[mikethegoalie32]

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This is whats driving me nuts about the whole situation... since nothing is being done with all other paths, lets blame the band! ARGHHH

[NWOntario]

He's not wrong in the sense that the band (or at least its management) could've done a better job of organizing the presale, if nothing else.

But to blame the timing of them announcing Gord's illness is really, really shitty.

[HandsInTheRiver41]

There is a lot of sad truth to this article. I have expressed some frustration with how management dealt with the whole announcement. I personally believe a lot of headache could have been saved had management announced the tour and let the fan pre-sale occur prior to announcing Gord's health issue (and yes, the band management played a huge part in timing this announcement). This order of events would have ensured that those who attend concerts regardless of the situation (ie HipBasers) would still have relatively easy access to tickets, then the scalper market wouldn't have exploded until after the health announcement.

Obviously none of this matters now, but I have to agree with the article that management played a part in this as well. I'm not letting this get to me though, instead I'll be staying positive by reflecting on all the great memories I've had with this band and the shows I anticipate this summer. Summer on.

[Jbourgeois]

I never thought about it that way, but soooooo true. If the enouncement on Gord Downie's health had come AFTER the ticket on-sale the real fans would have had tickets like usual... then after the announcement everyone else and scalpers would have to pick through whatever was left. Regardless, they chose to do it this way and it is what it is. I'm greatful for this tour like everyone else. I'd say it means more to us than other fans so its a shame not everyone on here will get to see them one last time.

[boot]

I think the simple fact is here, no one anticipated the demand for these tickets. Sure, the scalpers are profiting hugely, but as many people pointed out, it's not like this doesn't happen with other bands. Could things have been done differently? Sure, hindsight is always 20/20.

I think the announcments, the way that they came out, were truly good intentioned. "Hey, here's some incredibly bad news, but guess, what, you get to see us tour again!". Bad news first, tempered with some positivity. I get it.

[Dire Wolf]

fact...no one anticipated the demand for these tickets.

Really? I certainly did. That's why I focused on Ottawa (via Capital Tickets). An 11 date farewell tour in Canada...the scalper bots were licking their chops.

[edgoffin]

I also think the media coverage on the pre-sale fueled it further. The pre-sale should/could have been done for fan club members based on some sort of cutoff date. Then there was lots of confusion about what was sold out after the pre-sale in the press, which then further ramped up demand for the general sale. I know lots of people who have had minimal interest in the band for decades that suddenly needed tickets.

Timing of the announcement, like above I read it as a "bad news, goods news" situation. As a long-time fan,I am grateful to know this may be the end. I've treated the last few tours as though they may be the last, and would have been going to the same shows regardless of the situation, but now I know to cherish these a bit more. I think it would have looked worse to do the pre-sale, then announce Gord is ill as it could be seen as using the illness to bolster sales. This way, it was all on the table.

Also sucks that true fans could not get tickets, but I'm not sure if the number of tickets in the resale market is as high as the media coverage has warranted. I've looked on stub hub a few times, and it's not as many as had expected. Now my conspiracy theory side, there are a number of secondary market tickets in other places and I'm thinking these are because people have moved away from stub hub to avoid the negative connotation. And now to talk out of both sides of my mouth, I know a grand total of about 10 people with tickets for Ottawa. So either people are keeping quite about getting tickets, or there will be a trickle of them hitting the secondary market over the coming weeks.

Finally, I am starting to come to the realization this may be the end. There were open dates in the west, which they quickly filled after the pre-sale, plus adding the one extra TO show. During the general sale would have been the perfect time to announce more dates to combat scalpers and placate the media and social media. Silence on that front makes me think Kingston truly is the end.

[edgoffin]

fact...no one anticipated the demand for these tickets.

Really? I certainly did. That's why I focused on Ottawa (via Capital Tickets). An 11 date farewell tour in Canada...the scalper bots were licking their chops.

When I was getting emails from friends on the Sunday night who know I go to a lot of shows and get good seats, and wanted to know how, I started to really clue in that this was going to be a hard ticket to get.

[direwolf74]

I think the simple fact is here, no one anticipated the demand for these tickets. Sure, the scalpers are profiting hugely, but as many people pointed out, it's not like this doesn't happen with other bands. Could things have been done differently? Sure, hindsight is always 20/20.

I think the announcments, the way that they came out, were truly good intentioned. "Hey, here's some incredibly bad news, but guess, what, you get to see us tour again!". Bad news first, tempered with some positivity. I get it.

I think that's exactly what they were going for with the initial announcement. I think they wanted the fans to know that this could potentially be the last tour. And they wanted us to know that Gord wasn't going down without a fight. That he would be soldiering on, doing what he does best despite his current condition. The timing of the announcement made sense, and obviously their intentions were good. Could they have predicted the level of greed and douchebaggery that we've seen from Stubhub and the like? Maybe. But there's nothing they can do about it now. What's done is done, and the tour will go on regardless.

However, I do agree that if they had announced the tour first, it would have been relatively easy for everyone to get tickets, and the scalpers wouldn't have cared much about the tour at all. Let's be honest. Before the world knew about Gord's illness, the Hip weren't exactly on anyone's radar anymore in terms of mass popularity, and the majority of casual fans had probably forgotten about them entirely. When NFPA came out 4 years ago, I remember I had a couple of friends who said to me, "holy shit, those guys are still around? I had no idea!" But since the announcement about Gord, it's all anyone is talking about, including those friends of mine who stopped listening to the band 10 years ago. The entire country suddenly has Hip fever on a level we haven't seen since the late 90s. Their albums have climbed back into the charts, and their upcoming shows have turned into the hottest, most in-demand concert tour in Canadian rock history. Sadly, you could just hear the scalpers salivating as soon as the news hit. I'm very surprised, and a little disappointed, that the band hasn't made an official statement about all of this. But I'm not gonna complain, as I was one of the lucky ones who managed to snag tickets for face value. I'm just excited about the tour and I know it will be a beautiful celebration of Gord and this brilliant band. Onwards and upwards!

[bobrockruinedthehip]

http://business.financialpost.com/fp-com...-but-didnt

This is whats driving me nuts about the whole situation... since nothing is being done with all other paths, lets blame the band! ARGHHH

This article asks fair questions of the band and management. This band has been around a long time. They know the score. As such, they could have prevented the scalping 10 different ways if their number one intention was to put face value tickets in the hands of ardent fans. They chose not to. There is no better evidence of this then allowing the sale of platinum tickets. The band wanted to assure shows sold out, while still giving fans a shot at face value tickets. There is no doubt in my mind their compensation factored into the structure of these sales. Am I mad about it. No. The band has earned the right to structure the sale of their shows however they choose. They deserve to make as much money as they can. They owe me nothing more than the chance they gave me through three different presales and a general sale.

[Srb718]

To play devil's advocate, if the band didn't make the announcement prior to the pre-sale, there would have been plenty of die-hard Hip fans who wouldn't haven't tried to get tickets to this tour, primarily based on location. Personally, without the announcement, I would have seen the tour dates and waited for the 2nd leg of the tour, expecting additional dates closer to where I live (US shows). I'm guessing a number of other people would have had a similar thought. If they held the pre-sale, made the announcement, then had the general sale, it would have caused similar issues, then die-hard fans would be upset because they would have tried for the pre-sale if they knew this was the last tour.

[colin]

To play devil's advocate, if the band didn't make the announcement prior to the pre-sale, there would have been plenty of die-hard Hip fans who wouldn't haven't tried to get tickets to this tour, primarily based on location. Personally, without the announcement, I would have seen the tour dates and waited for the 2nd leg of the tour, expecting additional dates closer to where I live (US shows). I'm guessing a number of other people would have had a similar thought. If they held the pre-sale, made the announcement, then had the general sale, it would have caused similar issues, then die-hard fans would be upset because they would have tried for the pre-sale if they knew this was the last tour.

I have to agree entirely. We are a fickle bunch. Imagine the Hip announcing their Man Machine Poem tour without knowing that Gord had cancer and finding out that the tickets are $166 each for lower level. I can only imagine the griping and complaining that would have been going on in this forum. "I am not paying $166 to hear Gord yell his way through another concert in a hockey rink no less. They should do smaller shows. Etc." Then when they announced that Gord had cancer, we would have been upset that we didn't know sooner so that we could have bought the good tickets to the show. It eats me up how everything went down but the "what if" game is pointless in my opinion.

[bobrockruinedthehip]

To play devil's advocate, if the band didn't make the announcement prior to the pre-sale, there would have been plenty of die-hard Hip fans who wouldn't haven't tried to get tickets to this tour, primarily based on location. Personally, without the announcement, I would have seen the tour dates and waited for the 2nd leg of the tour, expecting additional dates closer to where I live (US shows). I'm guessing a number of other people would have had a similar thought. If they held the pre-sale, made the announcement, then had the general sale, it would have caused similar issues, then die-hard fans would be upset because they would have tried for the pre-sale if they knew this was the last tour.

I have to agree entirely. We are a fickle bunch. Imagine the Hip announcing their Man Machine Poem tour without knowing that Gord had cancer and finding out that the tickets are $166 each for lower level. I can only imagine the griping and complaining that would have been going on in this forum. "I am not paying $166 to hear Gord yell his way through another concert in a hockey rink no less. They should do smaller shows. Etc." Then when they announced that Gord had cancer, we would have been upset that we didn't know sooner so that we could have bought the good tickets to the show. It eats me up how everything went down but the "what if" game is pointless in my opinion.

This is exactly right. At this point in their career, the Hip are not selling out 25,000 plus tickets in Vancouver, at those prices, without the announcement. They wanted to assure they made the maximum amount of money. They structured the sale to assure this happened. Good for them. They deserve every bit of it.

[NWOntario]

I'm willing to call the band and its management out for a lot of things, but the timing of the announcement regarding Gord's illness is not one of them. I'm sure they agonized over when and how to divulge it to us; they'd been sitting on it for almost half-a-year. Gord isn't just their lead singer and the one who drives their surest source of income: he's their best friend, and the other band members and the band's entire circle's now dealing with the fact that he'll almost certainly be gone within the next 2-3 years. The fact that we're debating whether or not they should've waited to make that announcement so we'd have had an easier time getting tickets doesn't sit well with me.

For the record, and as per usual, I agree with direwolf74: the band timed the announcement so that we could make a special point of being at the shows. Obviously the ticket situation's thwarted some of us in that regard, but to me it seems clear they very deliberately sat on this news and waited to announce it till they were ready to announce the tour. Hell, they even waited till the day after the long weekend so as not to ruin it for us

[carebread]

Hell, they even waited till the day after the long weekend so as not to ruin it for us

I seriously think they did this on purpose, haha.