The Concert Thread

[radical347]

I've seen Moonalice at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass --  isn't GE Smith in the band? -- but they didn't hold my interest.  we left them at the Arrow stage to go hear something more exciting.

He was, but he recently left: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonalice

Agreed with your assessment of Moonalice, in fact, that was where I saw them too, @ HSB. The idea of a venture-capitalist-by-day-aging-hippie-by-night isn't too thrilling, although I guess those two aren't necessarily exclusive.

[ggould]

I've seen Moonalice at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass --  isn't GE Smith in the band? -- but they didn't hold my interest.  we left them at the Arrow stage to go hear something more exciting.

He was, but he recently left: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonalice

Agreed with your assessment of Moonalice, in fact, that was where I saw them too, @ HSB. The idea of a venture-capitalist-by-day-aging-hippie-by-night isn't too thrilling, although I guess those two aren't necessarily exclusive.

I haven't seen them live, but know some folks that dig 'em.  My guess is that some nights go well, depending on who shows up.

[Tinka Cat]

Disgruntled U2 Fans Consider Legal Action After Missing Concert

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localsfo/20110609/ts_yblog_localsfo/disgruntled-u2-fans-consider-legal-action-after-missing-concert?bouchon=807,ca

Not sure if they have a legal leg -- bad traffic isn't really anyone's fault -- but U2 may take the opportunity to bank some goodwill here.  Like if a you had a ticket that was never scanned in at the check in gate, you can get a refund.

[Alicat]

Disgruntled U2 Fans Consider Legal Action After Missing Concert

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localsfo/20110609/ts_yblog_localsfo/disgruntled-u2-fans-consider-legal-action-after-missing-concert?bouchon=807,ca

Not sure if they have a legal leg -- bad traffic isn't really anyone's fault -- but U2 may take the opportunity to bank some goodwill here.  Like if a you had a ticket that was never scanned in at the check in gate, you can get a refund.

It was more than traffic. The venue has 10,000 parking spots plus some additional overflow and sold almost 70,000 tickets. Doesn't work. BART doesn't work for everyone either. They were not able to manage capacity and had no contingency plan. That is not the ticketholders fault. For large Shoreline events, they have arranged for people to park WAY OFFSITE at Google properties and have hired shuttle busses to transport the fans.

[Alicat]

Don't want to scroll back to County Fair lineups so...
Received 4 comp tix in mail yesterday to San Mateo fair. Surprise! Fun! Yay! Checked out line ups,
I'll make it most likely to TOP.
June 12 Four Tops
June 14 War
June 15-16 Tower of Power (saw at fair many years ago, good show)
June 17 Grand Funk Railroad
June 18 Pablo Cruise (saw them at Millbrae Art & Wine many years ago, fun)

Can't forget the pig races! I can see the rides from my office window.

[Lightnin' Rod]

Don't want to scroll back to County Fair lineups so...
Received 4 comp tix in mail yesterday to San Mateo fair. Surprise! Fun! Yay! Checked out line ups,
I'll make it most likely to TOP.
June 12 Four Tops
June 14 War
June 15-16 Tower of Power (saw at fair many years ago, good show)
June 17 Grand Funk Railroad
June 18 Pablo Cruise (saw them at Millbrae Art & Wine many years ago, fun)

Can't forget the pig races! I can see the rides from my office window.

I saw WAR at the Sonoma county fair many, many years ago, and it was also worthwhile (though only one member of the original band was actually in the band).

[radical347]

Disgruntled U2 Fans Consider Legal Action After Missing Concert

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localsfo/20110609/ts_yblog_localsfo/disgruntled-u2-fans-consider-legal-action-after-missing-concert?bouchon=807,ca

Not sure if they have a legal leg -- bad traffic isn't really anyone's fault -- but U2 may take the opportunity to bank some goodwill here.  Like if a you had a ticket that was never scanned in at the check in gate, you can get a refund.

It was more than traffic. The venue has 10,000 parking spots plus some additional overflow and sold almost 70,000 tickets. Doesn't work. BART doesn't work for everyone either. They were not able to manage capacity and had no contingency plan. That is not the ticketholders fault. For large Shoreline events, they have arranged for people to park WAY OFFSITE at Google properties and have hired shuttle busses to transport the fans.

Yeah, I agree for the most part.  What the stadium really should have done was work with BART to make it convenient to get to/from the concert, heavily publicized that there would be limited, expensive parking and heavily promote BART as the option.  BART may not work for everyone but it could work for a lot more people than used it.  Looking out the window the Union City station (first stop after Fremont, where the parking lot was mostly full) still had plenty of parking spaces.  Peninsula people could have gone to Millbrae BART.  Also, BART should have had the foresight to plan ahead for the concert and publicize that they will run later trains to get everyone home from the concert, rather than put up annoying signs saying ATTENTION U2 CONCERTGOERS: GATES ARE CLOSING AT 12:00!!! LAST TRAIN LEAVES AT 12:22!!! all over the station, causing people to drive and/or panic.  Worst case scenario this could have caused a stampede...good thing it didn't.  I found out that they finally gave in (they had to) and did run 13 extra trains until 2 AM, but it would have been better if they would have been supportive from the beginning & let people know that.  There's no excuse for the stories about people driving to the stadium being redireected to no-man's-land and then being told they couldn't even park there, though.

That being said, I think lawsuits are ridiculous, but it's reasonable to give them refunds.  Out of 70,000 tickets -- a few hundred, even a few thousand refunds is not going to break their back.

[Tinka Cat]

Disgruntled U2 Fans Consider Legal Action After Missing Concert

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localsfo/20110609/ts_yblog_localsfo/disgruntled-u2-fans-consider-legal-action-after-missing-concert?bouchon=807,ca

Not sure if they have a legal leg -- bad traffic isn't really anyone's fault -- but U2 may take the opportunity to bank some goodwill here.  Like if a you had a ticket that was never scanned in at the check in gate, you can get a refund.

It was more than traffic. The venue has 10,000 parking spots plus some additional overflow and sold almost 70,000 tickets. Doesn't work. BART doesn't work for everyone either. They were not able to manage capacity and had no contingency plan. That is not the ticketholders fault. For large Shoreline events, they have arranged for people to park WAY OFFSITE at Google properties and have hired shuttle busses to transport the fans.

Yeah, I agree for the most part.  What the stadium really should have done was work with BART to make it convenient to get to/from the concert, heavily publicized that there would be limited, expensive parking and heavily promote BART as the option.  BART may not work for everyone but it could work for a lot more people than used it.  Looking out the window the Union City station (first stop after Fremont, where the parking lot was mostly full) still had plenty of parking spaces.  Peninsula people could have gone to Millbrae BART.  Also, BART should have had the foresight to plan ahead for the concert and publicize that they will run later trains to get everyone home from the concert, rather than put up annoying signs saying ATTENTION U2 CONCERTGOERS: GATES ARE CLOSING AT 12:00!!! LAST TRAIN LEAVES AT 12:22!!! all over the station, causing people to drive and/or panic.  Worst case scenario this could have caused a stampede...good thing it didn't.  I found out that they finally gave in (they had to) and did run 13 extra trains until 2 AM, but it would have been better if they would have been supportive from the beginning & let people know that.  There's no excuse for the stories about people driving to the stadium being redireected to no-man's-land and then being told they couldn't even park there, though.

That being said, I think lawsuits are ridiculous, but it's reasonable to give them refunds.  Out of 70,000 tickets -- a few hundred, even a few thousand refunds is not going to break their back.

It's certainly reasonable to get a refund if you didn't get in. I bet Alicat's friends -- and others like them -- will get the price of ticket (plus fees, etc) back. 

also, not all lawsuits are ridiculous.  the threat of legal action in the US court system is sometimes all that a wronged consumer has to protect them against malpractice, injury, etc. 

heh, do I sound like a trail lawyer or what?   

[radical347]

also, not all lawsuits are ridiculous.  the threat of legal action in the US court system is sometimes all that a wronged consumer has to protect them against malpractice, injury, etc. 

heh, do I sound like a trail lawyer or what?   

LOL.  True, when I said that I was just referring to lawsuits that people were threatening them with in this particular case.

[Wayback]

Don't want to scroll back to County Fair lineups so...
Received 4 comp tix in mail yesterday to San Mateo fair. Surprise! Fun! Yay! Checked out line ups,
I'll make it most likely to TOP.
June 12 Four Tops
June 14 War
June 15-16 Tower of Power (saw at fair many years ago, good show)
June 17 Grand Funk Railroad
June 18 Pablo Cruise (saw them at Millbrae Art & Wine many years ago, fun)
Can't forget the pig races! I can see the rides from my office window.

Congrats, Ali!  FYI: here's Chron article rating this year's Bay Area county fair concerts along with fair's concert schedules:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/parenting/detail?entry_id=89009

San Mateo County Fair San Mateo (June 11-19):
https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/entertainment-a-special-events/entertainment/concerts

Sonoma-Marin Fair Petaluma (June 22-26): http://www.sonoma-marinfair.org/concerts

Marin County Fair San Rafael (June 30-July 4):
http://www.marinfair.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=262&Itemid=330

Alameda County Fair Pleasanton (June 22-July 10): http://www.alamedacountyfair.com/2011fair/concerts/index_line_up.php

California State Fair Sacto (July 14-31): http://www.bigfun.org/concerts.php

Stanislaus County Fair Turlock (July 16–25): http://www.stancofair.com/concerts/

California Mid-State Fair Paso Robles (July 20-31): http://midstatefair.com/entertainment_grandstand.php

Sonoma County Fair Santa Rosa (July 27-Aug 14): http://www.sonomacountyfair.com/fair/concerts.php

Solano County Fair Vallejo (Aug 3-7): http://www.scfair.com/scfair.html

Santa Clara County Fair San Jose (Aug 4-7): http://thefair.org/home.cfm

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (Fridays June 17-Sept. 2): http://www.beachboardwalk.com/concerts/

More Nor Cal Fairs & Festivals: http://www.californiafairsandfestivals.com/Northern%20Fairs.htm

[RGMike]

It occurred to me I hadn't heard much talk about Bonnaroo on KFOG this year. Guess they spent all their money on other "World Class Adventures" and coudn't afford to send Renee or Greg.  The other day they were doing a brief story about it on the Weather Channel (because it was very dry and dusty at the fest, apparently) and one of the incredibly white and airheaded young women on the channel said she'd looked at the list of artists and "other than Eminem, I'd never heard of any of them". Seriously?

http://www.bonnaroo.com/Artists.aspx

[sundaygal]

It occurred to me I hadn't heard much talk about Bonnaroo on KFOG this year. Guess they spent all their money on other "World Class Adventures" and coudn't afford to send Renee or Greg.  The other day they were doing a brief story about it on the Weather Channel (because it was very dry and dusty at the fest, apparently) and one of the incredibly white and airheaded young women on the channel said she'd looked at the list of artists and "other than Eminem, I'd never heard of any of them". Seriously?

http://www.bonnaroo.com/Artists.aspx

She's never heard of Ray LaMundane?   

[Tinka Cat]

It occurred to me I hadn't heard much talk about Bonnaroo on KFOG this year. Guess they spent all their money on other "World Class Adventures" and coudn't afford to send Renee or Greg.  The other day they were doing a brief story about it on the Weather Channel (because it was very dry and dusty at the fest, apparently) and one of the incredibly white and airheaded young women on the channel said she'd looked at the list of artists and "other than Eminem, I'd never heard of any of them". Seriously?

http://www.bonnaroo.com/Artists.aspx

She's never heard of Ray LaMundane?   

That list is quite long.   Maybe she stopped reading after the first word -- "Eminem" -- b/c she got tired.

[Alicat]

It occurred to me I hadn't heard much talk about Bonnaroo on KFOG this year. Guess they spent all their money on other "World Class Adventures" and coudn't afford to send Renee or Greg.  The other day they were doing a brief story about it on the Weather Channel (because it was very dry and dusty at the fest, apparently) and one of the incredibly white and airheaded young women on the channel said she'd looked at the list of artists and "other than Eminem, I'd never heard of any of them". Seriously?

http://www.bonnaroo.com/Artists.aspx

She's never heard of Ray LaMundane?   

That list is quite long.   Maybe she stopped reading after the first word -- "Eminem" -- b/c she got tired.

Seriously. Stoopid weather girl.  Not being publicized much are two deaths, http://www.cinemablend.com/celebrity/Two-People-Die-Bonnaroo-2011-32812.html

[Wayback]

Don't want to scroll back to County Fair lineups so...
Received 4 comp tix in mail yesterday to San Mateo fair. Surprise! Fun! Yay! Checked out line ups,
I'll make it most likely to TOP.
June 12 Four Tops
June 14 War
June 15-16 Tower of Power (saw at fair many years ago, good show)
June 17 Grand Funk Railroad
June 18 Pablo Cruise (saw them at Millbrae Art & Wine many years ago, fun)
Can't forget the pig races! I can see the rides from my office window.

FYI: here's that Chron article rating this year's Bay Area county fair concerts along with fair's concert schedules:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/parenting/detail?entry_id=89009
San Mateo County Fair San Mateo (June 11-19):
https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/entertainment-a-special-events/entertainment/concerts
Sonoma-Marin Fair Petaluma (June 22-26): http://www.sonoma-marinfair.org/concerts
Marin County Fair San Rafael (June 30-July 4):
http://www.marinfair.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=262&Itemid=330
Alameda County Fair Pleasanton (June 22-July 10): http://www.alamedacountyfair.com/2011fair/concerts/index_line_up.php
California State Fair Sacto (July 14-31): http://www.bigfun.org/concerts.php
Stanislaus County Fair Turlock (July 16–25): http://www.stancofair.com/concerts/
California Mid-State Fair Paso Robles (July 20-31): http://midstatefair.com/entertainment_grandstand.php
Sonoma County Fair Santa Rosa (July 27-Aug 14): http://www.sonomacountyfair.com/fair/concerts.php
Solano County Fair Vallejo (Aug 3-7): http://www.scfair.com/scfair.html
Santa Clara County Fair San Jose (Aug 4-7): http://thefair.org/home.cfm
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (Fridays June 17-Sept. 2): http://www.beachboardwalk.com/concerts/
More Nor Cal Fairs & Festivals: http://www.californiafairsandfestivals.com/Northern%20Fairs.htm

The Mercury News/Contra Costa Times music critic offers up a preview paragraph for each of the music acts appearing at this year's Alameda County Fair, June 22-July 10: http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_18265660
And remember, you can take BART to Pleasanton, then shuttle bus right to the fair!