General Q-ing discussion - please play nice everyone!

[macboll]

There were several people complaining about this and their story was the same, so I assume it to be true. Especially since before one of the London gigs last year I had a long and tiring discussion with someone from France, who was trying to pursuade me how after one signs up for a list at any impossible morning hour, they should be "free to do whatever they want" (i.e. go back do sleep, do sightseeig..etc) and that I cannot demand them to stay around and leave the area for more than an hour. Her main reasoning was that it was a free world and that I shouldn't try to control people. Even though she could not answer my question what she would have done if the Londoners had started the list the night before and gone to party, only to return at 10am with a list of 50 UK fans, she still thought her logic was perfect. :rolls_eyes: I strongly doubt that all or most French fans consider this the accepted way of queueing and to be honest, I would have definitely not accepted receiving queue No60 if there were clearly only around 20 people in the queue. (But then I wouldn't go and queue at such huge venues, either. ). So my question to the ones complaining about the seemingly unfair nature of people getting their names on the list is: why didn't you start a new and fair list with only he names of people who were physically present there? I think fans should totally demand a fair nature of queueing and just because someone claims to have started a list already at 4am and is waving a paper with 60 names with hardly anyone around, you needn't accept that .

 

Don't worry Suzie, I'm French and agree with you

[macboll]

And that's nothing new. When I was doing ticket sales 20 years ago we used a similar system: Fanclub pre-sale tickets were a different colour, with sequential numbers on them. There was a separate queue at the gigs for people with those tickets, and that queue was let in first. It was easy to organise and it worked perfectly all over the world. Simple!

 

I've never heard of that system, but I'd love one like that. It would make it way easier

[IngievV]

If any list is started tomorrow in Porto at the festival, I think me and quite a few others will go mental.

[Christine]

HOW are you going to watch ALL 150 people at the same time , and check if they are not more than an hour away from the Que?

 

You'll need like 15 "MFC-officers" (with colorful uniforms ) to keep an eye on them

 

Everyone just needs to be aware of what is happening immediately around them and deal with it when they see a problem instead of expecting some kind of "officers" to take care of it. Believe me if I'm #12 and #10 & #11 bugger off for 5 hours they are not going to be getting back in the queue ahead of me when they return any sooner than #250 is going to saunter up to the queue at 6 pm and stand in front of me. There's no reason for anyone to tolerate this.

 

There are always people that are going to break whatever rule there is because they are suffering from MIKA&ME-tunnel vision*.

 

I was saying earlier today that it seems like some people might be willing to sell their children into slavery to get to Mika. Didn't know there was a name for it

 

But seriously I am really struggling to understand how people who've seen Mika dozens of times can still be afflicted with this. When is enough enough to start acting rationally?

[Hippieibbie]

If any list is started tomorrow in Porto at the festival, I think me and quite a few others will go mental.

 

So?? You already know that a list won't work at a festival..

but i mean if people want to start a list, they do it! You can't stop them, and tell them not to do it!

[Sarina]

And that's nothing new. When I was doing ticket sales 20 years ago we used a similar system: Fanclub pre-sale tickets were a different colour, with sequential numbers on them. There was a separate queue at the gigs for people with those tickets, and that queue was let in first. It was easy to organise and it worked perfectly all over the world. Simple!

 

Not a bad idea indeed!!!!!

 

 

There were several people complaining about this and their story was the same, so I assume it to be true. Especially since before one of the London gigs last year I had a long and tiring discussion with someone from France, who was trying to pursuade me how after one signs up for a list at any impossible morning hour, they should be "free to do whatever they want" (i.e. go back do sleep, do sightseeig..etc) and that I cannot demand them to stay around and leave the area for more than an hour. Her main reasoning was that it was a free world and that I shouldn't try to control people. Even though she could not answer my question what she would have done if the Londoners had started the list the night before and gone to party, only to return at 10am with a list of 50 UK fans, she still thought her logic was perfect. :rolls_eyes: I strongly doubt that all or most French fans consider this the accepted way of queueing and to be honest, I would have definitely not accepted receiving queue No60 if there were clearly only around 20 people in the queue. (But then I wouldn't go and queue at such huge venues, either. ). So my question to the ones complaining about the seemingly unfair nature of people getting their names on the list is: why didn't you start a new and fair list with only he names of people who were physically present there? I think fans should totally demand a fair nature of queueing and just because someone claims to have started a list already at 4am and is waving a paper with 60 names with hardly anyone around, you needn't accept that .

 

That's what I'd like to know. People were tweeting about this at the time and I was tweeting them back telling them to not tolerate it. No one is "in charge" of the list if they are at their hotel taking a nap so the people that are there should discard the original list and start a new one.

 

This system has worked for 4 years, but someone has to enforce it. EVERYONE has to it. 90% of fans are on the same page when it comes to queuing so it shouldn't be that difficult.

 

I try to explain you both why we didn't ask for a new list. I can reply for me and my italian friends: we tried to be polite and not to start a fight because this would happen if we would ask for that...also because they said they already spoke with the organization and they had instructions from them (which we know only now wasnt completely true)..so..how do you re-start a list without fighting? I didnt feel it would e possible there..

PLUS..not so many french people are able to speak english and from now on i think that who gives numbers should be able to speak english.

 

 

agree with your post but just wanted to comment on this because a Mika gig outside of Canada is very different from most of the gigs I've been to in my life. If I am not in the front row I cannot see. There are no seats so everyone is packed together like sardines and unless you are 5 or 6 inches taller than the person in front of you (which is extremely unlikely in my case because I'm 5'3"), then all you see is the back of their head for the entire gig. Not to mention being trapped in a huge sea of people for 5 or 6 hours and having nothing to lean on, little air in front to breathe and finding it difficult to keep your balance while people are jumping and pushing

 

Exactly the same here...I'm not tall and in Compiègne I had problems plus people usually pushes you to try to go foward and could be dangerous or at least annoying. I hate when I can't see properly. This is why I need a good spot.

 

 

----

 

 

Anyway..I've read all replies but I can't see a good solution here and this thought still in my head: every fanclub has some priviledge...why dont ask for them?

You said you tried to ask in 2008 to TM about the membership but nothing changed..but why can't we try again? Things are changed..everyone knows that..Mika is more popular now, he goes into bigger venues and there're more fans at gigs...so maybe this is the right time.

 

IMO we can't keep saying "the system is fair", "the system works like it is now" when there will always be unfair people that will try to cheat and the system can't guarantee no cheats also because everyone can access to the list. I think it's time to *have official rules here, justified by a REAL element: paying membership or any other working system that can give MFC a real "authority" to organize and deal a queue without dubts, special circumstances etc...

I dont ask to not Q at all and to be on the 1st row anyway..I'm only asking a good system that prevents people to "steal" my position, the number I obtained, by by-passing the number system or the Q rules.

[suzie]

Don't worry Suzie, I'm French and agree with you

Oh, I am absolutely sure about that! I added this sentence as it kind of strengthened the moral of the story . I mean, I had a long conversation with that fan and even though we didn't agree, I had no bad feelings afterwards, I just found it interesting how some people have a completely different view on what is fair & sensible and what is not and I think it was worth raising that point here.

 

I try to explain you both why we didn't ask for a new list. I can reply for me and my italian friends: we tried to be polite and not to start a fight because this would happen if we would ask for that...also because they said they already spoke with the organization and they had instructions from them (which we know only now wasnt completely true)..so..how do you re-start a list without fighting? I didnt feel it would e possible there..

Yes, I understand that, actually. I wouldn't encourage anyone to 'start a fight' , just wanted to add that in my opinion and based on the comments I read, people had the right to question how the queue was organised in the first place. It might be a good learning for everyone for next time.

[Christine]

so..how do you re-start a list without fighting? I didnt feel it would e possible there..

 

I didn't say there would be no disagreement. No one likes to hear that they are not going to get what they want even if they know they don't deserve it. But you have everyone else on your side and the majority must take a stand. If you don't, more and more people will do this and it will be totally out of control.

 

This is why we implemented the whole numbering system in the first place. We started off with a lassez faire first come/first serve system like you see at every gig and large groups of people would not respect it. So someone had to take a stand and demand that you're not allowed to hold places for 20 of your friends or show up at 6 pm and queue jump.

 

No one really loves this situation. We would all love more freedom. But it's fair and the rules are simple and clear. You want to have a place in the queue when the doors open you need to queue the same amount of time as the people around you. End of story.

 

You said you tried to ask in 2008 to TM about the membership but nothing changed..but why can't we try again? Things are changed..everyone knows that..Mika is more popular now, he goes into bigger venues and there're more fans at gigs...so maybe this is the right time.

 

We started asking them in 2008. A lot has happened since then.

 

I actually don't think Mika is so much more popular or playing larger venues (look at PDP versus Compiegne). His fans are just acting more and more competitive. That's why I think it's our problem to sort out amongst ourselves, although that is just my personal opinion.

 

My concern about asking Team Mika for paid access to queues is that they will not implement it for "MFC-only" for technical reasons. Between Team Mika and Sandbag I am not sure that this is something that they would organize only for us. If they sell these memberships or tickets via Mikasounds then you will be competing with thousands of people.

 

There are only so many people who are motivated enough to stand in a queue. But there are many many more people who will be plenty motivated to grab these spots if all they have to do is a click a button.

 

When MS offered free iTunes tickets on MS almost no MFCers won (I can only recall 1 winner out of 100 pairs). We had to get our tickets from the Ticket Fairy or most of MFC would have lost out.

 

When MS offered a competition to win a M&G at every gig in N. America I only ever met one of these winners and I can't even recall her name on MFC to be honest.

 

Remember the WAG video contest with all the MFC entries and no winners?

 

I can almost guarantee you that this is what will happen if anyone who can register an account on a computer can buy premium spots, even if they have to pay extra for them.

 

How will you feel if you buy a fan club membership and you get fan club tickets that allow you not to queue but the number you receive is #150? What if they restrict the numbers of an "MFC queue" to 100, but 100 people click that button before you do so now you must stand in the general queue while the other hardcores get early entry? This is a double burn because not only are you guaranteed to be at best #100 in the queue but you will still have to queue up all day because you will be competing with all the other hardcore fans who didn't get into the top 100.

 

I don't know how everyone else feels about this but unless this gig was in Toronto I wouldn't go at all. I don't know if this is a great thing for Mika to be turning everyone but the lucky few off of going to his gigs because they are guaranteed a bad spot months before the gig happens.

[ilseh1983]

I didn't say there would be no disagreement. No one likes to hear that they are not going to get what they want even if they know they don't deserve it. But you have everyone else on your side and the majority must take a stand. If you don't, more and more people will do this and it will be totally out of control.

 

This is why we implemented the whole numbering system in the first place. We started off with a lassez faire first come/first serve system like you see at every gig and large groups of people would not respect it. So someone had to take a stand and demand that you're not allowed to hold places for 20 of your friends or show up at 6 pm and queue jump.

 

No one really loves this situation. We would all love more freedom. But it's fair and the rules are simple and clear. You want to have a place in the queue when the doors open you need to queue the same amount of time as the people around you. End of story.

 

 

 

We started asking them in 2008. A lot has happened since then.

 

I actually don't think Mika is so much more popular or playing larger venues (look at PDP versus Compiegne). His fans are just acting more and more competitive. That's why I think it's our problem to sort out amongst ourselves, although that is just my personal opinion.

 

My concern about asking Team Mika for paid access to queues is that they will not implement it for "MFC-only" for technical reasons. Between Team Mika and Sandbag I am not sure that this is something that they would organize only for us. If they sell these memberships or tickets via Mikasounds then you will be competing with thousands of people.

 

There are only so many people who are motivated enough to stand in a queue. But there are many many more people who will be plenty motivated to grab these spots if all they have to do is a click a button.

 

When MS offered free iTunes tickets on MS almost no MFCers won (I can only recall 1 winner out of 100 pairs). We had to get our tickets from the Ticket Fairy or most of MFC would have lost out.

 

When MS offered a competition to win a M&G at every gig in N. America I only ever met one of these winners and I can't even recall her name on MFC to be honest.

 

Remember the WAG video contest with all the MFC entries and no winners?

 

I can almost guarantee you that this is what will happen if anyone who can register an account on a computer can buy premium spots, even if they have to pay extra for them.

 

How will you feel if you buy a fan club membership and you get fan club tickets that allow you not to queue but the number you receive is #150? What if they restrict the numbers of an "MFC queue" to 100, but 100 people click that button before you do so now you must stand in the general queue while the other hardcores get early entry?

 

I don't know how everyone else feels about this but unless this gig was in Toronto I wouldn't go at all. I don't know if this is a great thing for Mika to be turning everyone but the lucky few off of going to his gigs because they are guaranteed a bad spot months before the gig happens.

 

i can totally understand this,

i don't think that that would be a solution either, for all the reasons you summed up

[Christine]

i can totally understand this,

i don't think that that would be a solution either, for all the reasons you summed up

 

I think it's a "fair" solution but it's probably not going to get MFCers what they want. And once paid membership is implemented it's going to be very difficult to undo it if everyone decides that they actually prefer the old method of queuing.

[ilseh1983]

I think it's a "fair" solution but it's probably not going to get MFCers what they want. And once paid membership is implemented it's going to be very difficult to undo it if everyone decides that they actually prefer the old method of queuing.

indeed, i think we should all just look at ourselves and try to act civilized, we all know there's always going to be people that 'll do the opposite, but if most of us just try to get along, ...

 

but maybe i'm just being naive

[tiibet]

 

My concern about asking Team Mika for paid access to queues is that they will not implement it for "MFC-only" for technical reasons. Between Team Mika and Sandbag I am not sure that this is something that they would organize only for us. If they sell these memberships or tickets via Mikasounds then you will be competing with thousands of people.

There are only so many people who are motivated enough to stand in a queue. But there are many many more people who will be plenty motivated to grab these spots if all they have to do is a click a button.

 

When MS offered free iTunes tickets on MS almost no MFCers won (I can only recall 1 winner out of 100 pairs). We had to get our tickets from the Ticket Fairy or most of MFC would have lost out.

 

When MS offered a competition to win a M&G at every gig in N. America I only ever met one of these winners and I can't even recall her name on MFC to be honest.

 

Remember the WAG video contest with all the MFC entries and no winners?

 

I can almost guarantee you that this is what will happen if anyone who can register an account on a computer can buy premium spots, even if they have to pay extra for them.

 

How will you feel if you buy a fan club membership and you get fan club tickets that allow you not to queue but the number you receive is #150? What if they restrict the numbers of an "MFC queue" to 100, but 100 people click that button before you do so now you must stand in the general queue while the other hardcores get early entry? This is a double burn because not only are you guaranteed to be at best #100 in the queue but you will still have to queue up all day because you will be competing with all the other hardcore fans who didn't get into the top 100.

 

I don't know how everyone else feels about this but unless this gig was in Toronto I wouldn't go at all. I don't know if this is a great thing for Mika to be turning everyone but the lucky few off of going to his gigs because they are guaranteed a bad spot months before the gig happens.

 

I totally understand and agree with what you say, that situation would be really sad for mfc and I know I wouldn't be able to see his gigs after that any more.

 

I think the system we have is really fine. The only problem is that in order to work it needs something from TM (they need to give the venues permission to use the system) and some basic rules for mfc members (don't leave the queue for hours etc.)

[Christine]

indeed, i think we should all just look at ourselves and try to act civilized, we all know there's always going to be people that 'll do the opposite, but if most of us just try to get along, ...

 

but maybe i'm just being naive

 

I think for the most part the queuing works and the best way to deal with the escalating crazy behaviour is to not succumb to it. A bunch of people want to queue at 2 am? Go to the hotel and go to bed, do not join them.

 

I also think people have to be realistic about some of these gigs and just accept the situation for what it is. One gig in France all year where he is debuting new songs is going to be a competitive nightmare. There must have been 300 people there who were just as hardcore as anyone else and no matter what system you used, a lot of them were going to end up disappointed with their spot.

 

This is not a case of hindsight is 20/20. Many people knew this when the gig was announced and chose to stay home.

[Sarina]

Yes, I understand that, actually. I wouldn't encourage anyone to 'start a fight' , just wanted to add that in my opinion and based on the comments I read, people had the right to question how the queue was organised in the first place. It might be a good learning for everyone for next time.

 

Agree!

 

I didn't say there would be no disagreement. *No one likes to hear that they are not going to get what they want even if they know they don't deserve it. But you have everyone else on your side and the majority must take a stand. If you don't, more and more people will do this and it will be totally out of control.

 

Unfortunately not everyone stands or expresses opinion actually...People complained but only few reported the problem here on MFC, I dont want to judge or blame or start an argument in a bad way but..I can say that only about 20 first numbers had a good spot once inside and the others lost position to back off like me but only 4-5 people wrote that on the specific thread even if all were angry for the situation..

 

We started asking them in 2008. *A lot has happened since then.

 

I actually don't think Mika is so much more popular or playing larger venues (look at PDP versus Compiegne). His fans are just acting more and more competitive. *That's why I think it's our problem to sort out amongst ourselves, although that is just my personal opinion.

 

My concern about asking Team Mika for paid access to queues is that they will not implement it for "MFC-only" for technical reasons. *Between Team Mika and Sandbag I am not sure that this is something that they would organize only for us. *If they sell these memberships or tickets via Mikasounds then you will be competing with thousands of people.

 

There are only so many people who are motivated enough to stand in a queue. *But there are many many more people who will be plenty motivated to grab these spots if all they have to do is a click a button.

 

When MS offered free iTunes tickets on MS almost no MFCers won (I can only recall 1 winner out of 100 pairs). *We had to get our tickets from the Ticket Fairy or most of MFC would have lost out.

 

When MS offered a competition to win a M&G at every gig in N. America I only ever met one of these winners and I can't even recall her name on MFC to be honest.

 

Remember the WAG video contest with all the MFC entries and no winners?

 

I can almost guarantee you that this is what will happen if anyone who can register an account on a computer can buy premium spots, even if they have to pay extra for them.

 

How will you feel if you buy a fan club membership and you get fan club tickets that allow you not to queue but the number you receive is #150? *What if they restrict the numbers of an "MFC queue" to 100, but 100 people click that button before you do so now you must stand in the general queue while the other hardcores get early entry? *This is a double burn because not only are you guaranteed to be at best #100 in the queue but you will still have to queue up all day because you will be competing with all the other hardcore fans who didn't get into the top 100.

 

I don't know how everyone else feels about this but unless this gig was in Toronto I wouldn't go at all. *I don't know if this is a great thing for Mika to be turning everyone but the lucky few off of going to his gigs because they are guaranteed a bad spot months before the gig happens.

 

I agree with you if the possibility to buy the membership would be on mikasounds..but I was talking about MFC membership so I think it should be here only. But, you said you spoke with TM about that so you have more informations about the situation and I can only assume you tried to find the best solution already!

[nico_collard]

Generally, I think putting a blanket rule in place won't work... For starters, places where Mika isn't as popular aren't going to need even a numbers system (we've never used a numbers system here). For the last show in Oz, the fans that queued up early managed to behave themselves and I don't know of any people jumping queues (I can't say it didn't happen further down, but generally they were okay) . Having said that, I think going with the system that's currently in place seems to work best in places that need it, and as someone said get friendly with the security helps, as they might be able to do a bit of crowd control for you...

 

Secondly I think the idea that MFCers have to queue at 2 am (or any time before the afternoon) to compete with non-MFCers is unfounded paranoia. I have never been to a gig where there have been more than a couple of people near the top of the list that are not MFCers or so closely connected to MFC...

 

It is not normal to queue up early to see most artists, especially considering the lack of huge popularity Mika has in countries outside of France. He is not Lady Gaga for example. He doesn't have that many hardcore fans in the world. We are all competing with each other. If you make an MFC-only queue there will still be 100 people in it by 7 am if you don't resolve the underlying issue here of MFCers losing all common sense and respect for others in order to get to Mika.

 

Totally! The earliest someone queued for Mika's first show in Oz was 8:30am, and that was a MFCer. He was on his own till about 3pm when myself, soangel, Rainbow Sky and his friend showed up. The queue started earlier in 2009, which was at about 12:45, and they were 2 non mfcers who got there just before some of the MFCers.

 

There's no way Aussies would queue at stupid o'clock for Mika, he's just not that popular here. Not only that, Aussies are just too lazy to queue earlier than about midday (we all discussed when would be a good time to queue and we pretty much stuck to that time).

 

I'm not sure I'd like to pay for being a member. It depends how much because if it's too much some might not be able to afford it.

 

I don't see what we'd get out of a membership. unless it's something really exclusive. The chance to line up early doesn't seem like something I'm pay for.

 

Seated venue with allocated seats. No queueing.

 

People will still queue at stupid o'clock even if there was allocated seating...

 

a., To begin with, I think there should always be a volunteer appointed by MFC moderators who would be in charge of queueing and who would start the list at a reasonable time - meaning 6am in France and 6pm in Vilnius ( ) This would be announced on MFC, so that it comes as no surprise to anyone. Of course one can say that there would already be a queue by the time the rep arrives. However, this person could insist that these people suffering from insomnia (i.e already there) are not immediately signed up until they take a walk and come back – or just simply ignore them. It is just a matter of fans deciding about it.

 

This could be where world reps come in?

 

Like I said earlier, I kept a bit of a line last time Meeks was here, admittedly that was to see where the MFCers were cause I had M&G passes for them...

 

MFC-Only Queue

I also don't think there's any way to create a truly "MFC only" queue. If someone who isn't an MFCer is motivated enough to see Mika that she arrives at the venue at 1pm when doors aren't until 7pm, she should be entitled to a better spot than someone who turns up at 6:45, regardless of whether or not the latecomer is an MFCer. I've always found that random "non-MFC" fans are happy to take a number if you explain to them that it's for their own benefit - to keep track of first come, first served so that people who arrive later won't be able to take their spot away. Most random fans have ended up actually thanking me for the number and telling me how much they appreciate it.

 

 

Working with Venue Security

I think on a proper tour we'll have better luck with having Team Mika insist to security that the numbered queue is let in first, in order. Sounds like that went completely off ther rails in Compiegne, but thankfully gigs like that seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

 

I was thinking about this whole MFC only queue... Now that I think about it, what happens if an MFCer brings their child?

 

 

Ooooh, you mentioned it! Right, that is a big one... definitely get friendly with security, they can really help you out with queueing and stuff...

[Christine]

People will still queue at stupid o'clock even if there was allocated seating...

 

No there is no queuing if the seats are allocated. That means everyone has predetermined seat numbers and your position doesn't change no matter what. Although I did hear about people loitering around Sadlers Wells hours before the gig.

 

I love the idea of allocated seats in theory but for some reason it's always been a disaster for me at Mika gigs. I got front row spots at all 3, but two of them were the worst Mika gigs I've ever been to and the third I had Mika's brother kneeling in front of me and totally killing my vibe when I wanted to go up to the stage and dance like everyone else.

[Marilyn Mastin]

The worst experience I ever had at a Mika gig, was in Blackpool. I would never attempt a festival gig as I can't stand for long, and this was also the problem when I went to the Blackpool Winter Gardens show in 2009. But it did teach me a few lessons that I can pass on to any disabled fans we might have, who want to go and see Mika live.

What happened to me was, I queued with the other fans, having taken camping stools to sit on, so that wasn't a problem, but when we went into the venue we were told to go into the ballroom where it was standing room only. So I told them I could not stand and I was carrying my walking stick, so I was basically told, if you can't stand, you can't stay. YES, there was a disabled section, but I didn't have a pass to get up there.

I left the venue, devastated and gave my ticket to a Pixie Lott fan so she could at least see her idol, I explained what had happened, and she and her mother went in. I don't know exactly what happened next, but suddenly a woman rushed out in a dither and told me I could go up to the balcony after all, and see the show. I think the mother of the Pixie fan had stuck up for me and had probably threatened to report the Winter Gardens, or something like that. anyway, the fan and her mother got to see Pixie, and I got to see Mika!

 

So, if there are ppl here who can't stand up, or who are going to a venue where the seats are not pre-booked, my advice would be to contact the venue ahead of time, to see what facilities there are, and to make sure there is no unforseen problem. If a pass is needed, you can then probably get one ahead of time.

It all adds to the pleasure if everything goes smoothly. I hope my advice will prove useful.

[suzie]

@Marilyn I remember your story from Blackpool and also that eventually everything turned out fine for you but I assume that people who cannot stand longer than 1 hour would buy seats to a gig, anyway, instead of general admission tickets. I know that the Blackpool gig was a special one as you needed to apply for tickets, so you can't have chosen your seat but I cannot see it to be a problem anywhere else, really.

[lillibet]

This thread is a good idea and , as a french "hardcore " fan, i would like to add my opinion.

About the 2 french forums,some of us worked a lot last year , managed to share ideas in the aim to make everyone happy: ( Colmar, Grevin).

May be Compiègne was a special gig, like PDP and a lot of fans wanted a good spot.

From the beginning , i decided not to go to Compiègne , i didn't want to fight.

I always thought that Mika was happy to see our familiar faces but i was wrong.

At Marseille, i was in charge of the queue ONLY because John introduced me to the french manager, he made a" special entrance for fan club", it was 11:30 AM and we were 20 ....

I went to meet some local fans who were wainting since 8 AM and of course they got the first numbers;

At 4 PM , we were only 40....so i called some people waiting and they were really happy to get a "privilege": i told them about MFC, how it works , how they could register and so on...

At 6:30 , the security guard and i made the entrance one by one , checking the numbers.

I came in at last , i wanted to be sure that all my "kids" were inside and they kept me a good spot!

We, as MFCers, are nothing, have no right if Mika (and MT) doesn't care about a fan club , so let's wait and see what'll happen if the third album is not as successful as the first one!!!

Honestly , how many of us are able to follow him around Europ , USA etc...:50, 60?

Is so difficult to allow these ppl to be front row, is it so difficult to work with our administrators/moderators?

[macboll]

As a French fan who attended several gigs in France and Belgium, I would like to say that my worst pre gig experience was in Compiègne for all the reasons already given (1) very early queue. 2) I got nr 125 at 9.30 am, then was not sure to be able to enter the venue earlier as only the first 100 people were allowed, then Frenchdeb managed to get the first 150 people accepted, 3)then we were told to form a central queue and stand 2 by 2... and I ended up 20th/25th row behind people who arrived around 6pm).

May 4, 2010 had been a quite bad souvenir too. The Liévin number system was only saved by (and thanks to) John's presence. The security staff did not seem very interested in/ or very enthusiastic about our system, then when John arrived, it was finally okay but when John left and when time came to let us in, there were 5 doors opened at the same time and people who arrived later than us got better spots than some of us (I was nr 16 and got my first front row position ever but was next to a lady who had nr 90. I also spotted some people without any number who easily made 1st and 2nd rows!!)

[camille*]

As a French fan who attended several gigs in France and Belgium, I would like to say that my worst pre gig experience was in Compiègne for all the reasons already given (1) very early queue. 2) I got nr 125 at 9.30 am, then was not sure to be able to enter the venue earlier as only the first 100 people were allowed, then Frenchdeb managed to get the first 150 people accepted, 3)then we were told to form a central queue and stand 2 by 2... and I ended up 20th/25th row).

May 4, 2010 had been a quite bad souvenir too. The Liévin number system was only saved by (and thanks to) John's presence. The security staff did not seem very interested in/ or very enthusiastic about our system, then when John arrived, it was finally okay but when John left and when time came to let us in, there were 5 doors opened at the same time and people who arrived later than us got better spots than some of us (I was nr 16 and got my first front row position ever but was next to a lady who had nr 90. I also spotted some people without any nunber who easily made 1st and 2nd rows!!)

 

I was number 90 in Liévin! Not sure if it is really me you're thinking about or just a number you picked up, it's true that I had a good spot, but in the 2nd row. I was not really aware of the system before going (1st gig), and you all explained it very well. I was happy with it, I couldn't dream of even being 2nd row. But I noticed the entrance was messy and I didn't run up to the stage and let some people go past me. I think we all just need to be fair to each other..

[macboll]

I was number 90 in Liévin! Not sure if it is really me you're thinking about or just a number you picked up, it's true that I had a good spot, but in the 2nd row. I was not really aware of the system before going (1st gig), and you all explained it very well. I was happy with it, I couldn't dream of even being 2nd row. But I noticed the entrance was messy and I didn't run up to the stage and let some people go past me. I think we all just need to be fair to each other..

 

pity I didn't mention this lady's number in my report last year:aah: She was among the last numbers of our queue... I'm sure it was not you, she had black short hair and was around 50

[Droopsy]

As a French fan who attended several gigs in France and Belgium, I would like to say that my worst pre gig experience was in Compiègne for all the reasons already given (1) very early queue. 2) I got nr 125 at 9.30 am, then was not sure to be able to enter the venue earlier as only the first 100 people were allowed, then Frenchdeb managed to get the first 150 people accepted, 3)then we were told to form a central queue and stand 2 by 2... and I ended up 20th/25th row behind people who arrived around 6pm).

May 4, 2010 had been a quite bad souvenir too. The Liévin number system was only saved by (and thanks to) John's presence. The security staff did not seem very interested in/ or very enthusiastic about our system, then when John arrived, it was finally okay but when John left and when time came to let us in, there were 5 doors opened at the same time and people who arrived later than us got better spots than some of us (I was nr 16 and got my first front row position ever but was next to a lady who had nr 90. I also spotted some people without any number who easily made 1st and 2nd rows!!)

 

Yup, Lièvin was my worst Q-experience too. It actually ruined the whole gig for me I rather not think about it again

[nico_collard]

No there is no queuing if the seats are allocated. That means everyone has predetermined seat numbers and your position doesn't change no matter what. Although I did hear about people loitering around Sadlers Wells hours before the gig.

 

The bold bit is exactly what I meant...

[patricia4u]

This is really the system that is already in place. Everyone knows they will be #100 if they don't show up until 4 pm so they get there earlier. There were more than 100 people at Compiègne so you had to show up even earlier if you wanted to be in the top 100.

 

Unless you want to ballot for places I don't think there is any external system you can enforce to fix this problem. Everyone has to decide, as an individual, what they are prepared to do and not do in order to get to the front and stick to it. If you don't think that queuing at 2 am is worth it then don't queue up at 2 am. It's simple. I think there are enough rational and/or older Mika fans in the hardcore group that are not willing to queue this early that it could never turn into a Tokio Hotel situation.

 

If in fact there are enough people that are so motivated to get to Mika they are willing to do things that I'm not, well I guess they deserve to be in the front row then This is down to individual choice and you can't look to other people or a system to make that choice for you. You can't blame promoters or other fans for queuing too early. You need to do what's right for you.

i totally agree with this post.

and i think we just have to accept the queuing times will be more "insane" than in countries with more hardcore fans. i'm just avoiding countries like france for that reason