Dave The Hedgehog
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Posts posted by Dave The Hedgehog
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This is a very hopeful thread. This is the sort of thing I'm saying to my missus - although with me it's, "maybe they are saying it's sold out to reduce the level of traffic! Maybe! Maybe that's what they're doing F5! Haha! F5! Got Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, K-Meleon, Internet Explorer and SeaMonkey all open! Haha! F5, F5, F5! I can see that's what they're doing! Fucking Eavis! Sold out my arse! I'm staying here for another 5 minutes! No I don't want breakfast! Haha... I'm safe. Haha. F5!"
Reminds me a bit of the Young Ones episode where they have that new telly and they're staring at the little white dot to see if anything happens.
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I'm just trying to think of a comparison to work it out how they did it, or what happened. Fair play to those who got the tickets, nice one and all that, but I'm just trying to work out why, when we'd thought we'd virtually assured our place in the queue, we were told to go back twice and then be told they weren't there any more. Disappointed is an understatement but trying to fathom out that disappointment is even worse.
To be at the booking page at 9:15, first of all, was amazing. Efficient. We inputted details at lightning speed - easily less than a minute. Clicked 'Confirm'. Time out. It timed out after 15 seconds of waiting. 15 seconds! Did the same again. Our details were already in the boxes. 10 seconds of waiting to be told it had timed out.
I mean, what the fuck?
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Don't understand it. We were in about 9:15 (bearing in mind tickets sold out in 26 minutes) - we had the registration details in and then it directed us to some odd page with 'lots of numbers'; pressed back and we went back to the 'details' page; same happened. Twice. We were on the 'Timed out' page after waiting for about 15 seconds.
You'd think once you got through to the page where you have to input your details, your virtual tickets would be reserved until you'd either timed out (10 minutes later) or had actually purchased the tickets.
I'm trying to think of some kind of comparison but I just can't. It's like... No I just can't think of any comparison.
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Bit annoying, that.
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Was considering starting up a Kickstarter campaign a while back so that everybody who contributed could pay towards having stake in a house in Pilton to claim as residence. £650,000 was the lowest price I found, but think of it as an investment and a way to guarantee a ticket for life.
Not sure how that would work or how effective my plan would be, however.
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So their crime was to specify a number rather than just say we've nearly sold out, I'm certain I've seen plenty over the years saying stuff like only a couple of hundred tickets left, buy soon or similar. To me there seems little difference
The thing is, I don't really care because I never bought a ticket. I was going to buy a ticket because it's a local festival (one of the very, very few around here, actually) and 6 of my friends got let down so obviously in that I feel it's my duty and right to pass comment. Or something.
Whatever the case, I'm glad I didn't buy a ticket now despite my friend's insistence it'd be the 'greatest thing all summer'. He said to me the other day about how sorry he felt for the organisers and made a comment on all the negativity saying, "glad I'm not going now seeing some of the miserable bastards I'd be sharing a field with" - my response was, "to be fair, you won't get sunshine, lollipops and rainbows at a Goth festival anyway."
I don't think I feel an ounce of sympathy for the organisers. Kudos maybe for trying but Jesus what a fuck up.
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Come to think of it, I wonder how many actually panic bought tickets. If enough people convinced whatever consumer watchdog focuses on false advertising that they bought tickets because Alt-Fest said "there were only X amount left! Hurry!", the organisers would be pretty fucked, I imagine. Then again I suppose it doesn't matter if they're offering a refund - can't refund flights, ships, and trains though, can you? Or accomodation?
Depends how much of an axe you have to grind with them, I guess.
Complete mess, all of this.
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Seems odd as its a tactic plenty of festivals have used in the past to stimulate sales
Indeed *cough*Rob Da Bank*cough*
I've been convinced on more than a handful of occasions with festivals I've gone to - with Glastonbury being the obvious exception - that some say they've sold out even though they haven't for the sake of PR. Who places festivals like that under such scrutiny? It's not like there's a consumer watchdog that has it's watchful eye over them, is there?
I suppose most just take it on authority that the festivals have sold out and it looks good on paper to say it, even though it hasn't. Alt-Fest was just an example of a festival that said "only X amount of tickets are left" and then got caught whenever it turned out only 7,500 people gave enough of a fuck to buy tickets in the first place; most of which have been left monumentally pissed off when it turns out they've been lied to. You make statements like that to get people to panic buy and I wonder what some of those who panic bought tickets are thinking now.
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It does seem to be a culmination of a lack of professionalism, greed and a flawed premise to begin with. I think when you're attempting to sell tickets for a 20,000-cap music event you have to provide something that's to a degree relevant to current culture, which is pretty much impossible when you're catering for a frankly outmoded and passée cultural movement. I think the success of the event in Whitby is down to keeping it small; it fulfils a requirement of a niche market. That niche market isn't going to fill out a festival larger than Kendal Calling.
If I'm honest I did think that with the whole line up announced everything was too secured to go under, instead it's just meant the whole thing has imploded in rather spectacular fashion.
Thing is, I said more or less what the guy from WGW said (albeit without any of the 'insider knowledge') on their Facebook page - about the naivete. I mean, they had a band like Godseed there and then Peter Murphy, assuming almost that fans of either would be attracted to both. No, a fan of Black Metal is definitely not attracted to New Wave or Goth because most of them are not Goths, and the same goes for just about every aspect of the festival. So then it calls for the need to introduce another stage - shit, Industrial, KMFDM need a stage too, FUCK!!! What about the Punks? Christ... another one for Amen. Glamping sounds cool, let's have that too.
"We have no money to do any of this!"
- Yeah well we'll get it from the investors. They'll see it's worth investing in when they notice we've had 30,000 likes on Facebook.
What it did, first time around, was try to appeal to every conceivable market within the 'Alternative Scene' as possible (and why not when you're called Alt-Fest?), without any real income themselves, without any reputation or historical evidence that their business acumen is worth investing in - I've fucking seen Dragon's Den, I know how it works... man...
I mean, if you have grand ambitions of being the No. 1 place for Goths and Steampunks to go to, you need to start small and then work yourself up. I've not heard of an independent festival that did otherwise. Fair enough, the ambition was high and the concept was great but it was implemented with such stupidity and naivete that I find myself laughing at them for the fools they are in thinking they could pull it off and get away with it. Could I have done better? No, but then I know I can't so I don't bother. I stick to doing what I'm good at, which is everything but having dreams of talking to Jim Morrison and being chased by weird naked Indians.
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It's a great article, that. Nice post.
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I think they should just bite the bullet and talk about the possibility of a refund today rather than wait until Monday. Irrespective of whether or not they can hold a much smaller festival, find an alternative venue (because even Boughton House doesn't list Alt Fest any more). I was looking this morning at the Facebook page and there was a guy from Puerto Rico who wanted to see Marilyn Manson - if Manson's pulled out, does this guy really want to fly from Puerto Rico to spend a few days in a field with a few thousand other goths watching "Palm Reader"? Somebody else there from Norway I saw, another few people from Australia, Ireland, Germany... these are people who need to get in touch with flight companies to get a refund lest they face the risk of losing hundreds, if they can get it back at all.
It's such a shit thing to be told the festival has been cancelled 2 weeks before it's supposed to start but to make a statement like that and tell people they need to wait a bit longer - it leaves a bad taste in the mouth even if the festival is still on. I think they should just cancel the fucker and tell everybody on the line-up, then tell the people who paid for the tickets and offer a full refund. as well as their sincerest apologies without any finger pointing.
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The silence from the organisers really hasn't helped matters
Nah it's shite, that. Reading the comments on the Facebook page pisses me off - people from Brazil, people from Australia, loads of people mentioning non-refundable flights... just not on. To be completely silent about it. The fact as well it was a crowd-funded festival too.
Beggar's belief.
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Shame about this but I did think they were punching a bit above their weight. Boughton House is about 5 minutes drive from where me and my fiance live - her brother and his wife were going, 6 of our friends were going, and we seriously considered going but got an SSE bill after coming back from Glastonbury and decided not to get tickets until... well, several days before the festival.
Yesterday, in other words. We followed it on Facebook (again, not necessarily intent on going but at least showing an interest), saw all the updates, then we saw the Marilyn Manson thing along with something said by a band I know personally playing there (Enemo J) and it made our minds for us before we put money down.
Either they promised the bands too high a fee in ratio to actual ticket sales, or the amount/lack of ticket sales couldn't pay for the bands. Weird one. Again, a shame.
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Judging by the one video I've seen on YouTube, it was available to watch live but hasn't been rebroadcast. I think the same goes for Massive Attack as well though I'm not sure about Jake Bugg.
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Lower Mead.
Good points - relatively quiet, close proximity to John Peel and not too much of a fuss to get to the Pyramid or straight through the woods up to William's Green and beyond. Not too far from some decent food places either.
Bad points - absolutely shite toilet maintenance.
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I had a beard this year! As I have at every festival for the last 10 years or so...because I have a beard. And I live near Dalston.
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I have no reason to doubt Metallica's sincerity - especially Lars'.
They had a lot to prove at Glastonbury; a lot of controversy surrounding their inclusion on the line-up from fellow acts as well as the media, Glastonbury attendees, you name it. I saw the interview Lars did on the BBC afterwards and, bearing in mind he's 50 years old, has just come off stage playing drums for 2 hours in a Metal band, was knackered, the last thing he wanted to do was have an interview, the guy could not only name some of the smaller acts playing the festival but for 30 hours before Metallica took the stage, he properly soaked up the vibe of Glastonbury. The impression I got from him was he didn't want to leave, which is an attitude both you, I and thousands of other people share hence the reason we're still on here talking about it. He knew the importance of the place and he was aware of the controversy that surrounded Metallica's inclusion, so it was important for them to respect it.
The reaction they got from the audience when they played - the singalong to Memory Remains, the chants to Master of Puppets, the reaction they got from the crowd to Enter Sandman and Seek and Destroy... for a distinctly Metal band to play to an audience like the one at Glastonbury which has a completely different psychology to one you'd find at any Metal festival the world over, the reaction they got would have been a genuine shock, and would have elicited some genuine emotion there.
For me Metallica were amazing - I've seen them 5 times now and that's the best gig they've ever played. Why? Because it was Glastonbury, and everything that comes with Glastonbury. I can only imagine it's the same for them.
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I didn't stick my head under the taps -- as you point out, no one wants to use a tap that's clogged with hair (or anything else). I filled up our water bottle, went off to the side, dumped it over my head, used some of that biodegradable shampoo they sell at the Body Shop, went back to the tap to refill the bottle, then went back to the side to rinse it off.
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My beard is just like that
and just as ginger
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My missus saw Skrillex instead of Arcade Fire. Part of her said the morning after that the clash was heart breaking but another didn't regret it one bit. Not a fan myself but I told her to go with her heart, and we ended up seperating for those two sets.
She too is pissed off with the lack of coverage on the BBC but then to be fair I'm surprised at just how shit the coverage was in general. The John Peel stage coverage is shocking (how many blurry faces?).
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I wish I'd have taken my camera to photograph some of these beards, but this is the dude you saw. Lacks glasses, however.
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I washed my hair twice, but only in the middle of the afternoon when no one was about.
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Got to car in West 37 at 7:50. Left site at around 9:40. Stopped at Gordano services on the way up the M5 and was met with some of the most priceless expressions on people's faces that I've ever seen. Arrived back at my parents in Derbyshire around 14:20, stayed the night, drove back to Northamptonshire the morning after.
The trip back to Derbyshire was shite and it was all down to my fucking evil bitch of a satnav who told me the quickest way to get back to my parents house from the M5 was to AVOID the M42 when historically everybody knows you go up the M42 and come off near Twycross Zoo. Satnav said no. You don't want to go that way. The best way to go is through Birmingham, Dudley, Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Cannock. Fuck off.
Entered card details then page cant be found....
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Thing with us was we didn't even get to the payments page. We inputted the registration details and that's where our session timed out. Waiting to see if there's a glimmer of hope in determing whether or not the money was taken out is probably worse but getting through the queue, being under the impression your tickets were there for you to just pay for, and then not even being allowed to pay for them...
They say the tickets were sold out in 26 minutes but I'd theorise in saying they were sold out long before that, otherwise surely they'd have just left you at the holding screen? Would have at least been the decent thing to do.
Both bastards and saints this morning, Seetickets.