It's GA "line" shenanigan time!

[gvox]

So what would happen if I didn't join this unofficial list and simply showed up at the venue at the same time as the line leader, or even right before? Would I have a solid case for being first in line?

You would be first in line in my eyes

 

[mikal]

You would be first in line in my eyes

You've always been #1 in my heart.

 

[coolian2]

I used to wonder the same thing; surely Bono understands how memorable it is to a fan to get pulled up on stage, so why not let different people have that chance?

But someone (who did get pulled up on stage, once) explained it like this, and it makes sense now: Bono selects the same people again and again because they are people who have demonstrated that they know how to behave properly on stage. They don't freeze up like a deer in headlights, nor do they go crazy and start screaming or holding onto Bono and refusing to let go. He wants someone who can be calm enough to follow his instructions, but engaged enough to make it a fun or special moment in the show for the 99% of the audience who hasn't seen that person on stage before. This is more likely to be true for shows in high- profile locations (e.g. NY, LA, Chicago, London, Paris, etc), than at shows in low profile locations (e.g. Minneapolis). U2's security has often been keeping an eye on these repeat on-stage people in the GA lines to make sure they aren't crazy before they ever get pulled up the first time.

While I understand your second point and have heard it too, I'll never forget Vertigo in Auckland. Someone got pulled on stage for Mysterious Ways and afterwards I said "She looked a hell of a lot like the chick from the Chicago DVD......am I right?"

Yep. I was quite right.

 

[kittykat416]

I also agree that the lack of consistent policy from venues is a problem. Depending on who you talk to and on what day or at what time, the answers change. It would definitely help if venues published their GA lineup rules at least a few days in advance, and then stuck to those rules.

 

[cleazer]

This confusion and idiocy only further cements the idea that band management needs to step in and control things from soup to nuts.

People have been hoping that U2 would take over the system for years now. The fact that they haven't pretty much indicates that they're okay with the current system.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

People have been hoping that U2 would take over the system for years now. The fact that they haven't pretty much indicates that they're okay with the current system.

No it doesn't. It means they are indifferent.

 

[coolian2]

Maybe it's amusing to them?

 

[cleazer]

Maybe it's amusing to them?

 

[spaderholic]

I've been reading through every page of this thread with great interest and I've been quite flabbergasted by some of it! I know every fandom has it's overly keen fans but I never realised just how it is with some U2 fans!! I've always loved U2 purely for their music but have never got into the whole fandom side of things in a big way. I've been casually reading this forum, on and off, for years but, as you can see from my post count, haven't posted much. I'm more of a lurker.

I don't get why some fans feel that they have to be at the front at every single show they go to, especially when they go to so many of them! I don't know about anyone else but I would be totally embarrassed if I thought the band might think I was some obsessed fanatic who went to every (or almost every) night of a tour and always had to be at the front at every show! I'd imagine the band members seeing me for the umpteenth time and thinking "Oh God, not her AGAIN, always at the front, trying to attract my attention" or whatever! Always the same faces, night after night! If you're just going to one night of a tour then sure I can understand wanting to have a good vantage point for the gig. But is it necessary to be at the front for every single show? If you're seeing the same show over and over again wouldn't you want to at least mix things up a bit and see if from different vantage points in the venue? I would have thought that would keep things more interesting? I'm just puzzled by this.

I can only imagine that the band (whether they admit it or not) must surely get fed up of seeing always the same old faces at the front at every show. Maybe they think these fans are selfish for not giving other fans a chance to be up front, fans who may only be going to one concert.

Reading about the behaviour of some of these self-entitled fans I'm amazed to think this is the behaviour of adults!! Adults acting like spoilt children who have tantrums when things don't go their way. I'd expect this kind of behaviour from young girls at a Justin Bieber concert, not grown adults at a U2 concert! Hopefully it's only a tiny minority who behave in this immature way but it's a shame that there aren't different people up front at each show, purely to make it fresher and more exciting for the band themselves! I mean, how can someone who's seen the same show 20 times have the same amount of excitement, enthusiasm, energy and anticipation as someone who's seeing the show for the first time and doesn't know what to expect?

 

[gvox]

You've always been #1 in my heart.

 

[Dfit00]

It's unfortunate how this whole fiasco turned out in Boston at the Gillette Stadium, it's Massachusetts people, damn! Not even in the shithole of Miami you see this kind of shitfest happening.

Anyway, I think part of the problem is the fact that the current GA queue protocol that they are using for this tour is not organized nor effective. The band as well as the venues ought to use the same protocol they used for the 360 tour as well as previous tours, where the stadiums open up the parking lots at 8am, allowing all GA ticketholders to park their cars and start queuing by camping outside the entrance gate to the field, subsequently getting numbered/wristbanded and letting people in based on time of arrival. This protocol allowed a relaxed environment, fairness, sociability within the queue and the assurance that you were the owner of your spot in the line by camping there until the gates opened.

The protocol that they switched now is that you basically have to do these two:
- Show up to get numbered/wristbanded at whatever time each venue decides to do so.
- You then have to come back around 2:00pm-3:30pm to start the queue based on your number and hope to park your car if the venue has decided to already open the parking lot for the GA people.

Only then to be attacked by a mob of fans that got "checked in" the day before, or days before, by an unofficial check-in list system and fight for first spots in the line, causing nothing more than a complete shitshow full of cut-throat competition for the spots, hostility and disgrace.

 

[Axver]

The majority of fans are not on this forum. How is posting here of any use for Regular GA Ticketholder who is going by the venue's official information?

Look man, just posting it here so people can share if they wish in whatever ways they want/or not.

So, in other words, you are cool with brazenly flouting the venue's official policies that are provided to all ticketholders, and then expect the venue to follow the unofficial list instead?

I want you to answer this question directly. Stop avoiding it.

BTW, from your reaction (as you write that you protested) you're probably an entitled asshole too as you too tried to convince venue security you belonged there (and with your mention of using a 'closed facebook group' as an argument you seemed to know that there were people who were lining up for the concert longer than you were).

Wait, so this guy follows what security tell him to do, protests when they suddenly change their tune, and that makes him an "entitled asshole"? You can be so condescending at times.

 

[Popmartijn]

Wait, so this guy follows what security tell him to do, protests when they suddenly change their tune, and that makes him an "entitled asshole"? You can be so condescending at times.

Hey, that's not my opinion. It's what he thought of people following what security told them to do and then protest when security suddenly changed their tune.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

What should have happened in this scenario was a compromise... a mixing of the people who were following the posted rules but the venue and the people who were told otherwise by venue security. That would have been fair... alas, it likely wouldn't have gone over well with the numbered folk.

Which again... dead horse and all... the band's management team needs to step in and set uniformality across all venues.

 

[plp]

Hey, that's not my opinion. It's what he thought of people following what security told them to do and then protest when security suddenly changed their tune.

My "protest" consisted of asking the security guard, who had told me where and when to line up, why I was now being told to go to the back of the line. She explained that "higher ups" had made the decision to honor the unofficial numbers and that was that. And that's exactly what I did. The reason I called them entitled assholes is because they carried on like 5 year old children. I felt embarrassed for them. The whole thing was sad and comical at the same time.
Like I said in my original post, I had the time of my life at the 1 and only show I'll see on this tour. Nothing that happened prior to entering the stadium dampened my mood or enthusiasm, even though I didn't make it home with items to start a memorabilia collection. Maybe if I was as "successful" as real estate photo guy I'd have a different perspective on what's important in life.

 

[trevgreg]

Reading about the behaviour of some of these self-entitled fans I'm amazed to think this is the behaviour of adults!! Adults acting like spoilt children who have tantrums when things don't go their way. I'd expect this kind of behaviour from young girls at a Justin Bieber concert, not grown adults at a U2 concert! Hopefully it's only a tiny minority who behave in this immature way but it's a shame that there aren't different people up front at each show, purely to make it fresher and more exciting for the band themselves! I mean, how can someone who's seen the same show 20 times have the same amount of excitement, enthusiasm, energy and anticipation as someone who's seeing the show for the first time and doesn't know what to expect?

In my own little history of going to shows, every time I’ve ever gotten there before doors or lined up… whether it was all day or all afternoon or just before doors opened, I’ve never had a “bad” spot or one that I was completely unhappy with. Ever. Depending on the timing and type of venue, I may not have had a rail spot or front one each time, but the one I ended up on ultimately was far from ever being considered a horrible one. And I probably enjoyed the show just as much as I would have every time.

I’m not sure if these people are going to literally the same spots at every show they see. But like you said, it’s not a bad thing to go to different spots and change it up a bit each time, as I imagine it does get repetitive after awhile (and which is why I usually won’t see more than 3 shows on a leg, even for a band that I really like). With that Boston DVD situation, I always wondered to myself why they didn’t just go to a different rail spot or the back-end to see the acoustic set for once up close. But I suppose that does come down to thinking you deserve a certain place each time and maybe some other personal issues I’m not aware of. I could never imagine just thinking I'm owed the same spot each and every time. I'd get sick of it after awhile too.

 

[starman95]

It's GA "line" shenanigan time!

No need to get personal dude. Dont act like a cliche vulgar Bostonian. We are all here for the band

*travels to Boston, insults locals*

You're cool.

 

[Hewson]

No need to get personal dude. Dont act like a cliche vulgar Bostonian. We are all here for the band

First, Diemen I apologize in advance as I see you asked people to cool it, but I haven't been here since yesterday and I can't let this go...

Jaime, from a lifelong Bostonian you sir are an absolute asshole.
Great how you tell someone not to get personal and then proceed to do just that (although if you were smart enough to look at plp's info you'd have seen he was from Jersey.)

 

[coolian2]

My "protest" consisted of asking the security guard, who had told me where and when to line up, why I was now being told to go to the back of the line. She explained that "higher ups" had made the decision to honor the unofficial numbers and that was that. And that's exactly what I did. The reason I called them entitled assholes is because they carried on like 5 year old children. I felt embarrassed for them. The whole thing was sad and comical at the same time.
Like I said in my original post, I had the time of my life at the 1 and only show I'll see on this tour. Nothing that happened prior to entering the stadium dampened my mood or enthusiasm, even though I didn't make it home with items to start a memorabilia collection. Maybe if I was as "successful" as real estate photo guy I'd have a different perspective on what's important in life.

43 posts and I think I'm in love.

 

[anitram]

For Toronto, the venue was very clear several days in advance as to when the wristbands would be given out and when you had to return to the venue to officially be sorted into line. As I understand it this was pretty much followed.

What I find unacceptable is that if you bought tickets on Ticketmaster and then got reminder e-mails about the event coming up with links to the venue which outlined the procedures, then the logical conclusion is that the vast majority of fans who are NOT trolling on Twitter or posting on Interference or joining secret FB groups probably looked at the venue for information (if they looked at all). So now you come in at 8 am or whatever it was, maybe you even show up an hour earlier and then the next thing you know you have 200 people who have been on a list but not lining up in person or sleeping out there for 2, 3, 4 days. I mean I'm sorry but I don't see why if you showed up at 8 am you have to yield to these people. It really does not make sense to me.

 

[gareth brown]

I mean I'm sorry but I don't see why if you showed up at 8 am you have to yield to these people. It really does not make sense to me.

Exactly. There is literally no rhyme or reason to it. Good luck trying to get a sensible explanation from any of these whack jobs.

 

[coolian2]

I think I qualify as "big fan". I'd queue off the venue, were I willing.

Why would I check Facebook, Twitter etc?

 

[Mr.Sarajevo 09]

i was at the show last night and the ga line was a fiasco. I arrived at 1pm and walked up to where the gillette stadium website said the ga line would be forming. I was told that the line wouldn't start until 2:30. My wife and i were fine with that so we went and had lunch and a few drinks. At 2:30 we returned to discover only 7 people on the line and we joined it. The line grew to about 50 people by 3:00. At that time people started showing up with numbers written on their hands with sharpies. They demanded to be put at the front of the line, and a few of them tried to force their way to the front. Security repeatedly told them that their numbers were meaningless and to join the back of the line. A bunch of these people were complaining to me that they'd been in line since thursday and that i should let them in front of me. My wife and i refused to move and said "if you had been in line since thursday you would be in front of me because i got here at 2:30 today". Some of them actually started crying. I kept telling them that if i was a member of a closed facebook group i would have known to check in 2 times a day at a dunkin donuts located 2 miles from the venue. They had no answer for that. Some of these idiotic "line leaders" would try to act like they were with the band or security and tell me i had to move because i didn't have a number on my hand. Gillette security stood firm and said that the line formed at 2:30 and the numbers were meaningless. One of them said "i can buy a sharpie and put a 1 on my hand, but that doesn't mean i'm first on line". At around 4:00 gillette security changed its tune and ordered anyone without a number to the back of the line. My wife and i protested and said that we were told that the numbers were meaningless and now we are being told the opposite. We were told that there is nothing we can do and the decision has been made to honor the numbers. Apparently the entitled assholes convinced someone that they belonged in the front of the line. My wife and i didn't cry, carry on, or threaten violence. We just moved to the back of the line. When the gates opened we just calmly walked to the main stage and got a spot directly in front of bono with only 1 person in front of us.
The show was excellent. I'm not sure that i've ever had a better time at a u2 show. Oh, and to the guy who is bragging about his drumstick and setlist collection, i have a beautiful wife and 2 beautiful daughters. Top that, asshole.

+ 1

 

[Mr.Sarajevo 09]

I know I do but at least I'm not a flaunting jerk

I'm actually enjoying the insults

 

[Mr.Sarajevo 09]

Hi guys, new member here. So, I'll be attending my very first GA show on Weds at Metlife, and I intend to follow the directions given to me by Metlife staff and lineup at 10am. I was specifically told multiple times that any outside, fan-made lists would not be honored. I truly hope that their word is good on this matter. I think it is completely improper and disgraceful that some fans think they are so entitled that they do not have to wait outside in the heat like the rest of us. Never have I encountered such shameful concertgoers before, and never has any such thing ever happened when seeing other artists. If you want your spot, you put your time in, that means your physical body is physically in line on the premises. If you want to be ahead of me in line on Weds morning, you better beat me there to the gate, otherwise we are gonna have a big problem.

Get ready for trouble then, because regardless of what someone told you from Met Life, the Entitled Ones will be ahead of you in line.
Until the band sees this as a problem, and then decides to fix it, it will carry on.

 

[DaveC]

i love that this thread is going to get a part 2.

 

[Mr.Sarajevo 09]

I've been reading through every page of this thread with great interest and I've been quite flabbergasted by some of it! I know every fandom has it's overly keen fans but I never realised just how it is with some U2 fans!! I've always loved U2 purely for their music but have never got into the whole fandom side of things in a big way. I've been casually reading this forum, on and off, for years but, as you can see from my post count, haven't posted much. I'm more of a lurker.

I don't get why some fans feel that they have to be at the front at every single show they go to, especially when they go to so many of them! I don't know about anyone else but I would be totally embarrassed if I thought the band might think I was some obsessed fanatic who went to every (or almost every) night of a tour and always had to be at the front at every show! I'd imagine the band members seeing me for the umpteenth time and thinking "Oh God, not her AGAIN, always at the front, trying to attract my attention" or whatever! Always the same faces, night after night! If you're just going to one night of a tour then sure I can understand wanting to have a good vantage point for the gig. But is it necessary to be at the front for every single show? If you're seeing the same show over and over again wouldn't you want to at least mix things up a bit and see if from different vantage points in the venue? I would have thought that would keep things more interesting? I'm just puzzled by this.

I can only imagine that the band (whether they admit it or not) must surely get fed up of seeing always the same old faces at the front at every show. Maybe they think these fans are selfish for not giving other fans a chance to be up front, fans who may only be going to one concert.

Reading about the behaviour of some of these self-entitled fans I'm amazed to think this is the behaviour of adults!! Adults acting like spoilt children who have tantrums when things don't go their way. I'd expect this kind of behaviour from young girls at a Justin Bieber concert, not grown adults at a U2 concert! Hopefully it's only a tiny minority who behave in this immature way but it's a shame that there aren't different people up front at each show, purely to make it fresher and more exciting for the band themselves! I mean, how can someone who's seen the same show 20 times have the same amount of excitement, enthusiasm, energy and anticipation as someone who's seeing the show for the first time and doesn't know what to expect?

Good stuff

 

[coolian2]

I'm actually enjoying the insults

Let us not re-start things.

We can disagree and be civil, which I hope Interference can let by as long as I'm decent, because it means a medium that can't arbitrarily block people.

 

[corianderstem]

The handful of entitled line goofballs aside, I read a recap of the situation on Facebook, and it sounded pretty fucked up, even once they were inside. As in, security not letting people sit down, whether in line or outside, and people passing out because of it.

That's not okay.

 

[Axver]

The handful of entitled line goofballs aside, I read a recap of the situation on Facebook, and it sounded pretty fucked up, even once they were inside. As in, security not letting people sit down, whether in line or outside, and people passing out because of it.

That's not okay.

This gives me flashbacks to the GA queue in Dublin 2009 and being corralled into tiny sections where there was insufficient space to sit down. Some of us took turns sitting down to rest our legs.