WHY bring back a lottery system?!

[popbellydancer]

I would see them in tents already for the next one when I was leaving. At a certain point it is obsessive/stalker and you wonder when it stops being about the music. I don't wonder, I know-I've seen it in action and known a couple of people.

I was also hassled once by a line Nazi person when I had my butt on that pavement all day, only to find out later that they cheated and put friends there who showed up hours later. GA shatters any delusions one may have about any sort of superior honesty of U2 fans as a general "rule". I guess that was some sort of defensive distractive measure on her part regarding her cheating.

I enjoyed every U2 show I ever went to long before they ever had GA. The GA has created a sense of entitlement/obsession among some fans and this ridiculous notion that you can't enjoy a U2 show any other way.

The reason for some of the same people being up front all the time is cheating..I said some of course, not all. I have heard about it from people I know to be honest and decent. There was crap going on with wristbands, etc. The fact that people bringing that up here are labeled as "jealous" and dismissed doesn't make it untrue. That's the sense of entitlement-that you would cheat to get that. Add on top of that that some of these same people are going to multiple shows all over the country/world.

I'm in favor of lottery too-but it would help to somehow crack down on cheaters if that could be possible. And nothing against kids but that shouldn't get you in either.

I'm going to one show this year with one GA. It would be nice to be on a level playing field and not have to deal with cheating. I can't and won't camp out and wherever I end up will be ok with me. But all I ask is a fair shot, especially when some others will be up close numerous times (and cheat for it if they have to). I know one thing for sure, I wouldn't-even if it means being in the back. I've had GA a few times on other tours and had a few good spots-and all were 100% legit. I also had seats and enjoyed that too-partly as a break from GA hassles/ bad experiences. I also got screwed over by that Boston thing in the first GA I ever had. But I still got a great spot and I didn't participate in any sitdown or any thing of the sort. I tried to reason with them too-no luck there. I guess they got over it because I heard they have already been seen on the promo tour, etc.

Yes, i remember seeing people with these last tour..

the same people had them on elevation too. but trust me when i tell you, that the folks i'm talking about DO NOT let themselves be glimpsed by other people with multiples. there is a group that's been doing it a LONG time, and they know how keep under the radar. so lottery or no, that's gonna happen. and since u2's people know about it and thought it was amusing, don't expect to not see it again. sorry if that's upsetting, but some of those people have gone to 50 to 100 shows per tour since JT or Zootv. that doesn't make it right, but it does help that they "know" people. all it does is gets them inside the ellipse. it does NOT get them rail.

NO ONE CAN GET RAIL WITHOUT CAMPING OUT. PERIOD.

the lottery did not cut down on this at ALL btw!! instead, i started seeing a bunch of other newer people with wristbands, and those people were blatant about it!! i dare say that the lottery spawned more of this than NOT having a lottery. cuz only a secect few did it on elevation. anyway....my point is that i understand many of you believe it cuts down on this....but it does not....in fact it 's a JOKE how badly it worked. so, what's the point? they could just go back to a seated field if they really wanted to cut down on the same faces. but you know what...bono doesn't take "line nazis" (as some of you call them) onstage 3 to 6 nights because he doesn't like seeing their faces. he loves all his fans. so, i dunno...i just wish people realized how much worse things got with the lottery.

if it was fair..... fine. if there was no sneaking.... fine. if the blonde lady alison couldn't pick and choose who she did and didn't want to let in .....fine. if you ONLY got one guest.... fine. but then you see some people get in with 6 guests....not fine. alison and her live nation crew would give out wristbands to who they felt like at any time....INCLUDING when the line was going in. she would make sure kids got in and their whole group....why is that fine? it was not even. it was not fair. if i posted all that happened to me and my friends on that tour it would stun you. but out of some respect for the powers that be i won't.

anyhoo, my point again, is that ...IF THEY TREAT IT FAIRLY, FINE...IT MIGHT NOT SUCK SO BAD. but they don't ....so, it's a joke.


imho.

 

[Chrisedge]

Most of it is just "getting worse" as opposed to the lottery making it happen. Just as on the early days of 1st leg of Elevation, you could get there at Noon and still have a shot at getting in the heart, then it became 6am, then overnight. People got hip to saving their wristbands. None of this was BECAUSE of the lottery...people would do it anyways. At least the lottery gives some folks a shot at it, instead of HAVING to wait all day, and hope the line nazis don't let all their friends in, or each person brings in another person, etc....

 

[Fer Castillo]

NO ONE CAN GET RAIL WITHOUT CAMPING OUT. PERIOD.

I did get rail in Vertigo Tour, no camping out

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

plain and simple, there is just no system out there that is going to curtail people abusing the system. There are always gonna be and have been for years people who take advantage of the situation no matter what. I have resigned to the fact that its just a part of the whole thing and just accept it not like it but accept it all the same.. Of course I am not looking forward to whatever they decide to do with the GA lineup and like I said we all won't know what it's going to be like until the first show or first show in the US (Chicago). At least at that point we will have something to base it on whether it changes or not from venue to venue as some have speculated.

 

[anitram]

plain and simple, there is just no system out there that is going to curtail people abusing the system.

I think Springsteen's system probably comes pretty damn close to doing so. If they used it and gave out NO extra wristbands to anybody, then you'd have a pretty fair system.

People who collect wristbands (and I have seen them last tour and previous tour) are mental cases, it might behoove them to step back for a second and re-prioritize their lives.

 

[mads]

NO ONE CAN GET RAIL WITHOUT CAMPING OUT. PERIOD.

Not true. I got rail in St. Louis without camping out. The weather was absolute shit that morning, so maybe that had something to do with it. And also... it's St. Louis. But still, it was the rail.

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

I think Springsteen's system probably comes pretty damn close to doing so. If they used it and gave out NO extra wristbands to anybody, then you'd have a pretty fair system.

People who collect wristbands (and I have seen them last tour and previous tour) are mental cases, it might behoove them to step back for a second and re-prioritize their lives.

yeah that is true Springsteen's system is the most efficient one out there. I do wish they would follow this system. I would be satisfied if they did..

 

[ramblin rose]

Can you imagine how long it's going to take to scan everyone individually in stadiums?

It's going to be a nightmare if that's what they're intending to do.

 

[daygloeyes2]

Can you imagine how long it's going to take to scan everyone individually in stadiums?

It's going to be a nightmare if that's what they're intending to do.

Oy.

 

[mads]

Yeah, I imagine the lottery being a logistical nightmare in a stadium. It will definitely be interesting to see how they work it all out.

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

Can you imagine how long it's going to take to scan everyone individually in stadiums?

It's going to be a nightmare if that's what they're intending to do.

the big question here is will they have more than one entrance if so then they have to break up the line into several lines. So, more staff and equipment would need to be had to accomodate the amount of people going in so that all get scanned. So if they have say two entrances going in then can you imagine how many lines they would have to have to have it run in a timely manner.. I don't see this happening but it's doable..

 

[daygloeyes2]

the big question here is will they have more than one entrance if so then they have to break up the line into several lines. So, more staff and equipment would need to be had to accomodate the amount of people going in so that all get scanned. So if they have say two entrances going in then can you imagine how many lines they would have to have to have it run in a timely manner.. I don't see this happening but it's doable..

I'm going with at least one person to 2 shows. We didn't get tickets together, so I don't know if well have the same gate number. And she's picking her ticket up via will call before the show. If we have different gate entrances and we both don't scan in, we won't be together. I'm kind of hoping that the assigned gate won't matter, for that reason.

 

[ramblin rose]

I'm going with at least one person to 2 shows. We didn't get tickets together, so I don't know if well have the same gate number. And she's picking her ticket up via will call before the show. If we have different gate entrances and we both don't scan in, we won't be together. I'm kind of hoping that the assigned gate won't matter, for that reason.

I don't think gate numbers are assigned for GA's in the US. I think that is a European phenomena. This makes it all the more problematic since they would have to separate the line once it's already formed if they wanted to have several lines.

 

[popbellydancer]

ok, so i'm wrong and you can get rail by not camping out. that is all thanks to the lottery too. i guess i blocked out of my memory this happening. but now that you mention it there was a time when the people behind me got in and got rail when i didn't...because they showed up at 10 am and i camped out. but they "won" and i didn't.


and yes, i'm in agreement that it will be a clusterf*** if they try to do the lottery at a stadium. that's actually why a rep (craig evans) from live nation said (pre-hawaii) that they could NEVER use THAT system in stadiums. it would take too long no matter how much man power they had. so maybe they will do springsteens system afterall. that one is doable in stadiums i hear.

oh, and yes...it gets worse as the tour goes along, and it's true on the first leg of elevation you could show up in the mid morning and get rail. however, at the first vertigo show in san diego people were there overnight. and i went to 20 (ish) shows and never saw a time where the line hadn't got sizeable by 7 am.

whatever... i think you all know where i stand on this subject. i HATE the lottery, and i will never like it.

 

[popbellydancer]

People got hip to saving their wristbands. None of this was BECAUSE of the lottery...people would do it anyways.

people who went to 15 plus shows and NEVER scanned got sick of it and didn't have a choice if they didn't want to be by the soundboard every night. again, maybe fans wouldn't have been as likely to save wristbands and re-use them, had the people (alison) running the lottery been fair and ran it fairly and kept everything on the up and up.

i wrote the following in another thread a while ago, but after being attacked by an interferencer i had the posts taken down. it's not worth it sometimes to state WHY you have an opinion on these boards, because often you aren't allowed to it by some people.

anyway, basically i told the story of my fiancee (his nickname is jesus matt) who started the line one night in NJ on the 1st leg of vertigo. it was his birthday. he had a cake for the people in line and offered some to the security and alison. this was back when the number one person who went thru the turnstile first still won the lottery. well, jesus matt goes in. alison stops him before he get to the scanner, she calls matt from atu2.com over with his CHILD, and makes atu2 matt scan in first BEFORE my fiancee! atu2 matt hesitated...knowing already what she was doing, why she was doing it, and that it was WRONG. she took his ticket, scanned it...atu2 matt and his 10 year old (ish) kid get to go in first, and she f***ed my matt over. i think that you will all agree how WRONG that was! btw, atu2 matt posted a public apology on his site to my matt, knowing how messed up it was. he stated that although it was a great night for him, he felt guilty and bad about the fact that she did that just because he had a kid. he stated that you shouldn't have to have a kid to get up close/inside the circle to see u2. that if you waited overnight and were first in line and then stopped and had a kid pushed in front of you for a stage gimmick, its WRONG! he ended by saying how this was a class A example of all that was wrong with the lottery.

if ANY one here wants to tell me how good the lottery is...now you know where i'm coming from. fyi, my man went to something like 19 shows on the vertigo tour, and never once won the lottery. everyone is welcome to their opinion, and i understand it was a wonderful thing for some, but it was a painful sad experience for others.

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

^ well I can tell I never said that the lottery system was a good one. Just so you know I am not one of those people. I was there first nite of vertigo in SD and it was a fiasco to say the least. I never liked this system either and never will. I think that the Springsteen system is really the only way to handle the situation successfully, anything else is just not effective in the way it was intended to be.


My situation for last tour, went to 10 shows and my ticket never scanned. My friend's scanned once in LA so I got in then. The second time was in Vegas and the guy before me scanned in but said he didn't want to go inside the ellipse so he gave me his scan and I got in.

 

[popbellydancer]

^ well I can tell I never said that the lottery system was a good one. Just so you know I am not one of those people. I was there first nite of vertigo in SD and it was a fiasco to say the least. I never liked this system either and never will. I think that the Springsteen system is really the only way to handle the situation successfully, anything else is just not effective in the way it was intended to be.


My situation for last tour, went to 10 shows and my ticket never scanned. My friend's scanned once in LA so I got in then. The second time was in Vegas and the guy before me scanned in but said he didn't want to go inside the ellipse so he gave me his scan and I got in.

oh, i didn't mean you. no one who has posted in this thread!

if you have to do a lottery springsteens sounds ok. i would prefer (and don't understand wha'ts wrong with) old school ga.

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

oh, i didn't mean you. no one who has posted in this thread!

if you have to do a lottery springsteens sounds ok. i would prefer (and don't understand wha'ts wrong with) old school ga.

i know just wanted to make my opinion known.

I liked old school GA too.. I imagine the european shows will be this way tho. So I guess I will get to experience it again in Dublin..

 

[anitram]

if you have to do a lottery springsteens sounds ok. i would prefer (and don't understand wha'ts wrong with) old school ga.

I think it's pretty obvious that the BAND thinks there is something wrong with the old school lining up, since they're the ones who came up with the idea of the lottery. Likely they (Larry?) think there is something off about seeing the same people in the front row of 50 shows, but unfortunately they have not managed to come up with a system that really works.

I absolutely wish they would do what Springsteen does. There would be no lining up whatsoever, and every night you'd have different people upfront. A true luck of the draw. I have enormous respect for how Springsteen runs his tickets in general. Best in the business, by far.

 

[ramblin rose]

Yeah, it's just too bad that U2 wants a random entry but isn't willing to put in the time and effort it takes to organize it. Letting people from Live Nation or Clear Channel handle it is just passing the buck to people who couldn't care less whether or not the system is fair or random. That's why Bruce has his own people handle it.

 

[Diemen]

fyi, my man went to something like 19 shows on the vertigo tour, and never once won the lottery.

I hope your man is smart enough to realize how lucky he was for being able to see U2 19 times in one tour from any viewpoint and isn't holding a grudge because he didn't get to be in one particular part of the arena for those 19 shows.

 

[U2morrow]

^ Yeah seriously.

 

[tryan101]

^^ was thinking the same.

 

[fishlips]

Don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I was 2 fer 2 getting into the ellipse for Vertigo. My ticket never got scanned in, but both times the person I was with got in.

I didn't realize how lucky I was until reading some of the posts here.

 

[corianderstem]

I scanned in once out of five times.

 

[anitram]

I hope your man is smart enough to realize how lucky he was for being able to see U2 19 times in one tour from any viewpoint and isn't holding a grudge because he didn't get to be in one particular part of the arena for those 19 shows.

This bears repeating.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I think it's pretty obvious that the BAND thinks there is something wrong with the old school lining up, since they're the ones who came up with the idea of the lottery. Likely they (Larry?) think there is something off about seeing the same people in the front row of 50 shows, but unfortunately they have not managed to come up with a system that really works.

Larry would so be the one to complain about seeing the same people. Bono probably wouldn't even notice

You know what bugs me about all the complaining about the lottery? That a lot of it is from people who get to go to multiple shows. Think of the person who can only afford or is only able to attend one show, though. Think of how awesome it would be for that person to get the chance to be close, even if he or she can't line up at 5 a.m. That's the cool thing about the lottery system, that everybody gets a chance.

I did GA three times on the last tour and didn't get in the ellipse. It wasn't the end of the world. I had a great time at all three shows.

 

[brettredmaye]

My Sheffield ticket is a standard ticketaster ticket without a barcode so does not look like UK fans will be getting tickets scanned.

 

[trainspotter]

My Sheffield ticket is a standard ticketaster ticket without a barcode so does not look like UK fans will be getting tickets scanned.

Good point. Maybe we will throw two dice and get in to the circle if we score 11 or more.

 

[VintagePunk]

You know what bugs me about all the complaining about the lottery? That a lot of it is from people who get to go to multiple shows. Think of the person who can only afford or is only able to attend one show, though. Think of how awesome it would be for that person to get the chance to be close, even if he or she can't line up at 5 a.m. That's the cool thing about the lottery system, that everybody gets a chance.

I did GA three times on the last tour and didn't get in the ellipse. It wasn't the end of the world. I had a great time at all three shows.

I agree that it's great that a local person only attending one show who can't line up early gets the chance to enter the ellipse. However, I think the problem here, and what some of the "complainers" are talking about is that because of the way the line was administered, the supposedly equal chance for everyone wasn't quite as equal as it should have been.

At the beginning of the tour, we were told that everyone, from the first person entering to the last had an equal chance of being buzzed in, and that the "winner" was allowed to take one other person with them. But as the tour went on, those rules were stretched and bent to the extent that they were barely recognizable. If you have groups of 4, 6, or 8 people being allowed in early in the line, that's going to automatically take chances away from people further back in the line. I want to make it clear, I honestly don't begrudge larger groups who got to go in together - they didn't make (or break) the rules, it was Alison who arbitrarily decided which people could enter in large groups, and which had to stick to the 2 person maximum.

Also, there were a couple of times where I wasn't able to line up early, so I went later thinking that I'd at least go through the scan and have a chance to get in the ellipse. But by the time I got there, WELL before the opening band started - the scanning table was packed up and put away. I was told that this was because U2 wanted the ellipse full before they went on, but that excuse doesn't wash, there was still lots of time to permit people in before U2 went on.

Two of us attended 8 shows, so that's 16 potential scanning opportunities, and we didn't scan in once. I think I figured out at the time that there was a 1 in 6 or 8 chance of each person scanning in at each show (those numbers could be off a bit, I can't remember exactly, at this point). So, when you have odds like that, and the number of chances that we did, and fail to scan even once, and additionally, you know that the rules have been bent, I think it's fairly normal to attribute your bad luck to the unfairness of the system. That said, if the rules had been consistent and upheld throughout the tour, due to pure random chance, there still would have been people who scanned in many times with fewer chances, and there still would have been people who had many chances (such as us) who didn't scan in at all. But at least then we'd know it was purely due to bad luck, as opposed to the system not being administered as the rules stated it would be.

In my case, I'm not complaining, just stating the facts as I saw them. I still had an amazing time at all the shows I attended. I just wish that they would be more consistent in their approach. If they're going to allow larger groups in, say so, and apply those numbers to all people. If they're going to be packing up the scanning table at random times, let people know when to be there by, so they can get scanned. As it was, it was pretty much left up to Alison's whims.