Do anyone remember the names of the executives he told us to call at Club Nokia?
I am trying to place a call on Monday to complain. My boy P said that if they fixed the sound there, he would play there for FREE, every night, but until then 3 million a night!!!!

I think it was Randy Michaels or Mitchell?

Randy Phillips

Make that call asap you heard what he said ... every night ... lets all call n write .. its a call writing frenzy .. someone get the man some sound up in here .. can u imagine ..
[Edited 3/30/09 10:51am]

fingertips said:

I am calling AND writing them today

Hey guys
I found a name and phone number of the AEG live website.
Here is the info I have. Make your voice heard.

I posted the wrong name, sorry guys.
Please use the one listed here for Randy Phillips
[Edited 3/31/09 15:47pm]

Prince mentioned Randy Phillips numerous times - this is the man you want to write to and call:


Randy Phillips
President/CEO
AEG LIVE Headquarters
5750 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 501
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 930-5700

http://www.aegworldwide.c...ct_us.html
[Edited 3/30/09 12:48pm]

Thanks for the contact info! Let's all get involved and support Prince by writing to the AEG execs!!!

mchotsie said:

Yes Thanks
I knew that it was Randy Phillips, but I was having a devil of a time trying to find direct info.
When I called AEG this morning they told me that Susan Bluthman was the person who was handling this, but I think it is as almost always better to go straight to the top.

I am sooo tiked off about the LACK of sound at the Nokia LA Live theatre this past Saturday! If you all are as ticked off as I was ( I just finished sending them a nasty email) Send your email to: guestservices@Nokiatheatrelalive.com
Don't sit on you behinds and wait for someone to do it! DO IT NOW!

here is a copy of the letter I sent AEG (please overlook the misspellings--I was really mad!):

OPEN LETTER TO AEG
First, I want to say that I was so impressed with your facilities at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live upon entering the plaza. My beloved boyfriend and I were so excited to buy tickets to the Prince concert on Saturday. We were excited to go to such a world renowned venue. We moved here about 2 years ago from Wisconsin and this was the first big concert we had been to in all the time we have been in LA. We are very careful about what we spend (especially in such hard economic times) and thought it was quite a deal to see Prince live at the Nokia. We were impressed with the building layout ( I really loved the fact that the ladies restrooms were located so close to the seating area) and that the place was so clean and the employees so polite ( I liked the uniforms too!) This part of the theatre was great...

On the other hand... to have such a beautiful theatre with wonderful seating ( We were up in the bacony--on top) and great sight lines and to have such a terrible---TERRIBLE sound system ( and a sound guy who does not listen to artist cues and a lighting guy who also is not aware of what the artist request..is UNFORGIVABLE!!!!) I have heard Prince in many different venues over the years and I can state--unequivecably-- that I have never heard him presented WORST than at your theatre.

There is no way to apoligize for the lack of professionalism that took place. i could hear Prince more than 3 times on each occasion ( even in the balcony) request for the sound man and lighting guy to respond to his request. What you don't know is that I have also been in Television and film for over 15 years--I know bad sound and lighting when I see it. Your sound in that theatre takes what is literally a jewel and turns it into fools gold. I feel you owe the artist and the fans their money back.. I couldn't even HEAR my favorite songs. For two people on your staff NOT to take more pride in what they do reflects on you. If you go to Prince.org where all his fans talk online--people are really mad at your company. Heck! It all over the Routers news service how bad your sound is. Not only was it bad for the Nokia--it was bad ALL NIGHT FOR ALL VENUES IN THE COMPLEX!!! WAKE UP people! Prince said even he came to an Alicia Keys concert there and he never heard a worst sound system.

I have NEVER bothered to write a company or even bother to look up your information to complain about a situation like this. I understand this is about money--but you will lose customers because of this major weakness. Time Warner is one of the largest fortune 500 companies in the world--but it is also #1 in customer service dissatisfaction. Lets hope you don't make that list. We come to your facility to HEAR good music--the music is good---but your sound system needs an overhaul. rip it out and start again. I am soooo disappointed--and your lack of response to the situation in public, DOES NOT FIX THE SITUATION and is severely lacking the spirit of customer service. READ the complaints--RECONIZE the problem--most importantly RESPOND!! Any PR person who tells you different is not worth their salt! You owe us all an apology at least. I personally want the money back for the tickets I bought.

I will personally post your email and address on the Prince.org website so you can hear from the fans directly!

lyric said:

Thanks
I will soon be sending off my letter to them as well.

Here's my letter that I'm mailing out today:



March 30, 2009


Randy Phillips
President/CEO
AEG LIVE Headquarters
5750 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 501
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Ref: 3/28/09 Prince Concerts
Nokia Theatre & Club Nokia

Dear Mr. Phillips:

My husband and I live in the area and were thrilled when we found out Prince was playing all three venues in one night at the LA Live complex. As longtime Prince fans, we knew we had to get tickets for all three shows as soon as possible. In the end, we were only able to acquire tickets for two of the three shows. Still, we were extremely excited for this night – not only to see Prince once again, but to experience his music in these new, state-of-the-art venues.

It wasn’t long into the first show that problems began to arise. Prince kept commenting on his monitors, his mic, the kick drum mic, the side fills, etc. Throughout the entire show, you could see shadows of the techs behind the Lotusflow3r backdrop running back and forth across the stage, in numerous unsuccessful attempts to get things up and running properly. Furthermore, Prince requested specific lighting to be turned on and/or off throughout the duration of show and most of those requests were not executed as well. After an hour and a half, the same problems still existed and Prince exited the stage soon thereafter.

At the final Club Nokia show, many of the exact same issues arose very soon after Prince took the stage. He seemed extremely frustrated, yet determined to put on the best show possible for his loyal fans. One can’t help but wonder how different and more energized these shows could have been if the persistent sound problems didn’t plague Prince and his bands the entire evening.

We’ve seen numerous Prince shows over the past twenty years. We have never seen him so completely consumed by sound issues. Luckily for us, he’s such an experienced and skilled performer, he was able to make the required adjustments and perform the best he could. If it were an amateur on stage, the show would have been a complete and utter disaster. I don’t know if the sound system itself needs an overhaul (this would be hard to imagine since the facility is so new) or if some techs/engineers need to be fired and individuals with REAL industry experience need to be brought on board. I do know that we have made a decision along with many other people in attendance on Saturday night. Any future shows at Nokia Theatre or Club Nokia will not be on my radar screen. I’ll save my money for venues that sound fantastic - there are plenty of those to choose from in LA.

This whole situation is really unfortunate because the entire LA Live complex is such a beautiful and much needed addition to the Downtown LA cityscape. I can only hope that these major issues will be resolved and that you or someone at AEG Live will publicly address Saturday night’s consistent failures.

Sincerely,


.....

mchotsie said:

poor man. i know, i know, he's like a billionaire probably and he should
fix the damn sound already.

but still, knowing what some of the people on here will write to this man.
even people who never went to the show but who hope prince will play there
for free and they may have a chance to go.

or just people who do everything prince says and consider it their duty to
write the most horrible nasty stuff to this guy.



poor poor man

IstenSzek said:

I agree - and writing nasty rude letters never gets anything accomplished. Of course, people who were not at these shows should not write ANY letters, but I'm sure it'll happen.

1st of all i wanna know whos sound it was that failed. Nokias system or our mans gear or both. im not to clear but if u ad stuff to my stereo and the whole thing fails arent i just as responsible as the other person? idk does this make sense.. thoughts here pls. Still it would be in Nokias interest to address this nightmare word of mouth being important i doubt theyd like the title of worst soundng venue in LA attached to them.
[Edited 3/30/09 20:59pm]

Let me just respond to the comment about rude comments.
I DO NOT think it is rude to fight for what you believe. The ultimate rudeness is to take my $77 ( plus the $20 it cost to park) and not be able to hear the artist I came to see. Prince put on a good show! It is just sad that I had to hear all kinds of buzzing and distortion THROUGHOUT the show. The opening of the show was delayed due to sound problems--I am sure there was a sound check earlier. I believe the show did not start until about 8pm. ALL DUE TO THE LEGENDARY SOUND PROBLEMS at the Nokia. (Theese problems were confirmed by staff at the venue) All I am asking is for the Nokia to respect my money and respect my time. That is not a lot to ask. For the Nokia NOT to respond by fixing the problem is the ultimate act rude behavior to us all.

lyric said:

Exactly

However, like someone said earlier. I think only the people that were at the show(s) should be writing in. Another thing that I wanted to mention is emails are fine, but I would ask you to follow up with a written letter as well. There are times when companies (and politicians for that matter) litterally count the letters before making the decisions. So please follow up with a letter. I thought the two that were posted in this forum were perfect. You can show people that you are serious about your position WITHOUT being abusive.

rosiesmonkeyhead said:

m boltzman didnt have any comment nor gave a damn ..His words were I have nothing to do with LA or what comes out of that venue . n hung up

fingertips said:

Yes, Randy Phillips is your man....Pres/CEO of AEG Live (LA Headquarters) Everyone should direct their letters to him.

For gawdsakes, people - spell check your letters before you send them.

Genesia said:

What the???

It's good to write letters, but make them professional and not 'net speak.

Also, be careful who you're calling out for causing or not responding to problems, i.e., 'sound guy', who from other reports was Prince's tech, not the club's. (don't know about the lighting guy.) But if a bunch of people start bitching about the sound guy messing stuff up, then management may just blame the probs on him instead (ignoring reports of previous problems at other shows, of course...).

If the sound system is subpar, there isn't much a tech can do, so I'd lean more towards talking about equipment than people.

mchotsie said:

I agree it's very important to make sure you write well if you want someone to really read your letter. If they see a bunch of typos & 'net lingo, they'll just 'file 13' it.

mchotsie said:

I didn't solely blame it on the techs....and I didn't use any "net speak" either.

mchotsie said:

Sorry, I guess it looked like I meant yours, but I meant the earlier post. I was also just saying that to folks who are planning on writing.

This email came today from Nokia.....
Thank you for contacting Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE! We would like to extend our sincerest apologies for your unpleasant experience in our venue. We understand that there were major concerns about the sound quality during the Prince concert, and assure you that the building had taken all the steps necessary to resolve the issue as quickly as possible during the performance. While it did take longer than we hoped, the sound problems did not involve our equipment and were fixed during the show. Unfortunately, because we had to prepare for three shows back-to-back-to-back at L.A. LIVE, we weren't given the chance to predict any sound issues prior to his performance. Once the show, and the problem, started, we had all hands on deck troubleshooting in between songs to correct it. Finally, after a four song medley, we were able to resolve the problem so that you could enjoy the rest of the show. Since the show, we have tested all of the equipment (both in-house and brought in by the artist), and met with our sound engineers and some JBL executives to discuss this issue and ways to catch and correct it expediently going forward. Again, we apologize for your poor experience and assure you that it is not indicative of what you should come to expect from events at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE. In order for us to give you the experience you deserve, we would like to invite you to return to one of the following upcoming shows at our expense: -The Rescue Me Comedy Tour featuring Denis Leary on April 4, 2009 -Avenged Sevenfold on April 16, 2009 -Robin Thicke & Jennifer Hudson on May 2, 2009 -Seal on May 6, 2009 -Styx & REO Speedwagon on May 22, 2009 -Joe Cocker on June 5, 2009 -Yanni "Voices" on June 23, 2009 -Freestyle L.A. Volume II on June 26, 2009 -Maze featuring Frankie Beverly on August 7, 2009 Please let me know which of these shows you are interested in attending and I will make the appropriate arrangements. I appreciate you voicing your concerns, and holding us accountable for a response. As a paying customer, I wouldn't expect anything less from a world-class venue. The entire Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE team looks forward to hosting you, and showing you the great guest experience we are known for. .

I called the Nokia rep whos office sent the em and spoke to him directly.I asked if I may just have the cost of the ticket refunded which was $78. He was polite when he could not have been on the phone. Will see if the 78 gets back to me.
[Edited 4/2/09 15:51pm]

Very Nice
Seeing Thicke and Jennifer Hudson is not the same as P though. Are you going to take them up on their offer?

fingertips said:

That's pretty cool that they responded that way.

"Maze featuring Frankie Beverly on August 7, 2009" heh...wonder if Prince will drop in at that show?

Serena said:

Nahh, he'll be in Europe by then ....