Random Thoughts on the Road
Greetings from Tampa! We’ve made it in town to cover the show tomorrow night. While we were on the road, a few newsworthy items have come across my email that I wanted to share with you all.
First: additional photos from the “Day in the life of Edge” fan greeting at the American Airlines Arena have been added to Flickr. You can see the set here. Special thanks to Dan for adding these to the @U2 photo pool!
Second: U2.com fanclub renewals. This is going to be *THE* hot-button topic of conversation on all of the online chat lists and mail groups this week. Here’s the cliffnotes version of what is being emailed to current members: you’ll get 20% off the membership fee for renewing and you’ll get a fan-only “8-track CD featuring songs recorded live during the Vertigo Tour; and a CD-ROM containing an interactive audio player, an exclusive live video clip from U2’s Vertigo 2005 show at Milan’s San Siro stadium, as well as wallpapers and U2 screen savers using the show’s amazing imagery.”
What isn’t included in the fanclub renewal according to the email: “There will not be any ticket guarantees as part of the re-subscription package.”
The email continues: “As we have stated before, the U2.com ticket pre sale for Vertigo 2005 was not what we wanted it to be, and once again we can only apologise for the inconvenience and distress that we know this caused. We continue to look for fair ways in which we can distribute tickets to our fans on future tours but any solution will not be tied to this re-subscription.”
There are some alternatives to the ticketing issue, as seen with Springsteen’s spring tour: tickets are waiting for you at will-call, and when you arrive you receive a wristband and you get your ticket later in the day - then you’re escorted into the arena upon receiving the ticket. There are ways around this to make it work. Another alternative would be to revert back to a mail-order system as what has been done in the past. I’m sure something can be worked out…we all need to be patient.
My heart goes out to those people in Australia, Japan and South America who were given presale codes that could not be used because the tour wasn’t hitting your area…only to be told the tour’s coming, but guess what - you’re not able to use your code for tickets. I feel your frustration.
In the meantime, it is nice that they’re offering a 20% discount on the fee - but even with that discount, it’s still among the most expensive fanclubs out there. With the purchase of a Rolling Stones ticket, your fanclub membership was a “gift” for coming to a Stones show. Robbie Williams has moved his Inner Sanctum fanclub to a fee-based one for an annual fee of 25 british pounds (renewal: 15 month membership, free tshirt, and 2 tickets to 1 location on his upcoming world tour.)Heck - Pearl Jam’s fanclub allows you to download their shows!
Understandably, we all have to give up the ghost that the fanclub will not revert back to how it was during the Propaganda days. There’s still a part of me that wishes the customer service from the Propaganda days was how Signatures Network handles its paid subscribers - but that’s what happens when things are outsourced to a corporate identity. Times change, and this is the only fanclub U2 offers - and yes, I will renew (in case you were wondering). After being a fanclub member since 1988, why stop now?
bj4peace said,
November 16, 2005 @ 7:08 am
Trying to get a message to Bono while he is in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday (11/18-11/19). This weekend in Columbus,GA there is an incredible nonviolent peace action taking place to close down the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC formerly SOA-School of Americas). This a approx 10 to 12 thousand folks from all over that are working to shut down this school (for more info, http://www.soaw.org/new/). I know that Bono has been a tremendous influence on one ex-prisoner of conscience’s journey as she has spent a total of 9 months in federal prison fighting for this. If anyone has any connections, get this message to Bono…the experience on Sunday at Ft Benning in Columbus is something not to be missed! I am utilizing the network to see about getting this info out. I encourage anyone who will be in the Columbus, GA area this weekend to check it out. U2s song “Mothers of the Disappeared” speaks to the issues of WHISC(SOA). Appreciate any help in getting the word to Bono - his voice could do wonders in getting this stopped!
Melon said,
November 16, 2005 @ 7:31 am
bj4peace - Bono is going to be filming something for a movie on the Beatles in NYC on Sunday so he is not going to be in the area then anyway.
AnswerGuy said,
November 16, 2005 @ 8:38 am
Hey Sherry. Congrats on your interview. Clarification: Anyone can download Pearl Jam bootlegs, not just the fanclub members. It’s an open market.
Keep posting.
AG
Mystery Girl said,
November 27, 2005 @ 11:08 am
Having operated a fan club in the 1980s (for Roy Orbison) I have some opinions of my own about how I think a fan club should be run. When I did it, it was a club run “by a fan, for the fans.” Now it’s all “corporate fan clubs”…just like everything else seems to have gone “corporate.” More recently, I worked at a company that operates about 25 fan clubs. You aren’t “supposed” to be a “fan” and work in “the business.” Or if you *are* a fan, you’d better not let it show! I took that job because I *needed a job* not because I wanted to be in “the biz”…my origianl dream when I moved to this “showbiz town” - of being iun the music busioness - had expired years ago. It’s more fun to be a fan. As an aside, I work for the government and I’ve seen less politics there! LOL!
So, will I renew? I guess so, just to give them a chance. but not with any great expectations from a “corporate fan club.”
Mystery Girl said,
November 27, 2005 @ 11:09 am
Having operated a fan club in the 1980s (for Roy Orbison) I have some opinions of my own about how I think a fan club should be run. When I did it, it was a club run “by a fan, for the fans.” Now it’s all “corporate fan clubs”…just like everything else seems to have gone “corporate.” More recently, I worked at a company that operates about 25 fan clubs. You aren’t “supposed” to be a “fan” and work in “the business.” Or if you *are* a fan, you’d better not let it show! I took that job because I *needed a job* not because I wanted to be in “the biz”…my origianl dream when I moved to this “showbiz town” - of being iun the music busioness - had expired years ago. It’s more fun to be a fan. As an aside, I work for the government and I’ve seen less politics there! LOL!
So, will I renew? I guess so, just to give them a chance. but not with any great expectations from a “corporate fan club.”
Mystery Girl said,
November 27, 2005 @ 11:11 am
Sorry for the double post. I’m new at this.