And poor people who got bottle service. Hope they got a discount!
MelBeat
Things went well indeed! A couple of drinks at the Music Box from 12:20 till 1:15, walk to Avalon, the usual 3 lines, although no divider between will call and guest list on the left side, walked straight in, I actually waited longer to get my card swiped and get my ticket. And 3 more drinks from 1:20 till 2:00 :) Decent night for Avalon, I actually have more complaints about the Music Box not letting will call holders in right away claiming capacity when it was definitely not, and then doing face control and letting only girls and couples in.
in2muzikk
quote:
Originally posted by GIANT Hotel
PR intact. Dreamworks event wrapped at 11.30pm and Avalon opened at 12 Midnight last night and processed a huge crowd into the club as fast as possible using all doors possible (including Bardot). That “line” was managed with respect to keeping order in front of the club and not having a big push and shove, as usually happens when 3 different lines converge from 3 directions at the front within such a narrow time window. It’s all about priorities… order first, ticket holders looking forward to the ‘epic’ set Digweed delivered (until 8.30am) second, “I’m on so and so’s list” folks a close third.
Of note: Will Call was actually open from 10pm in the adjacent parking lot to get ticket holders a head start and those who picked up their tickets before Midnight got a free drink ticket. Ticket holders were then lined up on the outside of that single line (so that big line was actually 2 parallel lines) and ticket holders were processed first when the doors opened, again, at 12 Midnight.
… and a 6.5 hour set from John Digweed.
Bull! Why not listen to the people who were there and waited outside for 45 minutes plus with will call tix in hand???
Will call opening at 10 p.m. wasn't mentioned anytime before the event, either. After buying my ticket about 6 weeks ago, I read that Avalon wasn't going to open until midnight (even though my will call ticket and even Wantickets.com showed 10 p.m. until about a week prior to the actual night).
I was concerned about getting parking, especially with the Marathon going on too, so I actually bought another ticket to the Music Box just so I could park and hang out somewhere before Avalon opened. Got to the Henry Fonda about 11 p.m., parking was a breeze, and there was no line at all when I showed up. They just checked my ID and then another person scanned my receipt and I was in!
Was nice to see how they renovated the place, great environment now, and upstairs rooftop chillout area was very cool. I left just a few minutes after midnight to Avalon and there was just one huge line (not two or three) that was back to about 20' of Yucca. I asked two or three staff at the front where the line was for will call ticket holders, and they all told me there was just one line. I even asked another staff if ALL those people in line had tickets, and she said "yes!"
Had anyone said anything about will call opening early, I would have picked up my ticket right away, got a free drink ticket and then just walked right in on the way back from Music Box! Are we supposed to know this through osmosis, a little communication would have been nice!
I liked Digweed's set, found it a little slow during the first half, but was going strong when I left around 6. Due to the whole clusterf*ck line experience and the club advertising one opening time and then changing it, Avalon is my last choice for a night out.
I almost always get to clubs early to avoid such experiences, it was the change in opening time that threw me off. How were people to know they could show up at 10 p.m. and get tickets? :wtf:
trance_seeker
Another vote for PR not totally intact ;)
"Avalon opened at 12 Midnight last night and processed a huge crowd into the club as fast as possible using all doors possible (including Bardot)."
There was only one line, using one entrance when it opened at 12 from what the staff on hand told me until when I got in around 1:15. I don't blame Giant since they didn't double book Avalon for the night. But even if the Dreamworks event officially ended at 11:30, those people were still leaving at 12:15 out the main entrance so they couldn't have the usual separate lines for will call/guest list on one side and new ticket sales on the other side. So seeing this cluster f they should have had made 2 lines on the side - one for will call and one for new ticket purchases.
Even with the 1 combined line, it didn't start moving until 1AM so either it took them 1 hour to let in all the hard ticket holders first (which I didn't see a whole lot of) or they couldn't let more people in until the main room opened up? Also, since they couldn't use the front area with the ticket booth, there was only 1 person doing both the will call pickup and new credit card only purchases and a separate person doing cash only new purchases. I'm guessing this is another reason for having 1 combined line since 1 person was doing both the will call and new credit sales?
Anyways, yes Digweed delivered as usual and I do appreciate the work it took to put on a great night of music so thanks for that :)
in2muzikk
Although I threw away my will-call receipt, I believe that the stated terms of service were also violated. It always says that will call ticket holders receive IMMEDIATE entrance into the club until a certain time, which is usually 11:30 p.m. but was revised to 1:30 a.m. since the club opened late. After that, those holding tickets are given PRIORITY ADMISSION. Wantickets deletes all past events, but here's Avaland's info. for next Saturday night:
"IMPORTANT TICKET PURCHASE INFORMATION: Ticket(s) purchased via this website may be claimed at the WILL CALL desk at AVALON only on the night of the event. Please bring the credit card used to purchase the ticket(s) along with a valid PICTURE ID documenting that you and your guest(s) are at least 21 years of age. TICKETS MUST BE CLAIMED BY 11.30PM to guarantee IMMEDIATE ADMISSION. We will hold space for everyone who claims their ticket(s) before 11:30PM. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ARRIVE AFTER 11:30PM? After 11.30PM, we can no longer limit capacity for you and we will start admitting general admission guests up to our capacity. If you arrive after AVALON has reached capacity, you will be given PRIORITY ADMISSION. WHAT IS PRIORITY ADMISSION? Once Avalon reaches capacity, those holding ticket(s) will be admitted before those in the general admission or guest list lines, but you must wait for people already admitted to leave the club to reestablish available capacity. WHAT IF TICKETS FOR A SPECIFIC EVENT ARE SOLD OUT? We only sell 50% of our capacity in advance for each event. If you do not have a ticket, we strongly suggest arriving by 10:00PM to ensure entry. NO REFUNDS. All sales are final and you must agree to all the terms as outlined above and in the Terms of Purchase agreement on this form."
So, not only did will call ticket holders not receive IMMEDIATE admission, they didn't even receive PRIORITY admission. Given the circumstances, the proper thing to do would have been for will-call ticket holders to present their receipts to someone through the red fence who could then give them IMMEDIATE admission into the club, as advertised.
I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not gonna find one over this, but I also found this on the Wantickets site:
"If you encounter problems at the event, you must file a complaint with Wantickets via email to [email protected] within 5 business days following the date the event is scheduled to take place, (vi) Failure to request a refund during such 5 day period will be a complete waiver of your right to a refund."
If anyone contacts Wantickets about this, let me know how it works out, we deserve better than to be treated like this.
MelBeat
I feel sorry you guys had to go through this; there definitely need to be more complains so it doesn't happen again. For me it looks like I picked just the right time to go to Avalon :) When I saw Greg and asked him if he had gone to Sander I had just come in. Outside everything was like normal, 3 lines, and 1 girl on the left and 2 windows, all doing both will call and new ticket sales.
Wantickets page is up but it looks like they hadn't updated the time for "immediate admission" which was still listed as 11:30pm.
in2muzikk
Thanks, just found it through the ticket link on first page of this thread. These were the actual terms & conditions for last Friday night:
"**Doors will open promptly at midnight for this Special Event**
WINNER OF URB'S 2009 READER POLL FOR CLUB OF THE YEAR
40TH ON DJ MAGS TOP 100 CLUBS OF 2009
#7 ON RESIDENT ADVISORS 2008 CLUB AWARD FOR ATMOSPHERE/VIBE
LA WEEKLY’S 2007 BEST OF LA “BIG TIME” CLUB NIGHT
THE WORLDS BEST DJ’S AT HOLLYWOOD’S HOTTEST NIGHTCLUB
3 ROOMS OF MUSIC WITH MULTIPLE PLUSH VIP AREAS
ONLY CLUB IN HOLLYWOOD OPEN UNTIL 7AM
AWARD WINNING SOUND AND LIGHTING DESIGN
NEW AND IMPROVED VIP BOTTLE SERVICE AREA
VIP RESERVATIONS - CALL or TEXT (530) AVA-LAND
OR EMAIL [email protected][/email]
IMPORTANT TICKET PURCHASE INFORMATION: Ticket(s) purchased via this website may be claimed at the WILL CALL desk at AVALON only on the night of the event. Please bring the credit card used to purchase the ticket(s) along with a valid PICTURE ID documenting that you and your guest(s) are at least 21 years of age. TICKETS MUST BE CLAIMED BY 11.30PM to guarantee IMMEDIATE ADMISSION. We will hold space for everyone who claims their ticket(s) before 11:30PM. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ARRIVE AFTER 11:30PM? After 11.30PM, we can no longer limit capacity for you and we will start admitting general admission guests up to our capacity. If you arrive after AVALON has reached capacity, you will be given PRIORITY ADMISSION. WHAT IS PRIORITY ADMISSION? Once Avalon reaches capacity, those holding ticket(s) will be admitted before those in the general admission or guest list lines, but you must wait for people already admitted to leave the club to reestablish available capacity. WHAT IF TICKETS FOR A SPECIFIC EVENT ARE SOLD OUT? We only sell 50% of our capacity in advance for each event. If you do not have a ticket, we strongly suggest arriving by 10:00PM to ensure entry. NO REFUNDS. All sales are final and you must agree to all the terms as outlined above and in the Terms of Purchase agreement on this form.
Remember to bring: 21 ID & credit card used to purchase the tickets along with a printed confirmation. You must have the credit card. Tickets cannot be picked up without it."
Based on what happened Saturday night, I would have revised the above as follows:
What happens if you arrive after 11:30 p.m.?
1) Since immediate admission is only guaranteed until 11:30 p.m. and the doors don't open until midnight, you are screwed
2) Instead of giving immediate or priority admission to will-call ticket holders, you will be forced to wait in a humongous line. People ahead of you will be paying cash, and we make more money from that, so if you don't like it then you can leave. Thanks for buying your tickets in advance, it means nothing to us though.
david.sound
Didn't go to this because of Sasha last week. Still haven't recovered mentally. :/
dollaroff
I gotta run to work in a sec, but he played until 8:30amish.
Saw Groove Armada at the Music Box last night and really liked the remodel of the place.
KarenLuvs2Party
The whole point for most people getting willcall is for priority admission. Which there was none. Willcall line was the same as the regular paying/discount line. Where's the priority in that? And by the looks of the line when we got there... it was a zoo! If people would of known that were the case, it would have been better off just getting on the discount list. You would pay less admission AND get same priority as willcall people.
There was no mention of early pick up of willcall tickets so that excuse is a just a bust right there.
But again, I'm not surprised. For NYE, GiantHOTEL's "early will call pickup" didn't follow through. They opened up early pick up for a tiny bit and shut it down for a few hours to not reopen it until later in the night.
trance_seeker
One of the video clips I took that night. It was really dark and I had the wrong settings on the camera so the picture isn't that great :( but something is better than nothing :)
bigperf
i think what everyone is getting at here is that GIANT sucks.
Liquified,Avaland and Spundae can handle avalon just fine.
Looking forward to insomniac's event saturday with eddie halliwell.
