jeffwalsh

I think most of these problems are related to rushing the sale of the tickets without providing enough information for people to make informed decisions. And when all tickets are cheap and the same price, that's not really an issue because everyone's got the same shot at a good seat. But when you're asking people to pay very large sums of money and make decisions about questions like "Do I need to buy tickets to two shows to get the full experience?" and "What am I getting for $300 a seat?" and "Am I missing anything if I go with a $100 seat?", I don't think it's fair to ask for that much money and not give people the information needed to make those decisions.

If you or any other fan feels that they haven't been misled at all and feel completely satisfied with the concert itself and how ticketing has been handled, I'm not here to try to make you feel bad or unhappy. But it's also my opinion that there are some legitimate complaints and that people who do feel upset aren't being unreasonable for having those feelings.

I agree with everything you said. But I also don't feel misled, probably because I bought some RZ, mostly GA and my only seat is on the front row, aisle corner of what I always expected to be the stage, which is where it is. I am still debating whether I need 8 of the same show at MSG, but the upside of having amazing tickets is you won't get stuck with them if I do decide to bail on a pair of shows, heh.

That's in there.

In where?!

Every time Live Nation has taken over tour management and/or venue management of a band or location I liked, fan friendly service has been replaced by a corporate "how can we get as much money as possible" attitude. 

If that were completely true, we wouldn't be paying $80 to be on the floor, and the Red Zone would be the front rail, judging from how many other bands do things...

So they are. Still, I don't think spending well over $100 (including fees) is good value. Not when you can't see any of the visual effects on the main screen, an important part of the show. Not when you can't see the band members when they're using the screen, multiple songs each night. Not when you can't see the band members at the opposite end of the arena when the screen is lowered.

I guess my question would be, if the stage setup were reversed as people had originally imagined, none of those things would have changed, except the perspective of seeing them closer when they were on the I or E stages. So, what exactly would the reason be for the reduced price? If you remove the screen element, I'd imagine they would all be $280 tickets like the rest of lower bowl.

So the question I still don't know the answer to, from those that have been there, how 'limited' are the limited view seats on the corners behind the main stage. I have seen a few pics, but hard to tell.

I think the main limit is not being able to see the screen well, since you will be staring at the "side" of it, or at a very severe angle. I don't think there is anything impeding your view of the band, aside from them facing away from you for much of the time.

From the Willie Williams interview on livedesignonline.com:

"Oh, and eight confetti machines that shower the audience with pages from Ulysses, Lord of the Flies, The Psalms, and Alice in Wonderland. Bono said to me one day, “When they fire-bombed the library in Sarajevo, pages from books rained down on the city for days. Words, poems, sentences, all mixed up, fell into people’s hands. Do you think we could recreate that?”"

I can trade you for a GA on 7/30.

So they are dropping tickets BOTH through Ticketmaster AND the box office? I just assumed you'd have to be at the box office...

It's all one ticketing system. An available ticket is available both places.

The only official thing I saw so far for NYC was atu2's party on July 29.

http://www.atu2.com/news/lets-party-u2s-20th-anniversary-party-set-for-july-29.html

badsilver, we're your seats labelled as limited views when you bought them? Very poor, if the restrictions weren't clearly stated at the time of purchase! In any case, I think the seats at the very ends of the arena should have been cheaper for the lower bowl, $65 for lower bowl & $30 for the uppers. Obviously communication should have been much better, with an accurate seating chart, & restricted view warnings for ALL affected seats, not just some.

 

As I've stated previously, I'd recommend arriving early, visiting customer service, & asking to be relocated. Though, as your tickets say 'limited view', you may not have a leg to stand on. If this information was only added after your purchase I'd be taking it up with TM now.

Those seats were already like $180 cheaper than other lower bowl seats....

Ticketmaster updated all the seating charts on their website, so you can see where your seats are in relation to the stages.

And of course, the scalpers are holding at least 30 Chicago Red Zone tickets hostage for $795-895 a pop.  I hope they lose all of their money. Jerks.

If you see them listed for that price, then they are not selling at that price.

Side lower bowl section 109, row 18, mid row so to the side of the main stage and probably just a bit too far to the right to love these seats, but probably good for catwalk and rest, yes?

 

Upper bowl section 224, row 4 so smack dab in the middle, so further away, but equidistant from everything.

Depends what sort of experience you prefer.

109 will put you closer to the band for much of the show, you're far back enough to seemingly enjoy the screens, and will only be far from the action when they are on the e-stage.

224 will let you see the whole experience, and you are positioned perfectly, but you're not closer to anything. However, you are just as far from the main stage as the e-stage, and centered on the screens. So, from the perspective of taking in the whole show as a complete experience, that seems like a good seat.

So, comes down to whether you rather be closer to the band or want the "experience," really.

That's on the band, really. It seems like tickets went on sale before they knew exactly what they were doing as far as the stage size, etc. The band has to inform the venue/ticketing sites about this stuff in advance so they can put it into the ticketing system. Of course, it's not like pulling decent tickets was easy during any of the MSG on-sales, like we were just clicking on the map as to where we wanted to sit. ;-)

Some are fine and not all of them waste time but in some cases its overkill. Each to their own, I personally just find more than handful a night tiresome.

 

I'm not just picking at U2, I've seen Oasis and similar bands countless times who insist on having an extended jamming seesion/outro to most of the songs and extend them by 2 minutes or so, again some people love this kind of thing but personally I just want to hear more songs played. 

 

I never used to be too bothered about these little things but these days when tickets are astronomically priced I have become a little cynical.

Never go see The Dave Matthews Band.

Ah the 'defend U2 at all costs' brigade has arrived 

Without us, what would you all have to whinge about all the time?

If you could and would, please let me know.

Would will be less of an issue than could, since Boston is CCE and NYC isn't. You can trade your NYC easily to anyone... harder in the other direction, unless you find someone to enter the building with in Boston.

Does anybody have  tickets for sale?????? We need 2. We have 2 for 1st show and need 2 for the 2nd show!!!!

Better off posting in the folder for the city you want, since the obvious question here would be... what city are you talking about?! Whereas in that city's folder, you'd avoid that.

Hey, new to this forum. I just got Red Zone tickets for MSG on July 26th, so psyched! I am curious about what's on the tickets-it says "RZ1 North Gn Adm VIP3". Are all the Red Zone tickets marked VIP or are these ticks something a level up from regular Red Zone? On sites like stubhub I see Red Zone tickets being sold and in the description sometimes it says GA, or GA1, or VIP.

The only important bit is whether you are RZ1 or RZ2, you can ignore everything else. I believe RZ1 is Adam's side and RZ2 is Edge, but that is the only thing in play.

So, I assumed from the positioning of the last two tours, that the main stage was in front of the RZ.  Not the case, now I, a fan, who subscribes to U2.com, pays an annual fee for that every year...was able to purchase tickets that took hours on the day of the presale from Ticketmaster.  Some of the "best" seats presold to fans are now obstructed side views of the main stage and the band plays for 50% of the show on another stage?

If you assumed there was a main stage to begin with at MSG (which was not on the original Ticketmaster map), then the problem with your assumption was that the main stage there is always at the other end of the arena. If you look at any other concert at MSG, the stage is always to the left on the Ticketmaster map when an end stage is being used.

Also, with an arena-length stage, it seems that even if RZ was up against one of the stages at a location that you wanted, the band would still use the walkway and the e-stage for a good chunk of the show. There is no location near the band for more than 50% of the show, plus there is the video elements and other things that you would potentially "miss" if RZ was where you are advocating. So, I think the band split the difference with RZ and put half of it up against the main stage, and also spread the rest out for people to see them for longer periods of time, as well as experience the screens and such for what they feel is the total experience.

I don't think U2 (unlike other bands) ever made RZ the best seats in the house. They have always been off to the sides a bit. They aren't meant for people who want to be dead center on the rail. They are for people who want to not sit in line all day, show up for the concert, and have a specific area that won't be jam-packed. It is more convenience than premium access.

The part you're completely overlooking is that RZ is still in front of every single person in the lower level, and every single person in the upper level (many of whom paid about the same for their seats), so you're on the floor at a U2 concert!!!!! Let's not lose all perspective here.

At this point, it would seem your best bet would be to use your RZ tickets to enter the venue 15 minutes before GA and go up against the main stage, if that's what you want, leaving more room for the rest of us in RZ to swing in right before showtime.

I didn't say I dislike all the snippets but they are becoming more and more and it just takes up time when they could be playing something else you paid to see.

Or, if they removed the snippets, they would just play the same songs and wrap things up sooner for the night?

Hey Jeff, I know about dynamic pricing, but we're not talking here about seasonal sales for cars, tv's etc etc (Black Friday, Boxing Day, Spring Sale, Summer Sale etc etc)...  here in MTL we have Evenko, not Ticketmaster (nor is Evenko owned by Ticketmaster, it is owned by the MTL Canadians-Molson Coors)... I have never seen a "Prices subject to change" condition in the tix sold here thru them... I go to A LOT of concerts, I have never seen "discounting" to this extreme in more than 25 years, 1/3 the price from the actual promoter-seller-owner of the venue.... 

That isn't what dynamic pricing is, though. I encounter it most for Broadway shows in NYC. Some shows I thought would sell out, so I bought tickets when they first went onside for say $150. Months later, when the show finally happens, sometimes I might have been correct about the show and it is a huge seller and the seats around me went for $225 or $350 since the time I purchased mine. Sometimes, the person next to me showed up that day and got a rush ticket next to me for $30, since they barely sold any. Another time, I was given free tickets and sat next to someone who paid $150 (although I go through a service where we are told not to mention getting our tickets for free). All of those have happened to me before, so those aren't random examples.

I don't see that any show or concert is under any obligation to make things fair, since there is nothing unfair about it. You were offered a ticket at a certain price, and you bought it. Also, what is the solution? Everyone gets refunds?!

I bought two RZ tickets for the MSG shows, and now, some people have complained that GA is better (revising history that these ticket sales were so easy and we were just flipping between multiple RZ and GA offers, as opposed to be ecstatic and happy they showed up at all, since many of my GA/RZ were not in presales). In hindsight, I could have skipped RZ, and bought a GA on StubHub for $100+ cheaper.

Next week, I am going to an Amy Schumer concert and bought a ticket halfway back in the venue. Today, I got an e-mail saying "great seats just released," and for the same price, I could be in the second row now. So, was the original purchase a mistake?

I don't see what the supposed solution to this is... or why if you have tickets you would be tracking who is getting what better seats for cheaper/better location than you.

It will seemingly always lead to some disappointment.

stubhub and other sites will have hundreds of tickets available day of show. Do those tickets just not get used? a real sad thing for fans that wanted them.

I heard that in order to run their "business" they need to claim them as losses and then they can write them off... or something to that affect.

StubHub doesn't sell tickets. StubHub just lets other people sell tickets, so they can't write them off as losses. Usually, the real sellers make enough money in advance that they can reduce the prices on unsold ones closer to the date and still come out ahead. I've lucked out and bought $300 tickets for $40 on StubHub an hour before a show, and other shows, there is a tiny amount of tickets left and the prices stay high or increase. Just depends if there are more scalpers with tickets or fans wanting to go, it changes from show to show....

I buy for $305 at onsale in December, show 1 + 2 show up as "sold out" for months, show 3+ 4 show only $305 ones available for months (in the meantime many people have bought some $305 days before today), then I see 5 days before the show I can get a couple/few hundred tix from the same "official" promoter/venue at 1/3 the price for the same sections/rows/seats as my $305 ones??? How does the venue justify that???

Every Ticketmaster listing says "Prices subject to change" so that could go either way. Some prices go up if there is more demand and inventory is limited.

Truthfully, you are probably always going to events where people paid different prices. Sometimes you paid less than them, sometimes you paid more. Subsequent MSG dates also had price reductions according to members on here.

The only thing new here is that you're paying attention to this event. Dynamic pricing is nothing new.

I was holding on to my credit card like a precious treasure until I got to the Phoenix shows.

How do you normally treat it?!

 

You HAVE to be standing in the RZ area when they do the drawing or you won't know who has been selected.

Seems reasonable for them to expect the RZ people to be in the RZ area for the drawing, no?