Hot Tickets… still very hot
The Live Nation Experience’s Hot Ticket packages continue to be a hot topic among the fans as well as a major source of troubles, disappointment and complaints.
What at first sight seemed a good chance to offer a guaranteed good ticket in outdoor venues and stadiums now that Madonna basically does not perform in Arenas anymore probably failed to match the expectations and both the fans who purchased a Hot Ticket and the management will probably have a good thought about this the next time, while major issues like the complete mess that happened in Nice look far to be resolved.
Still, not everybody is able to queue overnight for two days in order to be decently close to the concert stage, and how tickets will be managed will probably be a top issue when tickets for the next Madonna tour will be on sale.
M-Tribe reader Bruno for Portugal sent us an email where he explained what happened to him and other Hot Ticket customers at the Madonna concert in Lisbon. Check out his story by clicking the Full Article link below.
“I’m writing to you because I really need to make the world know the utterly disgrace that was the organization behind Madonna’s tour in Lisbon, Portugal.
I’ve been reading a whole lot of complaints arriving from every single corner of the Old Continent she has been to during this tour, so I should have known Portugal would be no exception.
Having paid, together with three friends of mine, a so called Hot Ticket that costs as much as three times the face value of a regular ticket, I was hoping for some sort of special treatment that would have justified this overwhelming difference but I couldn’t have been farther from reality.
The confirmation e-mail from Live Nation said the tickets would be sent by secure mail two weeks prior to the show’s scheduled date, which was yesterday. Nevertheless, being five one week away and with no tickets whatsoever or with any sort of feedback from Live Nation, I decided to call them and only then I was told that there was some sort of delay in issuing the tickets meaning that they would send me a letter which I would have to present at the ticket office at the day of the venue to claim my Hot Tickets. First flaw… incorrect information followed by late feedback.
Having arrived on the spot where the show was going to take place, I arrived at the street where they said the ticket office would be. To my surprise, it was located on the opposite end of the park, meaning I had to stroll for nearly 1,5 miles to claim the tickets. Then I was told I would have to go all the way back because the designated entrance for these Hot Tickets was on the other location where I started from.
With this up and down the street nightmare plus the waiting line at the ticket office, we lost about 45 minutes. Having arrived twenty minutes past the hour designated for the opening of the gates, we were blocked by a security guard who said they had received orders from the organizers saying no one should pass through the priority door from then on. We, and some other Hot Ticket purchasers, started to boil and the security guy was forced to call a member of the organiser’s staff, which let us through just to be blocked again on the next control area. Not only they didn’t let us through, they said we had to go to the end of the queue, which was at that time nearly a mile long. Again, we made our voices be heard and they let us through but prevented us from accessing the priority door, forcing us to go through the main gate after hundreds or even thousands where already in. When we arrived at the so called Golden Circle, we found that about 90% of the hundreds already there where not Hot Ticket holders but had a sort of a “first come first served” bracelet. Final result, we had to stand far from the main stage behind all those who had paid a third of what our ticket cost.
This was definitely one of the worst organised events I have even been to, and I have been to quite a few now. I’m still pondering on going ahead with a legal claim for a refund and some guys have already decided to go ahead with this.
I don’t care if Live Nation is going to bring the Virgin Mary Herself to their next show, because as long as any gig will have their brand behind it I’ll stay away from it as bees do from vinegar.
Worst experience ever, and not even the fantastic show and unforgettable performance by Madonna were sufficient to ease my rage towards those behind it. Madonna will lose more than what she could ever win from her deal with these guys. Bring back the old days and most essentially the arenas… no more outdoor or stadium shows for me!”
Bruno Silva, Portugal