Refused admittance
Following on from Monday’s blog entry, we’d like to address your concerns about being denied entry into the Royal Albert Hall if you have a ticket you swapped for another, received as a gift or purchased from an unauthorised seller.
Although we have been strongly discouraging all dealings with unauthorised sellers (such as eBay) since December, we acknowledge that many people still went ahead and purchased tickets against our advice.
This made our task of challenging the profiteers even harder.
The Royal Albert Hall staff have diligently monitored online auctions for months and have forced a great many to close early, meaning that the would-be seller’s only option was to return his ticket to the RAH for a refund, making an extra ticket available to the public at a fair price.
This was, clearly, to stop touts from profiteering and fans from being exploited. We did not want you to obtain tickets in this way and at this cost.
If you purchased a ticket from eBay and are now in receipt of it (assuming it’s a genuine ticket, which we cannot confirm – you’ll have to take your chance on the night and see what RAH staff have to say), then you’ve slipped through the net. In this case, you will be admitted. The seller has made his profit, you are, quite likely, out of pocket, but you will be able to see the concert.
In part and in principle, we would like to deny you entry as, by bidding on eBay, you have exacerbated the problem of ticket profiteering. But this would seem unfair. We have always understood the desire to obtain tickets by any available means and have no wish to deny the fans from seeing David in concert.
As you can imagine, this has been a real dilemma for some of us.
Our concern has always been to stop people from selling tickets for personal profit at the expense of David’s genuine fans. We do not want fans to have to miss out.
The same applies to anyone who has purchased a ticket from an unauthorised seller, such as a ticket agent or broker. Assuming that your ticket is legitimate, you will be allowed into the venue.
If you were given a ticket as a gift, you will not be denied entry. We have not stopped people from purchasing tickets on another person’s behalf, so you have nothing to worry about.
If you have arranged ticket swaps with other fans and have concerns over being refused entry, then you are also safe from threat of being turned away.
Lastly and very importantly, if you have tickets that you do not want, then by no means should you consider selling them as an option. As we have said all along, please return them to the point of sale for a refund so that other fans – the fans who have played by the rules all along and patiently contacted the authorised sellers, as we advised, to enquire about returns – may be given the opportunity to purchase them at a fair price.
By selling tickets privately, you are exacerbating the problem of ticket profiteering.
And yes, we’d like to see lots of appreciation and gratitude for making this difficult decision…
FEd, I think you have a good idea with the ticket sales bar codes, I only hope one of the sales monopolies sees the light. Ha – if for no other reason than to carve themselves a bigger slice of the pie. After all, if there are no more scalpers, then EVERYONE would be buying their tickets from TicketGodsR Us or whoever.
On an aside….is the “he” in A Pocket Full of Stones anyone in particular? It reminds me very much of my autistic child. Lovely sweet song, glad he shared it.
[I don't know, Sharon. I think David is very happy for people to make whatever they want out of his songs. The fact that it reminds you of your child shows that there's something special about the song, doesn't it? - Features Editor]
Mike
October sounds good but it is a no go….my son and daughter start Soccer and I am coaching this season. So I know I will be a nervous wreck…9-10yr olds…what was I thinking? Any Ideas for Soccer team names FED?
Well Fed…you are truly doing one heck of a job. If you are ever in the states, Southern Cali to be exact you got a Homie over here.
Renee B.
Fontana, Ca USA
[Bless you, Renee. Hmm, a good name... - Features Editor]
Now I haven’t posted for a while, largely because I haven’t had anything intelligent to say. But I’m now counting the days – just four more and I’m on a plane travelling halfway around the globe, and a mere 10 until I’m sitting watching David at the first of two RAH shows I’ll be attending!
FEd, am I allowed to sing the praises of my darling wife? We are just an ordinary family, hardly awash in money, and her generosity in letting me make the trip is truly wonderful. There was so much else we could have spent the money on, but she understands how much this means to me.
Maybe I’ll bump into some fellow bloggers at the concert. “Didn’t they do well?”
[Sing her praises as you wish, Warren. You're making one hell of a trip for these shows. I tip my hat in your direction, sir. - Features Editor]
To ‘alternate gilmour’ (time for you to change your name!) I ‘echo’ Elaine. Sydney Greenstreet indeed!!!! On David’s worst day he is still one of the best looking men around. You maybe can’t see it, but millions of women do. Greenstreet was a very unattractive, unappealing man, altho good actor.
to Lucia –I just love your last posts…Miss Marple indeed! Can I please join you in this town you might build?
Also, I loved your ‘Pandora’s vase:nice till closed but dangerous if something open it.’ I agree with FEd, buy the tickets and grab the chance. And the best of luck.
To Leslie: what is this about David and Tom Jones and Purple Rain??? Where can I get this?
To FEd…The vision I now have of ‘webmasters who are throwing their toys out of prams…priceless…and priceless are all of you who are trying to ‘right’ the awful ticket sales system. Praying that this has a huge revolution in the U.S. too.
Saw the film of the Mermaid concert. The advertising in our city for this was very disappointing. Our theatre did have very good sound at any rate. Can’t decide, David on screen larger than life, or live in concert?? Heart palpitations either way.
[Very kind of you to say so, Jan. Thank you. - Features Editor]
I see nothing wrong with ticketmaster fees & reselling tickets, I remember the days waiting in line outside a venue for 12 hrs + to get decent tickets, I would much rather have someone do that for me!
something makes me think you people are Socialists, true?
[Something makes me think you're not. - Features Editor]
Caption…
Beam me up Scotty, and set coordinates to the moon…dark side.
it is funny how a guy that has so much money can get down on others making a little cash reselling tickets with $35 concert programs and tshirts
I guess it depends who is making the cash
I tell ya, I was a bigger fan of Davids before I found out he was like this
what a turn off!
[Yet clearly not big enough to read his website. David hasn't orchestrated any of this. He wants his fans to be able to see him in concert and he doesn't want them to have to pay obscene amounts of money to do so. His management and promoter have voluntarily worked together to try to make tickets available to fans at face value, so that they don't have to pay more than they need to pay from people who are out to exploit them (so that they can make "a little cash reselling tickets"). As has already been said, David didn't set the price of the T-shirts, the tour programmes, or any of the merchandise. The majority of money made from such sales will go to Anthill, not David. - Features Editor]
Re: Sharon
[On an aside....is the "he" in A Pocket Full of Stones anyone in particular? It reminds me very much of my autistic child. Lovely sweet song, glad he shared it.]
Having a family member on the spectrum myself, I find yours to be an interesting take on what is my favorite OAI tune.
“David Gilmour, former guitarist for Pink Floyd and a man whose last performance was before a global audience of millions at Live 8… It is easy to overlook this when talking to Gilmour, who is modest and a little diffident, shirking eye-contact, although in a shy rather than a shifty way. He says that his wife, the writer Polly Samson, thinks he is ‘a bit autistic’ and that he can only truly express himself through music.” (From the Guardian 2006/03/03)
My first and strongest impression of who “he” is: George W. Bush (I hope G.W., Dick and their toadies don’t read Fanfare!). He fits the lyrical metaphors perfectly. Out of respect for Polly’s work, I won’t translate those metaphors in this forum.
P.S. If my next post signs off with “Kevin from Guantanamo” you will know why. : )
Hi my fellow David Gilmar Bloggers.
Please disregard the comments of “Kevin from Michigan.” I resent him calling me a met-a-for.” I have never been for the Mets! Heck, I used to own the Texas Rangers! Yes I am reading. Heck, my wife was a librarian, he, he, he. Here comes my boss Dick… Gotta go!
[George, George, George... There's so much I'd like to say to you, but this is probably not the place for it. - Features Editor]
Terrific job, Fed et al, in working to reduce or at least discourage ticket scalping (touting).
Here in North America it has reached crisis proportions for major acts, with large shows being SRO shortly after phone lines open for credit card sales. Web sites use special software in an attempt to eliminate computerized purchases of multiple tickets, and the real fans are usually the losers.
Lucky for us, Winnipeg is a regional market (less than 1 million population), so acts like the Cult or CSN don’t necessarily sell out and regular folks can buy a ticket.
Keep up the good fight :-)
Kevin in Canada
Sydney Greenstreet – My god Alternate Gilmour. what a doppleganger…
that is spooky…
type Sydney Greenstreet into google images!!
p.s. not long now eh? eh?
JAN: (…Miss Marple indeed! Can I please join you in this town you might build?)
Oh, yes! You can join us…if you will win the election you could be the lord mayor too! I will content myself with the office of laticlavio a vita senator!
…no Miss Marple, no Radiohead…why your are down on my tastes! MY TASTES ARE GOOOOOOOOOOD! I bet David and Polly like Miss Marple! ;-)
bye
L!
[George, George, George... There's so much I'd like to say to you, but this is probably not the place for it. - Features Editor]
Posted by: George W. B. from Washington D.C. at May 19, 2006 01:57 AM
HEY FEd, I can’t understand very well what is happening…but if you will be arrested, I’d like to inherit your job…very tiring but funny too! This bloggers are really crazy!
L!
P.S. Don’t worry, I will bring oranges to you in prison! BTW, how are the queen’s ravens? I read they were close in the Tower of London againt the avary flu….I hope well…they’re are wonderful! So big!
[I think they're doing fine. We haven't had an official day of mourning yet, anyway. Did you know that, apparently, they have their own official food and accommodation budget? They live in comfort and are looked after by someone called a Raven Master. I love animals, but I'm sure that London's homeless wouldn't mind being locked in the Tower every once in a while. Legend has it that, should the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, both monarchy and tower will fall. You have to laugh. - Features Editor]
Yeah, FEd, I know the legend about raven and monarchy and, even if I agree with you about homeless (I remember you wrote you are not a fan of monarchy). I have to confess that I think legends are very fascinating! (I’m a dreamer!) So..I like the “idea” of the monarchy (kings, queens, princes and princesses, horses and coaches…like a tale for children!) but I think that monarchy is a great, useless waste of money that could be use in a better way…I respect England and its fascinating traditions…but in Italy we waste too much (useless) money for pay politicians…I’m very happy that we haven’t to spend more for a queen to! Let me dream of kingdoms, but use my money to do better actions!
When I went in England the first time, with my class school, in 1991 (I was 13 years old) the teachers carried us in a hill with a sort of giant horse traced on the hill…can you remember me what I’m speaking about? And stonehenge…fantastic! England is really a beautiful Country but…you should visit Rome…its monuments can leave you without words! (In this blog I discover I am very patriotic! Strange!)
L!
[Perhaps the White Horse of Uffington Castle, Oxfordshire? - Features Editor]
Shannon says: “something makes me think you people are Socialists, true?”
Yes, indeed. Socialist they are with a big fat S. PF music (post Dark Side anyway)is filled with Socialist principles. Not being disparaging, just stating a fact.
[Sorry that you have a problem with that. - Features Editor]
[Perhaps the White Horse of Uffington Castle, Oxfordshire? - Features Editor]
Maybe…I look for the Uffington Castle in internet and I found the Long man of Wilmington too…and now I think I saw that too…they’re so familiar! I have the suspect that if you show me a picture of the Lock Ness monster I would say: “Oh yeah, I know the monster! I saw it when I went in Scotland last summer!”
No news from ticket one….no tickets on sale….I’m waiting….
L!
[with a sort of giant horse traced on the hill...can you remember me what I'm speaking about]
If you went to stonehenge as well the the white horse you visited was probably the westbury While horse in Wiltshire.
That is up a steep hill, having said that there are a few white horses in wiltshire as shown below with the estimated dates of construction.
Westbury – 1778
Oldbury or Cherhill – 1780
Pewsey – 1785
Marlbourough or Preshute – 1804
Alton Barnes – 1812
Broad Hinton or Hackpen – 1838
Devizes – 1845
Broad Town – 1863
Ham Hill or Inkpen – 1860s
Pewsey – 1937
[Sorry that you have a problem with that. - Features Editor]
I don’t. Not at all. I was merely passing a factual comment.
I’m writing in reply to my boyfriend “Buffalo Phil” because we went to Regal in Williamsville (Buffalo) and I didn’t win a poster (well if that’s what he WANTS to call it…I think of it as a legal sized copy! haha). Well I didn’t win with ticket #630 (don’t know where he got #328!) BUT I was just about the ONLY one who didn’t win so that makes me all the more special! It’s all about INDIVIDUALITY baby! haha
Commenting on the David Gilmour show, it WAS very enjoyable and I’m glad I got the chance to go. VERY VERY talented person. Goes to show you what REAL music is (not rap that all you have to be able to do is dumb, weird, hand motions and talk fast and you’ve got yourself a record deal!!). I admit I never listened to Pink Floyd (I know bite my tongue, well in this case typing finger!) but Phil introduced me to them, namely, Gilmour.
I think one of the best songs is “Smile”. It’s so beautiful and relaxing and it made me cry! Defintely a must buy CD. I’d like to thank Phil for taking me to see this! You’re the best babe! <3 Just wait until the Spice Girls come to Regal or better yet Grease soundtrack! haha
Ok, Now I am downright angry at this post!
(it is funny how a guy that has so much money can get down on others making a little cash reselling tickets) by Billy posted may 19
Many other bloggers will put it better I am certain. It seems that this person sees no problem making money off someone else’s talent. Then to trash David!! Who has earned his money and given a huge amount to charities besides. There are numerous ‘stars’ who have made much more than David and have not given back. This guy does not know what he’s talking about.
I am wondering just how much this ‘little cash’ amounts to and how often he enjoys this ‘perk’. How many others are you making money off of? And probably not reporting this either.
I have to stop now and jump off a bridge somewhere. This attitude makes me so disappointed in people and what they feel they are somehow owed. There is something called ‘responsibility’ that is lacking these days.
Stonehenge is a wonderful place to hang and listen to some PF. Unfortunately I understand that now you can’t really get near it. I was lucky enough to still visit when you were allowed to wander between the huge stones and touch them.
Lucia, did you get close to the stones back in 1991?
Lucia… What is ‘the office of laticlavio a vita senator’? I don’t want to interpret this incorrectly.
By the way, I hope I did not sound that I was criticizing Miss Marple…indeed, I liked the idea, but no thanks on the lord mayor, but I am looking forward to your choice of a David Gilmour song for the ‘city anthem’
Hope to hear that you got tickets to go to the concert.
To the best…THE FEd..
thank you for information from Leslie. I most certainly do understand and would not presume. So once again I am in your debt. Starting to worry now when it comes time for you collect. (not really (worry that is, but collect you can) Wish there was a way to return to you all the patience and time you have put in on this site.
I know that we are all greedy with the subject of not getting enough of David Gilmour. Compared to many artists, he has put out a small volume of work. Please try to put aside all the demanding comments. The music is just so beautiful that it touches my heart. Makes me sad or happy depending on the song.
I am somewhat amused when I read about David’s reference to the ’60 year old men playing their old tunes’ The music is timeless, David, timeless and I don’t think this music is ever going to be irrelevant (?) if it continues to move the soul. Yes, David, ****** brilliant!!!
And I second the comment made about the ‘lifestyle’ change. Keep that beautiful, humorous, intelligent and caring Polly close to you. Sounds like she is your lifeline along with your family keeping you grounded. (I have her books on order and can’t wait to read)
Everyone have a wonderful weekend.
[The same to you, Jan. - Features Editor]
It’s too bad we can’t post photos ‘cos I had pics to support my claim. Everybody that plays has a “guitar-face” that creeps up when they are really into it. G has two and I have named them the greenstreet and the kemp. I have a horrible one that that my kids call the Han… it is suppose to look like han solo was hit with a bat then was frozen in that block of black ice.
I think everybody has at least one of these and wonder if it would make a good contest.
David Gilmour in concert!! where do I get tickets…. rats all sold out. Desperately scanning E-bay wondering should I, should’nt I? Rang the RAH – tickets sir? how many 2, ok, will a box be alright? This was a week or so ago so the system does work. Genuine tickets, face value – at least I know we will get in. Thanks for the efforts to make unused tickets available.
[Cheers, Gary. Enjoy the concert. - Features Editor]
FEd…no ticket on ticketone…..I start to be angry…not with you! With this stupid italian company….STUPIDS! I ask sorry from all the italans to all foreigners who wanted to buy a ticket for Florence and Venice…sorry! What a poor figure!
HI JAN! First of all, no problem for Miss Marple…I don’t want murders in my life! But she lives in a nice town and her old age seems so quite but so exciting too…it could be an idea!
But, dearest Jan, you ask me about “laticlavio a vita senators”…oh my god! A public law lessons! However, thaks for asking me an explanation who something that I wrote in a not clear way.
I’ll try to be quickly and not boring!
Italian Parlament is formed by 2 Assembly: the deputies’ and the senators’. The deputies and the biggest number of senators are elected, but some person are not elected and they are “laticlavio a vita” (form latin), that means “senator for all the life”. Now are 7. They are ex President of italian Repubblic and persons who gave a lot of honour to Italy (people who won the Nobel, or resarchers or businessmen or writers…). For those reasons the president of Repubblic incumbent can decide to make those persons “laticlavio a vita”.
And seeing that I invented the city of the David Gilmour’s pensioners, I think I deserve this honour’s office! Don’t you think?
I’m very happy you are thinking about the anthem! Good boy! But…want we stai in England or we should choice Italy…good weather, good food…ticketone a part! We should have an election day for decide something!
Ok…now I go out for a walk…
HAVE A GREAT WEEK END!
L!
P.S. I was watching tv this morning and I had listend “one of these days”. It was a tv reportage…and I thought that any time there’s a reportage on italian tv you can liste “one of these days”! It’s the most used song for reportage! FUNNY!
ANDREW, about Stonehenge, not very close, but a good visual…we couldn’t touch them, of course! One time I read the people love to go to see the dawn there, in a particular day…there was some legend, if I’m not wrong…do you know something?
Have a great week end you too!
Bye bye
L!
Hi Fed Ed, no, I’m not saying that the bidders are more dedicated fans than those who kept the faith, because I fall into the latter category and have been richly rewarded for doing so- I’m just saying that the level of the bidders (misguided though they may be) is an indication of the high regard David, his former band and his current band are held in. I consider myself to be very, very fortunate in being able to see David and his band perform but I also can’t help but feel a wee pang of sympathy for those who are so desperate to see David live that they are willing to deal with those people who are out to make a few quid off the back of these true fans devotion…
[I know what you're saying. It's a tough one, isn't it? - Features Editor]
Hello FEd,
I am sorry to write to you in this forum but I am having trouble getting anywhere with returning my tickets for the RAH show on 5/31/06.
I did originally contact you and you were nice enough to foward my email to RAH they contacted me and told me that my tickets were purchased through trinitystreetdirect.com. I have sent out emails to them at three differnet email addresses. That was last Thursday and I haven’t had any response at all.
I am unable to attend the show and I am trying to do the right thing and return these tickets so another David Gilmour fan can go and enjoy this show. Do you have any contacts at trinitystreetdirect.com and if you do can you please have them contant me so I can get these tickets refunded and can be sold to another fan.
Thanks again for all your help I really do appreciate it.
Mike
[I'm terribly sorry to hear that the matter has yet to be resolved, Mike. Several people have commented that they don't reply to their e-mails. You'll be pleased to know that they do reply when we intervene, which is what we've just done. You should get an e-mail soon. Please let us know. - Features Editor]
ED,
You guys have done it!!! Scalpers are getting scalped……
Since this issue was raised and also because I bought some tickets on ebay, I have been monitoring the sales of DG’s tickets for interest’s sake.
Today I have witnessed touts getting stung by sales for less than face value. One guy sold 4 tickets at an original face value of £250.00, for only £120.00! What is amusing to watch, is that many of the sales are now going to other ticket touts – they seem to be in a bit of turmoil! What is also good to see, are sales by what appear to be genuine fans (checked by previous sales), selling tickets at face value, or slightly above, to other fans. You have managed to pull off something I have never seen before.
Good on you guys, now we just have to try and give Ticketmaster a bit of a kick up the butt! A harder task I know, but the fans are behind you.
Tim
[Thank you, Tim. - Features Editor]
Lucia….thank you for the wonderful explanation of ‘laticlavio a vita’ and I agree you certainly deserve the honor of that title.
I mention for my husbands sake that ‘good boy’ will not apply here. Gender not made clear by my name.
Did you ever get your tickets for the concert?
Hope so. Many people here congratulating those who have gotten tickets and have not been to the concerts yet. I too am excited for all who are going yet. I saw my very first concert with David Gilmour this April. It was superb and extremely moving. It is hard to put into words exactly how this incredible music reaches into your heart.
Ok a late note from me about the Regal cinema show I saw in Portland Oregon on the 16th.
As a huge David fan, and a long standing one at that, (since the late 60′s) I have to honest and say that this cinema concert experience was terrible. The sound was bloody aweful and had no fullness or body to it. It felt like a poor amplification of an a.m. radio broadcast.
Volumes were all over the place…no richness or texture to the concert at all. I left there very dissapointed and looked for the manager of the theater to chat to. A lovely gal named Jennifer spoke to me, and as soon as others saw this they also expressed their dissapointment.
Something was terribly wrong with the sound. I got my money back as I was an out of towner, and others got complimentary passes for another show. She offered her sincere appologies and said that they had done their best. I don’t know what happened, was it the cinema equipment or just them doing their best with what they had to work with in terms of the audio on the film?
There is no way David would have endorsed such a poor product to be shown in 100 cinemas across the U.S. David has always been on the front of audio quality and the live concerts are getting rave reviews from all over the world in this regard. We David Gilmour and Pink Floyd fans are a discerning lot I know…but this was a screw up plain and simple. The sound was just plain BAAAAAAD!
Was this just my experience at this particular cinema or was the complaint wide spread all over the U.S. ?
Anyway….onward and upward they say!
Cheers from Bob in Victoria, BC, Canada
Good on ya. The sooner we smash our way through some of the world’s greed, the better. It’s a start. We all have a part to play in this, so shame on those who exploited their fellow fan to make a quick buck (and to those fascists who said that there’s nothing wrong with doing so).
I have been reading through many of the posts I missed (yep, I’m a newbie) and I saw someone whining because he felt it was OK to sell one ticket for a profit in order to fund his costs (ticket and train fare).
What is it with morons who cannot see that this is out and out greed?! You make me sick!
I think I’m going to like it here…
Lucia, at one point the English really didn’t care about Stonehenge from a tourist perspective. In fact, I know there are images out there from the 60s of hippies climbing and hanging all over the site.
I was there back in the mid-1980s and like I said at that time, tourists were still allowed to walk between the stones and touch them. You have to make special arrangements now to make that happen.
There are still many theories as to what Stonehenge is and why it was created. One theory was that it was originally created as a huge ancient clock. Others think it has religious meanings.
To me it does remind me of the music of PF. Kinda like the Live at Pompeii video.
Some think Stonehenge was built to worship the sun god. The way it is built suggests this, once every year the sun shines through the stones to make a clear beam on the ‘altar’ this happens on December 21st, the winter solstice. They used to celebrate the winter solstice back in neolithic times because it was seen as a time for new life and re-generation. Nowadays of course people tend to celbrate the summer solstice, so they are effectively celebrating the wrong one.
ukveronica. Thanks for that. I do remember reading something like that at one point.
So what would be the approriate song to play at Stonehenge on December 21 for the celebration? Shine On You Crazy Diamond, High Hopes or maybe A Pocket Full of Stones?
JAN: (I mention for my husbands sake that ‘good boy’ will not apply here. Gender not made clear by my name.)
Sorry! I didn’t understand the gender by your name…I have some problem with foreigner names! REALLY SORRY!! And when I’m not sure I usually used the male gender…I’m not a great femminist, I know! Male gender sounds me more neutral than female identification’s words…or maybe there’s some Freudian reason! I don’t know! SORRY! But now that I know you are a woman, I’d like to say that I’m sure you are a very beautiful woman too!!!
UKVERONICA: Thanks a lot for the explanation about Stonehenge. And it’s true ANDREW, they remind me Pink Floyd and Pompeii video too! However, that play is really fascinatine and I think that waiting the dawn there must be really a wonderful sight…I’d like to do it, one of these days…or one of these years, perhaps! But I think I will choose the summer solstice (the wrong one) because I think that the night is very cold during december…I come from Italay (O SOLE MIO!)…I hope you could understand!
A lot of greeting to all of you!
L!
Lucia…….Please, no apologies necessary about my name. I only felt it was fair for you to have an understanding where the direction of my comments were coming from.
And, I’ll bet you are beautiful too.