GA Line Already Formed @ Foxborough
(Cathy helping to organize the GA line at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, handing out wristband #45)
To those with GA for Sunday night’s show at Gillette Stadium – the GA line has already started.
The fans who are coordinating the line are handing out white numbered wristbands with smiley faces on them, putting your name on a list with the corresponding number, and taking a photograph so there is a timestamp. According to Cathy (the fan helping to coordinate the effort), the photograph is to settle any disputes as to who really is where in line. Currently, the line is located on the steps leading up to the CBS Scene, which is near the Patriots Pro-Shop and the ticket booths. The stadium staff have already set up the barricades and the lanes for entry into the stadium.
The important news – Patriot Place staff will not allow anyone to congregate on the property from 1 a.m. – 7 a.m. as there are no shops open at that time. As for parking at the stadium, all of the shops are closing at 5 p.m. on Sunday and Monday. Presumably they will open certain lots at certain times, so follow the directional signs along Route 1A for stadium parking.
Stadium staff are working with the fans coordinating the GA line to ensure a smooth process.
As of 6 p.m., there were over 50 people already in the GA line. The decision on the wristbands were made because fans felt the sharpie-only system did not work too well in Chicago, according to Cathy.
For those going, I hope to see you there!
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And then Security takes over and renders all the efforts worthless.
What time will Cathy be back at it tomorrow and where? We are planning on heading up in the morning. Also where is everyone parking early because the lots will not open until noon at the earliest according to u2.com. Help any info is appreciated.
I will be very interested to hear how this all works out; as I tend to agree with macmango. Good Luck to all.
I like the idea of handing out numbers so that people don’t have to stay in line for hours before the gates open. Hopefully security won’t mess it up. Has this method been used at all the North American shows so far? I hope someone organizes this at the show I’m going to (Norman, OK).
nikmik: I was told that either Cathy or one of the other 3 people who are coordinating this plan on being back around 8 a.m.-ish, but when I was there it was a very fluid situation as they were mindful of the strictness of Patriot Place staff.
The main lot at the stadium may not open ’til later, but there are plenty of event parking lots not connected or affiliated to the stadium that will start taking cars earlier in the day.
and yet, we’ll probably see reports of people waltzing right in there without waiting in line as we did in Chicago and Toronto. I admire their dedication, I guess.
The line for Chicago 2 went fine. Everyone was numbered and their names and numbers were put on a list. I was near the very front of the line, but to my knowledge nobody cut or swarmed in without lining up at least as affected the first several hundred in line. We only had a couple of hours that we weren’t on the property — from like 1:00 to 4:00am — so there wasn’t any opportunity for people to show up and claim they were in a separate line. It all went smoothly. However, if these line moderators are not planning on getting back to the stadium until 8am, I can foresee major problems…
The line for the first Chicago show also went great. Although we had wristbands, not the sharpie system.
I’ve never been to a concert where the numbering system really worked. At the last U2 shows I’ve been to, I didn’t even take part in it because I knew it was useless. And it was. As soon as the gate open it’s just: Fight and run, and then defend whatever spot in the crowd you were able to get. Having been a regular concert goer for 20 years now, I know that queuing up early and being ready to defend your place in line and in the crowd is all that’s important in the end.
This GA line was an udder disaster. Two conflicting times for allowing people to lineup and then piling several hundred people into an unorganized line. Only to get these people to get into male/female lines as they open the gates. Gillette stadium security was a complete joke. Thankfully got into the circle, but I would have been beyond pissed if my group and I didn’t. Have done GA a number of times and this was hands down the worst. Absolute worst.
I wasn’t there, but I’m glad it was a disaster. These ridiculous multi-day lineups are rife with corruption and in this case, they’re lines that have disrupt overnight, which is means there is no line until the day of the show.
Anyone who remembers the Elevation lines KNOWS how many times people who were at One show managed to be “on the list” for a show while they were at another concert in another city.
It’s this crap that caused the band to institute the lottery (which was worse even worse, because it didn’t stop the stupid lines but it did put far too many casual fans up front, which led to less than excited crowds in the pit).
I’m hopeful that like Chicago and Boston, the early fan lines will not be honored
With that said, I’m starting the line for Las Vegas and L.A. You must email me at stupidlines@yahoo.com to get on the list. The line breaks up each night at 11:00 Pacific and you must send an email between 6:00 and 6:15am every day between now and the show or you’re booted out.
U2 E-Lines: The future of GA lines :rolleyes:
“I’m hopeful that like Chicago and Boston, the early fan lines will not be honored”
wow KC, you sound like a wonderful person wishing chaos and disappointment on others.
From the opinions of most people who were there, the initial wristband system worked pretty well. Bear in mind it was stopped at 9am when security moved us into the official pens as it was only intended to control the queue up until official security took over. Anyone there before then though was given numbers and was informed exactly how the male/female gates worked so they lined themselves up appropriately. For those who arrived after, if they weren’t told by venue security then that really can’t be the fault of the people who tried to organise the line initially. For those who were involved in the unofficial wristband method it seemed to work exceptionally well – fans were organised, informed and orderly – we went into the pens in single file – no rushing, pushing or queue jumping – which is pretty impressive. had the fans not been there to organise the numbers then it would have been a disaster overnight. The reality is we weren’t allowed to be there and start queuing early but people were always going to try. Had a large group congregated the day before, then we probably would have been sent away, as we were at 1am anyway. With the numbers in place this was avoided and it meant the next morning when we were allowed to return, there was no arguing over who was there first.
So yeah, I think it’s worth separating what was a disaster and what wasn’t – security potentially let down those arriving later in the day by not informing them of the queue details, but those fans that partook in the fan run wristband system starting the day before mostly seemed pretty happy with it and it was well organised. Disaster isn’t a word I would use at all, so don’t taint and judge the fan queues with the mess up of the official queues, it’s unfair on those who partook in it and those who put in the time and effort to try make it easier and smoother for others.
Digsy, I think the word disaster fits well for this considering Gillette sent out an email saying to arrive no early than 3PM yet, people lined up much earlier than that. I have no problem with people lining up the night before. God Bless them if they want to put that amount of time into waiting and God Bless the people that tried to put some order into the line.
From my perspective (arriving in the line at 1PM) it was a disaster. Security did not inform us with any information and the huge pen that everyone congregated in was a mess.
I compared this experience with the experience’s I’ve had at the Fleet Center, and those situation’s were planned much better than what I encountered on Sunday.
The concert was great and I got as close as I would have wanted, when I began b*tching about my experience it was solely on how Gillette handled the overall process.
digsy, lines that start on a day or more before the show when you can’t stay on site are not about organisation.. they’re all about securing the best spots in lines that don’t actually exist.
why don’t we start a queue for the unannounced boston shows next summer?
is it ok to start a queue forPasadena now? Imagine the organisation.
FYI,I don’t want to see return of the lottery, and these ridiculous non-lines will increase the likelihood that they’ll return.
I was in the Chicago 1&2 GAs and know all to well about how the venue would not allow us to camp out overnight and disbanned the fan run queue/wristbands system. Sadly, that was a mess up as the venue did not work with the fans. The same can NOT be said for Foxboro. As for the Foxboro queue it was simply a matter of fans helping fans and the venue working with and respecting the line. This included thanking the line captains multiple times as they cold not believe how wonderful the U2 fans behaved and respected each other PLUS providing the blueprint of the female/male, bag/no bag line up (which is exactly the same for every concert or game at Gillette) and as Digsy said the info was passed along to those that were there by 9am.
If anyone has ever run a line, you know what kind of work goes into it. For those that have not…well feel free to take on the torch for the next gig you attend, including Pasadena or future Boston/Massachusetts gigs, then you can pass judgement on how well or poor the Foxboro fan line was run.
My family of 4 were very pleased with the whole GA line experience at Foxboro1! We are grateful for the people that took the time and effort to keep things as organized as possible. Too bad they couldn’t have organized the departure from the parking lots!?