WHY bring back a lottery system?!

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quadcaster

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Ok, living here in Australia, i've never been subjected to the lottery system that U2 have used on the past couple of tours in the states.

I really dont understand the reason for it. Its us, the die hard U2 fans who line up from 5 in the morning (or earlier) on show day, who should be up the front...

Does anybody agree that first in, first served is a better way of doing it? I certanly do!

Discuss.....
 
Yeah, but its just SO STUPID! (obviously i havent experienced it, but it sounds like a total raping)
 
Worst case scenario: You line up early and don't get buzzed in. Someone with you may get beeped & then take you into the Crab Shack as their extra person. OR you get front row on the outer side, which honestly still isn't a bad deal.

If you put the time in you'll still get a good spot.
 
mmm i see the logic there starsgoblue.

on 5th leg vertigo, my spot every time was the outer corner of adams B-stage, and that was AMAZING, except no edge :(
 
I disagree with it, only because I think that the people who camp out and stay in line the longest should get up front because they did what it took to get up there. If they do a lottery then you have to just deal with it. I was on the outside rail a lot on Vertigo and it wasn't bad at all. Bono jumped in the crowd where I was and grabbed and held my hand in another show.
 
yeah I didn't dig the lottery system last tour at all. I did 10 shows, 9 were GA and 1 seated. I only got into the ellipse twice, once because of a friend's scan and the other because the guy in front of me scanned and said that he DIDN'T want to go inside the ellipse if you can believe that. So my ticket never scanned vertigo in the 9 shows I went to. I see the point to this system but it really didn't work. We were told initially (went to opening nite) that only 2 people per scan. Then that number grew considerably as the tour went on. They did not have different faces in front as what they were trying to do ultimately. If they had mimiced what springsteen does with his GA and give wristbands with numbers and then draw a number at a certain time and then starting the line with that number and going back from there. Then that would of been random..
 
I hope they do the lottery.

I went to enough shows back during the Elevation Tour to see the same people over and over again, and not just on this continent either. And they always slept outside, to the point where at one show I was at, not a single person in the first 40 in the line up was from the city that the band was performing in (in fact most of them were from another country and probably half I'd seen before). I think there's something a bit demented about that.

Besides, you'll get your choice rail spot if you sleep outside and don't get beeped in. I actually chose that spot at least 3 times because it gives you a different view and is in a lot of ways better than the inside. So no big deal.
 
It seemed like the same people got in everytime on the last tour, so the same people were always in front of the satge anyway. I went to 8 shows and didn't get in once. I was starting to think it was fixed.
 
The lottery system is fine with me. Getting a good spot shouldn't be a physical endurance contest.
 
Keep the lottery--I don't think they should reward behavior bordering on obsessive/stalker-level. Plus, it adds some excitement and surprise to the process.

And I have a hard time believing the system was fixed. And going to 8 shows and seeing the same people get into the pit isn't enough of a sampling. If those same people were going to a shitload of shows, then it's to be expected they got in numerous times.

Ultimately, anything that takes even a little power away from Line Nazis is fine with me.
 
The lottery system is fine with me. Getting a good spot shouldn't be a physical endurance contest.

:up:

The lottery sometimes annoyed me (and yeah, mostly because I only got in once ... but I suppose I should just be grateful I got in even once), but I don't really see a problem with it.

Hell, I'd like to see them do what Springsteen does, to hand out numbered wristbands and then pull a random number to determine who the first fans in are. I think that would work better to get a true "random" sampling as opposed to what theyr'e doing now.

But whatever. Even if you don't beep in and you've been in line all day, you still have an incredible spot and have nothing to complain about. (At least based on the Vertigo tour; not sure what the "pit" setup is going to be like this time.)
 
:yes:

I didn't get in line before the buttcrack of dawn and didn't get beeped and had great spots - with just one person in front of me - center, right where Bono came up for COBL and right in front of the LAPOE spot.

And yeah, if you're the crazyperson going to 10 - 20 shows you're probably gonna end up in the ellipse several of those times. :shrug:

This was all for arenas though, where it seems like they spent more time on the catwalk or whatever than they did on the B-stage. And with the arena, you got to see all 4 of them upclose at one point or another (at least where I was). With the Adam Bstage and Edge Bstage you only get one or the other... but I guess that's a discussion for a different thread.
 
yeah I didn't dig the lottery system last tour at all. I did 10 shows, 9 were GA and 1 seated. I only got into the ellipse twice, once because of a friend's scan and the other because the guy in front of me scanned and said that he DIDN'T want to go inside the ellipse if you can believe that. So my ticket never scanned vertigo in the 9 shows I went to. I see the point to this system but it really didn't work. We were told initially (went to opening nite) that only 2 people per scan. Then that number grew considerably as the tour went on. They did not have different faces in front as what they were trying to do ultimately.

If they had mimiced what springsteen does with his GA and give wristbands with numbers and then draw a number at a certain time and then starting the line with that number and going back from there. Then that would of been random..

:up:

The lottery sometimes annoyed me (and yeah, mostly because I only got in once ... but I suppose I should just be grateful I got in even once), but I don't really see a problem with it.

Hell, I'd like to see them do what Springsteen does, to hand out numbered wristbands and then pull a random number to determine who the first fans in are. I think that would work better to get a true "random" sampling as opposed to what theyr'e doing now.

But whatever. Even if you don't beep in and you've been in line all day, you still have an incredible spot and have nothing to complain about. (At least based on the Vertigo tour; not sure what the "pit" setup is going to be like this time.)

:hmm: great minds think alike.. :D
 
I really don't care either way. I had better results than the ~1/8 odds for Vertigo. I got in 3 times out of 7 shows I did GA where there was a lottery in place, twice by scanning in and once by standing at the very back and asking someone for an ellipse wristband. Two other times I was along the outside rail, and two other times I was on the second row on the outside rail.

What pissed me off about the lottery was people bringing in 3, 4, 5 of their friends, or getting in but not getting scanned in, or one person getting in and saving space in the front. When I got scanned in for my "home" show, I literally pushed someone out of the way b/c she was trying to spread her arms and legs out along the front rail, while I was there with some friends and we had been scanned in. I'm pretty positive this same person went to no less than 30 shows.

A brother of a friend who is more like a casual fan showed up at one of the Toronto shows after the opening band, scanned in (didn't even know about the lottery) and ended up second row in the front, next to Paul McGuinness. When he told us about it he was ecstatic. Something like that makes me genuinely happy, I'm not jealous. Yes, I have queued over night but for me that's just part of the fun. If I have time and I feel like hanging out, I'll wait in line. If not I'll get seats or just stand where I stand. There's a lot of people on this board that are fun to hang out with and I only see them when there's a tour. This is the main reason I would prefer arena shows. Some venues are really fun for camping b/c they allow it (even open the potties and tell the cops to leave you alone). I don't know anything about any of the stadiums.
 
And yeah, if you're the crazyperson going to 10 - 20 shows you're probably gonna end up in the ellipse several of those times. :shrug:



:hmm: not necessarily. I went to 9 and didn't scan once but go in twice due to other people. A lot of folks who went to double digit shows didn't get in as much as you may think.
 
:hmm: not necessarily. I went to 9 and didn't scan once but go in twice due to other people. A lot of folks who went to double digit shows didn't get in as much as you may think.

I think if you are fortunate enough and have enough time and money to attend 20 shows, frankly that's a great deal as is with or without the ellipse.

:shrug:
 
I liked the lottery. I lined up all day for a couple of shows but I don't think you have to stand in line all day long or camp out overnight to be considered a 'die hard fan'. Those people are just considered 'crazier' U2 fans than most. :wink:

I also sort of got tired of reading about the same people in the front row all the time and think the lottery would make it more fair as far as different people getting a chance to be up close, without having to practically sacrifice your soul to get there.

I can definitely see both sides though.
 
:hmm: not necessarily. I went to 9 and didn't scan once but go in twice due to other people. A lot of folks who went to double digit shows didn't get in as much as you may think.

Living proof of that here :lol:

I went to 12 arena shows and didn't scan in once on my own ticket. I did get in thanks to friends on a few occasions though.

Based on my lack-of-success ratio, it may not surprise you to learn I'm not in favour of the lottery - although I do appreciate the arguments for it.
 
I went to 12 arena shows and didn't scan in once on my own ticket. I did get in thanks to friends on a few occasions though.

And you can also attest that sometimes being against the outer rail is a bad place to be, when you're bruised and battered from holding back rambunctious Canadian crowds! ;)
 
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