GA Line Controversy @ RoseBowl-What happened?

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Mrs. Garrison said:
This entitlement notion has really gone way too far here...its bringing out the absolute worst in some people as seen by the Rose Bowl incident.
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Bingo

And it has stopped being about the actual music and it's become about how close you can get how many times-no matter what you have to do to get it. If that's what being a "real fan" means then that's a joke.

I went to one show and I stayed in the back of GA, by choice. Could have gone to the front and I got to the line about 2:30 and did everything completely legit. But I didn't want to deal with any bs from other people and I didn't have to. It was great. Don't think anyone in the front of that GA enjoyed it any more than I did. It was about the music for me, not how close I was to Bono.
 
What I find funny about this entire discussion, is that the population of people actually involved in trying to get a good rail spot, camping out etc. is probably less than 1% of those who attend the shows.

Who cares? If this <1% wants to camp out, spend hours in line etc. what is the big deal? Live and let live. If other people don't want to camp out or spend hours in line that's their perogative also, they're not being forced to stand in line just because they have a GA ticket are they?

In the end it's a tiny fraction of the audience, it can't be that big a deal can it?



When I want a good spot on the inner or outer rail I spend hours in line, when I want to relax the day of the show I get there when I feel like it and stand whereever, when I want a good spot but don't feel like waiting hours in line I go to the Red Zone.

I worry about my position, not everyone else's that's going to the show.
 
ramblin rose said:
What I find funny about this entire discussion, is that the population of people actually involved in trying to get a good rail spot, camping out etc. is probably less than 1% of those who attend the shows.

Who cares? If this <1% wants to camp out, spend hours in line etc. what is the big deal? Live and let live. If other people don't want to camp out or spend hours in line that's their perogative also, they're not being forced to stand in line just because they have a GA ticket are they?

In the end it's a tiny fraction of the audience, it can't be that big a deal can it?



When I want a good spot on the inner or outer rail I spend hours in line, when I want to relax the day of the show I get there when I feel like it and stand whereever, when I want a good spot but don't feel like waiting hours in line I go to the Red Zone.

I worry about my position, not everyone else's that's going to the show.
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:up:
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
Bingo

And it has stopped being about the actual music and it's become about how close you can get how many times-no matter what you have to do to get it. If that's what being a "real fan" means then that's a joke.

I went to one show and I stayed in the back of GA, by choice. Could have gone to the front and I got to the line about 2:30 and did everything completely legit. But I didn't want to deal with any bs from other people and I didn't have to. It was great. Don't think anyone in the front of that GA enjoyed it any more than I did. It was about the music for me, not how close I was to Bono.
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:up::up::hug:
 
I'm sorry if my tongue in cheek suggestion was taken seriously. I don't really think that the band should hire Alex Trebek to proctor exams for the lineup; although I'd love to see Will Farrell do it as Alex Trebek.

The other signs of fandom question was a throw out as bait to see if there were any other funny ideas. Maybe the number band related tatoos gets you up front?? Legally changed your name to "Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car"? you just passed the ink queen in line!

I procreated so that my son was born on 2/2/2, and my daughter shares a birthday with Bono. I figure the technical difficulties of pulling that off put me in line somewhere behind the ink queen, but in front of the guy with the birthmark of a naked well endowed Adam Clayton. I mean, it's cool (and humbling), but it's random luck.
 
So... with Anaheim being the first show of the next N.A. leg, anyone want to place bets on how the line will work?

a) camp all night for a good spot
b) show up the afternoon/night before, get a number, come back at 6am and have all be well
c) show up early, get a number, have it be completely meaningless by 7am the next day

:hmm:
 
60rosemount said:
The other signs of fandom question was a throw out as bait to see if there were any other funny ideas. Maybe the number band related tatoos gets you up front?? Legally changed your name to "Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car"? you just passed the ink queen in line!

.
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:hyper::hyper::hyper: :wink:
 
60rosemount said:
I procreated so that my son was born on 2/2/2, and my daughter shares a birthday with Bono. I figure the technical difficulties of pulling that off put me in line somewhere behind the ink queen, but in front of the guy with the birthmark of a naked well endowed Adam Clayton.
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Ha ha haaaaa!
 
zuropa_fit said:
So... with Anaheim being the first show of the next N.A. leg, anyone want to place bets on how the line will work?

a) camp all night for a good spot
b) show up the afternoon/night before, get a number, come back at 6am and have all be well
c) show up early, get a number, have it be completely meaningless by 7am the next day

:hmm:
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people should just begin getting their place in line on Jan 1st, that way when June rolls around they will be the "undisputed" #1 in line and nobody can take that away from them.

And Bono will give them an extra glance for being superfan royalty, and we shall all bow down and kiss and wash their feet, and it shall be good.
 
*Ally* said:
i know some people have tossed around the idea of using Bruce's system (where a number is drawn at random just before doors, and then that number becomes #1, and everyone else in line gets behind that person). i've never experienced it, but it seems just as random as the lottery that was used on Vertigo, so i don't like the idea of it. :(
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I went to see Bruce on this tour and did the lottery, it happened to be the 2nd biggest crowd for the lottery of the tour.It ran very well, every one knew that they had just as much chance at getting up front as anyone else.There was no pushing, fights, etc.I really think that it worked well and u2 should do it to before someone really gets hurt.

The lottery for bruce was is that you get a wrist band with a number, everyone lined up 1-100, 101 to 199 etc.Then someone drew a number out of a hat, the person with that number was the first one in. Say they drew 680, number 680 was first and 679 was last.Worked very well.
There was no reason to camp out etc.You just had to show up between 2-4 pm, then line up like at 5pm.
 
kitkat234 said:
The lottery for bruce was is that you get a wrist band with a number, everyone lined up 1-100, 101 to 199 etc.Then someone drew a number out of a hat, the person with that number was the first one in. Say they drew 680, number 680 was first and 679 was last.Worked very well.
There was no reason to camp out etc.You just had to show up between 2-4 pm, then line up like at 5pm.
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Father time here. So back in the olden days --you know, before fire and electricity and the Internet-- this system is how we used to, not line up for GA, but rather, how we purchased our concert tickets . . . at the Music+Plus.

In all my youthful years of buying tickets with that system, it never devolved into the kind of frantic, stressful, chaotic mess that was the Rose Bowl GA line at about 4:30 p.m. October 25, '09.
 
FitzChivalry said:
Father time here. So back in the olden days --you know, before fire and electricity and the Internet-- this system is how we used to, not line up for GA, but rather, how we purchased our concert tickets . . . at the Music+Plus.

In all my youthful years of buying tickets with that system, it never devolved into the kind of frantic, stressful, chaotic mess that was the Rose Bowl GA line at about 4:30 p.m. October 25, '09.
Click to expand...

I used to manage a M+ (back in those same olden days) and I'd say that 99% of the time this system was effective, the one significant exception being a particular sale for Rolling Stones / Guns 'N Roses, which was so f'ed up I don't think any system would have worked.
 
FitzChivalry said:
Father time here. So back in the olden days --you know, before fire and electricity and the Internet-- this system is how we used to, not line up for GA, but rather, how we purchased our concert tickets . . . at the Music+Plus.

In all my youthful years of buying tickets with that system, it never devolved into the kind of frantic, stressful, chaotic mess that was the Rose Bowl GA line at about 4:30 p.m. October 25, '09.
Click to expand...

I recall back in the GOOD OLD DAYS when the only ticket vendor was TICKETRON and only available at Sears and Montgomery Wards... :)
 
Last year I was at a local grocery store and went to the back customer service desk to mail something - the desk opened at 10. There was a huge line back there, mostly comprised of middle-aged men and women.

My first reaction was, "Oh shit, I just want to mail this one thing, it's going to take forever!" Finally I figured out they were waiting for something very specific, so asked the guy closest to me.

AC/DC tickets went on sale at 10. I couldn't believe Ticketmaster hadn't even occurred to me! It had been so long since I'd heard of anyone buying tickets at a TM outlet, rather than online or even over the phone.

I'll just assume they didn't have internet access, and at least knew they had the option of buying online.
 
romi said:
hey guys. I was not in Pasadena, but wanted to add my feelings on a lottery: Bad idea.

If there was a lottery, I would be forced to show up much earlier, knowing that all of the outer rail spots would be taken by people who didn't scan in.
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Didn't that happen a lot during the Vertigo tour?

And lottery or not, people are going to camp out and show up early.
 
What did I say???? :sad: I tried to make light of it because there was no real answer that wouldn't make me look like a twit, so I tried to make it such a broad range that it was laughable.

Sorry, guys. Meant no offense.
 
corianderstem said:
Last year I was at a local grocery store and went to the back customer service desk to mail something - the desk opened at 10. There was a huge line back there, mostly comprised of middle-aged men and women.

My first reaction was, "Oh shit, I just want to mail this one thing, it's going to take forever!" Finally I figured out they were waiting for something very specific, so asked the guy closest to me.

AC/DC tickets went on sale at 10. I couldn't believe Ticketmaster hadn't even occurred to me! It had been so long since I'd heard of anyone buying tickets at a TM outlet, rather than online or even over the phone.

I'll just assume they didn't have internet access, and at least knew they had the option of buying online.
Click to expand...

I imagine some either didn't have or didn't want to use credit or debit cards either.


Mrs. Garrison said:
people should just begin getting their place in line on Jan 1st, that way when June rolls around they will be the "undisputed" #1 in line and nobody can take that away from them.

And Bono will give them an extra glance for being superfan royalty, and we shall all bow down and kiss and wash their feet, and it shall be good.
Click to expand...

Are you sure Bono's extra glance (and everyone else falling at their feet) would just be because of the awful smell?

;)
 
The point was that the people who started the numbering the night before were supposed to have the confidence of the security management that the line would not begin until 7am the next morning. That was a lie and the 2 girls claiming that they worked for U2 lined up at 2am. I just feel that we (the people with numbers the night before) were punished for trying to co-operate with the security team. Maybe we should not be allowed to start the day before but there is no difference between the people that got numbers on Saturday and the people that spent the night against Rose Bowl wishes to start a whole new line. That is why I feel like the Saturday numbers should have been honored before the new line of people that got there at 2am.

I was used to GA line anxiety and drama from previous experience but my 50 year old mother, on the other hand, was not and she actually fainted due to a spike in her blood pressure in the middle of the show(at the end of UTEOTW) and was taken to hospital by the paramedics at the Rose Bowl. I do blame the way the line was handled and i do blame the fact that at 4pm the line turned into an utter mob of chaos and ass-hole wankers. I do believe that the security was incompetent and ill prepared. YET... it was, somewhat, a blessing in disguise because while my mom was in the hospital after fainting they found 90% blockage in one of her arteries and they put a stint in it to correct the problem.

The bottom line is that my mom was pretty close to a potential heart attack :/ Fainting at the U2 show pretty much saved her from that..which begs the question... can't Bono stop saving people's lives for one minute, lol?

But seriously I want to thank all of the people around us that caught my mom after she fainted and then assisted us in getting through the crowd and over the rail to get out of there. Thanks to the guy who said he and his wife would pray for her and thanks to the fans that asked about her after the fact. This is what reminds me that U2 fans are generally great people and it only takes a handful of bad apples to screw things up. My mom is fine by the way and she has a proper seat for Anaheim now, haha. See you guys there.

Live Long and Prosper \V/_
-------
Molly Ultra (Formerly zooperson) uhhh, just call me Jessica!
 
Molly_Ultra said:
I was used to GA line anxiety and drama from previous experience but my 50 year old mother, on the other hand, was not and she actually fainted due to a spike in her blood pressure in the middle of the show(at the end of UTEOTW) and was taken to hospital by the paramedics at the Rose Bowl. I do blame the way the line was handled and i do blame the fact that at 4pm the line turned into an utter mob of chaos and ass-hole wankers. I do believe that the security was incompetent and ill prepared. YET... it was, somewhat, a blessing in disguise because while my mom was in the hospital after fainting they found 90% blockage in one of her arteries and they put a stint in it to correct the problem.

The bottom line is that my mom was pretty close to a potential heart attack :/ Fainting at the U2 show pretty much saved her from that..which begs the question... can't Bono stop saving people's lives for one minute, lol?

But seriously I want to thank all of the people around us that caught my mom after she fainted and then assisted us in getting through the crowd and over the rail to get out of there. Thanks to the guy who said he and his wife would pray for her and thanks to the fans that asked about her after the fact. This is what reminds me that U2 fans are generally great people and it only takes a handful of bad apples to screw things up. My mom is fine by the way and she has a proper seat for Anaheim now, haha. See you guys there.

Live Long and Prosper \V/_
-------
Molly Ultra (Formerly zooperson) uhhh, just call me Jessica!
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Glad your Mom is okay. It was crazy on the floor close to the stage. We had multiple people faint around us. It was scary. I hope your Mom enjoys Anaheim.
 
Biggest issue with the GA line was the way they let it in. Horrible and very unsafe!

How to fix this? Simple.

1) Live Nation and/or Principle Mgt need to have a representative there the day before - hey, they have other crew there early.
That, that rep can liason between GA line members and event staff - securing that all are on the same page with what is and isn't.

This will also alleviate the so-called 'line nazis' that take over lines and bully others to get their way. With one rep that calls the shots and verifies that with the line and event staff - GA line problems will be gone.

2) Issue two? The the way the line is let in. You cannot have a cattle call of people crowded when it's time to let in. That was the biggest f*ckup.

The answer is simple and I've seen it work great at other shows. At 4PM they should line people back up by number... SINGLE FILE. (Some venues did that on the last few tours and all went swimmingly).

3) When they let the single file line in... do it 100 at a time. When they are down to the last 10 or so... let the next 100. The line will go in fast and no one will get trampled. (Again, it has other times this has been used)

Trampled? Yes, a few got trampled at the Rose Bowl. In fact, a friend of mine got hurt pretty bad over some jerk not only pushing her to the ground, but stepping on her to get past her. Hurt? She needs to have her ankle operated on. Proof positive that change needs to happen to make GA safer.

As for the line someone made about "for every Rose Bowl security person who screwed this thing up, there's easily 2 or 3 fans that did the very same thing" - The fact of the matter is... The it is the securities job to be sure to maintain order, peace and safety. And they did not do that. Yes some fans failed. But that wouldn't have happened if security wasn't shit and allowed for that to happen.

That is not 'blaming others' that is their job and they failed at doing their job and people got hurt - even if they are only part-time and are not getting paid much more than minimum wage... Order, peace and safety are their job. And having someone from Live Nation and/or Principle Mgt oversee that the security and the security supervisors are doing the right things and the right times and in a fair and orderly fashion will = less drama and no injuries.

No one wants anyone to get hurt. No one wants what happened with The Who (Cincinnati) in the 1970's. But if they do not take the proper steps of oversite... someone is going to get more than hurt.
 
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