I saw on one of the Japan message boards that they may not be able to use the onstage boxes because of safety regulations. I wonder if they are having similar problems in Europe as well. We have heard NOTHING about onstage for the rest of the tour.

You WON'T hear anything about the onstage boxes until something like a month before the shows; at least that will be the case if they market them in the same way as the did on the N American leg of this tour.

I think the US ones went on sale one week before the tour started.

Maybe there was a logistical reason for the delay, but theres no excuse for that happening elsewhere. Why cant they put them onsale at the same time as the rest of the ticket sales? People end up buying two lots of tickets!

That's why they do it. On Stage went on sale after the regular tickets, but at least 3-4 weeks before the show best as I remember.

Fun to do once.

Now that I remember, you're right. A lot of people who had already bought floor seats ended up buying another set of onstage seats and then selling the floors. Boy, were they unhappy.

Steven Wrote:
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> That's why they do it.

they do it because they're incompetent, greedy @#$%& who dont give a shit if the people who spent a fortune on tickets to begin with end up with surplus tickets they cant use and which will then end up in the hands of ticket touts...

I have said it before and I will say it again...

If you get a chance, DO IT!

And I've said it before and I'll say it again,

If you get the chance, SKIP IT. I hated the OnStage boxes.

I think it would be a cool experience if you were in the lower block of the onstage seating. I wouldn't trade any front block tickets for On stage ones ever, you can't get a better view than that. I still haven't got Sheffield tickets yet, I 'll probably hold out and hope for an Onstage seat there.

I thought the on-stage boxes were a once in a lifetime event. We were backstage, we were able to access the stage and be a part of the event. I loved it....I don't understand someone hating it.

You mean you thought you were part of the event???
They are the band, we are the audience, it will never change.
I hate it because they are a dumb fantasy trip for wanabees who don't care that they are not seeing and hearing from the best vantage point.......but if it is the only seat a person can get hold of, well that's a bit different.

Oily.

There are very few On Seats spots to go around so if you are negative, don't want a different experience, or can't be bothered to sell an extra seat then FO and don't buy them. Leave the opportunity to someone who will enjoy it!!!

Whoa, whoa, whoa,

I am not a wanabee and it certainly was no fantasy trip.
The sound was fantastic. The vantage point was great.
Personal interaction with everyone except Blondie. He didn't seem to care about us.

I speak the truth.

i did it 4 times in the lower boxes and had a great time each time. lots of personal interaction that you usually only get if you're in the first row at theater shows, although i saw blondie look up and wave several times. but if you can get front row at any other show, take it. but i like it on stage better than 2nd row in front!

Dumb fantasy trips are fun. Even wannabees wanna push the envelope and have a "Well, I never did THIS before" moment.

The same chumps that complain about On Stage also complain that every show is the same. Some people are miserable and just like to complain!!!

Dont talk sh*te

If anything, it seems to be the same 'chumps' who complain and make sweeping generalizations about anyone posting anything remotely negative about their heroes, as if they're some kind of unpaid cheerleader, without ever offering a single coherent argument themselves.

Ok - lets have your argument (in less than 400 words for example) why its a great idea to sell 'onstage seats' only a few days before the show to people who have already paid up to $450 a ticket and oblige them to end up buying extra tickets at short notice.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-02-02 22:27 by Gazza.

lamemodem2 Wrote:
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> And I've said it before and I'll say it again,
>
> If you get the chance, SKIP IT. I hated the
> OnStage boxes.


I'm somewhere in between based on my experience. I wouldn't do it again - it was a "different" perspective, but one that needn't be experienced for more than a coupla tunes to get the gyst. After that, I was thinking how much I'd rather be down in front...

I haven't experienced them, but from what I can see, they are equivalent to rear view arena seats, which are OK, but I can't imagine trading any decent floor seats for em. It was a great concept, but they are simply too high up there. If the lower boxes were at stage level, the THAT woudl be a true onstage experience.

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steven Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > That's why they do it.
>
> they do it because they're incompetent, greedy
> @#$%& who dont give a shit if the people who spent
> a fortune on tickets to begin with end up with
> surplus tickets they cant use and which will then
> end up in the hands of ticket touts...
>

Call them what you want.....but "incompetent" they are not....as musicians or businesspeople...they are among the best at BOTH....love it or hate it.

For me the experience was totally amazing. I thought I would never again be truly excited about a Stones show. Great, loud blaring guitar, even for Miss You! Of course I didn't pay a thing, a friend used a fan club code (after selling back his ticket) and won them. Not sure if they would be worth $250 then again except for the first few rows a stadium gig isn't worth more than $20 to me. I did walk by the front row in San Diego and it was further away from the stage than some back row seats I have been in. No thanks!

stickyfingers101 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gazza Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Steven Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > That's why they do it.
> >
> > they do it because they're incompetent,
> greedy
> > @#$%& who dont give a shit if the people
> who spent
> > a fortune on tickets to begin with end up
> with
> > surplus tickets they cant use and which will
> then
> > end up in the hands of ticket touts...
> >
>
> Call them what you want.....but "incompetent" they
> are not....as musicians or businesspeople...they
> are among the best at BOTH....love it or hate it.
>

The 'they' I was referring to was the band's management and whoever makes these decisions, not the band themselves

They may generate a lot of cash but they seem to operate with an "it'll sell anyway" maxim - quantity over quality every time.

I'll reserve judgement on Cohl's ability as a musician until I see him take the solo on "Gimme Shelter" some night (God forbid, he's effectively the 5th band member now anyway so its only a matter of time..)

although I'm an On Stage box defender, I agree that the later sale date sucked. Only by chance did I hear of the sale date (I don't think we got a notice from RS.com did we?) and I was very lucky to be able to sell my crappy fanclub $160 floor seats which were the very last seats in the very last row - my friend who bought them managed to get closer on her own so I didn't feel so bad. My recent experiences of sitting at the side of the stage (easy to get to the front row) for $160 reminded me of the On Stage experience so I've discovered a way to see them up close in the U.S. without paying $450 for unobtainable front row seats on the floor.

Thankfully I was out of town with no internet access when the onstage boxes went on sale. I think the fact that it was free made it that much more enjoyable. For now I kinda wish I knew more about the layout and perhaps tried to bring my recorder along and stand right by the PA stack on the far right.

I'm not sure how many people actually saw this, but when they first appeared on Ticketmaster prior to the on sale date, they were priced at something like $1500. I think someone in management realized that they were risking a public relations disaster and they pulled it after a day or so. They later reappeared at the $250 price.

OILY_DIPSTICK Wrote:
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> You mean you thought you were part of the
> event???
>
The onstage seats we had at Moncton gave us the about the same view and sounds the band has when they are on stage. The screams when they hit the stage were deafening. With close to the same vantage point as the band, it did give you different perspective of the show.

Question to those of you who got On Stage tickets (in particular, the 'cheaper' upper tier tickets) and who saw the No Security shows

On the NS tour, the Stones sold behind the stage tickets for $40, which were the cheapest tickets in the house

Was there really that much difference quality-wise between them and the $75 "onstage" seats?? The maps I saw of the "onstage tickets" area before the tour began seemed to suggest they looked like "behind stage" tickets only with a more attractive name

I saw the Who in the Omni in Atlanta in 1980 with seats behind the stage. I thought it was an interesting perspective. The onstage seats are a bit higher, but closer than those. A great experience....don't let the cynics fool you.

thought as much - my point being that the key is in the marketing, Shawn. If you advertise something as "on stage" it sounds a lot more attractive than "behind the stage" (even if theres only a small difference), and you can price it with that in mind.

Shawn20 Wrote:
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> The onstage seats are a
> bit higher, but closer than those. A great
> experience....don't let the cynics fool you.

I was in box 7 in Charlottesville, VA. The sound was terrible, no speakers were pointed at our box and the sound was muffled all night. I listen to the fantastic boot that's out there and really regret not switching to floor seats. Especially after seeing them outside in Durham. The sound is fantastic in the stadiums, a real treat from previous tours.

As far as interaction goes, just about every person on the stage waved to us, but I didn't find it that amazing. I thought it was more interesting to see what goes on when they turn their backs to the audience an talk to each other. Jagger passed by on his way to the top part of the stage and since we were in the first box, no one was closer than us - that was as close as I've ever been to him. A nice moment, but you can get the same (or better) experience at the b-stage or when the b-stage passes by (which I did two nights later in Durham).

Speaking of the b-stage, when they are out there you can't see them from Box 7 on stage. The overhead lighting rig blocks your view. A real bummer.

After the bomb scare it started to rain. The crew pulled these clear plastic tarps over the middle of the stage. It was impossible to see the band for the last 5 or 6 songs. More of a bummer.

I'm not being negative, I just don't want anyone to miss out on a great show. I don't complain about set lists. I mean, I wish there were fewer of the hits, but I accept what they play and always have a great time at the shows. I had a great time at the DC and the Durham shows.

My advice is to stay away from On Stage seating.

(But now that I think about it, On Stage tickets were $250. If you were unhappy, you could get tickets on the floor. They were offering row 13 in Charlottesville. $250 for a $400 ticket might not be such a bad deal.)