New York Stories

From Flor:

Well, just woke up, came to work and saw all the messages ... didn't read them though, but here's what happened and my opinion about it.

* Wednesday, oct 22, Toronto, 7 pm ---> I took the bus to NYC. Mixed emotions ... anxiety, happiness, fear of finding (already) a long line of fans @ the I. P. Of course, couldn't sleep in the whole night.

* Thursday, oct 23, New York, 4:30 am ----> arrival to NYC (ahead of time! :).

Subway to union Square

* Thursday, oct 23 Irving P, 5 a.m.----> *nobody* there (= ?????!!!!) .... thought there was something wrong .... but, no, the cure was announced at the board for Halloween night. It was dark, cold, and i was alone there. So I went back down to the subway station, sat close to the booth and waited for another hour. I came out and went back to the IP. There I met Peter, another guy and a girl from Babble. None of us could believe we were the only ones there. The situation didn't change much for 7 hours .... a few more people showed up (met another very nice Babbler: Natalie -xBlueGoox- >> hi!! :) At noon we must have been between 20 and 30 I still couldn't believe people weren't showing up ....I mean, I took 2 days off, came all the way down from Toronto ... and was the *first* person to be there ???? In the afternoon people started showing up .... and so did the scalpers. I don't know exactly when things started to get screwed, because the group in the front (no need to say, all of us true fans (*) were kind of isolated there. (*) except for guy # 7 >> not sure yet, but I think he was a scalper >> the next morning they were 7 or 8

It was *so* obvious how the number of scalpers was increasing as the day was coming to its end (they had 2 vans parked in front of the venue, where the bosses were .... occasionally, we were able to see some of the croonies coming to get instructions and/or inform about the situation.) .... a real organized mafia !!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a horrible feeling .... I mean, we knew what was going on, and even though they were not going to affect me, I felt this huge anger inside of me .... I felt sad .... and frustrated ....and disappointed w/the people at IP. They should have had security to prevent this from happening. And this guys were extremely intimidating ... I mean PHYSICALLY intimidating.

The T at night was bellow 0 ..... I had tons of clothing on and a very thick sleeping bag, but couldn't stop shacking. I couldn't sleep in the whole night

During the night a lot of people from the back of the line came to tell us what was going on .... I remember this girl who told me she was # 80, and suddenly there were around 35 guys in front of him (they didn't even know which band was playing)

And I saw them: they were sleeping forming a circle, with a guy sitting on a chair checking everything.

* Friday, oct 24, 7 am 5 a.m. ---> Morning came, and the scalper issue was worse .... they were *everywhere*: at the 4 corners of I Place and 15th st, talking on the phone behind the bar that's next to the IP ... even close to *us*. We were lucky to have Peter there .... if he was a 20 or 25 year old instead of a grown up die-hard fan (pretty intimidating as well !) scalpers would have tried to push us away as well.

Finally security came -around 9 or 10 ?- doesn't really matter: it was *too late* anyway. Fuck!!!!!!!!!!!! They put those wood things ... the scalpers squeezed in . Everything was over (The *biggest* shock: I turned around and saw one of the "bosses" (he stayed in the van most of the time) 3 persons behind me)

Then the wrist band distribution came (why didn't they do this before?) I got mine, as well as the other few fans and the scalpers. I heard they onle had 200 ---> Weren't there suppossed to be 450???? (considering 2 tix/pers)

About 30 min after the riot started : security people with megaphones screaming that the show was sold out and telling people to disperse in a very aggresive way, cops, disappointed fans swearing and crying. And I wanted to cry too, because that should have been a reason to get together and celebrate this 20 years, to share the passion we feel for the best band *ever* . I thought it was a gift from the cure to their fans. I guess I was wrong

I'm 27. I grew up wit the cure . I was not going to miss this .... and even though I'm happy because I'm going, I'm very sad to have witnessed all the shit I saw ... I'm very disapointed and frustratred .... and feel really sorry for those kids that spent the night there and went back home crying

They didn't even asked for ID (as they promised) .... It looked as if they were promoting scalping

At 12:30 I took a cab and got out of there, as far as I could ... I couldn't stand the violence, the injustice ... I couldn't realize that the dream was broken..... that nothing was going to be as magic as I thought. As I said, I'm 27, maybe I should know how this zoociety works by now, maybe I should definitively loose my hope.

I had to wait until 7:45 pm to take the bus back to Toronto -----> I felt the dirt all over my body , I didn't wash my teeth in 2 days, or taken my contacts out -which means having a brutal headache and feeling that the little veins in my eyes were going to explode- my throat feels like sand paper .... but besides all that i was (and still am) very sad

Saturday, oct 26, Toronto, 6:15 a.m. -----> home again ..... let's go to bed.

My computer at home's dead. So I came to work to write this .... because I needed to share my experience..... Because I'm very sorry about what happened .... and still remember that kid crying and saying to the IP security "fuck you and all the motherfucker scalpers" .... and then somebody started clapping.... and *all* of us followed. It was a massive applausse. Hope that helped him

From Carrie:

My husband left Pittsburgh for New York at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday. It is a seven hour drive. When he got there at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday he was 60th in line!! He called me and let me know, and we both thought there should be no problem with us getting tickets. All night people were cutting in line, but my husband, being the nice guy he is, kept calm and didn't stoop to their level. He figured that even if a hundred people had got in front of him he'd still get tickets.

Shortly after 11:00 a.m., seventeen hours later, they announced that they would be giving out wristbands to 200 people. Everyone started pushing and shoving. When they got to Jim with the wristbands, there were only three left. Jim noticed a girl who had been two places in front of him all night and told the Irving Plaza guys to give a wristband to her first. Then, instead of giving the next one to Jim, one of the guys said to the other, "Give the last two to those two girls over there." These girls had been behind Jim the entire time. The Irving Plaza people actually picked and chose who they wanted to give the wristbands to. I can't even write this without crying, because of the injustice of whole situation. Jim was 60th in line; without a question he deserved to get one of those wristbands. I can't believe how many people there are without any morals or sense of decency.

I guess that's what he gets for being a nice guy. So then Jim called me and told me the news, and drove back home for seven hours - empty handed. And 140 people (x 2 per person) who didn't deserve to get tickets before Jim, got them anyway.

From Emma:

I arrived at 7 am to go to get my tickets. HA. Very optimistic. By then there were so many people, just SO many. But the line looked like I might still get tickets, because there could not have been more than 350 people in front of me, and I was told that 700 tickets would be sold, and 400 given to industry types. That's way too many in my opinion, but that's not quite my decision. Anyway. There were by NO means 350 people ahead of me. But by 11:30, which is when the tickets sold out (!), there were about 800 in front of me. I thank the scalpers and cutters for that. Thanks a lot, everyone who cut, they know who they are. Prats.

11:30 was when my portion of the line was informed that the tickets were sold out. We didn't believe it because we thought they didn't even go on sale til noon. So we waited around, much to the dismay of the pigs. They got VIOLENT with people. One security guard person said to a girl "Please move, ma'am." She said "I don't have to move. It's a public sidewalk." So he shoved her over and said "You don't move, I'll MOVE YOU." Two people I was with got arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, and they were not even standing on the same block. They were not being disorderly. We all were standing across the street crying and they kept telling us to go away, but we didn't want to. So the pigs arrested two of us. They have a court date in November, all for standing on a public sidewalk, in no one's way.

We walked up to KROCK, the station here (WXRK), about two and a half miles away, hoping they would have tickets to give away. No luck. They said "Sorry! Can't help you, but here's a tee shirt!" Gee..thanks! This was handled very badly on behalf of Irving Plaza, Metropolitan Promotions, and the NYPD. Everyone involved in making this the impossibility it was may all go straight to hell. The wristbands were given out early, and by the time I got there it was impossible. No one informed anyone who was on the other side of the block that they were wasting their time. This way, the true Cure fans will not get to go to this, and little rich sons and daughters of CEOs will get to go. I'm beyond words at this point.

From Arusha:

ronnie started camping out at 8pm on thursday. he was 185th in line. he camped out for sixteen hours. they (ip) had counted off early in his night, and said they would give the first two hundred people wristbands.....

by 7am, when ronnie said there were probably five hundred people behind him in line, the scalpers came in by the truckload. they had paid kids, homeless people, etc to stand in line all night so that they would have spots. not only did they cut, but the line grew and grew to the point where ronnie was no longer within the first two hundred people. he did not get tickets.

there were cops, fights, hundreds of fans left crying. it was obvious what the scaplers were doing. i really wish the venue had thought about this and tried to prevent it.

this is really shitty and ugly. ronnie thinks they only gave out 400 tickets. but still. couldn't they have a watchdog or someone to stop scalpers from doing this?

From Nat:

i just got in from a major dissapointment at irving plaza this morning. i'm exhausted, but i'll tell the story as best as i can.

by 7 am, the line for tickets had already stretched all the way around the block, i would imagine that there were about 1000 people there. we were fairly near the front, with about 300 in front of us. after many fights with people cutting in line, scalpers threatening to stab people who objected to them cutting in line, aforementioned scalpers being loud and obnoxious, openly discussing how much money they were going to make by reselling the tickets, the "officials" from irving (i use the term loosely) went around and put wristbands on the first 150 people on the line. this was at about 10 am. we didn't get a wristband, but seeing as how (we were told) that there were 700 tickets on sale, we didn't worry.

at 11:50, the police arrived and did nothing to break up the various fights etc, they just stood there while our "officials" announced "IF YOU DON'T HAVE A WRISTBAND, GO HOME. THERE ARE ONLY 300 TICKETS ON SALE, AND THEY HAVE BEEN SOLD. LEAVE"

Needless to say there was shouting, pushing, shoving, tears, and gloating scalpers. Oh i forgot to mention, but there were scalpers selling their spots in line for $300, and also a bunch of squatters, who are supposed to epotimise (sp?) full rejection of capatilist society, sold their spots in line to some other scalpers for $10 and a joint. I suppose everybody has a price. I just want to say, if you did get a ticket, i'm happy for you, you were out there a lot longer than me, and i hope you enjoy the show :)

From Friar55:

Ive been through this so many times and its really time it ended!!! now i sincerly do admire Pearl Jam's ticket decision!!!

I was there since 3am and there were about 400 people in front of me when i got there and i was so hyped cause i truly thought i had a chance to get the tics!!

All of a sudden my friend goes to the front to check the line and there is this big fight cause some guy had been there since 7pm the day before and had counted the peope in front of him to be 190.he tries to get some rest only to be woken by a rush of pushing from "little kids" (im talking kids are about 7 or 8 yrs old)and some arrogant people saying they were there before him.These kids were accompanied by adults who were flashing knives and forcing themselves into the line. (THE MOST AMAZING THING ABOUT THE WHOLE SITUATION IS THAT ALL OF THESE PEOPLE LEFT WITH TICKETS!!!)

Question!! Why would this whole thing have to end like this?

This was totally avoidable!!

After me and my freinds wept in utter disbelief for hours we walked away to the most hated person on my list right now offering to sell me tickets for $500!!!!!! i sat there and cried in his face!! (the guy didnt even know the name of the band for the love of god!!!)he left me with "sorry man but it happens..here is my number in case you change your mind (XXX-XXX-XXXX) <--(PLEASE DO NOT GET TICS FROM THIS SCALPER..WE CANT LET THIS KINDA THING GO ON)

What more can i say!!!

I just sincerly hope that the cure see's what happens and does not let this show go on!!!(or take some action for this total monstrosity!!)

PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERYONE POSSIBLE SO WE CAN TAKE A STEP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TICKETSCALPING!!!


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