Observations on getting in the Bomb Shelter
Dan E., who is a good friend and part of the @U2 staff, wrote this up after making some observations about the process used to determine who gets into the bomb shelter and who doesn’t. Dan has a scientific background, and is a keen observer of things, so there’s pretty much no one I’d trust more to do this kind of thing. 
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I spent about 1 hour standing next to the GA entrance area last night in San Diego and learned a few things regarding ellipse entry that I thought I’d share.
* As usual, you get a primary GA wristband upon entry to the arena.
* The “ellipse” process is controlled by 4 PC laptop computers with attached barcode scanners.
* Local security run the barcode scanners, but U2 tour personnel do all of the stamping of tickets for ellpise entry. In addition to “U2 roadies” doing the stamping, there are a few other “U2 supervisors” on scene. You know the type, well dressed and enough laminates to cause back trouble.
* As mentioned elsewhere, once you win, and your ticket is stamped, you are sent to a second table for a second color coded wristband. For example, San Diego II’s wristband combo was pink GA wristband with green and white checkered ellipse wristband.
* The ellipse “winner” is NOT predetermined based on your ticket barcode. In other words, it has NOT already been determined before you arrive that you ticket is in fact a winner. Winning is based randomly on your position in the GA line as you enter. This was confirmed by the “U2 Supervisors” and by observation.
* The number of people the ellipse holds is appoximately 400. I had this confirmed by the “U2 supervisor” running the GA area last night. This will vary depending on local fire codes, and the number of VIPs that get access to the ellipse.
* The odds of getting into the ellipse are about 1 in 5. However, since each “winner” gets to take ONE guest, about 1 in 10 people should be “winners” on average.
* I watched over 200 people go through one particular scanner, and in fact, about 1 in 10 to about 1 in 12 people seemed to be “winners” of the coveted extra wristband.
* The process appeared truly random (technically pseudo-random since most computers don’t actually do real random numbers). I noticed that MOST winners were every 10th to 14th person at a given scanner/laptop. There were also clusters of winners happening closer together. For example, once two “winners” were only 4 people apart, other times, more than 14 apart.
* The two wristbands per “winner” rule was strictly enforced, however, I did see the “U2 supervisor” on scene make a small number of exceptions and let in 3’s when people clearly explained that one person would be left behind. This did not happen very often and only when the winners complained and asked to speak to somebody directly.
* There was little if any “sweet talking” of the U2 security folks. Many people tried, I saw none succeed at the table where I was standing. Money didn’t seem to help either, based on a few drunk losers that I saw try.
* People were “winning” up until just before U2 went on stage. Second wrist bands were being given out until 10 minutes before U2 hit the stage last night.
* If you do not win upon entry, there is a slim chance you can still get into the ellipse. According to the U2 supervisor running the GA area last night, they do a count just before the lights go down. If they feel they are short, say, 20 people, they grab people from the STAGE RIGHT barricade entrance to the ellipse (Edge’s Side).
* I saw very little “corruption” of the process. One guy and his girlfriend snuck through because security was too busy to notice. Probably a few more people got by as well. At the end, the U2 folks grabbed a few extra wristbands and took them (maybe to give out on the floor, maybe to give to friends). Otherwise, it looked about as fair as it could be under the circumstances.
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Thanks Dan!
Sandist said,
March 31, 2005 @ 6:27 pm
Something I noticed at SD2. A lot of people who were winning entry into the elispe were younger, attractive and carring cute signs or in one womans case, a flag that she had given Bono on another tour where she was also in the pit. I don’t believe that this is totally random. Some people might be, but this is a way of hiding the fact that you are picking certain types of people to be close to the band and possibly on film.
deliot said,
March 31, 2005 @ 7:54 pm
This post has been removed by the author.
deliot said,
March 31, 2005 @ 7:57 pm
Well, I watched about 300 people for over an hour, and didn’t see such a trend at SD II. I saw old people win, young people win, quiet people win, loud people win, etc.
U2isABLE said,
April 1, 2005 @ 4:10 am
Just to underscore the GA process - there are enough scientists on the list who could figure out the algorithm for the entry…but the cool thing about random generators is that they’re RANDOM! So, the young, old, smart, silly, drunk and sober all have an equal chance to get into the “bomb shelter.” No one in line was given preferential treatment..
james said,
April 1, 2005 @ 12:43 pm
I have GA tickets to their San Jose concert. How early should I go to the location?
Jonathan said,
April 1, 2005 @ 3:46 pm
Sounds like you can get there as early or late as you want with the GA tikcets. But the earlier the better for the fact that you will get closer to the outside edge of the circle if you don’t make it into the Bomb Shelter and it you do make it the earlier people will get closer to the main stage in the Bomb Shelter. SO there are still advantages to getting there early.
deliot said,
April 1, 2005 @ 6:15 pm
Jonathan said:
“But the earlier the better for the fact that you will get closer to the outside edge of the circle if you don’t make it into the Bomb Shelter”
This is a very good point. Also, it should be added that so far on the tour, there was a “normal” GA line and a U2.com GA line. The U2.com GA line was much shorter.
u2u4ic said,
April 1, 2005 @ 10:43 pm
What if you don’t want “inside” the shelter?? Do you still have to go through the scanning lines??
U2isABLE said,
April 2, 2005 @ 12:16 am
You still need to have your ticket scanned at the beginning for admittance into the building - but no, you don’t need to go through the scanning lottery to see if you’ve won your way into the bomb shelter - if you don’t want to be in the shelter, you can just proceed to the floor. You would have already been given your floor access wristband before going through the final scan. Hope this helps!
Jason said,
April 5, 2005 @ 11:49 am
I would second the recommendation on getting there early. For the second Anaheim show I showed up right before U2 went on and they had already stopped scanning tickets.
For the Anaheim shows U2 was going on at 8:45 p.m.
One question: does it matter what gate you enter the building through to get your ticket scanned?
Thanks for all the info!
james schneider said,
April 5, 2005 @ 3:30 pm
Hey, Deliot, what do you need to be in the u2.com GA line. Just ones id, or somehting else?
james schneider said,
April 5, 2005 @ 3:31 pm
if im there in line with one other person, is it best to just go through the scan on behind the other or to stager. Per this discussion it doesnt seem to matter, except it might be best to be 4 or 10 behind a winner