Saturday, January 23, 2010

Hullaba--what the hell? SEATS?

So I happened to be board-browsing the eBays and noticed that there are a bunch of Hullabaloo tickets on sale. They seemed to be posted by the same seller, but the tickets were different prices. Why? I wondered.

BECAUSE THEY'RE FOR SEATS.

Oh please, please HullabaLOU organizers, please email me and let me know that you're not having a "festival" with seats. Where people sit down. On their butts. To watch a "festival." Your website doesn't offer any glimpse into this. But, friends, "seats" mean ONE stage. One stage means... uhhh... not a festival.

Please tell me that this is a scam artist selling fake tickets for fake seats that don't exist because the idea of SITTING IN AN ASSIGNED SEAT FOR A "FESTIVAL" is OFFICIALLY the Worst Idea Ever!! (I take it back, the NYT thing still is the WORST idea ever.)

UPDATE: For all you doubters out there, New Orleans Jazz Festival is held at the New Orleans Fair Grounds, which is owned by Churchill Downs. Churchill Downs is actually two acres BIGGER than the New Orleans Fair Grounds. And Jazzfest has 12 stages!

UPDATE II: Newsman extraordinaire, WFPL's Gabe Bullard, tells me that HullabaLOU will have 5 stages and 65 bands. So then what's with the seats? You have assigned seats for one main stage but can wander to the other 4? Gah, I hate it when I'm at a play or a sporting event or other seated thing and the people in the middle of the row keep getting up to get beer or pee or something. The other four stages don't appear on the map. And I still say that any "festival" that's encouraging butts-in-seats is encouraging a very laid-back (in a bad way) vibe. Maybe they'll put only "old folks" bands on this stage? For the boomers with knee problems? And mathwise: 65 bands, divided by 3 days, divided by 5 stages= approx 4 acts per stage. Is this a short festival? Are the bands doing 2 hr sets? How many people are truly psyched for 2 hrs of 38 Special? All this being said, I do feel better that there are five stages and not just one. 5 stages indeed a festival makes. But this seats thing may not be the WORST idea ever (that's the NYT going pay-per-view, in case you've forgotten), but it still seems like a might bad idea.

3 comments:

TK said...

My mom said assigned seating was why Richard Marx pulled out.

Tracey said...

I believe the only reserved seat is for the acts on the main stage. I could be wrong but this was my understanding of it.

M said...

Thanks Tracey, Gabe Bullard from WFPL clarified that for me, too. I've updated the blog to reflect that info. Still seems like a bad idea to me.