PHISH'S VT BENEFIT TICKETING GOES OFF WITHOUT A HITCH
Brando and Dusty Rich from CashOrTrade.org are good friends of the site, so we reached out to them for a first-hand account of Friday and Saturday’s ticket buying experience in Burlington. With a monstrous line, ignoring the band’s request to spend the night at home and only a single point to purchase tickets, some were justifiably concerned that this could spiral into an organization nightmare. When it was all said and done though, none of those concerns even remotely surfaced thanks to a great group of fans and the amazing staff on hand in Burlington.
Read on to hear Brando and Dusty’s account of the whole experience.
This Wednesday Phish returns to our home state for the first time in 7 years. It goes without saying that we were a little excited when the Vermont flood recovery benefit show was announced.
With a small number of tickets released through the online lottery, lots of native Vermonters found themselves without tickets. Last Friday fans began lining up outside the Flynn Theater in downtown Burlington as early as 8:30am, even before ticket information was released, and camped throughout the night for the 10am Saturday ticket release. The line itself was a dream. Fans were in high spirits and helped one another through the night by staying spread out and embracing the communal atmosphere and providing a long and crazy night. By the time Saturday morning arrived, the ticket line extended nearly a mile, weaving through nearly 20 city blocks. Allowing fans to remain nice and comfortable throughout the night, around 9am security asked to tighten up the line and ticket time was fast approaching. Upon entering the Flynn Theatre, there we SIX active counters and all tickets were CASH ONLY with no fees. 2 tickets, hand over $150 in cash and you were out the door. It was that simple. By 12:00pm the line was nearly gone and everyone had scored the tickets they needed. The vibe in Burlington was energizing. By about 2:00pm, the show was finally sold out and Phish had raised an astounding amount of money for the state of Vermont, and help many who fell victim to Hurricane Irene.
Thanks to everyone involved it was a great experience and we hope to see you in Vermont!
Dusty and Brando
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The Mockingbird Foundation
(These things don't necessarily organize themselves, as anyone who has sought a hard ticket at a TM or box office onsale under the more typically chaotic "land rush" conditions can attest...and the Flynn did this without wristbands, lotteries or need for multiple line-ups, often the case for such tough tickets).
I asked a friend who works at the Flynn on FB how they pulled this off, and she said "... credit where credit is due, Green Mountain Concert Services did a great job with crowd control, as always!".
Yes, I'm glad everyone got to get their tickets (and for the amazing donation to the VT flood relief), but to say this went off without a hitch is crazy.
Did anyone walk up/down Main St after the sale was over? It looked like people decided to use Burlington as their personal trash can. The sidewalk was DISGUSTING. When a band puts on a concert to help clean up VT, why are it's fans destroying the streets.
I'm a long time big Phish fan, but I'm continually dissapointed at certain of fans who show no responsibility for their actions. You give the rest of us a bad name.
Cool vid.
http://forum.phish.net/?thread=1315709469
@billyjim58 - The line was hardly on Main Street at all. I'm wondering if most of the garbage you saw was from the regular bar/college scene. I was on line up near Edmunds Middle School (a few blocks up from the Flynn, but many blocks as the line winds.) I showed up around 6 in the morning (with a trash bag and a recycling bag in my pack) and was immediately dismayed by all the trash *already* on the ground. I quickly realized that it was ALL from the previous night's bar scene. As the line wound through the blocks, I saw many full bags of trash, but not the mess you describe. Even one of my friends who lives on King Street - not a fan, does not particularly care for hippies, had a big bag of trash left in front of his place afterward - admitted begrudgingly that it was really pretty smooth, and the trash was largely left in bags.
In fact, now that I think about it, walking back up Main Street after the sale, that stretch where the 5:00 AM and later arrivals were lined up (practically the only people on Main Street, other than the half block below the Flynn) was pretty much immaculate.
I share your general dismay at the trash often left behind, but I'm calling shenanigans on this one.