here.