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Queuing for GA gigs - thoughts, feedback, suggestions?


lollipop_monkey

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Well I don't know about anyone else, but the reason I try for a front row spot is because I'm short, and anything further back would be pretty useless for me to see anything.

 

Same here! I was like 4 or 5 people back from the stage and it was still VERY difficult to see most of the time. That's why most of my pics have the tops of peoples heads at the bottom of them.

 

By the way, I LOVE the photo in your sig. Such a GREAT one! :D

Edited by ncsuemme
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No, of course it's not all about the spot, and spending time with the rest of people is one of the best things, and the reason why we do it.

I wouldn't go around the world like that 'just' to see a gig in a normal way. I thought that we all knew and realised that we do this because we have a fantastic community and connections with eachother, and we like to spend time together.

But that doesn't negate the practical and real side of it as well. Everyone (or most who queue) wants that 'golden' spot where they are at the front, and can see every little detail and expression on Mika's face, and Mika can see them and communicate.

That is the reality of it. The only way around that, is to have a system by which to allocate those 'precious' spots fairly to whoever deserves them more, and the fairest way seems to be by order of arrival, hence why it needs to be sorted out properly.

 

:bow: :bow: :bow:

 

I really wish we could stop all this millitary style planning and just enjoy the day :teehee: am I really the only one who does this because I like the company? Do you guys seriously all take time off and fly around the world only to hang out in front of Mika? Where's the "MFC family" spirit these days? :dunno:

 

Well good luck with sorting it out then :naughty: Hope you won't mind me camping nearby without a number though, then the people who don't need to look directly at Mika's crotch to have a decent view can join me for a game of travel stratego, might be able to find someone else who also sucks at it with all the clever ones stuck at the front :mf_rosetinted:

 

The thing is, Kata, without "military style planning" it just becomes a free for all. And I love the whole MFC family spirit thing just as much as anyone. But when you get a queue situation where people are bitchy because they don't dare drink water or or go to the toilet for fear of losing their place in line, well, that makes it a lot harder for everyone to be sane and friendly. What it boils down to is that when emotions are running high (as you know they are at these gigs) people get a little crazy. The only thing to keep that in check is some preplanning and organization.

 

If you want to skip the numbering thing, by all means, but obviously if that system is in place and you don't want a number, you'll be accessing the venue after everyone who got themselves a number. I'm not trying to sound like a dictator, but that's the reality. :thumb_yello:

 

the music playing plus everyone talking, etc, etc, etc made hearing what was going on impossible. they really needed one of the loud guards to announce something to the degree of "There's a number system. If you didn't get a number, you arrived too late. Please shut up and let us get those with numbers in the door (meaning make some room) and you'll be able to get in directly after that." i luckily heard him calling out "number 70?" and my friends and i pushed through the crowd.

 

by ALL means, i greatly, greatly appreciate the number system. i loved having a 'spot' in line, and knowing that i could get food, drinks, ice cream :D, whatever. but i definitely think LPR could have done a better job. it felt like a bit of a cluster****, to be honest. but seriously, MFC, y'all rock. if i had known there was going to be a number system, i might have tried to take an early day at work. ;)

 

You are absolutely, totally right. That whole "let's move 100+ people into a tiny bar and expect them to stay in line" thing was total madness. Then of course they turn off the lights and turn on loud music, so people can't hear what's going on anyhow.

 

I get that the venue wanted to sell more drinks, but we would all have been better off if we'd just kept the line outside until everyone could enter the actual performance space.

 

Oh, and you get a gold star for using the term "clusterf*ck" :naughty:

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The thing is, Kata, without "military style planning" it just becomes a free for all. And I love the whole MFC family spirit thing just as much as anyone. But when you get a queue situation where people are bitchy because they don't dare drink water or or go to the toilet for fear of losing their place in line, well, that makes it a lot harder for everyone to be sane and friendly. What it boils down to is that when emotions are running high (as you know they are at these gigs) people get a little crazy. The only thing to keep that in check is some preplanning and organization.

 

If you want to skip the numbering thing, by all means, but obviously if that system is in place and you don't want a number, you'll be accessing the venue after everyone who got themselves a number. I'm not trying to sound like a dictator, but that's the reality. :thumb_yello:

 

I'm not gonna wait around all day without getting a number so I can jump the queue later am I? What kind of idiot do you take me for? I don't want that famous "golden spot" I just happen to like queueing, but none of you guys are gonna join me for a queue in front of the donut shop are you? Nah didn't think so :dunno:

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I'm not gonna wait around all day without getting a number so I can jump the queue later am I? What kind of idiot do you take me for? I don't want that famous "golden spot" I just happen to like queueing, but none of you guys are gonna join me for a queue in front of the donut shop are you? Nah didn't think so :dunno:

 

I did not imply that you're an idiot, m'dear. It's not a golden spot thing, it's a see-the-gig-surrounded-by-a-bunch-of-people-you-know thing. If that's not an issue for you then everything is peachy, yes?

 

I also like queuing. But I don't like donuts. Next reserved seating gig, I vote we all find our own ice cream truck and queue around that just for old times' sake. :mf_rosetinted:

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What worked out well with this gig, is that I had MFC friends who wanted the same thing I wanted - front row. So I was able to:

 

1. spend the whole day with them in the queue

 

AND

 

2. get front row.

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I did not imply that you're an idiot, m'dear. It's not a golden spot thing, it's a see-the-gig-surrounded-by-a-bunch-of-people-you-know thing. If that's not an issue for you then everything is peachy, yes?

 

I also like queuing. But I don't like donuts. Next reserved seating gig, I vote we all find our own ice cream truck and queue around that just for old times' sake. :mf_rosetinted:

 

it's not enough of an issue for me to bother with the millitary **** no. The way things go at these gigs I have found myself wishing I had left before the gig started, as I always have a great time until people start yelling and bossing me around and I get so confused that I start running in circles and end up alone in a corner anyway. In a perfect world there'd be others who would like to do some ballroom dancing at the back, but it seems it's not ever gonna be like that, so I'll rather have a good time in the queue and then read a book at the back of the venue with Mika as background music :dunno:

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In a perfect world there'd be others who would like to do some ballroom dancing at the back, but it seems it's not ever gonna be like that, so I'll rather have a good time in the queue and then read a book at the back of the venue with Mika as background music :dunno:

 

The people who want to ballroom dance at the back do not queue. They turn up at 9 pm right before Mika goes on stage.

 

If MFCers were mostly that type of person we would not have gotten to know each other at these gigs because we would never have queued together before. It doesn't make much sense that we would have spent all that time hanging out together and then stepped aside while all the people who like to show up at 7 pm and queue jump run in ahead of us. :dunno:

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I'm not gonna wait around all day without getting a number so I can jump the queue later am I? What kind of idiot do you take me for? I don't want that famous "golden spot" I just happen to like queueing, but none of you guys are gonna join me for a queue in front of the donut shop are you? Nah didn't think so :dunno:

 

If it were an ice-cream shop, I would join you any time! :huglove:

Just tell me next time! :wink2:

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The people who want to ballroom dance at the back do not queue. They turn up at 9 pm right before Mika goes on stage.

 

If MFCers were mostly that type of person we would not have gotten to know each other at these gigs because we would never have queued together before. It doesn't make much sense that we would have spent all that time hanging out together and then stepped aside while all the people who like to show up at 7 pm and queue jump run in ahead of us. :dunno:

 

nope would make a lot more sense to just have a picnic, but hey :dunno: I guess it really is just me who mainly comes for the social part of this... a bit sad maybe, but I guess it's not really more sad to think you have friends on the internet than it is to go to these things to interact with a popstar. I'll piss off again now, not gonna waste more time on this :dunno:

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The only concern I have with that one: People can show up super early, and then just leave for the whole day because their spot is reserved. That just doesn't seem right to me compared to people that arrived later, but spent the entire day there, queuing. Surely I don't know if people would do that but you never know. The positive aspect is that you can leave the queue for a while (toilet e.g.) without someone taking your spot.

 

Yeah, it's important people don't get the idea they can come get a number at noon and then disappear until 7pm. Definitely something to keep an eye out for. :thumb_yello:

 

Oh and another thing about the numbers of course: the numbers should be correct. Meaning the list is really in the order of how people show up, and not by 'favorising' (don't even know if that's a word :aah:) some people and giving them a smaller number allthough they arrived later.

 

That's also a very good point. Have you ever actually seen that happen? I like to think MFCers are fair and that the numbering system is indeed based on order of arrival.

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Maybe an idea - an official MFC or MIKA stamp that has an open square to write the number in. This way, latecomers don't sneak writing their OWN made-up number on their hand. :sneaky2:

 

Didn't someone who suddenly appeared around 8pm write the #1 on his hand? :naughty:

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Originally, I thought the numbers idea was a very good idea in NY, until we got inside and the venue had no idea how to handle it. They were so stupid! It took an hour and a half of unnecessary sweating, pushing, etc. It took them way too long to figure out how to get everyone in order...

 

BUT the order was kept and managed all day very thoroughly (yay mods!), and having a number made me feel relaxed. There just needs to be communication with the venue staff/ the staff at venues need to have brains.

Edited by AKateisaKate
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after venturing into this forum, i would be more than happy to spend the day in queue with mika fans. y'all seem really awesome and it seems like one big happy family. i had absolutely no idea there was going to be any sort of line system, but i look forward to another mika show in nyc with general admission for the line!

 

i completely appreciate your "military" style, sariflor! :thumb_yello:

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At the risk of sounding like an idiot...I really didn't understand what Q-ing (:naughty:) was until I read this thread. I think it sounds really fun although I'm afraid I would get a migraine if I went all day w/out food...:boxed:

That's the benefit of the queue process. Since you're given a number, as long as the folks you're around are cool, you can leave to get food and come back. :)

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Can I just pipe up from a different part of the world with a system already in place? Let me explain the challenges for a die-hard MIKA fan in Japan. This is a bit long, so only read it if you are interested...and if any moderator would like to relay any of the special Japan challenges to Team Mika if and when he comes here...so that they don't think we are any less enthusiastic....so much is left to chance here.

 

Japanese fans must be notorious for their enthusiasm and their sheer numbers, so someone already worked out what would work best here. Japanese people are incredibly patient queue waiters. We have to queue here for lots of things. Trains, flea markets...if we go to Disneyland, we queue for each ride for usually more than 2 hours. It is just part and parcel of living in a place with so many people, and luckily this is a very polite culture on the whole, and nobody queue jumps on the whole. And at Disneyland, it is quite acceptable for Mum to hold the spot for the whole family in the queue, while Dad is off on a ride with the kids and they all pile into line later. Cell phones run hot at Tokyo Disneyland while people check family in queues everywhere.

 

Anyway, that was just by way of background... here in Tokyo, the system for gigs is that the tickets for smaller GA venues are issued with a "seiri bango" which is in fact a waiting number, and is issued according to who bought the tickets first. So it doesn't matter how early you get to the venue, and how much you make your own line, you are not going to have a chance for front row unless

a) you have a very low "seiri bango"

b) you are just lucky and all the low seiri bango people did not turn up early enough to claim their front row places.

 

So when Mika was here in 2007, I arrived at the venue very early, and then it became clear to me (not being a GA concert goer of any seriousness till then) that the seiri bango was the absolute deciding factor, and I was A 163. Even though I bought my ticket as soon as they came on sale. Some girls I met bought scalper tickets with seiri bangos in the 30s, and they got the front right side, and kept me a spot near them for the MFC sign.

 

So time passed and I am a little more experienced now at the seiri bango thing, so I bought early presale tix for Jason Mraz in a seated venue and got BACK row in what was announced as a lottery system...so I needed to be thankful I even "won" the right to buy a ticket.

 

Next I bought very late Duffy GA tickets, and of course got a terrible seiri bango, so just toodled up to the gig after the doors were already open, and was lucky to find myself a reasonable middle spot...not many people knew who she was.

 

Then I got notice of Katy Perry coming to town, and the presale started on Dec 21, when I was off on my beach holiday with no internet. When I got back a week later, I got a seiri bango in the 200s, and NO chance of being anywhere down the front, but I still wanted to get a good place if possible, so I turned up just before the doors opened and I watched intently as they called out the seiri bangos to try to learn more about this stoopid system.

 

It is clear than not everyone with the low seiri bango cares enough to turn up early. So what starts out as # 1-10, 21-30, 31-40 quickly becomes 41-60, 61-100 and so on, all in the space of less than 10 minutes. And you just have to stand anywhere in the crowd and listen out for your number to be called out by the security guy at the door. No pushing, no shoving, everyone politely waiting for their number.

 

At the same time as getting KP tix online, I found Lily Allen presale was about to start (again a lottery system, where you win the right to buy a ticket) so put my name in, and got one. But I couldn't physically get the ticket until 2 weeks before the gig, had no idea what number I was... so imagine my surprise when my seiri bango came as #48 and I got there just in time for the guy calling out the lowest numbers. Hardly anyone was going in with the low numbers, so I got in quite comfortably with about 5 others, and found the front was still half empty. So easy to get the front.

 

But this is NOT going to happen with MIKA. Everyone will be going mental to get to the front like last time, so the seiri bango is of crucial importance. Hence, in my humble opinion, it would be excellent if there was some way for Team Mika to make arrangements with Universal Music Japan to release MFC tickets with low seiri bangos for those of us who have been round for years. :pinkbow:

 

Otherwise it will just be the usual stupid presale lottery (no guarantee you will even win the right to buy a ticket) and none of the MFCers will even have a chance. His whole front row could be suits!!! Universal execs on their way home from the office! GYAAAH:aah:

 

Sorry that was a very long opinion. Don't know if anyone will even read...:mf_rosetinted:

Edited by Blue Sky
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Can I just pipe up from a different part of the world with a system already in place? Let me explain the challenges for a die-hard MIKA fan in Japan. This is a bit long, so only read it if you are interested...and if any moderator would like to relay any of the special Japan challenges to Team Mika if and when he comes here...so that they don't think we are any less enthusiastic....so much is left to chance here.

 

Japanese fans must be notorious for their enthusiasm and their sheer numbers, so someone already worked out what would work best here. Japanese people are incredibly patient queue waiters. We have to queue here for lots of things. Trains, flea markets...if we go to Disneyland, we queue for each ride for usually more than 2 hours. It is just part and parcel of living in a place with so many people, and luckily this is a very polite culture on the whole, and nobody queue jumps on the whole. And at Disneyland, it is quite acceptable for Mum to hold the spot for the whole family in the queue, while Dad is off on a ride with the kids and they all pile into line later. Cell phones run hot at Tokyo Disneyland while people check family in queues everywhere.

 

Anyway, that was just by way of background... here in Tokyo, the system for gigs is that the tickets for smaller GA venues are issued with a "seiri bango" which is in fact a waiting number, and is issued according to who bought the tickets first. So it doesn't matter how early you get to the venue, and how much you make your own line, you are not going to have a chance for front row unless

a) you have a very low "seiri bango"

b) you are just lucky and all the low seiri bango people did not turn up early enough to claim their front row places.

 

So when Mika was here in 2007, I arrived at the venue very early, and then it became clear to me (not being a GA concert goer of any seriousness till then) that the seiri bango was the absolute deciding factor, and I was A 163. Even though I bought my ticket as soon as they came on sale. Some girls I met bought scalper tickets with seiri bangos in the 30s, and they got the front right side, and kept me a spot near them for the MFC sign.

 

So time passed and I am a little more experienced now at the seiri bango thing, so I bought early presale tix for Jason Mraz in a seated venue and got BACK row in what was announced as a lottery system...so I needed to be thankful I even "won" the right to buy a ticket.

 

Next I bought very late Duffy GA tickets, and of course got a terrible seiri bango, so just toodled up to the gig after the doors were already open, and was lucky to find myself a reasonable middle spot...not many people knew who she was.

 

Then I got notice of Katy Perry coming to town, and the presale started on Dec 21, when I was off on my beach holiday with no internet. When I got back a week later, I got a seiri bango in the 200s, and NO chance of being anywhere down the front, but I still wanted to get a good place if possible, so I turned up just before the doors opened and I watched intently as they called out the seiri bangos to try to learn more about this stoopid system.

 

It is clear than not everyone with the low seiri bango cares enough to turn up early. So what starts out as # 1-10, 21-30, 31-40 quickly becomes 41-60, 61-100 and so on, all in the space of less than 10 minutes. And you just have to stand anywhere in the crowd and listen out for your number to be called out by the security guy at the door. No pushing, no shoving, everyone politely waiting for their number.

 

At the same time as getting KP tix online, I found Lily Allen presale was about to start (again a lottery system, where you win the right to buy a ticket) so put my name in, and got one. But I couldn't physically get the ticket until 2 weeks before the gig, had no idea what number I was... so imagine my surprise when my seiri bango came as #48 and I got there just in time for the guy calling out the lowest numbers. Hardly anyone was going in with the low numbers, so I got in quite comfortably with about 5 others, and found the front was still half empty. So easy to get the front.

 

But this is NOT going to happen with MIKA. Everyone will be going mental to get to the front like last time, so the seiri bango is of crucial importance. Hence, in my humble opinion, it would be excellent if there was some way for Team Mika to make arrangements with Universal Music Japan to release MFC tickets with low seiri bangos for those of us who have been round for years. :pinkbow:

 

Otherwise it will just be the usual stupid presale lottery (no guarantee you will even win the right to buy a ticket) and none of the MFCers will even have a chance. His whole front row could be suits!!! Universal execs on their way home from the office! GYAAAH:aah:

 

Sorry that was a very long opinion. Don't know if anyone will even read...:mf_rosetinted:

 

 

Wow, that's an interesting system, and pretty fair too.

So, if you do get there early, and the other numbers read out aren't there, you could still get a reasonable spot?

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There is a chance you could get a good spot...if you managed to get a ticket at all.

 

I see it is as a fair way to deal with everyone who has bought tickets. It just doesn't feel as fair when you are a die-hard :fangurl: type. Which I have never been for anyone else:naughty:

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Can I just pipe up from a different part of the world with a system already in place? Let me explain the challenges for a die-hard MIKA fan in Japan. This is a bit long, so only read it if you are interested...and if any moderator would like to relay any of the special Japan challenges to Team Mika if and when he comes here...so that they don't think we are any less enthusiastic....so much is left to chance here.

 

Japanese fans must be notorious for their enthusiasm and their sheer numbers, so someone already worked out what would work best here. Japanese people are incredibly patient queue waiters. We have to queue here for lots of things. Trains, flea markets...if we go to Disneyland, we queue for each ride for usually more than 2 hours. It is just part and parcel of living in a place with so many people, and luckily this is a very polite culture on the whole, and nobody queue jumps on the whole. And at Disneyland, it is quite acceptable for Mum to hold the spot for the whole family in the queue, while Dad is off on a ride with the kids and they all pile into line later. Cell phones run hot at Tokyo Disneyland while people check family in queues everywhere.

 

Anyway, that was just by way of background... here in Tokyo, the system for gigs is that the tickets for smaller GA venues are issued with a "seiri bango" which is in fact a waiting number, and is issued according to who bought the tickets first. So it doesn't matter how early you get to the venue, and how much you make your own line, you are not going to have a chance for front row unless

a) you have a very low "seiri bango"

b) you are just lucky and all the low seiri bango people did not turn up early enough to claim their front row places.

 

So when Mika was here in 2007, I arrived at the venue very early, and then it became clear to me (not being a GA concert goer of any seriousness till then) that the seiri bango was the absolute deciding factor, and I was A 163. Even though I bought my ticket as soon as they came on sale. Some girls I met bought scalper tickets with seiri bangos in the 30s, and they got the front right side, and kept me a spot near them for the MFC sign.

 

So time passed and I am a little more experienced now at the seiri bango thing, so I bought early presale tix for Jason Mraz in a seated venue and got BACK row in what was announced as a lottery system...so I needed to be thankful I even "won" the right to buy a ticket.

 

Next I bought very late Duffy GA tickets, and of course got a terrible seiri bango, so just toodled up to the gig after the doors were already open, and was lucky to find myself a reasonable middle spot...not many people knew who she was.

 

Then I got notice of Katy Perry coming to town, and the presale started on Dec 21, when I was off on my beach holiday with no internet. When I got back a week later, I got a seiri bango in the 200s, and NO chance of being anywhere down the front, but I still wanted to get a good place if possible, so I turned up just before the doors opened and I watched intently as they called out the seiri bangos to try to learn more about this stoopid system.

 

It is clear than not everyone with the low seiri bango cares enough to turn up early. So what starts out as # 1-10, 21-30, 31-40 quickly becomes 41-60, 61-100 and so on, all in the space of less than 10 minutes. And you just have to stand anywhere in the crowd and listen out for your number to be called out by the security guy at the door. No pushing, no shoving, everyone politely waiting for their number.

 

At the same time as getting KP tix online, I found Lily Allen presale was about to start (again a lottery system, where you win the right to buy a ticket) so put my name in, and got one. But I couldn't physically get the ticket until 2 weeks before the gig, had no idea what number I was... so imagine my surprise when my seiri bango came as #48 and I got there just in time for the guy calling out the lowest numbers. Hardly anyone was going in with the low numbers, so I got in quite comfortably with about 5 others, and found the front was still half empty. So easy to get the front.

 

But this is NOT going to happen with MIKA. Everyone will be going mental to get to the front like last time, so the seiri bango is of crucial importance. Hence, in my humble opinion, it would be excellent if there was some way for Team Mika to make arrangements with Universal Music Japan to release MFC tickets with low seiri bangos for those of us who have been round for years. :pinkbow:

 

Otherwise it will just be the usual stupid presale lottery (no guarantee you will even win the right to buy a ticket) and none of the MFCers will even have a chance. His whole front row could be suits!!! Universal execs on their way home from the office! GYAAAH:aah:

 

Sorry that was a very long opinion. Don't know if anyone will even read...:mf_rosetinted:

 

With all due respect, I'm not very fond of that idea. :teehee:

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Sorry that was a very long opinion. Don't know if anyone will even read...:mf_rosetinted:

 

Blue Sky, thank you for your clear explanation of how things work in Japan. And yes, I read every word, and yes, if Mika ever gets his arse to your untoured land, we'll do what we can to work with Team Mika to see about getting an MFC/Mikasounds presale, thus affording you a coveted low seiri bango.

 

In your experience, do they ever do reserved seating gigs in Japan?

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Blue Sky, thank you for your clear explanation of how things work in Japan. And yes, I read every word, and yes, if Mika ever gets his arse to your untoured land, we'll do what we can to work with Team Mika to see about getting an MFC/Mikasounds presale, thus affording you a coveted low seiri bango.

 

In your experience, do they ever do reserved seating gigs in Japan?

 

Isn't the serai bango system just like reserved seating, without seats? It sounds like a great system, saving hours of queueing, though the presale lotteries sound a bit pointless. Presale to MFC- now that would work.

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Thanx for explaining, BS. I, like Sosi, also think that this system, combined with a fanclub presale, would be a dream come true. It would stop this nonsensical all night/all day queuing, and hardcores would get front spots like at an assigned seating venue.

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Thanx for explaining, BS. I, like Sosi, also think that this system, combined with a fanclub presale, would be a dream come true. It would stop this nonsensical all night/all day queuing, and hardcores would get front spots like at an assigned seating venue.

 

As much as I don't really mind queuing, it does take a toll on you. (Especially if after a gig, you want to join others at 3am for Chinese.) :boxed:

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