Tag Archives: Jon Bon Jovi

Music, Stupidity, Treating Fans Like Shit

Sambora to Bon Jovi – Hire The Edge

It took the comment, “he’s been through it before,” from the lips of Jon Bon Jovi to finally break the silence from Richie Sambora.

I took that comment to mean that Sambora is going through alcohol issues again.

Sambora then didn’t see the next big right hook coming his way, when Jon Bon Jovi stated that if Sambora was like The Edge he would be harder to replace, however since he is not The Edge, he is replaceable.

That comment would piss me off as well. It sure pissed Sambora off. He sent Jon Bon Jovi an email saying, “Hire the Edge,”.

Sambora has gone on record stating that he wants to return, however he still hasn’t. I wonder why.

Jon Bon Jovi needs a reality check. Its not always about the money in music. Music is about the camaraderie. It is about people from different walks of life coming together as one.

From reading all the news on the Internet, I am getting the impression that Jon Bon Jovi is just focused on himself. Hell, the fan club is in his name. He has isolated himself. In time, the fans will isolate him.

I always saw Bon Jovi as a band. A lot of other fans see it the same way. It looks like Jon Bon Jovi sees it differently.

If the Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora partnership truly ends, it is a damn shame that it had to be after the release of the worst Bon Jovi album ever.

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Music, Piracy, Stupidity

Richie Sambora Finally Speaks and Bye Bye, What About Now?

Let’s scream piracy.  Let’s scream tougher laws.

The PR machine from the RIAA and Bon Jovi will be saying that this album didn’t sell as much as it should have, because people downloaded it for free.  What a load of B.S?

The album is a DUD.  It is a bunch of 50-year-old men, trying to appeal to a teen market.  The teens that like Bon Jovi, like Bon Jovi because of the classic songs they have written, not because they try to sound like One Direction.

What About Now is sitting at 197 on the Billboard Chart.  The album has done its run.  Bon Jovi (the band) spent over 5 months recording and writing this album, only to have it do a run of 10 weeks.

Richie left for “personal reasons” according to Jon.  Now Jon Bon Jovi doesn’t want to talk about it anymore.   Then Jon drums up some publicity (as the album surely isn’t) by calling Justin Beiber an asshole.  Richie then finally speaks out about his departure.  He is pissed that Jon is talking trash and making it hard for him to return.

On the other hand, the Because We Can World Tour, is still continuing with shows booked all the way into 2014.

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Music

Bon Jovi – What is going on with Richie Sambora, plus ticket sales

First the ticket sales.  I have posted numerous articles on the Bon Jovi pre-sales for the Australian tour, here and here and here and here and here and here and here.

Again i went online via Showbiz and i can still purchase 4 platinum tickets to all the Bon Jovi shows in Australia, even the first Melbourne show, that is supposed to be sold out.

Ticketek still has tickets up for sale for the Sydney shows.  I can purchase single or double tickets in Platinum, however if i want 4 in a row, only Gold seats are available.  This is what happens when you come back time and time again with the same high prices.  Bon Jovi will sell out again, however next time they tour, it will be harder.  Just look at the Rolling Stones.  Tickets for their U.S shows are selling slow at $650 a piece, so a week before the show they are down to $85.

Speaking of the Stones, in the Mirror UK article Jon Bon Jovi mentions the following about Mick Jagger;

“I watched a DVD of him (Jagger) in my dressing room and I used it as inspiration, he is my inspiration. The Stones, that’s the bar. They still play great, sing great, they are sloppy as f*** but that is half the fun.”

Is Jon serious?  He obviously hasn’t seen this piece of disaster promotion.  It is totally laughable, and what is even funnier is that the official Rolling Stones channel put it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLRD1R8GNgY

The article in the Mirror also talks about Richie Sambora.  Jon says:

“We were all in Calgary, Richie was going to turn up on show day but we went the night before because it’s a long flight.”

“At 3.30pm on show day the phone rang and it was Paul the manager and he said guess what, and he didn’t even have to finish the sentence. I said, you’re kidding. We went on that night. I haven’t seen Richie since.

“Love him, spoken to him once. I talked to him once, once in six weeks and 18 shows. He’s not fired, we didn’t have a fight, it certainly isn’t about money.

“We go back 30 years. He can return when he is ready to die every night the way I walk on the stage. It’s different without Richie. No one’s mad, no one’s sad. But fortunately because we had been through it before we performed that night. We couldn’t let down the fans.”

I believe that goes to show how far the relationship has deteriorated.  One conversation in six weeks.

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Music

Bon Jovi struggling to sell tickets

It looks like the wheels are falling off. This is what happens when you go back to the same markets over and over again, with super high ticket prices. I just went onto Showbiz today and I could still purchase 4 Platinum Tickets for the Bon Jovi Australian Shows in December. This was unthinkable, once upon a time.

A lot of Bon Jovi fans got burnt at the Telstra Pre sale debacle. Bon Jovi’s Facebook page, the Bang Tango Facebook page and the Dainty Touring page had over 2,500 combined comments from disgruntled fans. Think about those numbers for a second. If all those fans purchased 4 tickets each, that is 10,000 ticket sales.

A lot of people are now waiting for the General Public Release via Ticketek on the May 20, 2013.

A lot of people don’t even know that the Showbiz pre-sale. It’s not even advertised on the Bon Jovi Facebook page, however the Telstra pre sale was.

Furthermore, Bon Jovi can’t even sell out a hometown gig. Tickets to the U.S. New Jersey shows are up on Goldstar, https://www.goldstar.com/e/69879 as inventory that no one wants.

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Music, Treating Fans Like Shit

Why Bon Jovi will sell out?

Another lot of pre sales are up for sale today via Showbiz for the Bon Jovi 2013 “Because We Can” Australian Tour.

These VIP packages involve perks, like Exclusive Access to a Pre-show Cocktail Party, VIP Pre-show Open Bar, Pre-show Party Music Playing Your Favourite Bon Jovi Hits and More, Dedicated On-Site VIP Preshow Host, Exclusive On-Site VIP Perks, Exclusive Bon Jovi VIP Merchandise, One Exclusive Bon Jovi Merchandise Tour Item (Created Exclusively For ULTIMATE Package Purchasers), One Souvenir Bon Jovi Program, One Commemorative VIP Laminate & Matching Lanyard and a BON JOVI Music Download.

So if a fan wants to get the ULTIMATE VIP Package, which gives them one DIAMOND ticket outside the Circle Pit on the Floor, it costs $595 + Booking Fee. To get the PLATINUM package, which also gets them a PLATINUM ticket, it will cost $395 + Booking Fee and a lot let less perks. The GOLD Package is next at $335 per person + Booking Fee and it gives you a GOLD ticket and even less perks.

The most staggering part is the prices. Showbiz has been working with Bon Jovi’s management and Australian Tour promoter Dainty Group to be appointed as the exclusive Official Tour Packages Operator for the 2013 “Because We Can” Australian Tour.

The way organisations are appointed is through a tendering process. Showbiz have offered a better deal money wise, so the final call on all of this is made by Jon Bon Jovi. In this case the prices are controlled by Jon Bon Jovi. He wants a guaranteed percentage of the ticket price.

Let’s put the above into context;
Jon Bon Jovi (JBJ) is touring Australia. A promoter is interested and offers to bring him down for $120 a PREMUIM ticket (which will cover the costs for the Promoter, the venues, plus turn over a profit). Jon Bon Jovi then tells the promoter they want the whole ticket price as a guarantee. So in order for the Promoter to cover the cost of the tour and make a profit the ticket price is now $240. The split is $120 JBJ and $120 Promoter.

JBJ and the Promoter then contract out the ticket selling to different organisations, either for a guaranteed one of fee or a percentage of the ticket price again. Let’s say that JBJ then wants a 25% cut of the ticket price at this time. This will then make the ticket $300 for the Public Sale. Let’s say that a $10 booking fee is added on top of that by the Ticketing company so that they can make money on it as well. Final price of a ticket is $310.

The split is now $180 Bon Jovi, Promoter $120 and Ticketing Seller $10.

So when you see Bon Jovi tickets going on sale for astronomical prices, don’t blame anyone else except the artist.

From the beginning, the Bon Jovi Because We Can Tour had the following pre-sales;
– May 2, 2013 – Backstage JBJ Fan Club Pre Sales. To purchase, you had to pay to be a Fan Club member. The smallest fan club membership amount is $60 for one year.
– EBAY tickets went on sale. The word on the street is that Bon Jovi scalped their own tickets on this one or Bon Jovi fan club members are also scalpers or ticket resellers.
– May 9, 2013 – Showbiz CIRCLE PIT Pre Sales. These tickets ranged from $995 to $1,995.
– More EBAY tickets went on sale.
– May 13, 2013 – Telstra/Bang Tango Pre Sales. This was a debacle. The Bang Tango website crashed within 1 minute. This is a lesson on how fans should NOT be treated?
– Further EBAY tickets went on sale.
– May 15, 2013 –Showbiz VIP Pre Sales went on sale on the 15 May 2013 at 9am.

There is another Pre Sale to go via Showbiz for Premium tickets and then the Public Release is scheduled for May 20, 2013. Why even bother with a Public Release? Do fans really expect to get reasonable seats when such a small percentage of tickets are available in the public release, when you have all the tickets committed to all the different pre-sales, as well as Jon Bon Jovi scalping his own tickets.

Why We Can’t Get Tickets

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Music, Stupidity, Treating Fans Like Shit

Jon Bon Jovi – The power is in his hands to change the way his fans buy tickets

Bon Jovi – Because We Can Telstra pre sales went on sale on Monday, 13 May, 2013 at 9am.  By 9.01am, the Bang Tango site crashed. Within an hour, Telstra and Bang Tango both posted an update. It was the clichéd “due to high demand or high volumes, you may experience delays in accessing this website”.

It wasn’t until 6.35pm that the Bon Jovi Facebook page posted an update;

Thank you to all the fans who have taken part in the Telstra Australian Pre-Sale so far! Due to the massive amount of traffic the BangTango Pre-Sale site was temporarily down but is now back up and running! Thank you for your patience. Get your Pre-Sale tickets now: http://bit.ly/13cryk3.

I can’t believe that in this day and age, Bon Jovi is using the “massive amount of traffic” phrase.  Seriously, what did they expect, a couple of hundred people to go online.  This is Bon Jovi we are talking about, the same band that released a box set called 100,000,000 Fans Cant Be Wrong.

Back in 2010, they played multiple stadium shows in Australia in each city and each show was sold out, so of course they would expect a “massive amount of traffic” this time around.

Furthermore, the Backstage JBJ fan club didn’t have any issue coping with the heavy amount of traffic, where fans coughed up a further $60 to join, just to spend more money on tickets.  Then there is the stupid limitations that Bon Jovi places.  A fan can only purchase 2 tickets.

How does that work for me, if I want to take my wife and my three kids to the concert?  From reading all the comments on the various Facebook pages, other fans are also in the same boat.

The mainstream press refuse to do any reporting on this.

Jon Bon Jovi has the power to change the way the ticketing is handled.  One thing I have noticed from today’s artists is that they always blame someone else.  They very rarely take responsibility for their actions.  Jon has Kid Rock opening up for him on the Australian tour.  What Jon should do is take a lesson from Kid Rock on transparency and responsibility.  

Kid Rock’s summer tour of the U.S. is all $20.  As he mentions, the artist has the power to change the ticket prices, the price of T-shirts and so on.  He also mentions that they he will be reselling some of his tickets or go paperless where it is legal in the U.S to do so, so that he can combat scalpers.  Furthermore, Kid Rock, has a special reserved section close to the stage, for his people to find audience members and put them there. Click on the Rolling Stone article. 

Another big call from Kid Rock was that he didn’t want a guaranteed fee.  He backed himself, that he was going to sell tickets.  That is exactly what he did.  Compared to his 2011 box office returns it is looking like he will double that in 2013.

Kid Rock is scaling back, however Jon Bon Jovi is not.

Will Jon Bon Jovi, ever do the same as Kid Rock?  Based on him partnering up with Telstra/Bang Tango, because they paid the most to secure the pre sales slot, my answer is NO.

GREED is what the great divide in income inequality has brought.  Jon Bon Jovi is pissed that sales of recorded music have dropped so on each tour he is raising the ticket prices.  Eventually, he will be doing business like the Rolling Stones current tour, where the public was giving the Stones a big stiff middle finger at the $650 price tag, and then a day before the gig, the prices dropped to $80 and everyone snapped them up.

Ticketek get their chance to shine on May 20.  They know that they will be hammered with fans trying to get tickets.  They are prepared for it, they have partnered up with innovative technologies.  Read the article. 

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Music, Stupidity, Treating Fans Like Shit

Bon Jovi – Who Is To Blame Because We Can(t) purchase tickets?

This morning, at 9am, the Bon Jovi – Because We Can Telstra pre sales for the December 2013 Australian tour went on sale via ticketing website, Bang Tango. By 9.01am, the site crashed. Within an hour, Telstra and Bang Tango both posted an update. It was the clichéd “due to high demand or high volumes, you may experience delays in accessing this website”.

Fans went into a panic and then they became angry. The Bon Jovi Facebook page had thousands of comments about the disaster. Telstra’s page experienced the same rage, along with the Bang Tango Facebook page. Fans also vented their anger on Twitter.

A lot of the blame is directed at Telstra and Bang Tango. Both of these organisations have a lot to answer too, however the main blame stops with Jon Bon Jovi and his management team. They are the ones that signed these arrangements due to the monies offered to them.

What fans seem to forget is that Bon Jovi is guaranteed an upfront fee from the promoter for coming to Australia, regardless of ticket sales.

They (Bon Jovi and the promoter) then license out the sales of their tickets to different ticketing bodies within Australia, based on what those ticketing systems want to pay for having the privilege to sell Bon Jovi tickets. In most cases, Ticketek or Ticketmaster are the players, however in this instance, there was another player in Telstra/Bang Tango. The actual winner in all of this is Ticketek, as it seems to cement their reputation as the best seller for these kind of events. Bon Jovi then licenses out the manufacturing and sales of their merchandise to another organisation, and that is why we, the fans are slugged with the high prices we see. $50 for a T-shirt, $300 a concert ticket and so on.

Furthermore, from looking at all the comments, I started to see a trend. Fed up and frustrated fans then started taking out the $60 online Backstage JBJ fan club membership, just so that they can purchase tickets. Was this the intention of Jon Bon Jovi all along, to get people over to his fan club. As a Bon Jovi fan, I don’t believe that is so, however it makes you wonder. Throughout the whole debacle, the Backstage JBJ website was up and running and selling tickets, while Bang Tango was bleeding. However, being a Backstage JBJ member only limits you to two tickets, so if you need four or three, you are screwed.

Then within the hour, EBAY had tickets on sale for the Bon Jovi Australian concerts at a $1,000 each. Can someone please explain how fans got the middle finger, and scalpers or resellers got tickets to sell.

My view is that NO FAN should have to pay to join a website to purchase tickets. The purchase of the TICKETS is enough of a transaction to satisfy the band. Jon Bon Jovi is all about greed these days, and he should be ashamed for the way he disrespect his fans; the same fans that have allowed him to live a life of luxury through their devotion to his band and music.

Here are some more comments from the Bang Tango Facebook page (I actually feel very SORRY for the band Bang Tango);

· Trying to pay for mine and all it says processing your payment it has been on there for awhile

· I finally was able to purchase some tickets, we decided on a package (yippee) … my question is, during processing payment it said that my transaction had timed out and to try again – but first I checked online with my bank and the money had already gone out of my account … so do I have tickets or not? Will we be sent confirmation emails?

· What a joke you are. After sitting here for almost 3 hours refreshing my screen I then get through to find out that I have to sign up for an account (will look great for your numbers hey) only to progress to the screen where I select the tickets I want, wait 5 minutes for it to ‘reserve’ my tickets to get a message that says: sorry but computer says no: 0-…On a screen full of automated selections where I can’t input anything. What the hell is going on? Are you a real company that deals with this daily? And how the hell did YOU get the presale for Bon Jovi with this stupid set up? Annoyed much? Yeah to say the least. Are there any tickets left for the Adelaide show?

· I’m not bothering now, finally got on, and couldn’t get the tickets I wanted as I’m guessing they are nearly all gone, what a joke, nasty email sent to Telstra and I’m going to give my money to Ticketmaster, at least they are professional, I can’t believe you guys want to charge a $15 booking fee for this stuff up – RIPPED OFF, I have completely wasted my day, thanks guys Not!!!!!!!

· What a joke. Finally get through and could only buy 1 ticket! Was taking my daughter. What use is 1 ticket!

· How many tickets to Melbourne do they allocate to the pre-sale ? Whole lot of marketing and a whole lot of disgruntled fans. Great PR exercise Bang Tango !! I may not see Bon Jovi – “Because I Can’t ” book any tickets for Melbourne via Bang Tango.

· If you’re only after 2 tickets max, save yourself the hassle and get JBJ membership, then get tickets there. You end up paying a little more but at least the tickets are in the bag and you don’t have to put up with this shambles. Someone mentioned re the extra costs on members tickets too… It’s pre-sale, obviously there is a little on top. Wait till the lottery of general public sales is the other option.

· can’t get tickets but they can sell them on eBay for $1000 what a joke

· I can’t even get allocated 1 ticket, not that 1 ticket is any good to the group of people wanting to attend. Very bad organisation. Never EVER had a pre-sale hiccup, and I go to at least 2 concerts a year.

· hi, I still haven’t received my confirmation email…but my order is listed under my account….is there a problem with this???

· Been a fan since 85, the page finally loads and now can’t buy tickets wtf ?????????? I’m so angry!

· I want diamond section tickets to Brisbane but it keeps telling me that my code has been used too many times unless I choose the platinum ones!! I don’t want platinum ones I want the diamond ones!!!

· Accidentally only got 1 ticket through not being able to review purchase before preceding

· Might of taken all day and retry again that many times not fun but finally got tickets. Yeahhhhh

· BIG THUMBS DOWN!!

· I can’t understand how all tix are gone !! When no one could get through . I did get tix but took like 3 hrs. and didn’t get to see where I am sitting .

· Kira – I had the same problem and called Telstra who said to get another code by calling #820# on your mobile. (In the end I got tickets with my original code as but it might be worth trying)

· If you are after the bronze tickets you can only get 2 but if you try the others like silver the max is up to 10

· Frustrated!! Trying to get Adelaide tickets and can’t!!! One minute u can’t even get on the website and next they are sold out!! Not happy!!

· Just wasted more time trying to get tickets. Can only afford silver but looks like none are available. What is the point of a pre-sale if it is friggin harder to get tickets then when they go on sale to the general public.

· I got tickets. Wasn’t sure.. it crashed doing payment, but money has gone through credit card and it is listed in order details (Gold Sydney). This was probably 40 mins ago. Pretty sucky seats for a gold price, but the sound should be great!!

· What’s the go why won’t it process payment : ( disappointed

· My Mum selected 2 tickets and has only been sold 1- what use is that? What is the process for fixing all these single ticket transactions that seem to have occurred?

And from the Bon Jovi Facebook Page;

· And Telstra is supposed to be the best communications company in the country, What a JOKE!!!!

· Bang tango fb saying trying to fix it

· Bang Tango you suck!!!!

· This is so depressing. Has anyone even got tickets through bang tango? My computer got through to the tickets but still loading. Been a whole hour. Too scared to refresh

· waiting for an hour now…this sucks….absolute joke!

· Well of course they charge you to become a member that’s the point. There are many perks to being a member advance ticket sales being one

· I can barely afford the tickets little own membership broke full time uni student once I have money then I will become a member

· Well done Telstra, you did it again.

· Good to know I’m not the only one who couldn’t get on this morning as the server had crashed. NOT HAPPY JAN!!!

· I feel like such a failure, my poor friends putting their faith in me!!

· Yeah…. Got my tickets for Melb and Adelaide show through the JBJ fan club page! Amazing diamond seats!! Bring it on I’m so excited!!

· Ended up paying for JBJ membership to get my tickets, but got AMAZING seats so it was worth the extra $50!! If you have the spare cash just pay to join and get your tickets straight away!

· I need 3 tix so membership won’t help

· Another fine association Telstra… well done great when an ISP can’t offer better server capacity…

· Bang Tango website useless waste of two hours no tickets. Joke, get it sorted.

· They should have had different presale dates for each gig not all at once

· Wish it was presale through ticketek

· has anyone got tickets though bang tango? I have been trying to get them since 8:30am when the site crashed , starting to wonder if this stress is worth it

· Why can’t Bon Jovi, Telstra, bang tango or dainty group post some sort of announcement/apology so we can all get on with our lives?? This is f’ing ridiculous!!

· Been trying since 9.00 am also, don’t promote what can’t be provided! Poor service, just saying

· Yeah I tried to log on 11.09 and nothing… Typical Telstra.

· This is just a joke….l am stuck on the tickets screen…..has to be a better way to get tickets. Sorry but this is not good enough

· This is a joke, all I want is 2 tickets !!! , there better be some left

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Music, Stupidity, Treating Fans Like Shit

Bon Jovi Telstra PreSales Meltdown – Australian Tour

It’s a meltdown of incompetence. Bon Jovi pre-sales went on sale today via Telstra and Bang Tango, the new player to rival Ticketek. Guess what, it is an epic fail. It’s as bad as John Carter. This is what happens when greed comes into the picture. The fans get treated like dirt.

Jon Bon Jovi is safe and tucked away in his ivory tower, certain that he will be getting his guaranteed fee for touring Australia. How the tickets are sold to his fans, doesn’t concern him at the least. So if you are a fan of Bon Jovi and you want to get tickets and if you paid monies to be a Backstage JBJ member, you had first dibs. Then Showbiz was next, selling VIP packages from a thousand plus bucks. Now it is Telstra’s turn to sell the next lot of pre sales. What a disaster? Facebook and Twitter is melting down with anger. Check out the comments below from Facebook.

· Typical Telstra and their fantastic service

· Keeps saying bad request – how funny! The biggest communications company in Australia and they can’t even get that right! Ha ha ha!

· Typical Telstra lets u down

· Well done Telstra, and Bang tango, web site crash 2 min in!!!

· Thanks Telstra you’re a freakin joke! You got everyone to register and can’t get the server to handle the traffic… You’re a joke. Absolute disgrace. I call for a waving of the proposed $15 fee for using your service. Thanks Telstra for wasting my time.

· Would love to get my tickets but the site has majorly crashed and apparently something has gone majorly wrong. Good on you Telstra. Artist should always stick with ticketek

· absolute joke bang tango…..could of told us we’d need an account with you before the morning. Thought I’d only need my Telstra stuff…no wonder it’s not coping. been waiting since I got on at 9am this morning.

· only getting a white screen via Telstra/Bang tango – frustrating

· Bon Jovi PLEASE take notice of these comments and allow us all to be able to buy tickets from a reliable ticket provider. ticketek in Australia is probably the best and although it is hard to get onto for peak ticket sales it doesn’t usually crash as it restricts the amount of people that can log in at once to avoid the site crashing. that would be a whole lot better than the site we have to get tickets from that crashed and still won’t load over 1.5 hours later

· I was on before the sale went on watched the countdown.. expected the buy button to load… and nothing. Beyond a joke. Had to reload and nothing now. Sometimes I get the page … then can’t do anything. Silly presale. Did they not realise the overload.

· Telstra you SUCK! The servers crashed and no one can get on

· I’ve got a code… 1 laptop 1 iPad and 1 iPhone and it says ” we are signing you up” please wait… Yep been waiting 18 mins already

· Telstra you are a joke how can you expect to compete for our business when you can’t even handle a large amount of people logging into the system.

· Sorry JBJ, poor choice pairing with Telstra Bang Tango. Massive pre-sale fail when you get your code early, but can’t register with the site til the sale starts; then server crashes.

· Why on earth run a pre-sale if your website can’t cope with the number of people who will be trying to purchase tickets!! This is crazy, an absolute joke and disappointment. I can’t get to the ticketing part and that’s it. Telstra… Will you be giving freebies away to all is fans who relied on your pre-sale and haven’t succeeded??

· You would think they could do each state on different days so at least all of Aus isn’t trying to get on at the same time!

· Extremely disappointed and annoyed! Pre-sale Telstra tickets for valued Telstra customers??? I’m not feeling valued at all after taking the morning off work to purchase 2 great tickets for the Adelaide concert and not being able to even log onto the page. Waited so long for you guys to come back to Adelaide too. Very disappointed

· TYPICAL TELSTRA! Couldn’t organise a thing! Site in meltdown since 9.00am! So annoyed!

· No use promoting this pre-sales. Thousands of people in Australia have not been able to access. Been trying for last hour when the pre-sale opened. Nothing. All from our biggest IT Internet provider in the country

· BANG TANGO and TELSTRA You SUCK!!! I don’t even know why I bothered. ALWAYS stick to the trustworthy companies like TICKETEK! Telstra can’t even handle phone and Internet. Should of known they wouldn’t be able to handle something big like this! SEE YOU MONDAY TICKETEK!

· Technology is a joke! Back to the old line up days I say ; )

· Maybe each state should have had a different day or time to log in!

· This is a joke. Surely you would be aware that Bon Jovi has a HUGE fan base here in Aus, and you would have been prepared for a massive amount of activity on your website. To be promoted by a telecommunications company and STILL not be able to handle the volume is shameful. SHAME TELSTRA, SHAME!!!!

· ok, so here’s the thing. I don’t know why I’m bothering. Etihad SUX, Telstra SUX, Bang Tango SUX, prices SUCK, no seating plan SUX, extra charges SUCK!!!

· typical internet ticketing site crash. Should go back to the old school over the counter style.

· I HATE YOU TICKET SITE, my daughter is late for school, my soon has missed his swimming lesson, I am about to have a heart failure and I’ve just thrown my phone at the wall. All for nothing. Why isn’t it loading, I hit the button on for different computers/phone at 9 am on the dot. I deserve these tickets!!! As do everyone else…

· And Bon Jovi you should tell your marketing mob to do more research next time and not partner with the likes of Telstra in future.

· Bang tango website sux

· yeah Telstra a great way of saying thanks by charging an extra $15 per ticket booking fee NO THANKS!!

· STUPID website crashed as soon as ticket sale opened!!!!!!!

· 13 mins trying on pc and phone, won’t even open the page!

· This is pathetic ….. Been trying to log on for over 20 minutes – why was Telstra not prepared for this ???? So annoying

· Seriously Telstra I re arranged my whole morning to get tickets. Not happy

· better off standing in line, at least then when you get frustrated you can punch some wanker in the head!!!

· The only ethical thing they can do is cancel the pre-sale until tomorrow.

· … tried both mobile and computer, nothing. If your site can’t handle heavy traffic, don’t advertise lies! We got left in the rain with nothing! Been trying to refresh browser and on mobile phone to bang tango for half an hr. now! That’s very bad PR!

· there was no problems when it was done with VISA presale through ticketek 4 years ago. why change. U SUX Telstra/Bang tango!

· So heart broken, my girlfriend is a die-hard fan I MEAN HUUUGE FAN she runs a small business & has 2 kids all I wanted was to surprise her, she works so hard & Telstra’s fail means I can’t do something simple like jump online to buy a ticket, even their instructions were pathetic. so disappointed

· I’ve now got the bang tango page to load but it still won’t let you get into the ticket section

· They should provide discount tickets due to the shocking delays!

· Good luck to everyone, I hope your able to secure tickets. The VIP backstage tickets sold out super-fast too. rumour has it Telstra website has the mapping .

· Still no seating plan available. I’d like to know what my money gets me.

· Terrible and didn’t load, jumped on to Bon jovi backstage and got great seats in no time!

· This ain’t no Bed of Roses grrrrrrr!!!

· Any official word on what they are going to do? Surely they can stop, fix and give us a new time – they can’t expect us to sit here and wait

· This is the biggest failure I have ever seen Bon Jovi Just leave it up to the professionals Ticketek in future

· Still having problems, had 3 devices going (phone, iPad, lap top) 10 mins prior to sale, and none could connect… Bang tango was a blank screen the whole time!

· Yup still crashed bang tango is saying on fb they r trying to fix it, it’s almost 10 here in brissy and I’ve been on since it started at 9 not loading

· You shouldn’t have to pay to join the fab club and purchase tickets!! Especially when they r the price they r!!

· Bang tango site fail, not impressed

· Bang tango I hate you!!!! I might just cry! It’s crashed!!!?

· just got 2 tickets thru bj backstage, but u need to be a member ($60) and get charged a conversion fee of $16 each ticket, and can only get 2 tickets. I got Sydney section 110-1, not great but OK. I hope you all get tickets soon guys. SEE YOU THERE

Even though I had my code, I didn’t even attempt to go on and purchase tickets. I understand the frustrations fans are feeling at this point in time. This is where Jon Bon Jovi should be stepping up and offering a solution. All of the above posts are from Bon Jovi’s Facebook page, without a single comment from Bon Jovi or the Facebook admin. It’s ridiculous.

Also here are the prices. Cheap tickets is what the media outlets report. I say yeah right. There is nothing cheap about this Bon Jovi experience. It’s a farce. The media doesn’t report with any integrity anymore. The cheapest tickets are $35 from Ticketek and $32 from Telstra Pre Sales, to sit on top of the stadium roof, with your view hindered. Then they have a limit of two Bronze tickets, so if you want to take a family of 4 or 5 you are stuck. Nice one.

Brisbane / Sydney*
Gold Reserve $155.00
Silver Reserve $99.00
Bronze Reserve $35.00
Platinum Reserve $199.00
Diamond Reserve $250.00
GA Standing – Rear Field $125.00 (Sydney Only)

Perth*
Gold Reserve $199.00
Silver Reserve $129.00
Bronze Reserve $35.00
Platinum Reserve $249.00
Diamond Reserve $299.00

Ticket limit: Bronze Reserved limited to 2 per transaction
*A one-off service/delivery fee from $5.85 per transaction applies. A credit/debit card processing fee from 1.95% will apply. Ticket orders are subject to credit/debit card approval and customer account verification.

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Music

The Crazy Lifestyles of the Rockers and Metallers

The rock and metal music world that I love so much has had its fair share of controversies recently.

The most recent, is finding out that Jeff Hanneman’s liver failed due to alcohol related cirrhosis.  With so much focus on the flesh-eating bacteria, everyone forgot Jeff’s love of the demon alcohol. 

We all have those little demons that can either gives us the edge or destroy us.   Ozzy Osbourne has been battling them his whole life.  Nikki Sixx has gone to war with them and it looks like at the moment he has come out on top.  Robb Flynn from Machine Head has been more than open with his alcohol battles and depression.  Steven Adler the original GNR drummer is back in rehab.  Anthony Kiedis, Slash, Kurt Cobain, Duff and the lists just go on and on.  

Randy Rhoads battled his whole life to become famous and when he got it, he wanted to walk away from it.  It didn’t satisfy him, the touring, the bus trips and the hotel rooms.  Randy found solace in his instrument, others find solace in drugs and alcohol.  Surrounded by enablers and yes people, it’s very easy for people to get caught up in a culture that thrives on drugs and alcohol. 

Then you have the bad break up’s – Phil Anselmo still trying to reach out to Vinnie Paul with all that forgive and forget self-help mumbo jumbo.  To me it’s all just B.S.  My motto is to move on but never forget.  Let’s put the facts into context, if Pantera stayed together, Damageplan would not have been playing at the small crappy venue with terrible security, where Dimebag was killed. 

Bad break up number 2 – Geoff Tate and Todd LaTorre both operating as Queensryche.  They are further diminishing the great name of the band, with two incompetent releases.  What a dead set joke? 

Bad break up number 3 – Even though Jon Bon Jovi goes on to Ellen and says that Richie is still in the band and that he is just taking time out to deal with personal issues, it’s over.  The famed Bon Jovi Circle is broken.  Thanks Richie for writing some of the best songs, and I still think you got robbed by Jon for not getting a writing credit on Dry County.  The song was handed in by Jon at 4 minutes long, Richie made it a 9 minute epic however only Jon was listed as the songwriter.

Bad Break up number 4 – this one happened a while back, however it came back into the news a few weeks ago when the Breaking Benjamin band name was returned back to vocalist and main songwriter Benjamin Burnley.  This break up aired a lot of dirt, especially the recording contract type of dirt and the inner workings of a BAND AGREEMENT.    

On the other side of the spectrum, Tim Lambesis, the lead singer of As I Lay Dying, has just entered a not guilty plea for his alleged involvement in trying to hire a hit man to kill his estranged wife.  This one came from left field.  It was a WTF moment.  How stupid can someone be?  Has anyone seen how this dude looks.  I am sure he could have gotten any other chick.  I know it’s not a joke, but I couldn’t stop making comparisons to the Horrible Bosses movie.

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Music

Bon Jovi – What About dropping 20 places to 96?

The Bon Jovi tour juggernaut continues to book shows around the world.  Richie Sambora is still out due to personal reasons or issues.

The Australian tour just had Kid Rock added to the schedule.  Big thumbs up to Kid Rock for selling $20 concert tickets to his U.S. shows, as well as taking a cut on merchandise, parking and other sales.

Interesting to note, that Bon Jovi’s tour of Australia will be offering $32 ticket prices to Telstra customers.  However, this doesn’t mean that Bon Jovi is taking a loss or a pay cut.

Bon Jovi still get paid the monies offered to them.

This is Telstra taking a hit, so that they can push their brand even more.  This is Telstra sending a message out to fans of live music.  Telstra is saying, “Hey check us out, we are a real game player in the selling of cheap tickets to great live shows.”

However in order for the music lover to purchase, they need to be a Telstra customer.  So Telstra will be expecting a surge in memberships, which in turn, will be a surge in revenue.  It will be a big win for Telstra.

As a Telstra shareholder, I can’t complain with that.  Maybe they will increase their dividend payments one of these days?  What kind of $32 tickets they will be for a venue that fits 40,000 plus remains to be seen.

In the meantime, What About Now, the album described as the best thing we have ever done, by both Jon and Richie, continues to fall away on the charts.  After 7 weeks it’s down to position 96.

In comparison, the Greatest Hits album that Bon Jovi released in 2010, is still charting and selling.

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