Comments on: Too much traffic for Live Nation….

By: Yes

Yes — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:22:37 +0000

Live Nation does not know how to run shows end of story. They are run by a bunch of trust fund kids in LA from Toronto who don’t know the first thing about music and are more concerned about Lindsay Lohan being a DJ and what stupid thing Steve Aoki is doing next. It is to the point where I will not attend any live nation shows for a number of reasons, mainly for the reason they don’t care about the fans they don’t care about the bands either. I personally got the stomach flu from eating food at their show at download fest. During that show the promoters didn’t know the first thing about the bands so they would line up the stage with acts that do not go together at all. Example Jesus and Mary Chain then right after RJD2. Because of this RJD2 played to like 50 people in the Gibson Theater. Recently at the Palladium in Hollywood they shut off the sound boards in the middle of a set and kick out the sound guy if they don’t personally like a band. They take no effort in treating bands properly or fans. They are a bunch of Hollywood transplants that need to go back to promoting cars or some stuff like that cause they sure as hell do not know how to run shows. They are typical Hollywood transplants who give LA and show promoters a bad name because they only care about themselves. Hopefully they will fall off the face of the earth soon.

By: Michelle Leder

Michelle Leder — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:44:07 +0000

Thanks for that release, Mike. I actually saw the sign for something called VIP Parking, which I could have purchased online. But all it appeared to be was a special lot that was closer to the venue. You still would have had to sit in two hours of traffic to get to that special lot. Interesting about the financials, too.

Meanwhile, here’s what Live Nation SVP Mike Huff sent me via email in response to my concerns. Sounds like corporate-speak to me:

Michelle, I’m sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience with the traffic prior to the Police show on Friday. I was aware of that we had some traffic delays but in speaking with the NYS Park Police I understood that traffic cleared up relatively quickly. Our challenge regarding traffic at SPAC stems from a combination of factors. On Friday, we had our guests trying to get into Saratoga and onto the Spa State Park grounds and to SPAC while the Saratoga race track traffic was exiting Saratoga which causes our incoming traffic to cross the outgoing race track traffic.

We park several lots at the same time and have 2-3 ways to enter and park around the venue. Despite this we do still have some traffic back ups and delays. I will make sure and include your comments in our next traffic planning meeting and we will continue to work to improve the traffic conditions surrounding our shows at SPAC. Thank you for your comments and input and I hope that this helps address your concerns. Best wishes.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:37:26 +0000

You will be excited to see this news release posted back 6/25–I’m guessing that will be their canned response:
“Live Nation(R) (NYSE: LYV) today introduced Live Nation FAST LANE(TM), a new ticketing program that offers music fans the chance to, at no extra charge, enter ahead of the crowd to their favorite shows at Live Nation owned and operated venues when they purchase their tickets online through Live Nation Tickets(R) on LiveNation.com….”

The traffic situation you experienced will not be nearly as bad as the experience you will have reading LYV’s financial statements. Negative TBV, exhorbitant salaries, and forever elusive profits– but somehow each quarter management keeps the carrot on stick just far enough ahead of their dopey shareholders noses to induce a $1B mkt cap. Keep this one on your radar.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:41:39 +0000

Contrast your experience with my experience at the Bruce Springsteen concert at Giants Stadium (in northern NJ) on 7/31. A jacknifed leaking propane tanker closed the NJ Turnpike exit to the stadium (usually the most popular route to the stadium). Traffic was moving at a glacial 1 mile per hour on all other approaches. The start time on the tickets was 7:30, but for the prior 2 shows, Bruce had been starting at 8:30. I allowed 2.5 hours to travel about 20 miles (I attended a different concert at the nearby arena 2 nights earlier, when the ride took me 45 minutes), but still didn’t get to the stadium until 8:45. Unlike your concert, Bruce took pity on the fans stuck in traffic and held the start of the concert to 9:30 (by which time it looked like the stadium was full), and then proceeded to play for over 3 hours, without an intermission!

By: Penelope

Penelope — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:22:04 +0000

They threw a party at their house that could hold 20,000+ WITH ESSENTIALLY ONE DOORWAY?
come on.

they don’t want to pay for a.) another road; b.) shuttle service; c.) something beforehand that could occupy people while everybody gets there.

it’s not complicated. it is what it looks like.
another case of making it convenient to cash the checks and feeling absolutely no responsibility for anything that happpens after.

By: Michelle Leder

Michelle Leder — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:44:31 +0000

How is expecting to be able to travel 2.5 miles in under two hours poor planning on my part? Of course I expected traffic, and planned for it. One simple solution would have been adding an extra lane of traffic in the south bound lane of Rte. 9 — kind of how they reverse Holland and Lincoln and Battery tunnel traffic depending on the time of day. That way, no extra roads for events that happen a few times a year. Just a bit of extra planning.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:38:22 +0000

“Poor planning on your part does not create an emergency on mine”

how can you blame the site or the producers of a show for YOUR poor planning?

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:05:22 +0000

That’s actually not uncommon for large event venues. Here in Northern Virginia, the Nissan Pavilion is the major venue for well known acts. And much like yours, there’s basically one road in and one road out.

The real problem is that places like that really suffer from NIMBY syndrome and when they’re developed well outside of an urban area, there’s usually little incentive to establish much in the way of infrastructure.

That’s part of the reason why tailgating has become such an integral part of the concert-going experience.