VIP package?

[Just Another Hired Hand]

Tessa posted:

@ JAHH
Is the chance to meet one of the guys (even if it is "only" one of the MHs)
bigger with a VIP ticket or is it all the same?[/quote]

Meeting Scott Crago, Will Hollis and Steuart Smith was just dumb luck. We had no chance of meeting any one at the Wachovia Center. We had ILAA tickets for the first show we attended there, July 14, 2008. However, the Borgata is a hotel and casino. There are many restaurants inside, in the area of the Event Center.

The night before the Borgata show, there was an article in a local paper about how Don Henley and his party kept one of the Borgata restaurants open until 2 AM. I will try to locate it and make it the subject of a future post.

I have already posted a news article about Don Henley's visit to an excellent restaurant in Philadelphia. A situation like this is where you have the greatest chance to meet some on from the band. I can suggest you do a google search for news articles for any unexpected visits the Eagle made to Restaurants in your area. Chances are they will visit them again.

If you have watched the Farewell I concert as much as my wife and I have, you would recognize the musicians no matter where they showed up. They thought they were anonymous but we fooled them. They didn't mind a bit. They autographed our CD jacket (we listened to LROOE) on the ride to the Casino, so we had it handy. Good Luck!

[MikeA]

Meeting Scott Crago, Will Hollis and Steuart Smith was just dumb luck.

That's freakin' uncanny! Both having them set you up with Eagles tickets and the good fortune you had while there with the pick and with meeting some of the guys.

[Just Another Hired Hand]

We got put on the list because one of their ticket takers in advertently bumped us out of Joe Walsh tickets earlier in the year, and we complained about it

I don't understand? A "ticket taker?" And was Walsh playing a show solo? Hmmm, maybe you're talking about tickets bought through JWFC? Seems there was someone else here was on a bummer (and rightly so) concerning a JWFC M&G (Soda?).

I left out a key word here...a ticket order taker. Sometimes I am blatantly dislexic. The mind is willing but the fingers are phat!

[Just Another Hired Hand]

Tessa, this is for you:

This is furnished to fulfill a promise I made in an earlier post. The day of the Eagles concert at the Borgata in Atlantic City it appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer. If you watch the "local scene" section of your local paper your probability of a chance encounter increases dramatically. Apparently when in the area either solo or with the Eagles, Don Henley has his favorite places to hang out. Here is the clip:

Chef Michael Schulson, who just opened Izakaya in the Borgata in Atlantic City, will have to get used to casino hours. Don Henley of the Eagles dropped in for a late dinner Wednesday and kept staff long past the 2 a.m. closing.

The author is Michael Klein, Inquirer columnist.

We (Tiffanny Twisted and I) met Scott Crago, Will Hollis and Steuart Smith at the Metropolitan Restaurant. Our encounter was chance, but if you know where to go your chances dramatically increase. Good Luck!

[Freypower]

Those of you who have this wonderful thing called ILAA should think yourselves very lucky.

In 2004 the only thing I could do was enter a password supplied by the old Eagles fan club. As this no longer exists, I don't know if eaglesband.com will offer something similar for Australian fans. In any case I had to take my chances through Ticketmaster like everybody else. I had the most expensive seats at every show except Melbourne but I didn't get a second row seat until the last Sydney show. And I don't think I will be able to spend that sort of money again. Given the disappointing seats that I have had for recent concerts (Crowded House, Bob Dylan) I am not optimistic.

The only thing that 'Diamond' ticket holders had in Sydney was a cushion and a separate bar. While the bar was convenient you had one drink free and that was it. There were no 'giveaways'.

People who live in Europe and America are very lucky in that you have a much wider range of options in terms of which city you can choose to attend a concert. I don't have that. Distance and cost in this country is prohibitive. We only have five cities in which they play. You read that correctly. FIVE.

Please excuse the rant but this is something that those of you in the northern hemisphere just don't really understand, how difficult it is, and I haven't even mentioned the length of time we have to wait. If they come back here at the end of 2009 that will be five years for me. I'm not going to mention this again but I think I needed to say something once.

[Just Another Hired Hand]

ILAA isn't all that wonderful. It cost four to five times the face value of the ticket. I think it is outrageous. But it's something I did once as I wanted to insure aa good seat to the concert. Let's face it, concert tickets are a racket. The reason my wife and I got blocked out of Joe Walsh Tickets is the order taker put her on hold. By the time she got back to us, the prime seats were gone. It seems the order taker had a sweet heart deal with a ticket broker. The money paid to the order taker for the prime seats is padded in the outrageous price they charge for the tickets.

ILAA came about to cut down on this practice. I read a write up somewhere (I'll try to find it) that the Eagles would rather sell the prime seats through ILAA as opposed to letting the scalpers have their way with the ticket buying public. That way some one paying a lot for the ticket would be someone that really wanted to see the show. The good thing about it is you can only pick the ticket up the night of the show. The scalpers are cut out but the poor fan pays through the nose.

Freypower, I feel your pain. It is an unfortunate fact of life for the music fan who likes to see their favorite artists perform live.

[TimothyBFan]

Like I said somewhere else on this board. I have never done the All Access but I had the best tickets in Cincinnati just by being persistant in watching anywhere you can buy tickets from and resisting the urge to buy the tickets as soon as they go on sale. I got 4th row, aisle seats on Timothy's side which I couldn't have asked for anything better. Great view (remember, I was on Tim's side and plenty of interaction with the band (received some "Glenn Lovin'"). Only paid $242.00 a piece for them, more than face value but a LOT less than ILAA and sat right next to people that had paid triple what we did and got the same view. To me, the $$ spent for ILAA wouldn't be worth the little goodie bag they give you and a dinner, that like Tessa said, I wouldn't be able to eat anyways because of the excitement. Think of how many regular Eagles tickets you can buy for the price of 1 ILAA ticket. Just MHO!!!!!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Well I said this before but I do think that the ILAA tickets are overpriced. However, as long as they are selling an acceptable number of packages for each show, I don't expect much will change. I have noticed that they've dropped the prices by about $50 in most markets for the 2009 shows that have been scheduled in the U.S., so I guess that helps a little.

We did the 'ILAA' experience in Charlottesville earlier this year, but the cost was "only" $495 for a 5-star package at that show. I don't regret it because I really wanted to try it out. It was a very nice experience, but, personally, I would not do it on a regular basis. I'm not saying I will never do it again if I can catch another show for the same price, but I'm pretty sure I'd never pay $750 - $1000. I certainly don't begrudge those who want to go for it though.

[Brooke]

I did the 5 star package in St. Louis and was happy that I did it once. I don't think I will ever do it again. For no more than you get, it just wasn't worth that much money-$795.) I did end up with a front row-nearly center ticket, but the waiting to find out was murder. If you got to meet the band, then it would be worth it. For a dinner and a journal? Nope, not to me.

I agree with dreamer, if people continue to buy them, then they will keep selling them. I had about 30 people in my group. I was surprised there were that many.

[Tessa]

I did the 5 star package in St. Louis and was happy that I did it once. I don't think I will ever do it again. For no more than you get, it just wasn't worth that much money-$795.) I did end up with a front row-nearly center ticket, but the waiting to find out was murder. If you got to meet the band, then it would be worth it. For a dinner and a journal? Nope, not to me.

Thank you for that answer!
I came to the same result but I wanted to be sure, to read a few opinions.

Now I have my ticket - it costs around $ 150,-- and I'm sitting in the 5. row on the left side of the stage. I hope I can see Mr. Henley clearly