Letters
VIP tickets a rip-off
To The Editor:
I wanted to comment on the concert of last weekend. The city did a great job with traffic, bus access and the general admission area. There were a lot of options for food and things seemed to go relatively smoothly.
I purchased a couple of VIP tickets, which sell for almost three times the price of general admission. I have to say that it was one of the big disappointments of the summer for my wife and I.
For the added cost there was no parking, we waited in line for an hour to get through security to access the site, there was only one food vendor (the choice was terrible and the food uncooked), a shortage of porta-potties (we stood in line at the beginning of the break between John Fogerty and the Eagles and missed the first three songs the Eagles sang), the hand wash station ran out of water after about an hour and was never refilled, the seating was very over-crowded (absolutely uncomfortable), the sound was somewhat muffled because we were so far off to the side and we were unable to see the big screen at the back of the stage.
The seating was so over-crowded that I had knees in my back for the duration of the show, when someone in our row wanted out, they displaced the row in front as well as the row behind in order to squeeze out!
Three rows of people should not have to get up for someone to get in or out of VIP seating.
The final insult was the greed that drives the pricing for the food and beverages to a ridiculous level. There was absolutely no reason for the pricing to be where it was. I agree with yesterday's reader who suggested that we be refunded the difference between the general admission and VIP pricing.
How does the old saying go? Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me! That was my first and last VIP ticket as there was zero -- repeat zero -- benefit to holding VIP tickets!
Lloyd Taylor,
Moncton
No value in VIP tickets
To The Editor:
I have never been to the Magnetic Hill concert site before, but of course, I simply HAD to go: The Eagles were coming!
I have to say they were wonderful, although I wish they had played one or two more tunes from their Long Road Out of Eden CD given that this was the name of their tour. The other musicians were absolutely great as well.
However, I have to agree with the letter written by Cynthia Dobson (Aug. 6) where she complained that she received very little for the price of a VIP ticket.
Our group dished out $1,830 for six tickets. For this price, we had no parking, but we had access to a cold metal grandstand where we were squeezed in like sardines and there was insufficient leg room to accommodate people who were trying to get to and from their seats throughout the entire performance.
The signage on the VIP side was lacking. There was no indication which tent was selling tickets for drinks and concessions. People were lined up to purchase tickets at the first tent, only to find out they were only selling souvenirs. The concession stands provided on the VIP side were only selling hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, and very little else. Oh yes! I had a couple of warm beers. A couple of people in our group walked over to the concessions area in the general admissions side and it was far superior to what we had. They had pizza, veggie meals, salads, etc.
The grandstand areas were quite far from the stage and we could not see the video productions behind the performers. The only way we could really see the musicians was with binoculars or trying to watch the video screens on each side of the stage. We couldn't even see the screens a lot of the time because security personnel permitted patrons to stay standing in the aisles, especially during the Eagles performance. We complained a couple of times, but they didn't enforce the need for patrons to get back in their seats. Was this because it was impossible for patrons to reach their seats due to there being no leg room?
Because of the heavy rain on Saturday morning, there was mud around all the washroom facilities and concession stands, and accessing or exiting the site was through the same entrances and exits as general admissions. There was also no lighting around the washroom facilities during the acts and people had to find their way in the mud. Had I known this, I would have brought a flashlight.
I will certainly never buy another VIP ticket at Magnetic Hill, because I feel we were totally cheated. In fact, next time there is a big-name act I want to see, I'll spend a few more dollars and travel to Montreal's Bell Centre.
C. Mallais,
Moncton
Keep improving those concerts!
To The Editor:
On Aug. 2, I along with my two sisters were very happy and fortunate to have tickets for the Eagles concert in outdoors Moncton; we had purchased the special bus tickets (which were a steal!) to and from the concert site and left our vehicle at Champlain Place. May we all commend Codiac Transit staff on their cordial welcome and behaviour, they are truly all professionals! Moncton, you are to be commended for putting this into place!
On site at the concert we were just thrilled to be there, but can I please pass on a few suggestions for your next festivity?
Please spend a bit of money and make marked pathways so the fans aren't constantly walking on your blankets or your feet! With little or no lighting after dark we were constantly bombarded, as were most everyone.
Let us all "know" that you can't have an alcoholic beverage unless you are "behind" the fence; I do not believe that was ever fully defined, so as a result we had to move. No problem, but guess what? I kept our new "space" while my two sisters waited in a lineup for close to an hour to get a drink. Come on Moncton, that just isn't right! And stop gouging all of us fans. We have already spent a small fortune to get to the concert; why do we have to spend $6.50 for a beer and $5 for a small bit of fries?
The "bathrooms" were a nightmare: no toilet tissue and when we got outside, no water in the "mobiles" to wash our hands! Please have more lighting for the thousands of us that need to go to the potty, because the grass was wet and soggy, footing was not all that good and we had no idea where we were going because we could not see!
We waited two full hours for our bus. Maybe this is realistic with the crowd that was there; again we heard very little complaining. We arrived finally back at Champlain Place at 3 a.m.
I admired "our Maritimers" when leaving the site at 11 p.m. All 55,000 of us, no one seemed to be pushing or shoving even though it took us a full hour to get to our vehicle/bus/etc.
We were all tired but had so enjoyed the concert, what a great, great bunch of folks!
Moncton, make our next concert even better, as much as we all love the Eagles.
W. Henwood,
Amherst, N.S.
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There is NO excuse for waiting for an hour for a beer or the bathroom.
VIP tickets should include:
Parking on site, or in a place with a shuttle to and from the concert
Seperate entrance
Food and beverages
Seating closer to the stage
Less crowded and more comfortable seating
Is this too much to ask for paying triple the cost of a regular ticket??
I am a little disappointed reading the comments since the weekend about the organisers learning lessons from some of the problems.
Just how many concerts of this nature are needed to learn lessons?
It's not just officially disabled people who have a problem walking or standing in line. Nothing at all is done for these people.
i think i would just by a plane ticket and fly to toronto where I could see them in a stadium with a seat, real bathrooms and most importantly protection from the elements.
don´t get me wrong I think it is great that NB is starting to finally get some decent concerts, but having them outdoors with elevated pricing to me is absurd.
Here is an idea´. Lets get all three cities as well as sussex since it is dead center of the three to all pitch in and build a stadium in sussex, just for these big ticket concerts. One that seats say 80,000 although the cost may be high intailly,just tac on 10 bucks to each concert ticket until the stadium is paid for.