House of Blues? More like House of Horrors!

["SS" <schwartzsherridan@excite.com>]

Just returned from HOB Ticket marathon. 
Those of you who arranged for Chicago-area friends to buy tickets for you
should be prepared. 
Things did not go smoothly for everyone. Most people weren't able to get
tickets, some were able to get a few, and very few were able to leave with
tickets for everyone in their group who wanted them.
The odds were a lot worse than the HOB admitted. 
Remember that the HOB said they gave out as little information as possible
to discourage ticket scalpers from buying tickets.
Yeah, right. Scalpers had a field day with this wristband lottery.
We know there aren't any easy ways to distribute tickets when there are that
many people interested, but this process today was a little disoranized.
Remember when they said "cash only"? Today, the HOB staff denied ever saying
"cash only". One guy on the staff said "well there were a lot more people
than we thought. We thought it would sell like the (Jimmy Buffett) concert.
No offense to my Parrothead pals, but the HOB shouldn't have been surprised
at the amount of interest. Besides, if they only thought a few hundred fans
would have wanted the pricey tickets, then they wouldn't have printed up so
many wristbands. The crowd kept getting bigger and bigger. 
Keep in mind, fans came from all over. I talked to people who drove for days
from California and Florida just to try for tickets. I flew in from Texas. 
Chicago-area fans on this list who endured this exercise will undoubtedly
express their opinions on how this ticket distribution was handled, but many
people I spoke to felt cheated. Fans felt cheated not because they didn't
get a ticket, some said, but because no one told them how slim the chances
were for tickets. When the announcer said that he was pulling the last 10
wristband numbers and that everyone else was out of luck, the crowd was
shocked. "Wait!" somebody said loudly, "what if the numbers you pulled are
only buying one ticket? Do we get a chance to buy the unsold tickets left by
the people who only could afford to purchase one?" The HOB announcer said in
a low voice as he walked off, "Oh, well...I guess you're SOL. I don't know
and don't care. I just pulled numbers and if they don't buy the tickets,
whatever." Then he motioned for the Security guy to stand over there by the
very calm fan who asked the question. 
Some people complained that the HOB staff had treated the fans with
contempt. I thought that considering the circumstances, the fans were
polite, friendly, and optimistic. What bothered me most were the ticket
scalpers in the lines. They were easy to spot. One fan said he knew a
suburban Chicago-area ticket broker who had more than 30 people waiting in
line. Disgusting. One fan started to lose hope as the lottery was ending and
started calling ticket brokers via cellphone while still at the HOB. Two
told her that they'd have tickets by tonight. One broker said that they
would be $1000 each flat. The other said that he hadn't priced them, but
expect the range to be three times face value or so, depending on how many
he was able to obtain. I know it's for charity, but remember that the
charity only gets the profit on the first $300. When a broker sells a ticket
for $900 or $1000, no one profits but the broker, and I guess the fan
"lucky" enough to pay that kind of money. Out of my league, but that's just
me. I'm sure some people won't bat an eyelash.

I know it was a small venue but in my opinion, better communication from the
HOB would have saved a lot of disappointment and anger. 
Congratulations to those who got tickets, and let's continue to hope that
The Who will decide to add more shows in venues and prices that offer better
chances for everyone. Those of you were there at the ticket drawing, let me
know what you thought of it. 

    SS







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