Elton John ticketing system collapses

A snafu in the method the University used to sell Elton John tickets Wednesday caused hundreds of people lined up at four ticket outlets to walk away enraged and empty-handed while nearly all concert tickets went to online buyers.

The University had directed fans on Tuesday to line up for numbered wristbands that would ensure them a place in line when the approximately 7,000 tickets went on sale Wednesday at 10 a.m.

But when 10 a.m. rolled around, attendants at outlets at the University Center, Worden’s, Southgate Mall and the Adams Center found it almost impossible to get online to sell tickets.

“We couldn’t sell one ticket,” said Chris Niswanger from Worden’s.  “I guess the Internet sales jammed the system, which is really bizarre.”

The Source in the UC did not sell a single ticket either, and only a handful of people at Southgate Mall and the Adams Center got their hands on the prize.

Ninety-seven percent of the tickets were sold online, said Adrianne Donald, UC assistant director for communication and marketing, who was present at The Source yesterday morning.

“It’s so bad,” Donald said.  “They were not supposed to release all these tickets online.”

At the Adams Center, director Mary Muse announced over a megaphone at 10:40 a.m. that all tickets for the Sept. 28 concert had sold out. She made the same announcement minutes later at The Source, encountering a disbelieving and angry crowd after each announcement.

One woman bagged tickets at Southgate Mall, but was able to purchase only five of the maximum six allowed. None of the five seats were together.

In a press release earlier in the week, University GrizTix operators had advised fans to go to the Adams Center on Tuesday to get numbered wristbands “to ensure fair and orderly ticket purchases.” People had to choose from four wristband colors that determined which of the four ticket outlets they would attend Wednesday. They were warned not to remove the band or they would be ineligible for a chance at a ticket.

About 9:30 a.m. Wednesday the ticket sellers at each outlet drew a number of a wristband whose holder would be first in line. Those with numbers next in the sequence were asked to line up and wait for the 10 a.m. start time.

Instructions warned those who had secured bands that a wristband did not guarantee they would be successful in buying tickets. GrizTix officials said 1,500 bands would be available for the Adams Center and 500 for each of the other outlets.

However, the bands of colored plastic proved worthless for hundreds of incensed Missoula residents as the system crumbled.

Late Wednesday the University issued an apology “to our outlets and those that took time to stand in line.”

However, earlier in the day as the fallout was discussed across town, Bob Duringer, UM’s vice president for administration and finance, said the University didn’t do anything wrong.
In an interview, a Kaimin reporter asked Duringer: “There are a lot of people who are very upset … So I’m kind of wondering how the University plans on either making it right or ...”

Duringer told the reporter to turn off an audio recorder before he responded.

“For you to imply that we’re doing something wrong is just bullshit,” Duringer snapped.

But the empty-handed crowds were looking for someone to blame.

“That’s not right, somebody should be fired over this,” said Karen Ward after waiting in line for over an hour at the Adams Center.

Kristy Johnston’s actions spoke to the anger of many in the crowd as she tore the purple wristband from her wrist and dropped it to the ground.

So what went wrong?

Muse was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon, but earlier in the day explained it from her perspective.

Everyone was selling from the same inventory and no tickets were set aside for the individual ticket outlets, she told the Kaimin Wednesday morning in the Adams Center.

“It’s not that anything went wrong.  It’s that everyone is buying off the same inventory,” she said. “People who have bought online, some of them are experiencing greater success.”

But many questioned the planning that went into ticket sales. 

“I don’t think anyone realized that online ticket sales would go that fast,” Donald said.

The dominoes began to fall even before the ticket windows opened at the Adams Center. Just minutes before 10 a.m., an individual inside the ticket line barricades collapsed. Wristband holders called for medical aid and cleared a path for medical technicians from a waiting ambulance.

Nothing improved as the morning dragged on. Four minutes after ticket sales started, whispers of a sold-out concert began to filter through the crowd, generating rumblings of concern and more than a few choice phrases that persisted until the ticket pool was confirmed dry.

According to Donald, the atmosphere at The Source was one more of understanding than open hostility. Many in the line were angry and shouted at Muse after she made the announcement, but Donald said most understood that the outlet staff was not at fault.

“We weren’t in a very good situation ourselves, and we wanted to sell those tickets to people,” Donald said.

Montana State University Bozeman put Elton John tickets on sale Wednesday morning, too.

The system was slow as MSU servers worked overtime, but many standing in lines came away with tickets. “It went as smoothly as could be,” said Michelle Cook from MSU’s Sports Facilities Office.

MSU outsources its Web sales through TicketsWest, a ticketing service. 

UM distributes its tickets through GrizTix.  Muse and her staff at the Adams Center oversee the entire GrizTix system.

Promoters for the Rolling Stones concert last fall at Washington-Grizzly Stadium required UM to use Ticketmaster, Duringer said.

As of Wednesday night, three sets of Elton John tickets were available on eBay at prices ranging from $200 to more $500 dollars.

GrizTix prices for the concert were either $67 or $97.