What happened with the Dudamel ticket giveaway?
The Los Angeles Philharmonic detailed Monday how all 17,400 Hollywood Bowl tickets for Gustavo Dudamel’s debut as music director were distributed, responding to complaints by some disappointed fans unable to secure the free tickets after waiting in line for hours Saturday.
Most admissions for the Oct. 3 “¡Bienvenido Gustavo!” became available at noon Saturday online and over the phone and to people who lined up at the Bowl, but they were snapped up in less than two hours.
The tickets went at a pace more common for concerts by pop stars, not classical musicians, and was a testament to the anticipation surrounding the arrival of the charismatic, youthful Dudamel. But it also meant that about 550 of the estimated 800 patrons who showed up at the Bowl, some of whom arrived early in the morning and waited for hours in the heat, went home empty-handed.
Dozens complained to The Times by e-mail or in comments to Culture Monster, frustrated that only 1,000 tickets were made available to those who showed up in person. Each patron was permitted four tickets and all were taken by the first 250 in line, Philharmonic officials reported.
"I thought, well, then we have a chance, there were 18,000 tickets and not that many people in line, not thousands,” said Mary Prange of Hollywood, who arrived at the Bowl at about 11:30 a.m. after her morning yoga class. “And I was also on my phone, checking with the Philharmonic and Ticketmaster ... it’s still so unreal that they wouldn’t have enough to accommodate the people in the line, so I just didn’t believe them.”
Others were concerned about promotions in which some tickets were distributed a few days before the Saturday giveaway by corporate sponsors of the Philharmonic, including Telemundo and Target.
Philharmonic officials, who said they received only 10 to 15 complaints about the ticket process, reported that about 12% of the tickets (2,088) were reserved for media, production staff and promotional partners of the Philharmonic. Phil chief operating officer Arvind Manocha added that an additional 20% (3,480) of the tickets were distributed by various media partners in promotions.
That left 10,832 tickets that were made available via Ticketmaster and phone sales; Manocha could not provide a breakdown as to which of those were purchased by phone or online. All numbers are approximate.
Manocha stressed that the pre-sale ticket process is standard, and in this case tickets were available to the general public, not VIPs.
But this didn’t quite satisfy Judith Krischer of Studio City, who stayed home Saturday to go online in hopes of snagging tickets because her 13-year-old son, Benjamin Greene, plays trumpet and is a Dudamel fan. “Why didn’t they handle this the same way they handled the Michael Jackson memorial, with a lottery?” she said.
As to the distribution through Telemundo, she said: “I understand them reaching out to a community that might not get to see Dudamel otherwise — I understand what they are trying to do and I applaud it, but they should have let us know. I wouldn’t have stayed home on a Saturday.”
The Oct. 3 concert includes performances by a variety of other artists, including student musicians, and Dudamel conducting the Philharmonic and members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. The free event is being promoted as a community celebration welcoming the celebrated 28-year-old Venezuelan to his post.
Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of the concert trade publication Pollstar, said it’s no surprise that dialing-for-Dudamel (or tapping computer keys) beginning at noon Saturday proved an exercise in futility for many. “For a high-profile Hollywood Bowl show, it’s possible to sell out in a matter of minutes,” he said.
Dudamel may not be a pop icon, Bongiovanni said, but “the fact that the Hollywood Bowl is making such a big deal out of it, and the fact that it’s free — I can see that spiking demand up to the level of a Paul McCartney concert at the Bowl.”
-- Diane Haithman and Mike Boehm
Photo: People line up for tickets for the Oct. 3 concert. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times
Related:
Dudamel ticket hopefuls find exhilaration, disappointment at Bowl
Something doesn't smell right about this. I was online trying to get tickets the second they became available and came up with nothing. I spent 15 minutes retrying...nada. I have a fast internet connection and could not fathom that all tickets would be snapped up before 12:01pm. Disappointing.
Posted by: SW | August 04, 2009 at 12:37 PM
i heard that "La Opinion" and a local Spanish language music station published a promotional code, "pasion" that could be used to order tickets via ticketmaster BEFORE they became available to the general public at noon on Aug 1st.
someone said they ordered tickets that way.
that may account for some of the tickets.
and, shortly after all the free tickets were distributed, hundreds, if not thousands of tickets became available for high prices from scalpers, and
that may account for many more of the tickets not available to be ordered.
Posted by: Marilyn | August 04, 2009 at 12:50 PM
What a fiasco--for all the good intentions, the majority of the "free" tickets are being sold on broker sites. What does that tell us about our society. Those who had not intended on attending are using them for self profit. We intended to go to support the many youth groups performing. We will not be going and supporting those avaricious individuals profiting for this event.
We are outraged and so were a bus load of us returning from Sunday evening's "Guys and Dolls" event. Tickets were being sold from $77 for sections V,W to Garden Seats for $999. This is OUTRAGEOUS. Hope no one supports these sellers.
Posted by: Alice | August 04, 2009 at 02:12 PM
Starting at noon, I tried phoning the LA Phil line and mostly got an "all circuits are busy" message. While continuing to phone that no., I used another phone to call ticketmaster and was put on hold. When I got an agent at about 12:22 pm, she told me that all tickets had been sold in the first ten minutes. Around 1 pm, my friend got through on the LA Phil website, but it allowed her to order only two tickets (nothwithstanding that the stated limited was 4).
This bungled promotion should give the LA Phil a big black eye. How stupid not to set this up as a lottery. And allowing children waiting in line with parents to be ticket purchasers, which happened at the Bowl - ridiculous. Shocked, I say, shocked that the tickets are now being sold by brokers. Shame on the LA Phil for creating so much ill will with a promotion that was supposed to engender the opposite.
Posted by: Donna | August 04, 2009 at 11:27 PM
Like "SW" I too was online at noon. I too tried 10-15 minutes to no avail. This was on the Ticketmaster site. I noticed a little blurb in the upper right-hand corner of the screen that advance "sales" had been available via Ticketmaster for a solid week, 7 days before. What gives w/ that? Poorly done!
Posted by: Hadley McGaughey | August 05, 2009 at 08:55 AM
where did all the tickets go? Who was able to presale and did Ticketmaster charge extra fees to do so? how do you presale FREE tickets? I had my entire family online at noon and got nothing.
Posted by: Lourdes Takeda | August 05, 2009 at 10:25 AM
This is not a free concert!!!!! Most of the tickets were SOLD by ticketmaster!
When no money or consideration is exchanged, it's free. When there is a fee, charge or whatever, it is a SALE.
Right now, I feel like I have morphed into a giant SUCKER.
I was #81 in line. I got there at 5AM. When I got to the boxoffice, I looked back at that line, and said, "I need only one ticket, these people have been standing here for hours." It goes without saying, had I known what would take place, I would have taken the 4 tickets and given the other 3 to some kid who digs Dudamel. It will be interested to see who occupies the seats next to me, and where they got their tickets.
This money-making scheme for ticketmaster is further proof that ticketmaster is an idea whose time has come and gone. When agents used to send someone to your home or office with the tickets and to pick up the money (on a Vespa, no less) that was ok--there was no web, no paypal, not even autodial phones.
But the times have changed You need to clue in the saps who dial the phone and click the net just what "routing "means. It is not first come, first serve. It is set up for those who know how to game the system.
the fat lady
Posted by: p. evanz | August 08, 2009 at 03:40 PM
Are there tickets for sale for this special day, as my 28-year-old daughter who listens primarily to Beyonce, Kanye, Avril and Mariah is pleading to go to this performance?
Thank you.
Posted by: mary williams | August 16, 2009 at 01:43 PM