*Ally*

gotta say that although i was a bit sad that i couldn't make it to hawaii to see the stadium version of Vertigo, i don't miss the line politics at all...

despite the problems with GA, i hope that everyone who went was able to enjoy the show- it sounds like it was fantastic!

Bono's Tart

This happened in Boston last December on both nights, sorry you had the same thing happen in Hawaii.

To start lining up 2 days before a show is ridiculous and I blame the venues for allowing it to happen.

But some of those you refer to aren't from u2.com they are on this site!!

Sad thing is where will this go for future tours? Oh wait they can go and start being line nazi's at the venues when the dates are announced 6 months before!!!

Hope you still enjoyed the gig though!

ArizonaGuy

The bottle of water sans cap. I even bought a bottle inside, and they are required to take the cap off. I understand it's to prevent the bottle being thrown as a weapon or some ridiculous thing. Didn't tell me I couldn't have cap until after I'd paid. I nearly grabbed a capped one in a bin and ran off but opted not to risk getting ejected.

So near the end of the show, the useless security around the B stages did something actually useful. Cases of sealed water bottles lined the barriers and they handed out the still sealed bottles to GA people. Yay for hypocrisy!

Lila64

Yes, they were handing out water near the b-stages all night, thankfully. And when going thru with my water bottle originally, I was holding it by the cap area, and the security person was looking/talking to someone who had just walked in, so I just kept walking and got to keep the cap on my water

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dbinteract

I was curious to see everyone's take on "THE LINE" and how it went. I think its sad that people showed up on Thursday, when the event was supposed to allow line up at 6 PM on Friday. It created a panic and people showed up to save spaces, which would have been avoided if people actually followed the events rules.

The real issue is that some fans think they should not have to follow the rules, honor system, or even the event locations policies.. and that is wrong. What was ultimately gained by showing up on Thursday instead of Friday? Did you really get THAT MUCH CLOSER??

The line should start when the line is supposed to start. People should take care of each other in there.. and be honest about their placement. If you have to leave for a little bit... so be it, so long as its not all day or night.. I dont have a problem with it... just so long as your time was put in.

I just really thought it was crazy to start on Thursday, wether you stayed the whole time or not. If the event organizers say Friday 6 PM... who are you to change that. Especially for a show that so many people were traveling for... many people set up their travel itinerarys according to the line up.

bayou12780

bfloxng - Too bad you couldn't start a second list!! Thought there was a 30 min rule or something like that for leaving the line.

Here is some info on the fans. First article (KITV) says fan #3 was taking names but does not identify him/her. 2nd article shows the first 2 guys in line - Brad/DC and Rich/LA.

http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news...71/detail.html

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar...612090348.html

bayou12780

In general, we thought the Hawaii stadium procedures were lax all around. They did not have the ability to scan the tickets - just tore the end off. Surprised we are not getting reports of counterfeit ticket problems. They checked our tickets at the entrance to our section but we could come and go with no ticket. So, as the PJ set approached, our MM lower section (Adam's side) was innundated with folks from GA and upper level seats. When it started to get out of control (6 people standing in a space for 2 seats), someone got a stadium person to come down and move the squatters out. But once the stadium person left, the squatters returned.

Luckily our row got there early and we kept the squatters out. We'd never experienced this before in the seats. Maybe Hawaii is just too laid back or they just don't handle that many big concerts.

mads

I was also surprised that they didn't scan tickets.

But yeah, the line situation was out of control. I got there at 4am on Saturday (plenty early for me) and made it into pen 2. Our pen appeared to be the most sparse. Pens 1 and 3 were totally packed full of people, but we had lots of breathing room. Not sure how that happened.

Unfortunately some people in our pen decided that it was time to line up without being given any notice by security, so we all put our gear away and stood around for a couple hours. People would get frustrated, dissolve the line, and then get back in minutes later, moving into a different spot each time. People in the back of the pen ended up at the front of the line, etc. You could easily lose or gain 50 spots with each line shift. It really wasn't very efficient. This basically screwed the people who got there earliest.

People around me in line were talking about how the first 50-ish people in pen 1 had roped themselves off with caution tape. Is that true? It really had a lot of people in pen 2 upset when the word spread. If that did happen, I'd like to extend a big fuck you to those people because that's some incredibly childish behavior.

In any case, I made it to the second row at Adam's b-stage. The people on the rail had been there for 2 days. Camping out didn't give them too much of an advantage. I'm glad I didn't waste my time.

Aloha Stadium did a terrible job handling the line. It seemed to be pretty much in order in the morning, because they were being diligent about checking wristbands upon exit and reentry for bathroom breaks, etc. They claimed that there was a 2-hour time limit for leaving the line, which was WAY too long, but at least they had some kind of rule.
But then it all went to hell anyway, and by mid-afternoon you could enter and exit pen 2 without your wristband even being checked.

morrow

This is Amiee posting under my huband's account. I'm usually only on Zootopia - and that's only when I have time - but you guys have some good posts here!! I've been missing out!

This was a very short & expensive trip for us, plus I'm short, so I wanted to make sure I had a rail spot for this show. We got to Hawaii late Thursday night (9PMish) & took a cab by the stadium to see if there was already a line. We saw a small group (6-8) people across from McDonald's and asked if they were camping out... they said "no". Even though they were in U2 shirts, and looked like the same "line nazi's" I'd encountered so many times in Chicago - I believed them. So we called friends who had a hotel and crashed on their floor until Friday morning. We got to the stadium at 10AM Friday, and though I probably only saw about 40 people there - somehow I was #165. It was unfair CRAP!!!! I still got a spot on the front rail, just a bit off to Adam's side - so it wasn't bad and I am VERY happy!! But while we're on the subject - I just can't stand that one "group" of folks who always seem to make their own rules. One thing that I enjoyed though, was watching some of their faces Friday night after sound check when security told us we'd only have an hour to leave. HA!! The panic!!! I didn't mind at all because I had everything I needed..... but to see them all whining was quite enjoyable. There were a lot of "I don't have my ticket with me so I need longer than an hour" excuses. I don't know about you - but I flew 12 hours to get to that show and my ticket did not leave my sight from the SECOND I left my home in Nashville, TN until I handed it over at the turnstile!

Despite the fact that things got crappy once we went into the stadium, I still really liked the hour (and after the whining... two hour) limit they set. And though things weren't perfect, I appreciate all the venue did for us. Made it a much better experience than I feared it would be.

BEVERLY56

Hi Kevin...but holy crap, you got to go to freakin' HAWAII !!!!!!!!!!! Think back to Pittsburgh and that cold rain...


I think the venue did all they could to discourage people from lining up so %#(%^ early. In all honesty, if I had a GA ticket I might have been there too... although leaving all your sh*t right in the line when you went in, that isnt cool at all.

Lila64

Well I know some people who had both GA & seats for the show, and once they heard what was going down with the camping/Thursday/Friday crap, they opted out for enjoying Hawaii and sitting in their seats. And speaking of "the pens", I thought pen 1 & 2 people were numbered. When you got to pen 3, we were not. And same thing happened about everyone suddenly getting in a massive long line 1-2 hours in advance and people from the back ending up in front and such. No organization whatsoever there. They could have easily have numbered people as they walked in. And you didn't get a wristband or anything UNLESS you left the pen. I never left the premises, I just walked around looking for people I recognized and knew were to be there.

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The OOTS

I think U2 should do a lottery.

bayou12780

Either that or take a page from the Stones and just divide the floor into sections and sell tickets for each section. Will have to be more expensive but probably worth it. Offer floor seats to fan club members first then to general public. Technology should be able to solve this problem! Aloha had no ability to scan tickets so they could not do the random selection for the ellipse.

mads

Pen 2 didn't get numbers. Well, maybe the people in the front of the pen were numbered, but most of us weren't. I was about 2/3 back in the pen. When I arrived in the morning, a guy came up to me and told me he was number 500-something, and he was in my pen. So I guess some people had them, but not many.

I've been screwed by the lottery, so I'm not anxious to see it come back. It does take a lot of control away from the "line nazis" though, which I guess is the plus side to it.

samneko

Hearing about all the GA line BS is a little depressing, and I'm really sorry to hear about what went on in Hawaii. Even if it is first come, first served, like in the past, people should be required to actually wait in line!
I experienced the BS last year. My brother and I drove over 900 miles and lined up the afternoon before, sleeping overnight in the snow. A lot of other honest people did the same. But a few hours before the show, large groups of warm, well rested people suddenly appeared in line ahead of us.
I have had enough of the GA line crap, unless something changes.