One of the PeePees said:



Okay, that's all well and good, but does anybody else think that the most reasonable thing to do would be to give people priority based on date of joining? Why else do they have those goddamn things on our profile, saying when we joined?

Does the NPGMC think it's fair that someone who forked out $100 back in February of 2001 when, frankly, nobody could give a shit about Prince except for those of us who paid $100 in a trusting gesture and because MAN we needed the funk...does the club think it's fair for a member like that to be 5 rows back from someone who joined last week because they saw an ad for it in the paper?

That would be SO unfair. Sure, the girl 5 rows back might still have great seats...but why in the fuck wouldn't the club have taken a few minutes to make sure that she was rewarded for her 4 years of loyalty to this club, and before that to supporting the Crystal Ball experiment and a million other things. They've made the concert perks a HUGE benefit, which it is, I agree...but if it's truly random then I think they've made it clearer than ever that they don't give a fuck.

I don't know how I feel about the whole seniority-priority thing. I mean, I hear the argument and all, but...well...I don't know how I feel about it. I'm kind of interested in seeing how this whole "luck of the draw" thing carries through. And anyway, no matter where I sit in the member seats, it's gonna be better than anything I've ever had at a Prince show, so I'm excited with whatever I get.

So the longer you have been a fan the better seat you should have ?

Selfish elitism.

Me me me.

WayneyK said:

And I hear this argument too, really I do. I know people who have been deep into Prince for years, who don't even KNOW about the club. Does that mean they shouldn't have a chance to get good seats because they got hipped to the whole presale thing via a recent TV commercial?

No, they'll have great seats, like you said...they're not gonna have bad seats. But should the front row seats be given to the people who were so addicted to Prince music for so long that they paid $100 for an unknown number of unknown mp3s back in 2001 when these same hypothetical people were making $10 an hour?

I dunno. It seems lazy of the club otherwise. In order for the concert perk to mean ANYthing to someone who joined in the beginning of 2003 (unless they live in Hawaii or Australia) then they should be given the absolute closest seats...or at the very least made sure that they're not gonna end up in the back of the members section, behind people who don't even know that he doesn't curse anymore.

I'm sorry I'm coming off as elitist to you. That's honestly not how I think about it...random just seems stupid. If you bought your tickets at Ticketmaster, and then after the show sold out they told you that when you got to the arena you'd be given a random assigned seat...and you had made arrangements to wait in the Ticketmaster line and buy them right when they went on sale....wouldn't you be miffed if you weren't in some amazing seats?

I've only seen him twice, mind you. Maybe I was spoiled by ONA. That was so damn amazing.

Well I have been a member since day one but when it came to renewals I had difficulty finding a straightforward renew option and have had different names for the 3 years. If the club look at my current record it won't show that I've been a member since day one.

I know there are others that also have this situation, should we be punished with worse seats?

I also don't think that I should get a better seat just because I have been a day one member. It also annoyed me that at the ONA shows the seating was determined by how early you could wake up. I would much rather have allocated seating and be able to arrive at the venue at my leisure.

theblueangel said:

Amen, I agree wholeheartedly. Why can't he sale VIP tix to the members who's been with him since the club started? Don't we deserve the very best seats?

I am a new member, but have been a long term fan. The first 45 record i ever bought with my own money was....I wanna be your lover! But I do agree with seniority seating. But I guess I was one of the few that could not afford $100 membership fee. Of course I am glad to be a member now! But I can understand your concern. But I guess I am not really worried about my seating cause I am in Nashville and not a huge major city. I will just be glad to be there with npgmc members.

SummerRain said:

SummerRain said:

You guys must have some serious ulcers.

WayneyK said:

No, not the longer you've been a fan...but the longer you've been paying a yearly membership fee the better seat you should have?

Selfish elitism? Please, that's kneejerk bullshit.

TheEnglishGent said:

No...that's something that the club should have thought about a long time ago, and if they haven't, they should start now.

But because you and others are in your situation, do you think everyone else should be "punished" who have kept the same user name for 3 years and always renewed right away?

TheEnglishGent said:

Um, okay I'm somewhat confused about your stance. I agree that it sucked at ONA that it was general admission. Stupid way to handle it. Lazy.

So you think it's most fair for everyone who was able to buy a member ticket, no matter when they bought it or whether they just joined the NPGMC that day or a year ago or 3 years ago...despite all those variables, you think it should just be 100% random where your assigned seat is?

wyld1 said:

I should thank you for your concern, but instead I'll just tell you to shut your rancid mouth hole.

I personally find people who never have anything to add to any discussion other than a few incredibly imbecilic comments here and there to be useless. But that's just me.

I agree with the fact that it should probably be by seniority because I have been telling everyone just to join the club because the membership costs are about equal to ticketmaster fees and they will get better seats.

WayneyK said:

So the longer you have worked someplace the more money you make? You mean you don't think new employees should make the same amount of money as you make if you have been there for a few years?

theblueangel said:

I'm pleased they're assigned seating idea, as I don't have to put up with the self-important idiots like the ones at the ONA shows in London anymore. So I hope he does this when he announces the European dates.

But, I am resigned to the fact that when he does announce UK dates it's going to be much harder to get the priority seating this time round as more people will join when he announces European dates and, as a lot of the European fan-base come to the London gigs, the priority tickets will sell out much faster this time around.

In the days of Controversy magazine, I seem to remember them assigning priority tickets based on membership number. The longer you were a member the better the tickets. It's the only way I can think of of assigning the tickets fairly, but that assumes that you actually mananged to get onto the site in the first place before all the scalpers and "new fans" bought up the tickets.

theblueangel said:

I really am not that bothered at all. Even if I had managed to keep the same user name, I still am not bothered if that entitles me to better seats. I am definately in favour of randomly allocated seating, or seating based on the purchase time of tickets. I certainly wouldn't stress about it, all the MPGMC tickets will offer a great view and be better that the public ones. The only thing that would piss me off is if seating was based on membership time and mine was not recognised as a day one membership.

Another thing that would piss me off if he encourages all the public members to move to the front as he did at one of the London ONA gigs. Non music club members in the aisles in front of club members was pretty poor.

Rico said:

Then we agree totally - that's the only way to assign the tickets fairly.

WayneyK said:

I feel you. If their "logic" carried weight, then only folks who were fans before "Purple Rain" should have first dibs anyway, right? So this whole debate is fruitless. But I will say this, when I get to the arena the day of the show, I don't care how long you have been in the club, you better not be in the seat my ticket assigns to me or there's gonna be a real situation and trust me, it won't be a debate!
[This message was edited Mon Mar 29 7:31:30 2004 by SexyBeautifulOne]

SexyBeautifulOne said:

OOOOOHH, grrrrrl, you betta SNAP yo claws fo THAT one.

How do you (logically) go from the suggestion that member tickets are assigned according to membership, with the longest members being given priority...to "only folks who were fans before 'Purple Rain' should have dibs anyway, right?" That's rubbish, and certainly no logic is involved in that "deduction."

I don't know anything about you, SexyB.O., so I'm not talking about you specifically here...but if you always kinda liked Prince in the 80s, bought Emancipation and promptly sold it back to the store, considered buying Rave but didn't like the cover, and you saw the Grammys and have been looking for a good concert to go to this summer....and you read in the paper that you get priority seats for $25, and someone tells you that it's actually a lot cheaper than that because you don't have to pay TicketMaster charges....

...if this hypothetical person buys tickets through the Club sale, then great! I hope they have great seats and realize what they've been missing all these years. But if they're NOT going by the time the tickets were bought (which is standard) then why in the WORLD would it be fair to make it completely random? Do I feel like someone who has paid $225 in membership dues over the last 3 years should have priority seating over that kind of casual fan?

Fuck yeah, I do. Why's that so damn hard to understand? Like I said before, it's quite all right to do the seating according to when the tickets are bought. I rearranged my schedule to make sure I was in front of a fast computer with a speedy internet connection exactly when they started (and then clicked in frustration for a half hour until they actually went on sale, hehe). So that would be a totally fair way too.

But if Mrs. "Wow Prince was cool on the Grammys, I thought he was dead" bought tickets in the last 5 minutes of the presale AND just joined yesterday for tickets (and will never log into the club again)...if that person gets seated ahead of me, then the NPGMC will have my wrath to deal with!!! Heh.

Oh, and I don't take other people's seats.

theblueangel said:

Actually, that would piss me off too.

That won't work


I was a member the first year. I paid my $100. The second year, I fell to hard times and just couldn't afford to join. I had to make a choice. Now that I've joined this year, people will automatically ASSUME that I'm a new member, which isn't the case. Date of joining the club can be deceiving.

How long do you want to get benefits from a measley $100? That fee has nothing to do with this year. They never promised any priority seating for the next 3 years with that $100. The free aftershows and NPGMC section at the gigs on that tour was what that $100 covered. There is no correlation between tenure and seating - its ridiculous. I have been a member from day one and a fan from day one of Prince's career. I have been there for all of the Prince trip and I dont feel obligated to get a better seat on that basis.

Priority seats should go to the highest bidder just like everything else in this country. You want to fly first class, you cough up the extra bucks. Simple as that in a free economy.

newwave said:

Now there's a plan, have NPGMC auction the best tickets. How much do you think the maddest fams would bid for front row centre?

TheEnglishGent said:

Ditto here. I had the same user name the first two years, but couldn't get it to renew this year so had to create a new one.

But then, I don't get my panties in a wad over the difference between first row and 10th. I'm not going to sweat it. I'll still take this over ticketmaster or camping out. Maybe that means I'll never touch his hand or dance on stage, but I'll live.

I've been a member since day one and a fan since DM. The current system for ticket distribution is alright by me.....it's the fairest way to allow seating.

my 2cent.....

Been a member or fan longer than someone else.....BIG DEAL

Got time to camp out all day(s) for a 3 hour show.....get a life and/or a job

I ordered before you because I have broadband and you don't.....get over yourself


being a member and getting out of the nosebleeds for a change is something to be grateful for, must now people whine about not getting 1st row????

get some perspective in life please.....