Let me start this post by saying that the U2 concert Sunday was fantastic, and a 95% positive experience. Today's post is about the 5% that was not positive. It will be the last I speak of these things (with the possible exception of repeating them in a letter to Rose Bowl events staff). After venting here I will wipe these negatives from my mind and remember only the great music, and message that was presented. So here comes the venting...
Whoever designed the seating sections at the Rose bowl obviously expected the people acting as ushers to have an IQ. Those at Sunday's concert failed this test. When I came in to my section (section 21), I approached the Yellow Shirt dude who was the usher for that section. He looked at the ticket and pointed me up and to my right, which actually coincided with what the sign on the wall of the section said. I found the proper row, and after the girl in the row behind me showed me where to look for a seat number, I found seat 15. I sat there as the black-eyed Peas sang. As the black eyed peas finished, I was tapped by one of the other Yellow Shirt dudes. He told me I was in a another man's seat. I tried to explain that I was in the right seat, and the other Yellow shirt Dude had showed me how to find it. he insisted I was in the wrong seat and had to follow him out, and he would show me to the right seat. When we got to the aisle he started to point me to section 20. I showed him my ticket and said I was in section 21. At this point he said, "well I don't know where your seat is, but you can sit here if you want, pointing to the front row of the section. After a quick look I realized these seats were represented by the people in te row of wheel chairs at the rail, and if I were to sit there, the wheel chaired fans would be blocking my view.
At this point I proceeded to find another Yellow shirt Dude, who looked at my ticket, and pointed my to the left, I said "Why did the first guy send me right then?" He responded with , "I don't have time to help you find your seat, I need to help the other people." I was not sure what other people he meant. Probably it was the crowds of people who knew where there seats were who were going to the restroom like I should have been during the intermission. I wanted to scream, "Don't you know it's My Birthday!!" I wanted to volunteer to go stand in the (red) Zone if they couldn't find my seat. I finally gave up on the Yellow Shirt dudes, and found a blue jacket guy who had on a radio with a headset (usually a sign of leadership, if not intelligence). I should him my ticket, and he began to show me to my seat. Amazingly enough he took me straight back to where I had been and removed the other gentleman from the seat, explaining to him that seat 15 (my seat was the end of section 21 and seat 115( the seat next to me) was the beginning of section 20. It is beyond me why the two section merge in one row, and how 115 can ever follow 15. this goes back to those great minds who designed the seating...(i am going to try to post a seating chart wit this blog). So after wasting 25 minutes of the intermission (prime bathroom time) I found myself enjoying the concert in the seat I started in. Was this whole fiasco warranted? No! Could it have been avoided with a little more training/intelligence on the part of the Yellow Shirt dudes ? Probably.
Okay, enough on that. One final negative on the concert. The parking/unparking was a nightmare. I parked in remote parking and shuttled in. Nice and relaxing, no nightmare of getting near the arena. Trouble was, everyone who parked there and shuttled in throughout the day all wanted to go back at the same time. So after the concert got out around 11:20, it took till 12:35 to get on the shuttle, then till 12:55 to get to remote parking past all the pedestrian traffic. Then another 20 to 25 minutes to g
et out of parking garage... I have no solution for this problem, but there must be a better way.
But enough GOM (Grumpy Old Man) talk In my next post I'll tell you everything I Loved about the concert. Thanks for letting me vent!!
Whoever designed the seating sections at the Rose bowl obviously expected the people acting as ushers to have an IQ. Those at Sunday's concert failed this test. When I came in to my section (section 21), I approached the Yellow Shirt dude who was the usher for that section. He looked at the ticket and pointed me up and to my right, which actually coincided with what the sign on the wall of the section said. I found the proper row, and after the girl in the row behind me showed me where to look for a seat number, I found seat 15. I sat there as the black-eyed Peas sang. As the black eyed peas finished, I was tapped by one of the other Yellow Shirt dudes. He told me I was in a another man's seat. I tried to explain that I was in the right seat, and the other Yellow shirt Dude had showed me how to find it. he insisted I was in the wrong seat and had to follow him out, and he would show me to the right seat. When we got to the aisle he started to point me to section 20. I showed him my ticket and said I was in section 21. At this point he said, "well I don't know where your seat is, but you can sit here if you want, pointing to the front row of the section. After a quick look I realized these seats were represented by the people in te row of wheel chairs at the rail, and if I were to sit there, the wheel chaired fans would be blocking my view.
At this point I proceeded to find another Yellow shirt Dude, who looked at my ticket, and pointed my to the left, I said "Why did the first guy send me right then?" He responded with , "I don't have time to help you find your seat, I need to help the other people." I was not sure what other people he meant. Probably it was the crowds of people who knew where there seats were who were going to the restroom like I should have been during the intermission. I wanted to scream, "Don't you know it's My Birthday!!" I wanted to volunteer to go stand in the (red) Zone if they couldn't find my seat. I finally gave up on the Yellow Shirt dudes, and found a blue jacket guy who had on a radio with a headset (usually a sign of leadership, if not intelligence). I should him my ticket, and he began to show me to my seat. Amazingly enough he took me straight back to where I had been and removed the other gentleman from the seat, explaining to him that seat 15 (my seat was the end of section 21 and seat 115( the seat next to me) was the beginning of section 20. It is beyond me why the two section merge in one row, and how 115 can ever follow 15. this goes back to those great minds who designed the seating...(i am going to try to post a seating chart wit this blog). So after wasting 25 minutes of the intermission (prime bathroom time) I found myself enjoying the concert in the seat I started in. Was this whole fiasco warranted? No! Could it have been avoided with a little more training/intelligence on the part of the Yellow Shirt dudes ? Probably.
Okay, enough on that. One final negative on the concert. The parking/unparking was a nightmare. I parked in remote parking and shuttled in. Nice and relaxing, no nightmare of getting near the arena. Trouble was, everyone who parked there and shuttled in throughout the day all wanted to go back at the same time. So after the concert got out around 11:20, it took till 12:35 to get on the shuttle, then till 12:55 to get to remote parking past all the pedestrian traffic. Then another 20 to 25 minutes to g
et out of parking garage... I have no solution for this problem, but there must be a better way.But enough GOM (Grumpy Old Man) talk In my next post I'll tell you everything I Loved about the concert. Thanks for letting me vent!!
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