My GA experience. The list is tainted.

[popbellydancer]

Nope, only in America they line up days in advcance with this numbering system where you sign up and just come back the day of the show. From what I've heard Australia has no such system, you guys show up on the day somewhere and just stay in line.
In Europe we don't have this sign up in advance bullshit either. But we do have a list/numbering system. One that works.

Basically the EU system is like this. First person at the site starts the line, usually the early ass morning of the show or the night before. That person gives out the numbers and lists them in a notepad or whatever, and everyone STAYS IN THE LINE. Sure, you can leave for an hour or so to get food or drinks or take a piss, but you cannot just go on out and about and have fun all day and come back in late. In the early morning there's usually role call at 7, if you're not there, you're off the list. There's a few moments during the day you have to be there, that's when you get led on stadium grounds, get a wristband(not all shows) and when everyone has to throw out their shite so everyone can get in safely.

This system works. It's nice, fair and you meet a lot of nice people around you. Based on the first come, first serve principle, and purely only a way to keep the line as it is in order. Not to start a line days in advance for 'privileged' people.

This is how it was on Elevation in America...and let me just say this about that....you never heard or saw complaints from fans about each other like this back then! Yeah, you would have one or two rude arses in person that day, cutting etc, but the masses of fans 100 or so who were there all night would simply not allow it. The negativity, rudeness, catty, bratty, ridiculous behavior started on Vertigo (perhaps in response to the lottery, perhaps because of the age of the internet being more instant and more faceless.) Sadly, even tho it was a bit better on this tour, it continued.
Anyway, this is what I said earlier...if you had to STAY in line and be TOGETHER (with exception of bathrooming/showering/food) all this crap talking wouldn't happen and it would be more fair. The experiences I and many of my friends had camping out overnight on Elevation were better than any other line experiences we've had since. I guess next time I'll save up and go to Europe Galeongirl

On a personal note, over my last 4 tours (Popmart/Elevation/Vertigo/360) I have run lines, I have helped run lines, I have been in many more lines that I didn't start, I have sat in seats/bleachers, I have stood by the mix, and finally I have floated around and been in a different spot for a different view for entire portions the setlist. At the end of the day...I saw U2 LIVE!! This is what matters people! Let's try and have a little perspective as we, and the band get older. that there may not be that many more tours. So be nice and have fun!!!

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Indeed I did. Was slightly disappointed that we got fucking Magnificent instead of The Fly, but that's a minor complaint compared to the great show I got to see. It's not every day you see a band for the first time.

And Interpol was very strong, which was a nice plus.

Were you in GA?

 

[mama cass]

You know, these people that start the list and have their fancy notebooks and numbering systems, they’re schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I’m not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. Get rid of the notebooks and the numbers and the line nazis.

Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It’s fair!

my god, how would the list peeps cope with a situation like at the Stade de France when their gate didn't open til last, and all the late-comers flooded the pitch and inner circle first? that was PURE chaos!

 

[DRay9911]

my god, how would the list peeps cope with a situation like at the Stade de France when their gate didn't open til last, and all the late-comers flooded the pitch and inner circle first?

Cry and bitch, stomp their feet and hold their breath until they turned blue

At least that's what we did for the first Anaheim show when the other gate as well as the red zone people got a 5 minute head start.

 

[Chrisedge]

All I have to say is PROPS to the original poster for not being afraid of call out other fans that are cheating. Post MORE pics and videos!

I saw lots of posting of the "LINE CUTTERS" pictures in some other threads and boards and no one bitched that they were posted, and they were simply not following the FAN MADE list. They got there before some folks on "the list" showed up and wouldn't move. If the venue isn't supporting a fan list, they have no obligation to support it either.

Way too many cheating and then blaming it on "The List Maker"...Plus Ones? WTF is that? I would love to rot all day in line, and have my short wife be a plus one and show up later, go shopping, go around town and "sightsee" (meaning not spending time in line)...but that would be f'ed and I/she wouldn't do that.

Fan cam says a lot...I know lots of those folks DO put in time, but it's a bit much to see the same folks show after show.

I would love for them to sell seats again on the floor and see everyone go balistic over the price to be close.

 

[trevgreg]

Wait, you're saying someone was getting grief for only following the formal instructions, and not the informal ones? If a bunch of obsessives who turn up way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way earlier than necessary, deciding to run their own self serving system, get trumped by some guy only following the acknowledged formal system, well, tough shit.

The rest of your post, I have no idea why any of that should be a part of, you know, going to see a band.

Well, I suppose it was the same thing as those six that turned up in Chicago at the front of the line. When you consider all the people that go with the lists at each of these shows, it's gonna be hard for some people to not go along with that, you know? If it turns out to be the one security goes with, then you're going to feel like you missed out.

I personally held nothing against those that didn't sign up for the line. But as far as I know, the guy who turned up by himself at that one gig I mentioned was sent to the back of the line (which wasn't all that far away, but still).

Huge FAIL

Touche my friend.

 

[DRay9911]

i think if we try, we can turn this thread around into a positive one

Shut up dumbass. :kick:

 

[popbellydancer]

Please, God, Springsteen system. Thanks.

The idea of a list happened first night Elevation in Ft. Lauderdale. Maybe like 25-50 people were there early in the morning the day of the show. Some of the people towards the back wanted a way to come and go to the bathroom and eat and a way of tracking who's in front of who, to avoid line-cutters. So those people went up to the folks in the front who happen to be 2 dear friends of mine (who never come on these boards) and asked them to start a list like in Europe. They were like..."oh a list? um, ok....anyone have paper and pen?" This is how it began. At that point putting numbers on the hand was the important part of the list. So ur # proved u were where u should be when u came back fro McDonalds...cuz if u were there you'll remember there was not a lot of food closeby. At that point U2 fans trusted each other. It never occurred to anyone to bring a sharpie and scam. I was approx 150 in line and somehow was in front of Adam. No one knew what it would turn into, because it didn't for years, and in Europe it sounds like it still works.

Even on Vertigo we slept out overnight in many cities.

The idea of a list where u sign up and leave till a 5/6/7 am roll-call only started this tour because as I've said before stadiums letting u camp overnight and arenas allowing it are 2 totally different things. I think it's silly, but it's what the stadiums wanted so we comply.

bulltproof, I actually understand your frustration because the Pittsburgh line was a bit inconsistent. But I truly believe it was because there was not consistency between the leaders and the people who took shifts over night with them....a simple mistake in lack of communication when you hand the list over to someone not in your group to run it. I know for a fact that the most of the folks who helped run that list and took shifts with it were consisten over the course of days that you were allowed to sign up 1 friend/husband/wife/child/etc. This is so if someone has a person dear to them they want to go to the show with who can't come down yet they can be together. However, when we came the girl who had the list at that time did NOT know it was being run that way, so we complied. A lack of communication like that is super frustrating, but they probably did the best they could. It is what it is. It's over now. I hope somewhere inside you enjoyed the show and didn't let this ruin your experience. That said, Romi is not the one who started it, he only took 2 shifts to help run it, and followed Lew and Arlette's rules while doing so. I have seen him go along with the rules of many different types of lines. He did not start it/make the rules/ and only helped for a few hours. Please consider this. I'm sorry you had a bad time, I'm sorry you think people suck. If after this thread band mngt decides to ever let another GA happen in the states....please start and run the line. We will all be happy to comply to your rules. But you will have to comply as the leader to venue and the bands rules as well, and it's possible that your way will not be the way they want it run. Hence a change from 7am...to 5am.


Anyway, as Mark has stated...this thread has done way more damage to the US ever having a GA field again than I think you all realize. We are not as anonymous as you'd like to think, and there are mngt folks who keep an eye on these threads. I miss terribly the days where people would consider other people and not bash each other under the cloak of the internet.

 

[bono_212]

I'll be just happy with this, thanks.

No reason to wait around in line all day, no way (at least not easily) to cut in line, nope it's a pretty damn fair system, and it fucking works. Two Springsteen shows, on the rail both times, and no stress. Didn't even friggin' get to the St. Louis show until 3 or 4 PM. Probably the same with Dallas, I'd have to ask who I went with.

 

[popbellydancer]

I'll be just happy with this, thanks.

No reason to wait around in line all day, no way (at least not easily) to cut in line, nope it's a pretty damn fair system, and it fucking works. Two Springsteen shows, on the rail both times, and no stress. Didn't even friggin' get to the St. Louis show until 3 or 4 PM. Probably the same with Dallas, I'd have to ask who I went with.

Ruth from U2log has been preaching this for years! (follows U2 and Bruce)

 

[trevgreg]

Sorry if I missed it, but can anyone link to something that explains the "Springsteen" system for us novices?

I also want to stress something else quickly. When things have calmed down in the GA lines with what order people were in and before the entrance into the stadium, I have never failed once to have fun meeting the people around me and talking about the band, our lives outside of U2, etc. That was always the most fun thing for me about standing all day outside the venue. And truth be told, I would miss that a lot of a different system were to take that away (not that it will, but you know what I mean). All drama aside, being with other fans is the best part about doing GA, and anything that can make that experience better, I'd take it. Being #15 or #278, or having a person or three cut in line ahead of me, wouldn't take any of that away from me.

 

[bono_212]

Springsteen system: You get to the venue at X o'clock and are given a wrist band with a number on it. At around 4 or 5, can't remember when exactly, a fan is selected to draw a name out of a hat pretty much. Whatever number they draw out of the hat because #1 in line.

So if the number selected is #399 then #399 is now #1 in line, meaning #398 is now last in line.

Security lines everyone up correctly and then the first few hundred people are allowed in Bruce's (much smaller) pit.

 

[VintagePunk]

Threads like this have existed since last tour, and nothing's been done. Don't see why this thread would garner any more attention than any of the others did.

The whole GA line thing has gotten worse tour by tour, which is why i bowed out of it this tour, with the exception of one very well run (and fair) line.

Bottom line is, if the line is started, you should STAY in line, with the exception of bathroom and food breaks. If you can't? Then it's too damn early to start the line. This days before thing and checking in, and the drama that inevitably ensues is complete BS.

 

[bulltproof]

All I have to say is PROPS to the original poster for not being afraid of call out other fans that are cheating. Post MORE pics and videos!

I saw lots of posting of the "LINE CUTTERS" pictures in some other threads and boards and no one bitched that they were posted, and they were simply not following the FAN MADE list. They got there before some folks on "the list" showed up and wouldn't move. If the venue isn't supporting a fan list, they have no obligation to support it either.

Way too many cheating and then blaming it on "The List Maker"...Plus Ones? WTF is that? I would love to rot all day in line, and have my short wife be a plus one and show up later, go shopping, go around town and "sightsee" (meaning not spending time in line)...but that would be f'ed and I/she wouldn't do that.

Fan cam says a lot...I know lots of those folks DO put in time, but it's a bit much to see the same folks show after show.

I would love for them to sell seats again on the floor and see everyone go balistic over the price to be close.

You may very well be my long lost brother.
I don't see what I posted as wrong. PROPS to you for taking a stand.

The problem is this post hits home. Some that oppose it are the PROBLEMS, and some that oppose are the "plus one's". I'd be pissed too if I were an asshole that took advantage of a system and someone called me on it.

So now you can know why you show up and get #150 the day before a show. Too many fingers in the pie!

 

[bono_212]

Oh one more plus to the springsteen system. The #s are on the wristband, not a marker to the back of the hand. Can't really fake those.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Anyway, as Mark has stated...this thread has done way more damage to the US ever having a GA field again than I think you all realize. We are not as anonymous as you'd like to think, and there are mngt folks who keep an eye on these threads. So once again I ask will you be happy with a seated floor? If so... keep on going with this thread and bashing each other. I miss terribly the days where people would consider other people and not bash each other under the cloak of the internet.

Mods is there no way to delete this whole thread?
Or at least

Please. The 'problem' to the band would be their own annoyance at seeing the same faces at the front night after night (if it's as regular/bad as it sounds), and if the addition is the realisation that some (or a lot) of those people are being dicks about gaining that position, then it would likely simply result in some sort of fair, formal across-every-venue plan, like the 'Springsteen' idea, or a return to a lottery or something. No way it would result in seating for all of GA?!?!? I don't even get what the connection would be - it's only related to the pit and a tiny % of fans.

 

[popbellydancer]

who

 

[bono_212]

But do you think people went too far threatening and posting the pictures of the "line cutters" from Chicago?

 

[popbellydancer]

liked

 

[bulltproof]

At that point U2 fans trusted each other.


...you were allowed to sign up 1 friend/husband/wife/child/etc. This is so if someone has a person dear to them they want to go to the show with who can't come down yet they can be together...

That said, Romi is not the one who started it, he only took 2 shifts to help run it, and followed Lew and Arlette's rules while doing so.



Mods is there no way to delete this whole thread?
Or at least

U2 fans SHOULD be able to trust each other.
There should never be a plus one. NEVER!
Romi started the plus one on the original list. I was there.
Why lock or delete this thread? Let's conceal the truth? It's a debate. A forum. Let people say what they have to say.

 

[trevgreg]

I could only imagine the uproar from fans if the band ever did a seating arrangement on the floor for future tours. Could you picture how much tickets would go for with scalpers in that situation?

bono_212, thank you for explaining that system for us. It's an interesting one at that.

 

[popbellydancer]

the

 

[VintagePunk]

Maybe the threat of posting pictures and calling out people in public will keep line starters honest in the future.

A HUGE problem I've always had with lines is that not every fan is a member of an online community. So they call the venue, and the venue tells them that the line will start at whatever-o'clock, and they believe them. Then they show up and find that the line was started 18 days before at some super-sekrit offsite location that had to change every 53 minutes to evade local police and stadium security, and that they are actually number 1566 in a line that had been established for three weeks prior.

Maybe I'm just grumpy this tour, but the obnoxiousness of scenarios like this, and the entitlement of some of the fans is a huge turn-off for me, and quite frankly, I find myself less and less wanting to be a part of it.

 

[bulltproof]

But do you think people went too far threatening and posting the pictures of the "line cutters" from Chicago?

Certainly. Why post pics and threaten people that did what the venue told them to? As a U2 fan why threaten people at all?

But there is a tiff when I post pics of people that FANCAM clearly shows them in. They say they don't want their pic on the internet. Whatever.

 

[No spoken words]

I love the sanctifying of U2 fans....as if U2 fans are a breed apart. Please.

 

[VintagePunk]

I love the sanctifying of U2 fans....as if U2 fans are a breed apart. Please.

Bingo.

 

[popbellydancer]

show

 

[popbellydancer]

???

 

[bono_212]

Also, I will never get over watching one of the line runners lie to the face of the very nice people in line in front of us. I've mentioned this before, I know, but having them flat out tell the person in line in front of me that if they'd been posting on Interference they'd've known that the line started days earlier was a lie of the highest degree. They knew it, I knew it, and hell, if you'd read the Chicago thread, all of Interference knew it as well.

THAT to me was the most upsetting part of the whole situation.

 

[Liesje]

Threads like this have existed since last tour, and nothing's been done. Don't see why this thread would garner any more attention than any of the others did.

The whole GA line thing has gotten worse tour by tour, which is why i bowed out of it this tour, with the exception of one very well run (and fair) line.

Bottom line is, if the line is started, you should STAY in line, with the exception of bathroom and food breaks. If you can't? Then it's too damn early to start the line. This days before thing and checking in, and the drama that inevitably ensues is complete BS.

THIS

I still don't get why lists or numbers or wrists bands are even needed? If you GET IN LINE and you keep your arse in line you are going to know who is to the right and to the left of you, and hopefully those two people are OK with you using the restroom once or twice or grabbing lunch from a vendor. But beyond that....if you leave the line so long that you think you need some sort of confirmation to get back in, then sorry, you should have just showed up after going out for dinner, or after taking a shower and spending an hour prepping, or after going on a tour of the city. I've been in my fair share of lines, not compared to a few people here but quite a few more than most and I've never left the line to do anything other than use a bathroom, grab food from the nearest joint, or wave to the boys arriving at the loading dock. If you're not prepared to actually wait in the line, then don't get in it.