BillHenderson

Wow Peter. You nailed it with that observation. I remain so optimistic about what the next decade will bring. And yet, this one may well be the ultimate decade for the band and the fans. SoI and SoE so wonderfully recaptured, explained, and celebrated the last 5 decades. They can't do that again. But they can continue to mature, grow and share. The last weeks of this decade suggests that continues and there is no let down in sight.

Agree with dmway althought they started no later than a few minutes after 8:30. If you arrive at 8:45 you'll miss at least the first few songs. Official start time is 8 pm, no opening act. So they could actually start earlier than 8:30. I check the time stamp on the photos on my phone, and I can tell you that they were playing I Will Follow, which was the fourth song in the set list both nights in Montreal, at 8:43 on Wednesday and 8:48 on Tuesday. Security can be tight getting in, with inevitable delays, so don't leave it too late.

I have two extra red zones I can’t use and am standing outside the red zone entrance if anyone wants to buy them at a bit of a discount to face value

I got it as well.

When in the set list do they move to the B stage?

I'd separate out the issue of whether the verified process worked to slow down scalpers/bots versus whether prices are too high or not. My sense is that the system did work far better than past sales to limit scalpers - limit, not prevent being the key. For scalpers to game the new system, they needed both memberships in the fan club and one cell number per membership. That starts to run up costs and complexity in a way that isn't easy to work around. In my case, despite not working my way to the correct site until 15 or 20 minutes after the Experience presale had started, I still got some Red Zones, and my daughter got good seats in the lower level at the start of the Innocence presale. Some past sales all of those good tickets were gone much faster. Fewer scalpers? I think so. Prices too high? Possibly.

Curious. Do I remember correctly that additional dates were added the same day tickets went on sale during past tours? I haven’t seen any new nights added yet. Am I missing something?

What is missing is data. It is one thing if there are 3,000 GA tickets, and 2,500 were bought by 1,500 Experience group fans on day 1, and the remaining 500 went in the first minute of the Innocence group. It is altogether a different thing if there are 3,000 GA tickets at a venue and 400 went to Experience group, 400 to Innocence group and 2,200 are going to other buyers. I'm making the numbers up, but the principle is that some transparency and facts might solve some of the anger... The absence of transparency and facts fuels speculation and suspicion. If the facts show the most prized tickets went to the Experience group, and that the Innocence group had the next shot at the best seats ahead of Citigroup and general sales, no one would have much to complain about. But if that is really the case....why don't they report it as such?

I can let a moderator confirm for sure, but they're busy with a few other things right now. There are lots of tickets that change hands between fan club members, and I've not personally heard of problems, but the sacrosanct rule is only at face value. I once volunteered a donation to Red to try to get a Red Zone ticket and was appropriately, in retrospect, advised that was offside. I bought a Red Zone for JY30 from another fan, but we were both at the show, and I just prearranged meeting them at the Red Zone entrance. I'm sure you'd be fine swapping GA's to different venues in terms of the rules, although you have to be careful around credit card entry requirements if those are in place and actually enforced at your venue.

And I have RZ in Montreal and if that was the stage - well I would wonder where the RZ is! Per another discussion thread, the band has always innovated with stage, sound and visuals for every new tour. Hard to see how they could top the Innocence set up for an arena, but boy it would be cool to see them do it. I agree that the specific stage layout you posted is certainly not a generic one. Very interesting indeed.

Precisely! Couldn't have said it better myself. I'm not at 50 shows, but I have never once walked out of one of their shows thinking to myself, "Well, that was not good value", and I've paid more each time. I don't mind paying premium prices for premium products - and compared to others their prices aren't really a premium to other acts. I don't mind the price - but jeez, you'd think they could've got the fan purchase process figured out by now. That drives me nuts each time, although in this case it was better than most for me albeit that is not true for some. That's probably why they have such a big lag between ticket sales and shows. By the time you get to the show, you've forgotten most of the stress, anxiety, frustration and increasingly anger about their inability to get it right.

Love this!

Max, Mich and Big Wave, I suspect I know the answer to this, but it would be great to get the people responsible to admit to their mistakes and talk about what they will do to fix it next time. As you know better than all of us, every presale has had big problems, although this one appears to have taken them to new heights. In what appeared to have been an attempt to fix some of the past problems they created even more this time. Acknowledging it and talking about how to fix it won't change anything for the hundreds of people who lost out this time - but it would still be the right thing to do. Also, this time the screw up was large enough that the band really should say something. Previous times most of the anger was directed toward Ticketmaster and Live Nation. This time there has been, to my recollection at least, a real change. A lot more people are calling out the band. If, as a previous poster indicated, they sold off a lot of the tour and merchandise side of the business, perhaps they need to admit their disappointment with how it has worked. They at least need to let their most loyal fans know this isn't acceptable to them. Those of us who have been long time fans know that one of the things that always used to differentiate the band was how they treated and cared about their fans. Most of us have first or second hand stories about things they've done to prove that. But remaining quiet on this one would suggest that either they don't care the way they used to; aren't aware of how many of their serious fans have been f@cked over this time; or they have some kind of contractual gag order about commenting about TM and LN.. This one was big enough the band should say something - either on these forums or in a post on the site like the "This we never imagine" one recently. If the guys in the band still care, and I would like to believe they do, they should spend a bit of time reading through the forums, This royal screw up is not the only thing over the past few years that suggest they may have slipped out of touch with how fans are feeling. Ideally people are working hard to get those who got screwed out of tickets proper compensation. But most of us will doubt that is happening. And the deafening silence from the "powers that be" just raises the question of whether anyone other than the three of you know and care. Thanks for all you have done and try to do. No need to respond. All I ask is that you pass this along. What TM, LN and U2 do next will tell us what they really think of it. (Note: I say all this as a fan that had a really good experience this time. My concern is not personal. It is a concern for other fans and a concern that a cornerstone of what I have always really admired about the band seems to be slipping away.)