Lot's of upset fans over at thepolicetour.com

[pbpd16]

Very many fans over there upset with the $100.00 membership and poor pre-sale allocation to fanclub members. I am super happy about the reunion but feel this was something management screwed up and not the band's fault Hopefully this will all be worked out in some way. What's your opinion ?

[ceebab]

I think it's a combination of the people not having realistic expectations (everyone in all NY seems to by trying to get into the first section in front of the stage, for one thing) and whoever made the Best Buy deal f'ed up.

We'll see for sure in the general sale, but I'm getting the feeling that their presale had less total tickets, but that they got the run of the place and could buy up the entire floor if that's what they wanted to do. And, since I think the scalpers have organized ways of getting to Best Buy Rewards members that we don't have, they ended up with those tickets.

I could be wrong, but that's just my feeling.

[blueseattle]

I think it's going to go to hell either way. You can't please two people most of the time, let alone a million.

You'll probably hear from me crying when I can't find decent tickets for New Orleans.

[Mrs. Gradenko]

When I signed up I was under the impression that we'd get tickets at the same time as the Best Buy people.... not 24 hours later. What would be left? Crap, I'm sure.

I really do want my $100 back, yet at the same time I want to hold out and hopefully get some fuckin' sweet tickets with it... that won't happen, will it?

I could also have taken that $100 and put it toward ebay scalpers, I probably would have gotten less screwed over.

[johnnyjumpstart]

the fan club had many rows of floor tickets for opening night in Vancouver & large blocks in the risers there in secs right next to the stage. Obvoiusly NY was going to be a problem, they hinted at that b4 the presales began.

[Kim]

Be patient. This was the first presale. I bet they will add more NY dates and the next round of presales will go smoother. The membership information never says you are guaranteed tickets either.

[ceebab]

I agree. MSG and Fenway were 2 of the most popular venues on the whole US tour. The only other one as big is Wrigley, if the rumors are true.

Also the first rumors (from Boston news) was 2 dates at Fenway, so there may be another date added when this one sells out. And Sting likes to do NYC twice, so there will probably be another MSG sweep in the fall.

They do this to build buzz and anticipation for the tour. Unfortunately buzz is good for the scalpers' business too, so I think a lot of them got Best Buy tickets for this one. If I was a scalper, I know these are the dates I would expect to go for top dollar.

Some ads on ebay are selling the $55 seats at Fenway for $100 already and claiming it's sold out, when we know that's not true yet. After I saw the add I tried my presale code again (hours after the presale) and as of last night there were still cheap seats available just in the presale.

[sockii]

[quote="Kim"]Be patient. This was the first presale. I bet they will add more NY dates and the next round of presales will go smoother. The membership information never says you are guaranteed tickets either.[/quote]

What Kim said. It's too early to get your knickers all in a twist yet.

When the regular sale starts for MSG tickets I'll be sure to post my experiences trying to get them, and I'm sure everythings gonna go a lot smoother as the later sales begin. That may also be a reason why the sale dates are being staggered, so that there's time for the bugs to get worked out of the system.

I dunno, maybe I'm just a crazy optimist refusing to let all the negativity bog me down right now.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Honestly? I just don't get what all the hubbub is about. Look at it this way: The $100 membership over at TPT.com is for an entire year. Do people really think there won't be news and information over there that's worth reading for a measly $8.50 or so per month? I'll grant you there are some free forums - this one and some others - that will have good information as well, but I guess I just don't think that cost is wildly unreasonable. Maybe the management should consider letting people join on a subscription basis for $8.50 per month - something that's incredibly easy to set up using Paypal. Might make it easier on some younger fans and help tamp down the complaining somewhat.

All that said, the fine print probably ought to make it very clear that joining the fan club won't guarantee access to fabulous seats - as opposed to the existing verbiage promising priority before the public. It appears that scalpers certainly have had the advantage here, which technically means non-fan-club people got priority, for whatever reason.

I agree with ceebab on the unrealistic expectations, tho. I realize others may disagree with my assessment, here, but NYC is the wealthiest city on earth with the highest proportion of music fans. Did people really think they'd just waltz right into this presale and get tickets on the front row without any kerfuffle whatsoever?

I'm trying not to make generalizations, but I can't help but wonder what's going on - are people in that area so spoiled by having every act on earth play in their city that it never occurs to them to simply buy a plane ticket to some venue that's less in demand? Someone straighten me out, here.

I do think that opening the first presale only to people who were existing Best Buy members was not a great idea (and I say that as a pre-existing Best Buy member). It made people angry for no good reason, and Best Buy missed a great opportunity to add legions of people to their membership club. I can see their wanting to give people some kind of special privilege in exchange for having sponsored this tour, but it should have been something like downloads of new material, or free DVDs or posters or something - not first crack at the first publicly available concert tickets in 23 years.

All that said, though, we don't know if Best Buy folks will get first dibs on *every* presale, or simply this first one. I think letting the TPT.com fan club have the first presale date on the next round of sales might be a good idea. Management could even alternate the initial presales for different rounds of dates - Best Buy gets this first presale, fan club gets the next one, then Best Buy - as long as they let people know well in advance which club will get which presale. That will doubtless spawn griping amongst people who don't want to have to travel and want to see The Police on X date at *their* venue. I do think some of those people need to get nice and friendly with the folks over at fliertalk.com and realize just how insanely easy it is to get to, say, Denver or New Orleans, if they can't get seats at some of the more in-demand big-city venues.

Heck, we've all been talking about doing just that for weeks over here at SC.net...it's almost like some of our members are planning to follow them like the Grateful Dead! (wouldn't that be a kick? If I didn't have other responsibilities I'd do it myself! )

Just some $.02.

[BongoBoy]

I've been so happy.....then so mad...then so sad.

I won't rant anymore I should be happy they are back and that I can go to the show.

I will put a "clothespeg" on my nose to stop the nosebleed way up there near the roof of the ACC.

...I keep watching the Whiskey over and over to get back to happy.

sigh... cheers.

YOU DON'T GET RICH BY BEING NICE!

[blueseattle]

I agree Dive. I joined because of the club in general, but I'll admit I still want to find the best way possible for the best access to tickets. I'm not complaining about the club, I'm just tired of constantly checking back and seeing something thrown out that's bad news.

In other words, my eyes hurt from having to read fine print, fine print, and complaint after complaint.

But in the end, I'm walking on air. I haven't done my work at all and I'm too psyched for everything. I'm just very indecisive with this so far and I know in the end I'll be happy.

I just want a set schedule for the summer.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Yeah. I just posted something over there that I know is going to get me flamed, but the way I see things is this: If you want great seats in a huge market like NYC or Boston, go to a scalper site. If you want good seats without having to pay a fortune, buy a plane ticket and go to Tampa or New Orleans. Heaven knows New Orleans in particular can use all the help from the tourism industry they can get, and I was thrilled to see that city on the initial list of dates put out at the Whisky.

Here the band sets up a fan site so folks who aren't "legacy Sting.com members" have a shot at tickets, and people have a fit complaining? They didn't have to have a presale at all. And people who claim they're "fanatic Police fans" freely admit they only joined the fan club to get good ticket access? I don't get it.

I just don't understand why this band is being held to a higher standard than the Who, U2, et. al, when everyone knows ticket scalping and payola are just rampant in this industry. Essentially, promoting a really big band is not much different from marketing a product from a corporation like Pepsi or Ford Motor; I don't like it any more than anyone else, but it is what it is.

That said, I freely admit there may be some fine points I'm missing, because this is the only band I will even try to get stadium tickets for. Gave up on seeing U2 and REM live years ago for precisely these reasons. I still like their music, but there's a lot of attendant hassle and expense involved in trying to get their concert tickets. (I did see the Dixie Chicks in an arena this year, but it was because I'm determined to support them in the face of what's looking like political censorship from the country music industry.)

Besides, there are a lot of really terrific lesser known bands that you can see for around $20 every night of the week in many cities. I'll be trying to get into a couple of Police dates, but artists like Wilco, the Raconteurs and Neko Case are also on my must-see list for the summer.

[Mikeno7]

I got my tix for NY- and I'm glad I'll be able to hear them- when you're restricted to 4 tix- you're going to be limited to where those blocks are located- what gets me is the ebay $1000 bs for tix that are being sold- you know they're from bestbuy peeps or fanclub members- that's just wrong
the ticket price should be what's on the ticket, that's one of the things wrong w/ this country. sorry for the soap box drama but I feel my time vested in obtaining tickets was for the purpose of going to hear and see the band, not sell them to make a profit

[blueseattle]

[quote="Divemistress of the Dark"]Yeah. I just posted something over there that I know is going to get me flamed, but the way I see things is this: If you want great seats in a huge market like NYC or Boston, go to a scalper site. If you want good seats without having to pay a fortune, buy a plane ticket and go to Tampa or New Orleans. Heaven knows New Orleans in particular can use all the help from the tourism industry they can get, and I was thrilled to see that city on the initial list of dates put out at the Whisky.

Here the band sets up a fan site so folks who aren't "legacy Sting.com members" have a shot at tickets, and people have a fit complaining? They didn't have to have a presale at all. And people who claim they're "fanatic Police fans" freely admit they only joined the fan club to get good ticket access? I don't get it.

I just don't understand why this band is being held to a higher standard than the Who, U2, et. al, when everyone knows ticket scalping and payola are just rampant in this industry. Essentially, promoting a really big band is not much different from marketing a product from a corporation like Pepsi or Ford Motor; I don't like it any more than anyone else, but it is what it is.

That said, I freely admit there may be some fine points I'm missing, because this is the only band I will even try to get stadium tickets for. Gave up on seeing U2 and REM live years ago for precisely these reasons. I still like their music, but there's a lot of attendant hassle and expense involved in trying to get their concert tickets. (I did see the Dixie Chicks in an arena this year, but it was because I'm determined to support them in the face of what's looking like political censorship from the country music industry.)

Besides, there are a lot of really terrific lesser known bands that you can see for around $20 every night of the week in many cities. I'll be trying to get into a couple of Police dates, but artists like Wilco, the Raconteurs and Neko Case are also on my must-see list for the summer.[/quote]

I agree and I've been saying this for awhile now, especially about the bigger dates. I mean do people really think it'd be easy for bigger cities?

New Orleans is my best bet, but the venue is small. It's all just up in the air, but I haven't once gone nuts about it or complained.

If anything I keep a nice commentary at how insane it's taken on it's course.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

I'm not pointing the finger at The Police, but you know the scalpers are paying off various organizations involved in ticket sales, or this problem would stop. I suspect some bands are even implicit in it, to save themselves the PR hassle of looking like money grubbers. They can't very well charge $5,000 per ticket themselves without facing public outrage, but that's what the market will bear.

It's just capitalistic excess, which is manifest in many more organizations than just the concert industry. But don't get me started, I could (and often do on other sites) write a novel on what's wrong with society these days.