DMB and U2 systems, how do they work?

arq · December 2011

I've been reading again and again about the DMB and U2 ticketing system and how happy everyone is with them, I despite DMB and I couldn't care less about U2

so please could somebody explain to me the magical properties of their tickets sales?

Thanks in advance!

pjl44 · December 2011

DMB does a lottery for their tickets and they are spread throughout the venue. You can choose seated only, lawn only, or put in for either, with the risk of getting shut out if you go seated only. My buddy who has explained this to me and has been to 100+ DMB shows frequently gets lawn or not-so-hot pavilion seats. They definitely don't have the seat strongarm that the Ten Club has.

abhijeet · December 2011

U2 has a staggered sale, usually in 3 parts, starting with the senior most members and following from there.

In any case, U2 plays stadiums with 70k+ people quite often, so getting into their shows isn't quite as hard as getting into a Pearl Jam show.

samjam · December 2011

pjl44 wrote:

DMB does a lottery for their tickets and they are spread throughout the venue. You can choose seated only, lawn only, or put in for either, with the risk of getting shut out if you go seated only. My buddy who has explained this to me and has been to 100+ DMB shows frequently gets lawn or not-so-hot pavilion seats. They definitely don't have the seat strongarm that the Ten Club has.

Correct me if I'm wrong here. Big DMB fan but my best friend's mother is the Warehouse member and deals with tickets when my friends and I go to DMB shows, not me, so not 100% on this. For DMB, some show lotteries are done completely at random as far as seating, and some are done by seniority. I think this is a pretty damn awesome way of running things, very fair, both giving people a chance for good seats while acknowledging seniority too. Regardless, my best friend's mother has been to over 50 DMB shows and has rarely been shut out (only 2 times I can think of most recently are Dave & Tim Radio City '07 and MSG 2 '10, two VERY high demand shows). So whatever it is they do, it works.

Newch91 · December 2011

Live Nation was used for U2's 360 Tour after a mess with the Vertigo Tour presale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertigo_to ... ontroversy

The band's website, U2.com, was involved in a ticket presale controversy that upset fans. Users who paid $40 for a subscription to U2.com were promised the opportunity to purchase tickets in a presale that preceded any general public ticket sales.[9] However, many fans were unable to purchase tickets, as technical glitches plagued the presale.[9] Additionally, many scalpers had taken advantage of the system by subscribing to U2.com and purchasing as many tickets as possible, with the intentions of selling them for profit.[9] Larry Mullen, Jr. apologized on behalf of the band at the Grammy Awards.

B-Rock · December 2011

Correct me if im wrong though,

wouldn't the DMB be easier to do lottery as they wouldn't [I assume] have as much fans as Pearl Jam fan club?

If Pearl Jam were to do it, I sense everyone would whinge that they missed out and certain people got in...

abhijeet · December 2011

Newch91 wrote:

Larry Mullen, Jr. apologized on behalf of the band at the Grammy Awards.

And for the latest tour, no glitches on LN. Also, you're limited to x number of tickets total, across all their shows. I guess that might stop scalpers to an extent, but not entirely.

Newch91 · December 2011

abhijeet wrote:

Newch91 wrote:

Larry Mullen, Jr. apologized on behalf of the band at the Grammy Awards.

And for the latest tour, no glitches on LN. Also, you're limited to x number of tickets total, across all their shows. I guess that might stop scalpers to an extent, but not entirely.

Yeah, the LN really helped. I also agree with you about the scalper part.

LeafsJaysCubsRaptorsFan · December 2011

As a benefit of Warehouse membership, members are offered a priority ticketing service and will have the opportunity to purchase a limited number of tickets in advance of public on-sale dates. Warehouse members may request tickets during a specified period, which will be announced via e-mail and posted on the Warehouse website. There is no guarantee, however, that your ticket request can be filled. Your chance of being confirmed for Warehouse tickets will vary per show depending on member demand. Request periods are referred to as numbered Series (for example Series 1-2011) and there may be several Series depending upon the length of a tour.

In Warehouse ticketing, two processes determine the successful selection of members' orders to qualify for a ticket. The first process is a random selection and all members regardless of membership year standing have an equal chance of being confirmed for tickets. The second process allocates each order to the available seats. All qualifying orders entered into the seat allocation process will be sorted by one of two methods:

1. Utilizing the seniority system for each membership year to determine seat assignments.

OR

2. Utilizing random selection to determine the order of seat assignments.

Warehouse Ticketing reserves the right to choose, and to not disclose, which method of seat selection is used for each event.

Dave Matthews Band will offer tickets in multiple price levels for certain events and does offer tickets throughout the entire venue.
BEST AVAILABLE: Members who select "Best Available" will have the greatest chance of being confirmed for tickets to the show, and, if selected, may be confirmed for tickets within ANY of the price levels, based on available tickets in the Warehouse allotment at each level. If a member selects Best Available and there are both Reserved and General Admission (GA) areas, if chosen to be confirmed for tickets, the member may be confirmed for either Reserved or GA tickets. GA tickets may include GA Floor in arenas, GA Field in stadiums and GA Pit and GA Lawn Areas in Amphitheatres.
AMPHITHEATRES: In general, for concerts held in amphitheatre venues with a multiple price level offering in the Pavilion, members who choose tickets for a specific price level may be confirmed for any of the ticket levels offered at that price. For example, if a member selects GA Pit Standing, they may be confirmed for the GA Pit Standing or the next level/s of Pavilion Reserved Seating at the same price (if offered) based on availability. However, if there are no remaining tickets available at the same price, these members will be eliminated from the confirmation process and will not be assigned to a lower price level such as Rear Pavilion or GA Lawn.
ARENAS: For concerts held in arenas, the Warehouse may offer tickets in a 360-degree configuration around an end-stage. In all arenas there will be GA Floor Standing on the Arena Floor, with Reserved Seating in the Lower and Upper Arena Seats. Members who request GA Floor Standing will only be considered for that level. Members who request Reserved Arena Seats will be confirmed for Lower or Upper Arena seating only.
STADIUMS: For concerts held in stadiums there will be GA Field Standing and Reserved Grandstand seating. Members who request GA Field Standing will only be considered for tickets in that level. Members who request Reserved Grandstand seats will be considered for multiple price level seating within the Grandstands if offered.
For questions regarding these guidelines, please e-mail <a href="mailto:whtix@davematthewsband.com">whtix@davematthewsband.com</a>.

Ticket Confirmations

With respect to ticketing, the primary goal of the Warehouse is to provide a way for members to obtain seats to shows in advance of the general public. Warehouse members have an opportunity to purchase tickets through the Warehouse, but there is no guarantee that you will qualify to purchase tickets. Ticket requests made through the Warehouse may exceed seating availability. The Warehouse does reserve seats throughout the entire venue and we have made every attempt to reserve quality seats. Due to floor and equipment layout changes on the show day, we cannot guarantee that all seats will have an unobstructed view.

Our goal is to post your ticket status, confirmed or declined, in the Ticketing section of the Warehouse website before tickets are offered for sale to the general public. (In rare incidents this may not occur.) In general, the Warehouse will provide section and row locations to each member, at some point after orders are confirmed and prior to the shipment of tickets.

Please note that during the ticket request period, the time that you place your request for tickets does not affect the outcome of your order or seat assignments.

E-Mail Announcements

If you have an e-mail address on file with the Warehouse, you will be sent an e-mail notifying you that the Warehouse Ticket Request Period has begun. You may update your e-mail address at any time on the web site by clicking on the "my info" link in upper right hand corner of the home page after logging in.

How to request tickets and ticket limits

Ticket limits per show vary; some shows offer a 2 ticket limit and others may have a four (4) ticket limit per show.

Requesting Online

The best way to request Warehouse tickets is online.

To request tickets online, visit the Ticketing section of the Warehouse website and click on "REQUEST TICKETS". From there, find the show dates and request tickets accordingly. Please note that Premier Parking tickets and Hotel/Camping passes, if available, will be offered as a separate "event".

Your online order must be paid for by Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. Your card will initially be authorized for the total amount that you could be charged. Once a show is processed, if the authorization was successful, a charge will be placed on your card for the actual sale. The authorization will then be removed from your card and only the sale charge will remain. Your card will not be charged for the actual sale if your order is not confirmed during processing. Please note that your card may be charged at any time after the ticketing request period closes and before the Warehouse posts ticket confirmations. If the charge to the card is declined for any reason, your request will not be filled. You may not contact the Warehouse with an alternate credit card number if your order is declined.

To avoid being declined by your bank due to the online nature of the charge, please contact your bank prior to the end of the ticketing request period to alert them of a potential authorization.

Changing or Modifying an Online Ticket Request

Until the Ticketing Request Period ends, you may modify or cancel your request from your Ticket Status page by clicking on the "check" link listed below the "Payment Detail" column for address or credit card changes, and the "check" link listed below the "Show Detail" column to change the number of tickets requested or to cancel an order. Requests cannot be changed after the Ticketing Request Period ends.

Requesting Tickets By Mail

You may request tickets by mail, but you must act quickly to do so. Please do not use this method if you have Internet access due to the very narrow time frame that you have to request tickets for each Series. The Warehouse is not responsible for any delay in receiving mail-in requests. Postmarks do not count. The request must be received before the Ticketing Request Period ends or it will not be processed, no exceptions. If you must request tickets by mail, we recommend using U.S.P.S. Priority Mail to increase the chances of timely delivery.

Warehouse Tickets-by-Mail requests must be paid for by U.S.P.S. Money Order or International Money Order (in U.S. Dollars only). Click here for the order form.

Tickets requested by Mail may not be modified or cancelled after the initial request is made.

Ticket Types

Dave Matthews Band will offer tickets in multiple price levels for certain events and does offer tickets throughout the entire venue.
BEST AVAILABLE: Members who select "Best Available" will have the greatest chance of being confirmed for tickets to the show, and, if selected, may be confirmed for tickets within ANY of the price levels, based on available tickets in the Warehouse allotment at each level. If a member selects Best Available and there are both Reserved and General Admission (GA) areas, if chosen to be confirmed for tickets, the member may be confirmed for either Reserved or GA tickets.
AMPHITHEATRES: In general, for concerts held in amphitheatre venues with a multiple price level offering in the Pavilion, members who choose tickets for a specific price level may be confirmed for any of the ticket levels offered at that price. For example, if a member selects GA Pit Standing, they may be confirmed for the GA Pit Standing or the next level/s of Pavilion Reserved Seating at the same price (if offered) based on availability. However, if there are no remaining tickets available at the same price, these members will be eliminated from the confirmation process and will not be assigned to a lower price level such as Rear Pavilion or GA Lawn.
ARENAS: For concerts held in arenas, the Warehouse may offer tickets in a 360-degree configuration around an end-stage. In all arenas there will be GA Floor Standing on the Arena Floor, with Reserved Seating in the Lower and Upper Arena Seats. Members who request GA Floor Standing will only be considered for that level. Members who request Reserved Arena Seats will be confirmed for Lower or Upper Arena seating only.
STADIUMS: For concerts held in stadiums there will be GA Field Standing and Reserved Grandstand seating. Members who request GA Field Standing will only be considered for tickets in that level. Members who request Reserved Grandstand seats will be considered for multiple price level seating within the Grandstands if offered.

abhijeet · December 2011

So with DMB, the only thing you're guaranteed is a ticket, nothing else.

Not much incentive in joining a fan club, I'd say, considering that their shows at The Gorge almost always have tickets available for months.

rival. · December 2011

without knowing, i am 99.9999999% sure they work better than PJ's.

andrewj41 · December 2011

I've seen DMB a lot of times, and their ticketing system is great. The Warehouse is a ripoff, but the lottery is great. You know your seat ahead of time, and have plenty of time if you get denied to attack the public onsale. One night of a two night stand is based on seniority, the other is random. So I could have been in the WH for a week and technically be front row if I hit the lottery right.

The most important thing is: it works. It doesn't crash. Its not perfect, but it doesn't crash each time summer tour dates are announced.

WWS · December 2011

I am in the more senior membership category for U2. The pre-sale is staggered by seniority. I receive an email with link and unique ticket ID code for the time of pre-sale. I usually get great seats. U2 does not reduce their tickets for their member seats. The last three tours have cost about $500 Canadian per pair. My membership seniority has got me some great seats in rows 1-5...they come at a price.

Spiritual_Chaos · December 2011

Stagger the sales. And limit to ONE SHOW only for members the first 12hours and there would be less problems here too.

Then you had tio pick the one you really wanted, more people would get a chance or 10C tix. less problems at each pre-sale. And the rest who want to see alot of shos could go to the general sale or wait for the rest of the tickets being "free for all" after 12hours as it is now.

Spiritual_Chaos · December 2011

EXAMPLE

0900 - new york night 1

1100 - new york night 2

1300 - Washington

1500 - Boston

You would have to decide which one you wanted 10c tix for the most. Then wait untill they have a sale for tix that might not have been sold (after 12 or X hours after the last show have had it's sale). Otherwise you get your 10C tix for one show and then buy for the other at general sale.

The massive amount of fans would be scattered due to the staggering and due to the fact that they could choose not to try to buy for some of the shows.

Empty Glass · December 2011

I like the current PJ system, but like mentioned above. Limit shows to 1. Any tix left over, open up for sale or lottery up the remaining tix.

I say limit the shows so more fans can go. We all want enough DVD's and shirts and PJ20 vinyls to go around, but when tix go on sale, we gobble up as much as we can.

Spiritual_Chaos · December 2011

Empty Glass wrote:

I like the current PJ system, but like mentioned above. Limit shows to 1. Any tix left over, open up for sale or lottery up the remaining tix.

I say limit the shows so more fans can go. We all want enough DVD's and shirts and PJ20 vinyls to go around, but when tix go on sale, we gobble up as much as we can.

yeah its more fair for 10 members to get 1 pair of tiockets each for 10 different shows, than one member getting 10 pair of 10C seats for 10 shows.

JimmyV · December 2011

If sales are going to stay in-house, use a lottery. If you are looking for a partner, go with TM. They made Canada so very easy this year.

BF89905 · December 2011

andrewj41 wrote:

I've seen DMB a lot of times, and their ticketing system is great. The Warehouse is a ripoff, but the lottery is great. You know your seat ahead of time, and have plenty of time if you get denied to attack the public onsale. One night of a two night stand is based on seniority, the other is random. So I could have been in the WH for a week and technically be front row if I hit the lottery right.

The most important thing is: it works. It doesn't crash. Its not perfect, but it doesn't crash each time summer tour dates are announced.

Based on what I've read and heard through word-of-mouth, this DMB ticketing system sounds as good as it gets. As was mentioned in another post in this thread, U2's staggered online system has also experienced technical glitches so it's somewhat flawed too. So long as hours/days of the fans' time isn't wasted, I'm all for what ever changes the 10 Club implements in the future.

DMB and U2 systems, how do they work?

Comments