Concert Conduct

[charlottechristy]

Nice chatting with you too. This thread needed some comedy relief..I think we provided that. I hope. Have a great night.

 

Yup! Ok hey it was nice chatting with you and i'm going now...which would be prob better for both of us and for the sanity of others who actually came to discuss the topic of this thread It sure was fun though again u r so lucky..Mika AND JG

[Kavi]

Nice chatting with you too. This thread needed some comedy relief..I think we provided that. I hope. Have a great night.

 

Me too...although they prob had no idea what we were talking about

G'night and same to you (It's only 4:30 pm here )

[Mirtilla]

There may be 'no need' to you..... but at the NYC gig there was 4 people there at 5 AM.... 5 more just a LITTLE while later and by 7 AM people were down the entire sidewalk. So generally speak obviously our gigs were 'different' the ones you attended people got there at 3 or 4 PM AT MINE by 3:00 PM there was over 100 people already in line!!!!!!!!! SO it was not mad to get there early... *if it is important to you to be close* and there DEFINATELY was a 'NEED'

..... you cannot judge all things in such a standard way....as every single gig is different....just as different as the people waiting in line!

 

I will be THANKFUL and greatful that I got there at 5 AM for the rest of my life!

TOO MANY unbeleivably wonderful things occured! I got to meet so many wonderful people.... and John and Jerry were so good to us..... letting us meet Mika before the gig...and buying us Hot Chocolate and donuts. They did not think we were stupid for getting there at 5 AM ..... they just thought we were dedicated!~ Even Mika thought we were loyal- devoted fans!

 

I will cherish my time with him... so for someone to say it was uncalled for or no need for is your opinion, and I respect that - but LOOK what I would have missed if I thought like you............

Sorry, I think I didn't write properly. What I did mean is that I agree in queuing early, I'm the first willing to do that, especially in those cities where gigs are sold out in few days or even hours (France for example:naughty: ). But if someone starts to queue so early then of course everybody else is going to follow them..if you know what I mean. And since it's only a year Mika is on, I'm afraid that from now on everybody will queue from the night before and it scares me:emot-sad: But I'm not saying it's no worth it, it's just..scaring me.

[Mirtilla]

I would like to say something concerning the Turin gig, but I think this may have occurred again during other gigs.

I didn't want to stand near the stage, because I wanted to enjoy the concert peacefully with a friend who wasn't a Mika fan like me (not yet ) . I wanted to hear his voice and not other people singing or screaming.

Unfortunately a group of fans suddenly screamed MIKAAAAA!!!! I nearly died on the spot and became deaf.

I can understand the enthusiasm everybody feels when seeing Mika on the stage, but it was really annoying and I was actually scared!!!! I thought a major cataclism was destroying the venue and the whole planet Earth...

On the whole the gig was very enjoyable and the audience quite polite.

Yeah, I remember that night! I agree, the audience were quite polite...not like in Bologna, where there was a guy who kept pushing:thumbdown:

[charlottechristy]

I really hope he starts playing seated venues after this. I know that getting front row will be harder this way; however, it will definitely cut down on the hours and hours of queing. And, if Management does the fan club properly, the fan club members will have chance at the first few rows anyways. I'm always in the first 1-3 rows for Josh Groban and these are huge concerts!

 

Anyways, I would like to be able to wear something nice and look fresh for a Mika gig! Poor Mika always sees us after a long day of queing. He's all fresh and smells good and then, he comes out and meets us. No wonder there are no posed pictures.

[Candboys]

My friend is a long time member of the Pearl Jam fan club and they get to purchase tickets pre-sale and there is seniority involved. For example, once this goes official, everyone COULD have the same seniority and others that join right before tickets go on sale will still have a chance at presales and all, to make it fair. Also, there is a limit of how many can be purchased by fan club members during the pre-sale.

 

Just a thought. I think the Grateful Dead used to do this too. Yea, I'm old.

[charlottechristy]

Maroon 5 does it this way too. I love the seniority thing. The longer you have been a member, the closer to the stage you are. There are people in the fan club, that have always been front and center. And, during standing shows, they rope the first part of the floor off for fanclub members too. It's pretty sweet.

 

My friend is a long time member of the Pearl Jam fan club and they get to purchase tickets pre-sale and there is seniority involved. For example, once this goes official, everyone COULD have the same seniority and others that join right before tickets go on sale will still have a chance at presales and all, to make it fair. Also, there is a limit of how many can be purchased by fan club members during the pre-sale.

 

Just a thought. I think the Grateful Dead used to do this too. Yea, I'm old.

[Candboys]

Maroon 5 does it this way too. I love the seniority thing. The longer you have been a member, the closer to the stage you are. There are people in the fan club, that have always been front and center. And, during standing shows, they rope the first part of the floor off for fanclub members too. It's pretty sweet.

 

Oh, I like Maroon 5 too! That sounds like a good system.

[charlottechristy]

Forgot to mention though...you have to purchase 2 tickets and it's in the city of your choice. Also, you can buy soundcheck tickets which include a meet n greet with the band and a picture.

 

But, you can't be front row and center for every show you want to go to. It's based on demand. But, you are guaranteed!!! They made it so easy to pick up tickets too. I just showed my membership card and in I went. It was awesome.

 

Oh, I like Maroon 5 too! That sounds like a good system.

[Ioana]

Maroon 5 does it this way too. I love the seniority thing. The longer you have been a member, the closer to the stage you are. There are people in the fan club, that have always been front and center. And, during standing shows, they rope the first part of the floor off for fanclub members too. It's pretty sweet.

 

And how many people do you think would like to go for that? Being split based on seniority

I don't really think it's a fair thing for some to always be front center

 

It's great to be one of the first members ,of course,but in Mika's case 90% are british,so that would mean,you go to a UK gig knowing you probably won't get a great spot

 

Takes the fun away,even if it slightly resolves the queuing issue

[Candboys]

I am hoping that when this goes official that research has been done to see what other music groups are doing for their fan clubs and such. There's got to be a better system than the stampede GA method.

[charlottechristy]

Yeah, but just think how many shows he does there and those people couldn't get front row for each show. Only for one in that area.

 

I took this from the fanclub site: I think it's very fair! I loved it. Of course, you can't please everyone. But, it sure beat having to queue for hours.

 

Ticket Availability

You may purchase two tickets per show (no more or less*) and to as many available shows as are available. S.I.N. Club members are not guaranteed tickets for any show. The quantity and location of S.I.N. Club tickets are sometimes restricted by the venue. S.I.N. Club ticket sales will conclude 30 days after the on-sale starts or when the S.I.N. Club ticket hold is sold out. (*Note: There may be specific circumstances where this policy is amended and only one ticket per member will be allowed).

 

Seat Location

Although we will have tickets for every show (whenever possible), there is no special S.I.N. Club section at general admission shows. When reserved seating applies, tickets are generally within the first third of the venue (under normal conditions). Whenever possible, we will give you the general parameters of the S.I.N. Club ticket hold at each venue however, we cannot give you the exact row and seat numbers for your individual ticket order.

 

Seat Assignment

Once a show is closed, we take the list of S.I.N. Club members who have purchased tickets for that show and randomly select names to fill the S.I.N. Club seats that are held in the first two rows of our hold. All other seating is assigned by the Seniority System (members who have been in the S.I.N. Club the longest receive the closest seats). The time you call us or pick up your tickets from the box office the night of the show has no bearing on where your seats are located.

 

 

And how many people do you think would like to go for that? Being split based on seniority

I don't really think it's a fair thing for some to always be front center

 

It's great to be one of the first members ,of course,but in Mika's case 90% are british,so that would mean,you go to a UK gig knowing you probably won't get a great spot

 

Takes the fun away,even if it slightly resolves the queuing issue

[pinkunicorn123]

Are you talking about the Paris one? I love him in his glasses..but darnit, I didn't have makeup on. But, the cold put blush on my cheeks..or was that Josh. LOL:naughty:

 

Edit: Holly, I just wrote you a long PM and your inbox is full. Ooopppsss! LOL

 

Holly as in me, or Holly as in HollyD?

Im guessing HollyD since my inbox had a small amount of space.

 

I would like to say something concerning the Turin gig, but I think this may have occurred again during other gigs.

I didn't want to stand near the stage, because I wanted to enjoy the concert peacefully with a friend who wasn't a Mika fan like me (not yet ) . I wanted to hear his voice and not other people singing or screaming.

Unfortunately a group of fans suddenly screamed MIKAAAAA!!!! I nearly died on the spot and became deaf.

I can understand the enthusiasm everybody feels when seeing Mika on the stage, but it was really annoying and I was actually scared!!!! I thought a major cataclism was destroying the venue and the whole planet Earth...

On the whole the gig was very enjoyable and the audience quite polite.

 

Thats true, but thats why we fit under the 'fan' title since fan is short for fanatical.

It is not just the Queuing that can be discussed here, its the general approach to gigs, so that is a valid point - thank you.

 

I really hope he starts playing seated venues after this. I know that getting front row will be harder this way; however, it will definitely cut down on the hours and hours of queing. And, if Management does the fan club properly, the fan club members will have chance at the first few rows anyways. I'm always in the first 1-3 rows for Josh Groban and these are huge concerts!

 

Anyways, I would like to be able to wear something nice and look fresh for a Mika gig! Poor Mika always sees us after a long day of queing. He's all fresh and smells good and then, he comes out and meets us. No wonder there are no posed pictures.

 

The trouble with seated venues is that people stand up anyway, also i do not think mika concerts would 'work' in the way that they do now if all positions are seated.

[charlottechristy]

Yes, sorry..Holly D. LOL

 

The one nice thing about a seated venue (doesn't mean you have to sit) is that, you are guaranteed your seat and nobody can push you out of it. And, you don't have to get there a 100 years early to make sure you get it.

 

They all have their pros and cons.

 

Holly as in me, or Holly as in HollyD?

Im guessing HollyD since my inbox had a small amount of space.

 

 

 

The trouble with seated venues is that people stand up anyway, also i do not think mika concerts would 'work' in the way that they do now if all positions are seated.

[level28]

I don't like the seniority thing at all

It's been discussed on the official thread a bit and I don't think fans who registered first deserve more than others to be front.

 

At worst I think it's better that the first that book tickets are front.

I think lots of ppl, I'm one of them, didn't register here as soon as they knew Mika and what about ppl who can't speak english?

And I think maybe the posting should count to avoid ppl registering just to take advantage of it...

[pinkunicorn123]

The seniority/seated aspect also puts people who have to wait to see if they can organise holiday leave and transport out of good positions.

[HollyD]

All the drama is just starting to come down and I know I shouldn't even meddle in. I just wanted to say that I think the MFC is being shifted into the wrong direction with these posts getting too personal. I think that if your issues are personal you should talk to that person directly and find a resolution to your problems amongst yourselves.

 

To make a post publicly, calling people out results in it looking as bullying. I don't know the circumstances for all of this. But being relatively new here, I would hate that just when I joined things got so sour. Lets make this a happy atmosphere, as it should be. If we have personal problems, lets deal with them in a personal manner.

 

(Sorry for throwing in my 2 cents, but I had to say something)

 

I didn't see anything wrong with the way this thread was going..... and I don't recall andyone being a bully or directly calling any particular ones out. I think this thread is necessary and healthy for us. There is obviously a HUGE problem here...and it needs to be addressed and ultimately resolved! We all care about the MFC or we wouldn't spend our life here All the bad stuff I saw in NYC was NOT MFCers..... the NON Fan Club members SCARED ME!

We need that sense of unity back again like it use to be. The fan Club has changed SO MUCH even just in the past 6 months.... things are about to get REALLY crazy with Mika - so it is really up to us to come to some sort of solution and stick with it, again- I know there is ONLY SO MUCH we little MFCers can do.....All we can do it HOPE that being 'Official' makes a difference!

[pinkunicorn123]

I didn't see anything wrong with the way this thread was going..... and I don't recall andyone being a bully or directly calling any particular ones out. I think this thread is necessary and healthy for us. There is obviously a HUGE problem here...and it needs to be addressed and ultimately resolved! We all care about the MFC or we wouldn't spend our life here All the bad stuff I saw in NYC was NOT MFCers..... the NON Fan Club members SCARED ME!

We need that sense of unity back again like it use to be. The fan Club has changed SO MUCH even just in the past 6 months.... things are about to get REALLY crazy with Mika - so it is really up to us to come to some sort of solution and stick with it, again- I know there is ONLY SO MUCH we little MFCers can do.....All we can do it HOPE that being 'Official' makes a difference!

 

Its just a way of finding how to bring that unity back that is a problem.

The mfc has been running for over a year now, people move on and social constructs adapt to something that we cant force.

By dealing with small aspects of what that amounts to, we can make some changes.

I realise that a lot of the 'bad behaviour' comes from those who arent part of this forum, but towards the end of the tour, i have seen or been told of several occasions where mfcers have decided that being polite and considerate gets them no where and to achieve what they want to, be it prime queue positions, attention from band members, or john or andy, and ultimately mica, they may as well act in the same way that was originally limited to those who weren't members. And it is extremely sad.

With all the effort that mika's management and mica himself are putting in to giving opportunities to fans, i think it is a shame and a huge fault that people are abusing this.

The trouble is, working out a way to resolve it that is within the bound of mfc capabilities. Obviously we are becoming official soon, so those capabilities are changing rapidly as we have seen over the last week or so, and we cannot account for those changes, yet.

But we can come up with some ideas which the mfc will agree to or atleast consider.

With every suggestion, there will be circumstances where these ideas will fail, or hinder. But that will happen anyway.

For example, the idea of seated venues is way out of out limitations to suggest, it will also mean that mika concerts will work in a very different way to how they do now as both parties feed off eachother.

If the venues are seated it removes the issue of queueing, rushing to the front, and injury in that process (which we have had). It also means that people will stand when in these seated areas, blocking the views of those who need or would prefer to be seated.

There is also the added factor of those who need to book off holiday and organise transport/flights/accomodation not being able to book prime seats due to the time lapse in doing that.

We need to find a balance.

We have all now established that there is a problem, even if some deny this, so instead of convincing those who are denying it, or talking over the problems again (unless there are aspects which we have overlooked), how about we start thinking of solutions?

The issues raised so far are:

- Queue Jumping

- The prevalent and inappropriate use of the word 'disability'

- Conduct of non-members

- Pushing and queue jumping leading to injury

- The Number System

- Consideration towards younger members

- Those attending with family/friends being separated

- Costs

- Parking for those with Blue Badges

- Holding places in queues for other members

 

Please tell me if i missed anything here on either list...

 

The current considered solutions:

 

- Higher and more involved security

(Brixton only had 1 member of staff for around 4hrs 'looking after' 100-200 people. He stood away from everyone and did not help.)

- Seated venues

- Extension of The Number System

- Tickets being checked before doors open

- People being allowed into the venue in short sharp bursts, not all in one rush

[babspanky]

I am hoping that when this goes official that research has been done to see what other music groups are doing for their fan clubs and such. There's got to be a better system than the stampede GA method.

 

Whichever way they do it will upset some people, anyway.

[babspanky]

I don't like the seniority thing at all

It's been discussed on the official thread a bit and I don't think fans who registered first deserve more than others to be front.

 

At worst I think it's better that the first that book tickets are front.

I think lots of ppl, I'm one of them, didn't register here as soon as they knew Mika and what about ppl who can't speak english?

And I think maybe the posting should count to avoid ppl registering just to take advantage of it...

 

Surely this would just have the effect of encouraging people to post for the sake of posting, rather that if they have something to say?

Quality versus quantity.

[level28]

I don't know, maybe.. but the mods could try to do sth about it.

I've no idea what's the best solution

I think more security staff couldn't hurt.

[pinkunicorn123]

The mods are only in charge of the forum, it would be unfair to request any more from them.

[BumbleBee_Vix]

In Hammersmith I don't think the queueing was SUCH a problem I think the main issue was Brixton's first gig. The whole numbering people was allover the shop cos more than one person was numbering so we ended up with like 4 53's or something daft like that and because the barriers didnt go ALL the way down the queue a fair few of the foreign fans were starting their own queues from this barrier rather than the back and then sliding down the side. On top of that there were a couple of MFC people from Britain sliding up the side who should know better also. After Mika arrived and loads of people ran to the car and then everyone came back and the queue became so tight nobody could breathe and there were still a number of hours to go.

 

John had said at the second Brixton gig that the numbers were working and the bouncers were taking ther system seriously (since we had numbers to names to keep it orderly) however then when Freddie n EmmyLou arrived apparently he had said to them previously that the whole numbering system was bollocks and we werent to use it. The only problem with that then weas that the system which had until then been working a f*ck load better than on Tuesday was up the ****s as everyone decided it was free for all time.

 

If EVERYONE behaves then there wouldn't be a problem but because SOME of us are being polite and correct and doing as we should we end up losing out on stuyff and being pushed out of our rightful position (even those who HAVE NOT moved out of the queue) those who are pusying and shoving and getting their way is only making those who ARE doing things correctly wonder why the hell they bother if it's getting them nowehere. It'll spiral into madness.

 

The time of queueing is getting bloody rediculous as well. The gig starts at 7pm. It takes one person to go Ooo I'll come at 3 and be at the front to start it off then it';s 2pm then 12 then 10am then we have people like Cynthia turning up at some ungodly hour in the morning in BRIXTON of all places. I mean by all means thats your choice love but things are just getting sillier and sillier, we shouldn't HAVE to be there the week before to get in the front line or so.

 

On another note with the whole disability thing. Nobody can really claim to understand what anyone else's situation is like so whilst I dDO NOT think it is fair that those who do not queue end up center front at every gig I also don't think personal attacks are the answer. Perhaps those who cannot queue for hours due to disability should consider buying a SEAT? when these are available or perhaps standing to the front edges? I know there were some issues on Teusday with Mika pulling people on stage and these front few getting squished but is it rerally wise to stand there when you know he's gonna do stuff like that?

 

Phew. Rant over.

[level28]

The mods are only in charge of the forum, it would be unfair to request any more from them.

Ok

[pinkunicorn123]

In Hammersmith I don't think the queueing was SUCH a problem I think the main issue was Brixton's first gig. The whole numbering people was allover the shop cos more than one person was numbering so we ended up with like 4 53's or something daft like that and because the barriers didnt go ALL the way down the queue a fair few of the foreign fans were starting their own queues from this barrier rather than the back and then sliding down the side. On top of that there were a couple of MFC people from Britain sliding up the side who should know better also. After Mika arrived and loads of people ran to the car and then everyone came back and the queue became so tight nobody could breathe and there were still a number of hours to go.

 

John had said at the second Brixton gig that the numbers were working and the bouncers were taking ther system seriously (since we had numbers to names to keep it orderly) however then when Freddie n EmmyLou arrived apparently he had said to them previously that the whole numbering system was bollocks and we werent to use it. The only problem with that then weas that the system which had until then been working a f*ck load better than on Tuesday was up the ****s as everyone decided it was free for all time.

 

If EVERYONE behaves then there wouldn't be a problem but because SOME of us are being polite and correct and doing as we should we end up losing out on stuyff and being pushed out of our rightful position (even those who HAVE NOT moved out of the queue) those who are pusying and shoving and getting their way is only making those who ARE doing things correctly wonder why the hell they bother if it's getting them nowehere. It'll spiral into madness.

 

The time of queueing is getting bloody rediculous as well. The gig starts at 7pm. It takes one person to go Ooo I'll come at 3 and be at the front to start it off then it';s 2pm then 12 then 10am then we have people like Cynthia turning up at some ungodly hour in the morning in BRIXTON of all places. I mean by all means thats your choice love but things are just getting sillier and sillier, we shouldn't HAVE to be there the week before to get in the front line or so.

 

Phew. Rant over.

 

Ah well rants are good, now we need to know what your suggestions are?

(Aside from preferabley purchasing trousers)