Testing this blackberry tumblr app. Massive win. :)
Disclaimer: I love Paramore and I thought they did an aaawwwsum job rocking manila. I’m just fucking pissed off that I barely saw the rocking they did, thanks to the the fucked up vip gold mix up.
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Because when you’re angry, you write in all caps….
I PAID FOR THE TICKETS BECAUSE IN THE SEATMAP IT SAYS VIP IS THE CLOSEST AND SUPPOSEDLY IT ASSURES ME OF FRONT LINE PLACEMENT REGARDLESS OF WHAT TIME I ARRIVE BECAUSE DAMN ITS 10 FUCKING THOUSAND. ITS 6K FOR THE FUCKING SPACE DIFFERENCE. I COULD HAVE BOUGHT 5 GOLD TICKETS WITH THE TWO VIP TICKETS I GOT AND BROUGHT MY WHOLE GANG WITH ME, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE SUFFERED LESS FROM THE CROWD. WHEN I CAME IN I WAS SURPRISED THAT THE VIP SECTION WAS IN FRONT OF THE SOUND BOOTH WHICH WAS PROBABLY 100 METERS AWAY FROM THE STAGE. I DIVED IN THE GOLD CROWD (WHICH WAS REMINISCENT OF A POTENTIAL STAMPEDE) TO GET CLOSER, HOPING THAT MAYBE, JUST MAYBE THEY (THE ORGANIZERS) WERE SMART ENOUGH TO RESERVE A SPACE FOR THE VIP TICKET HOLDERS, ONLY TO BE CRUSHED CRUSHED CRUSHED LITERALLY. I BARELY SAW THE MICROPHONE. I BARELY SAW HAYLEY’S HAIR. GAWD, I ALMOST HAD AN ASTHMA ATTACK. I WANT MY MONEY BACK. I WANT MY 20 THOUSAND BACK BECAUSE THIS IS JUST UNFAIR. THIS IS LIKE BUYING FIRST CLASS PLANE TICKETS AND BEING SEATED IN ECONOMY. IF THEY HAD A PRODUCTION PROBLEM OR WHATEVER SECURITY DILEMMA, THEY SHOULD HAVE
1.) SECURED A GOOD PLACE FOR THE VIP HOLDERS IN THE FRONT
2.) LINED IT WITH THEIR EXCESSIVE SECURITY PEOPLE GUARDING THE DOORS
3.) WAITED FOR THE VIP TICKET HOLDERS FROM THE ENTRANCE
AND
4.) USHERED THEM IN PROPERLY.
I KNOW I WOULD’VE IF I WERE THE ORGANIZER BECAUSE I MADE VIP HOLDERS PAY 6 THOUSAND MORE. I AM ANGRY AND SORRY’S AND CDS WONT DO. I WAITED FOR THIS FOR 5 YEARS NAD BOUGHT MY TICKETS EARLY. IRONICALLY THIS IS THE WORST CONCERT EVER. I WANT MY MONEY BACK.
more complaints here : http://azraelsmerryland.blogspot.com/2010/03/vip-gold-ticket-area-mixed-up-at.html
For an elaborate narrative, scroll down.
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Massive failure. Let me tell you why:
So I bought tickets last year, as early as November (or was it October? can’t remember, but I got it before December, that’s for sure) — 2 Super VIP which then became VIP tickets for 10 fucking thousand pesos each (Footnote 1). Can I just emphasize that point, 10 mothafugging thousand each, 6,050 less thank the Gold tickets (Footnote 2).
What was I thinking?
I thought, “ParamoreshitcanidienowofhappinessIcan’tmissthisineedtoseethemlivewhere’sthenearestticket???”
Now if you will look at this seatmap, http://bit.ly/byh30f clearly, the nearest section is VIP (and it was even nearer in the seat maps they showed us when I bought the tickets last year,http://bit.ly/cFstXC they were SVIP tickets then before they decided to rearrange according to the seat map in the first link ).
So what are the benefits with paying extra 6,050.00? Here:
- Placement in the front lines, at least according to their fugging seat map.
- Assurance that you will be there in the front lines, within the space indicated in the seat map regardless of what time you arrive. So according to the seat map again, VIPs near the stage, Goldies stay in the Gold Section near the sound booth, Silver and bronze at the back of the sound booth.
Very simple. Pay and you shall receive.
Fast forward March 09. I came to the venue around 6:30ish. Upon entering I get ushered to this small square under the sound booth, behind the supposedly VIP section only, which was already crowded by then. I asked security where’s VIP and he says it’s there in the square behind the rails. Apalled, I asked what the fuck happened. Security said it was instructions, that the producer said it was for the security of the VIPs etc. an thats why they had to move the VIP section behind the Gold section. Fuck. It looked like that the stage was more than 100 meters away.
Hopeful that perhaps the organizers were a bit more intelligent and are capable solution makers of the 21st century, I dived in with my friend to the Gold/VIP crowd (which by then was already reminiscent of a potential stampede) hoping to find some kind of enclosed space or ushers for the VIP ticket holders. There were none and there were too much people to move inside the crowd. We stayed at the back and I tried to call the person who sold me tickets but calls were barred. The crowd got larger and larger and by the time Calalily (Footnote 3)finished, it was already too hard for us to move out and complain.
The stage was pretty visible despite the giants beside us and I thought, “Hey this is not so bad, I’ll just get a refund. They better give me a fucking refund.” But when Paramore entered the stage, hands started shooting up for pictures, which then marked the disappearance of the stage entirely. I barely saw the microphone. I barely saw Hayley’s hair. And gawd, with probably more than 2,000 people in that space, come the 7th song, I thought I was going to get an asthma attack. Crushed Crushed Crushed.
My friend and I decided to leave to get some air and to hopefully speak with the organizer who I’ve been texting. I was instructed thru text message that I should go out and talk to security who will help me get a better seat. I did and they pointed me back to the new VIP section near the sound booth. Again (Footnote 4). They don’t seem to get what we were saying.
By the time I realized the whole thing was a massive failure, Paramore was out of the stage and came back for Encore. I watched Misery Business and Brick by Boring Brick from the sound booth, thinking from the 10,000-peso space where I was standing, “Shit, my pinky is larger than Hayley.”
So yeah, fuck. I want a refund.
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Foot Notes
1 Here, in case you need a conversion for comparison: USD 219.13, GBP 146.31, JPY 19,740,33, EUR 161.15
2 Gold tickets were priced at PHP 3,950 and again for comparison : USD 86.56, GBP 57.79, JPY 7,797.43, EUR 630.65
3 Who sucks by the way. What were they thinking getting them as opening act. Yes Kian your band sucks.
4 Tards.
