The List Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way - All GA Line Drama Discussions Here

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More to the point, why do it a dozen times in a row or whatever. If you're seeing as many shows as some of these yahoos, I can see lining up to get a rail spot once or even twice, and then just go in and grab a different spot to see things from a different perspective (which as you say will still be mere feet from some portion of the stage) on other nights. But I guess you have to have Bono notice you every night. Insanity.

That's what I never got about the 2001 Boston incident. If you weren't going to be able to have a front spot, then why not check out another area where they usually hang out? Change it up a bit and get that different perspective, instead of sitting on the floor and not enjoying a show because you were only up front 14 of 15 shows.

I think it comes down to something missing in people's lives otherwise though. So in their minds, anything less than rail or whatever is an automatic failure. And to be fair, I do see less than this entitlement from tour to tour. Nothing close to what I heard it was at first anyway.
 
Some people tried to clarify this online. Apparently eople curious about the GA process should already know about it since "it's all online," and it's their fault for not looking it up on social media or websites that don't belong to the actual venue. So, you know, it's their fault. :cute:
That is such horse shit.

The normal person would try to Google the answer, and you can't find any information of a GA line "on the Strip in front of NYNY with twice daily check ins" anywhere when you Google "U2 GA Las Vegas"

So you're acting under the assumption that only fans who are active on message boards or in Facebook groups are interested in getting a rail spot - which is a giant load of crap and inherently unfair.


If you want to wait... wait. Wait at the venue. If you can't because they won't let you, show up when they let you. If you don't get rail because of this? Get on with your fucking life. Worse things could happen, and you're still going to end up with a hell of a spot.
 
Some people tried to clarify this online. Apparently eople curious about the GA process should already know about it since "it's all online," and it's their fault for not looking it up on social media or websites that don't belong to the actual venue. So, you know, it's their fault. :cute:

Ive seen this too. Like its only available to social media mavens who spend hours per day online. If this were true then how come they don't take an extra 5 minutes to post it on fan sites and U2.com? If they were truly being transparent and fair to everyone then they'd do this. This always bugged the shit out of me. Personally i dont care if they want to work with the venue on helping make a smooth GA process but it has to be fair.
 
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Some people tried to clarify this online. Apparently eople curious about the GA process should already know about it since "it's all online," and it's their fault for not looking it up on social media or websites that don't belong to the actual venue. So, you know, it's their fault. :cute:

Exactly . If there's a thing on the internet, everyone who has the internet should know that the thing exists. I mean, really.

:hmm:
 
Yeah, most of those asshats have blocked me because I keep bringing up fans that aren't connected via the message boards and stupid Facebook groups. I'm a hater and not really a fan. LOL.


lmao put me on the list of haters then too I'm sure one of them is hating me for posting the super secret instructions on here! I'm so stoked I scored GAs for tomorrow night (I still have 1 extra in case anyone needs one let me know!) and I will stroll in at 8 pm, grab a beer, not have rail, Bono will not notice me, I will be right behind the super secret list people who have been checking in all week, and guess what? We will all be seeing the same damn show. LOL gotta love it.
 
But how can you ever feel fulfilled without Bono spitting water in your face for the fifth show in a row?
 
This is the first time I'm hearing about any "list" ...wtf? Like, how is this a legitimate thing? I always figured it was first come, first served for whoever shows up at the arena according to the venue's designated box office hours.

What about the wrist-bands? Aren't those given out according to whoever arrives first on the day of the concert? I'd be pretty pissed to be the first one at the venue, then handed ticket #87 or whatever (and yeah, I know you'll still have a great spot, but it's the principle of the thing...).

Has anyone confronted these "list" creators and told them to just, I dunno, fuck off or something?
Is this common in other fan communities?

I'm just having trouble seeing how some arbitrary fan list is taking precedent over the standard concert line procedure.
Can anyone just start a list?

this is stupid lol.


EDIT: and how long has this been a thing??
 
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Someone asked recently on the secret LA fb page when the LA1 list starts. The Vegas shows haven't even started yet! I was tempted to tell them it already has, dont you have the app? [emoji23]
 
This is the first time I'm hearing about any "list" ...wtf? Like, how is this a legitimate thing? I always figured it was first come, first served for whoever shows up at the arena according to the venue's designated box office hours.

What about the wrist-bands? Aren't those given out according to whoever arrives first on the day of the concert? I'd be pretty pissed to be the first one at the venue, then handed ticket #87 or whatever (and yeah, I know you'll still have a great spot, but it's the principle of the thing...).

Has anyone confronted these "list" creators and told them to just, I dunno, fuck off or something?
Is this common in other fan communities?

I'm just having trouble seeing how some arbitrary fan list is taking precedent over the standard concert line procedure.
Can anyone just start a list?

this is stupid lol.


EDIT: and how long has this been a thing??

For years...at least back to Elevation tour in 2001, yes it is stupid, except for those who must be on the front rail every night. With the current and IE tour was totally pointless though
 
Again, I just don't understand.

I showed up when Bono arrived at the venue in San Jose, and he didn't get to the people in our little group. These people were shouting to security about not getting a chance to get him to sign their album covers for the upteenth time.

I love U2, but what is it about these people that need so much attention from the members of the band? What joy could you possibly get from Bono recognizing you, but not actually liking you enough for you to be his actual friend? Is that why they HAVE to be on the rail? Makes zero sense.
 
The earliest I showed up for a JT show was about 630pm, because I have better things to do than wait in a line for hours / days. Still got decent spots every time.
 
i don't know why i hyphenated "wristband" lol

:drunk:


But back to the "list":
For years...at least back to Elevation tour in 2001
Whaaa?? Can't believe I'm just now hearing about this. My wife and I attended two Joshua Tree concerts and recognized this same group of people hanging about the railing on our second show (they stood out because my wife and one of the women in the group had a minor clashing teehee).

Could they have have been privy to said online List?

But then again, they might have thought the same about us :ohmy: Oh what a tangled world wide web we weave...

Wonder how these hinders's List-makers (yeah, even I groaned while typing that hah) felt about the whole lottery system w/ the Vertigo tour :hmm:
 
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I think this really started becoming a thing on 360, and then exploded on i/e.

There were "line runners" and there certainly were some shenanigans involving people trying to cut the line before then, but I feel that on Elevation and Vertigo people for the most part got to the venue and camped out... which I am totally fine with and try not to judge those who do it often.

Somewhere on 360 is when we started getting these multi-day secret lists starting in random parking garages and In And Out Burgers.
 
Yeah there were folks on Elevation and Vertigo who were always at/near front of line (and thus we have our Boston DVD hole in the heart incident, which again as a Bostonian I must reiterate was not perpetrated by local fans) but there were less shenanigans with check ins and not actually being on site ,though there were still some, people held spots for friends, putting their names down even though they didn't show up till later.
Basically starting with Elevation the entitled have adapted their ways of gaming the system to get the rail for each tour, now using social media as a way to communicate amongst themselves and get ahead of the general public, depriving locals of the best spots in their home cities. But they'll tell you to your face U2 fandom is all about peace and love etc. then they'll shove you right out f the spot to which they feel entitled.
 
I think this really started becoming a thing on 360, and then exploded on i/e.

There were "line runners" and there certainly were some shenanigans involving people trying to cut the line before then, but I feel that on Elevation and Vertigo people for the most part got to the venue and camped out... which I am totally fine with and try not to judge those who do it often.

Somewhere on 360 is when we started getting these multi-day secret lists starting in random parking garages and In And Out Burgers.

I wasn’t really in the touring aspect of things during the Elevation and Vertigo eras, so I can’t speak to that. But in my experience on the I&E and 360 tours, I always got the impression that it was a bit more lax than it was before that? At least in terms of people being conniving or trying to keep things a secret anyway. One would imagine that kind of thing would have been a bit easier in 2001 or so as well.

Heck, I don't even tend to notice any "superfans" at shows nowadays either, or at least ones who literally do go from show to show, or demand the best spots every time, or get snippy with people when they think they're interfering with that somehow. I see lots of familiar faces and people who do want to grab Bono's attention or whatever. But they're usually spread out amongst everyone towards the front of the line, from what I gather. I'm sure a few people like that are still out there, but I haven't really noticed anything like that at the shows I've attended since 2015.

What I tend to find is that a lot of these lists are now “started” by people who live in the area, since they know about the system fans have used before. And yeah, while the parking lot and coffee place situations are just plain weird, I don’t get a vibe that people are trying to keep it a secret as much as fans might have done back in the day. Heck, when I did the whole “list” thing for one show last summer, the people running it allowed me to take a picture of the “list” and contact info, and even asked me to tell others or post online where they were or where they planned to be if venue security told them to leave. They weren’t exactly saying “Shhhhh!” or telling me I wasn’t a superfan and couldn’t be on it, lol.

I think the most drama I ever saw for a list was after one of the Chicago shows in 2015. Someone who didn’t attend that night’s show came by and started the next night’s list as the show was still going on. Then when a few of the GA people got out of the current show and found out about it, they started a whole other list and one of them went to security to make sure theirs would be the “actual” one used. When security said they wouldn’t obey any list then, people started arguing and I even saw a grown 40-something man scream “I just wanted it to be fair!!!” This tragic “crisis" was averted, thankfully, when everyone finally agreed to go by the original guy’s list with a few adjustments... and I’m sure people were probably a whole two feet closer or further away from where they would have been anyway. :huh:
 
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I think this really started becoming a thing on 360, and then exploded on i/e.

There were "line runners" and there certainly were some shenanigans involving people trying to cut the line before then, but I feel that on Elevation and Vertigo people for the most part got to the venue and camped out... which I am totally fine with and try not to judge those who do it often.

Somewhere on 360 is when we started getting these multi-day secret lists starting in random parking garages and In And Out Burgers.
Yeah, the not having to be in line lists started on 360. The worst being Anaheim where people were signed up by proxy. I knew people who weren't even in the state who were on the list.

I will say there are less of those kind of shenanigans now but it's still fucking ridiculous.

At Cleveland last year a brave group challenged the list and partially succeeded. They were of course called line jumpers.
 
And yeah, while the parking lot and coffee place situations are just plain weird, I don’t get a vibe that people are trying to keep it a secret as much as fans might have done back in the day.

They still keep it 'secret' until the super entitled and their friends all take up the first 20-30 spots on the list at every show. And then they become these Mother Theresa fans who assure others that the whole thing would descend into chaos if they weren't there providing this amazing 'service' to other fans.

And if you started a 'list' before you got there as a local? Well, maybe if you didn't tell them to fuck off, they would 'let' you be #1 but would still run past you and paper doll the front row. And even if you did tell them to fuck off, well, they'd do the same thing. I've seen some of them in tears because they had to stand 10 feet away from the spot they 'wanted' for the show (still on the rail, mind, just further from Bono's back foot than they think they deserved to be). It really is sick... at what point does it stop becoming fun?

Again, I just don't understand.

I showed up when Bono arrived at the venue in San Jose, and he didn't get to the people in our little group. These people were shouting to security about not getting a chance to get him to sign their album covers for the upteenth time.

I love U2, but what is it about these people that need so much attention from the members of the band? What joy could you possibly get from Bono recognizing you, but not actually liking you enough for you to be his actual friend? Is that why they HAVE to be on the rail? Makes zero sense.

Some of them definitely have obsession issues, and I really think they need help. Like how MANY times do you need to meet Bono? Sad part is, Bono is bad for encouraging it too because he has a good memory and he's too nice to ignore the serial-meeters. A lot of them really do believe they are 'friends' with them and that they 'look' for them in these lines. Don't think for one second they wouldn't stomp on your head if you got ahead of them to meet Bono either, and if you got ahead of them for the rail there are also plenty of incidents where they would make your show miserable too. It actually scares me a bit how some of these people function on a day to day basis where everything they do/see/hear they can somehow relate to U2... Twitter is especially revealing for this craziness too.
 
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They still keep it 'secret' until the super entitled and their friends all take up the first 20-30 spots on the list at every show. And then they become these Mother Theresa fans who assure others that the whole thing would descend into chaos if they weren't there providing this amazing 'service' to other fans.

And if you started a 'list' before you got there as a local? Well, maybe if you didn't tell them to fuck off, they would 'let' you be #1 but would still run past you and paper doll the front row. And even if you did tell them to fuck off, well, they'd do the same thing. I've seen some of them in tears because they had to stand 10 feet away from the spot they 'wanted' for the show (still on the rail, mind, just further from Bono's back foot than they think they deserved to be). It really is sick... at what point does it stop becoming fun?

I don't disagree. I'm not sure if people are still putting their 30 comrades at the front for every show these days, but the people who start these lists certainly aren't doing it for the service aspect or whatever. It's to be up front and getting the spot they want. And I know some of them do put their wife or a few friends up with them (as I've seen that happen). Then when the "regular" people sign up, they can't put in their friend that's flying in the next day or whatever. I'm not sure if there is a completely "fair" system out there, but this certainly isn't the most saintly one either. Others might have their cons too, but this is the only band where I've ever seen this much drama for a flipping GA spot at times.

Some of them definitely have obsession issues, and I really think they need help. Like how MANY times do you need to meet Bono? Sad part is, Bono is bad for encouraging it too because he has a good memory and he's too nice to ignore the serial-meeters. A lot of them really do believe they are 'friends' with them and that they 'look' for them in these lines. Don't think for one second they wouldn't stomp on your head if you got ahead of them to meet Bono either, and if you got ahead of them for the rail there are also plenty of incidents where they would make your show miserable too. It actually scares me a bit how some of these people function on a day to day basis where everything they do/see/hear they can somehow relate to U2... Twitter is especially revealing for this craziness too.

I think most bands have fans like that to some extent. Or at least the bigger ones do anyway. But I will say that I have never seen it as bad for others as it is for this one. The GA drama, the whole band worship thing among a select few... I mean, I'm a big enough fan that I'll post here or try to meet the band on occasion or get a good spot wherever. But it's not the end of the world for me if these things don't happen or don't regularly. For some people, I'm not sure if I can say the same for them!
 
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I think most bands have fans like that to some extent. Or at least the bigger ones do anyway. But I will say that I have never seen it as bad for others as it is for this one. The GA drama, the whole band worship thing among a select few... I mean, I'm a big enough fan that I'll post here or try to meet the band on occasion or get a good spot wherever. But it's not the end of the world for me if these things don't happen or don't regularly. For some people, I'm not sure if I can say the same for them!

I have two words: Tori Amos, the way her fans act you'd think they were on her Christmas card list, and they're just as bad about the "gatekeeping" tactics they use to keep other fans from spending any time with her, you'd think she'd get sick of seeing the same faces over and over
 
U2 don't give a shit about seeing the same faces every show, or making GA access equal. if they did, any number of options exist, such as having a staggered entry to the floor based on the last digit of each ticket number, for example.

Sort of how they do it for boarding airplanes.

But that would create other logisitcal problems and as a result, nothing is done. Who freaking cares anyway.

People who need to be at the rail, who dream of autographs, who use selfies with Bono as their social media avatars - these people have other issues. Serious issues.
 
Wow, what if you don't live in one of those cities but are planning to travel there for a show.

And of course I assume lunatics will queue forever and make getting the best seats an endurance contest of its own.
 
Found the ga check in by t mobile arena, they weren’t giving out numbers for today...they’re for tomorrow
 
We went to Vegas 1, got into the venue at 6:40pm or so and were directly behind the numbered peeps. Brigitte (I think that's her name, French woman who goes to every show, has been on stage etc) was no 6 and directly in front of me. Totally not worth lining up for. She did get Larry's drumsticks, but eh I'm not lining up and checking in 5 days for that.
 
I honestly wonder what Brigette does for a living. She seems to have endless income - it’s insane - how can she just fly all over the world and take months seeing U2? She’s always wearing designer clothes too.
 
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