drownsoda

You sure they're through LiveNation though? Cause when I click the link on the Facebook RSVP event, it takes me straight to Ticketmaster. I'm looking at this page: https://www.facebook.com/events/876883135664280/?sid_reminder=7087796550755155968

Glad someone can corroborate this for me. Emmet is passive-aggressively trying to make me sound like a drama queen (either that or trying to make himself sound tough). I have a friend in Chicago who had the same kind of experience at her show. I've been to hardcore punk shows and stadium concerts and the Lana show still had the most obnoxious crowd I've ever seen. I once saw a triple-bill of Rise Against, Hole, and Weezer in a stadium, and the moshpits there were more tolerable than the insanity at the Lana show— the people at the Lana show not only were aggressive, but they were mean spirited. Also never been to a show where they had to turn on the house lights and threaten to end the concert because it was that unsafe. Maybe it's just teenage hormones run amok, or maybe it's because I'm not used to the vacuous and rabid tween crowds at Kesha and One Direction shows because I don't go see that shit.

By saying the people there were assholes? Mkay.

Seriously dude? Why would I dramatize it? You can ask the three people who were with me. I had a gaggle of teenage girls (all of whom I believe were together as a group) who were trying to maul and pick a fight with me the ENTIRE time. When I pushed back at them after they were kicking and thrashing at me, they tried to yell for the security guards to have me thrown out. It really made the show hard to enjoy. Given the fact that Lana's music is so languid, it was kind of absurd how rabid the crowd was. Period. I was front row at the far right (she stopped and turned around to go back onstage just a few people over from us when she came down to sign stuff and take pictures). I've been to big music festivals before and been in mosh pits in stadiums and I would liken my experience at the Seattle concert to that. It was the same level of energy and insanity, except at other events I've been to, the people were actually NICE. The people at the Lana show by and large were spoiled teenage brats with fuckin' nasty attitudes.

This is my life, except I've got my grad school applications pretty much finished.

What exactly is the Facebook presale though? Do you access it through your Facebook page? Do you have to follow LiveNation's Facebook or something? I don't really get it. Ticketmaster has their presale listed as December 4th— when's the Facebook presale? So confused haha

So I just found this on Facebook, from a Portland blog called indie/alt: https://www.facebook.com/events/367140876795931/ They say the presale code for the Ridgefield show is "COMING SOON". Can anyone confirm this? Seems weird but whatever.

I'm looking for the one via Ticketmaster for the May 22 show in Ridgefield, Washington. Can't seem to find any info. I told myself I wouldn't go out of my way to see Lana again after all the violence and insanity I experienced in the front row of her Seattle show this past May, but I am a DIEHARD Courtney Love/Hole fan, so this is literally a match made in heaven for me. It's like the gods have tailored a concert just for me; and not only that, I don't have to drive the 2.5 hours from Portland to Seattle— Portland to Ridgefield is like a half an hour! Anyway, yeah, I figured I'd start a thread for pre-sale info, any and all of the shows— post whatever info comes from your investigations. I remember for her last tour I was able to buy tickets during the fan pre-sale through Adventures In Wonderland, but I was given the code by someone else and wasn't sure where they had gotten it from. My friend got her ticket through Ticketmaster's pre-sale, but I believe that started the day after the fan pre-sale (and the day before the general public sale). So, yeah, Ridgefield, WA, anyone? Sleep Country Amphitheater is a seated venue, so I'd like to get a decent seat. Seeing my two female musical icons together in one show is a dream come true— it almost seems too good to be true.

I am so glad that Sleep Country Amphitheater is seated. Seriously. I seriously wouldn't recommend the GA pit, especially if you are of small stature or don't do well in crowds. I saw Lana in Seattle this past May, and it was the most violent concert experience I've ever had. I had braced myself for it because I'd heard her shows were bad, but it was a pain in the ass. I waited with my friends for twelve hours outside before showtime because I was gonna be damned if I didn't get front row. The waiting was worth it and we all got front row, but I could barely concentrate on the show because I was trying to shove rabid tween girls off of me the entire time. The crowd was absolutely psychotic, and there was a group of girls behind me who were mad that my brother and our two female friends were in front of them, so they made it their personal mission to kick the backs of my knees, throw water on me, spit on me, pinch my ribcage, and try to climb over me in order to get in the front. My brother and I are both over six feet tall so they didn't stand a goddamned chance, but besides that, we waited from 6 in the morning to get front row— i.e. we earned it, and they didn't. Honestly though, I saw at least 30 girls get pulled out of the crowd by security throughout the show, and quite a few of them were unconscious. It was so bad that after the opening act they had to turn the house lights on and threatened to stop the show if the audience didn't calm down. I believe this is why she's moving to amphitheaters; smaller venues simply can't accommodate the demand, and not only that, the shows are out of control and bursting at the seams with chaos. The Seattle venue this past May was maximum 5,000 people; the Sleep Country Amphitheater in Ridgefield, WA is 18,000 in comparison. It's not only able to accommodate her fanbase in Portland/Seattle, but it's also SAFE because it's seated. Because of the utter hell I experienced the first time, I wouldn't be interested in seeing Lana live again if it weren't for the fact that Courtney Love is opening and I am a diehard Hole fan. I read about their tour announcement this morning and it seemed so bizarre that I literally thought I was dreaming— it almost seems like it's tailor made for my music taste. I'm a much bigger fan of Courtney than I am of Lana, but I love them both dearly, so it's a double billing to die for as far as I'm concerned.

That's what I'm thinking. At first I wasn't sure if the backorder was just for the online purchases as their site doesn't make it very clear. I'll call tomorrow beforehand to see what the deal is.

I read several weeks back on their site that it would be available June 17th along with the other releases, but I just checked their site and it says "preorder 6/22." Should I still make the trip to UO, or are they not going to be carrying it? This is really frustrating and I'm gonna be mad if they aren't releasing the LP there tomorrow, because I've been planning on making a trip there for weeks now. Anyone know for sure? Maybe an UO employee?

So I REALLY need to get my hands on the double LP from Urban Outfitters, which was stated to be released tomorrow along with all the other releases in the States, but I just checked their site and now it's saying "Preorder 6/22"(???) Does anyone know whether or not it's going to be available tomorrow? I've been planning to go there tomorrow for several weeks, but if it's not gonna be there then it's a waste of my time. I'm really confused by this.

@@ligialoveslana I mean, I think AT LEAST an 18+ show would be to the benefit of everyone's safety. It would weed out some of the more insane 14-16 year olds. Some of the girls there tried to tell me they were 18 but I could tell by how they looked, talked, and carried themselves that they were in reality probably 15. If Lana had some 21+ shows it would also give people the option to drink. I'm not a big drinker but I do like having a beer or a vodka tonic or something at shows if I can; loosens ya up a little. And to whoever said Lana's career will be long with such a young fanbase— who cares if that fanbase is psychotic? Her 21 and over fans are just as loyal to her, if not more. I do think it's an aesthetic thing for a lot of the younger crowd. It's funny because you could tell at the Seattle show who was there for the music, and who was there for the image. The girl from Paris to my right and the Australian guy and his girlfriend were people who, like myself and my group, were there to listen to her perform— there was no flower crown Marilyn Monroe wannabe BS. Incidentally, those people were all university students too like myself and were a bit older. There is not a doubt in my mind that that concert would have been ten times more enjoyable and ten times less psychotic had the crowd been 21+. Girls wouldn't have been passing out or getting dragged out of the crowd because most of them would have been old enough and smart enough to prepare at handle it. These kids there were too immature for the situation. I will NOT waste my time trying to be front row again at one of her shows. I had the experience and while seeing her up close was amazing, it's not something I ever feel like I need to do again. I'd rather sit in the back and enjoy the music without having to cage fight teenagers.

Well said, my friend. It sounds like you showed up right after the opening act finished his set— the reason that the security guy was giving his speech about safety then was because at least 5-10 girls had been dragged out of the crowd at that point, some of them passed out, and Lana hadn't even come on yet. The crowd was actually more pushy during the opening act, and in-between his set and Lana's. When Lana came onstage things calmed down a little bit in terms of crowd movement (i.e. not as many huge waves of shoving), but the aggression of the girls there got worse. I was disappointed that the stories were true too. My friend in Chicago who saw her warned me, and I didn't want to believe her, but everything she told me about her experience was just about exactly what I experienced. Somehow Lana has gotten a huge draw on the 18-and-under crowd, and these shows have turned out horrifying as a result— gaggles of mindless 10th grade Tumblr drones who, as you said, are hell-bent on sucking everything out of Lana and her image. I didn't realize she had stepped up into Katy Perry/Lady Gaga status— she never struck me as someone who pandered to a young tween crowd, but for reasons beyond me, it happened. I didn't even realize she was on the radio until last year when someone told me she was— I never listen to the radio so I had no way of knowing. That seems to me to be when she started amassing the psychotic fans I saw at the show. There was a pretty clear division of age at the concert, with a fraction being college-aged kids and older, and a disproportionately large number of tween girls with a cult mentality in flower crowns. The older kids were mature and respectful (i.e. the French girl next to my group and the guy with his girlfriend to my left), but the younger ones were absolutely rabid. I honestly wish her shows could be 21+. Since I was front row, I got to see every single person who was pulled out of the crowd by security, and ALL of them were girls and ALL of them looked like they were 16 and under. It felt to me like those girls should not have been there just for mere safety reasons.

My show in Seattle was a disaster/war zone/Roman Game. We waited outside from 6am till the doors opened and got front row at the barricade, but it was insanity the entire time and girls were collapsing and passing out left and right. My brother was with me and we are both over 6 feet tall (I'm 6'2" and he is 6'4"), so we towered over most of the people there and were able to block off impact from the crowd on his girlfriend and my female friend, both of whom are really petite. I was gripping the barricade though with all my strength and had to push off of it multiple times so that my friend didn't get crushed up against it or thrown over, and it REALLY pissed off the girls behind me. They spent the majority of the show kicking me, pinching me, slapping me, pulling my hair, dumping water on me, and threatening to stab me if I didn't get out of their way (I'm not kidding). They were seriously evil. I got fed up when one of them was pinching my rib cage as hard as she could, and I had some choice words for her before pushing back and knocking her off of me. It was ridiculous. It really just boils down to the fact that you've gotta do what you've gotta do when you're being pushed against a steel fence by the force of seven thousand people behind you. People are ruthless and selfish in the pit and you literally have to defend yourself or people are going to hurt you.

I honestly don't think 8 or 9am is gonna cut it. I saw her at her Seattle date May 27th and there were people showing up at 5am when I walked past the venue. We got there at 6:30am and were among the first, but there were a good 10 people ahead of us already. The first guy in line had apparently slept there since midnight. The venue staff passed out raffle tickets around 7am to all the earlybirds in line and told us that they would guarantee our party first entry, so that was really helpful. We got the barricade which is what we had waited those thirteen hours for, so I was a happy camper in that regard. Other advice: If you are in a group, always make sure someone is saving your spot in the line. People next to you in line are cool about this and everyone in our line looked out for each other for the most part. Some people were holding a place in line for some friends who were showing up later, which was kind of annoying, but not a huge problem. Finding a bathroom nearby and a place to get food is also important. People were ordering pizza and all kinds of stuff in our line. Also, make sure you are hydrated before you go into the show. This is crucial. I drank sparingly throughout the day as I didn't want to have to leave to go pee too often and make bathroom trips, but I downed a Gatorade right before the doors opened and drank a bottle of water inside. The most important thing of all: If you are front row like I was, you ARE going to get hurt, but probably not as bad as you will if you are mixed further back into the crowd. I don't know if you are a male or female or what your body size is, but the floor at my show was absolutely bonkers. You will be pushed against the barricade nonstop and people will try to squirm their way in and cut you off. You won't be able to move either, despite the fact that the thousands of people behind you think that pushing everybody against a steel fence is somehow going to get them closer. If you're shorter or have a small build, I REALLY hope you have someone larger to go with you. I went with my brother and two female friends who are petite, and they honestly would have been either crushed against the barrier or thrown over it had we not been there to block the impact of the crowd behind us. The security guards told me and a bunch of the guys at the barricade to make sure we pushed back at the people behind us to protect the girls in the front, otherwise they would get pushed over it or against it. There were also girls behind us kicking, shoving, slapping, and pinching me the entire time to try and get in front of me; fortunately I'm 6'2" and weigh 200 pounds so they didn't have a fighting chance in hell, but by God did they try. The one benefit of being at the barricade is that you have something solid to hold onto, but the downside is that you get the force of thousands of people pushing against you, as well as a bunch of angry girls who want to fight you for your spot. Basically, the audiences at these shows are absolutely nuts. I saw AT LEAST 20 girls get pulled out of the crowd by security, and a good 1/3 of them had either collapsed or completely passed out. There were girls passing out during the opening act even, which led the venue staff to stall Lana's entrance so they could lecture the crowd on safety concerns and provide water because it was so out of hand. There were also people getting arrested during the show as well. As far as Lana signing stuff, she came down to the barricade mid-show for us and took pictures and met with fans. She unfortunately didn't come far enough to the right side where I was at— we were just right of center stage— but she was within 5 feet of us before she turned around and went back up. If you want to get a picture or something signed during the show, you'll have to get the barricade, which means you'll have to be there before almost everyone else. Once the venue is halfway full and everyone is standing, it will be physically impossible to make it up to the front. She doesn't typically sign things after shows either— sometimes before shows, but she didn't do that in Seattle. One of my friends saw her pull up in her car and enter the venue from the back doors, but she didn't sign anything or meet them— she just waved and smiled at them. As far as tickets go, my venue was kind of confusing in that department. They claimed it was a paperless event where you'd just have to swipe your credit card at the doors, but many of us (myself included) had the presale will-call tickets through Adventures In Wonderland. We went and picked up the tickets from the box office at 2pm, and had no trouble entering with them. There were NOT separate lines at the entry door for the credit cards & will-call tickets— it was all the same. Everyone went through a bag check and then had a staff member scan either their credit card or ticket, and they were good to go. So, yeah: 1) Get there early, most importantly. In LA I'd assume people will camp out, so you'll wanna get there no later than 5-6am if you want to be among the front row— perhaps even earlier. It might be good to check out the venue the night before to see if people are already camping out there. 2) Make sure you eat something throughout the day, even if it's light, and get hydrated right before the show 3) If you're on the smaller side, make sure someone bigger is able to block impact if you're at the barricade, otherwise it's not gonna be pretty 4) Once you get in the venue, walk briskly, but don't run. The staff will flip out if people are running. I don't want to freak you out, but A LOT of the people at my show were NOT prepared for the kind of experience they got. It surprised me even. Being against the barricade was absolutely stunning, but there is a price to be paid— you're gonna get pushed, pestered, and hurt throughout the entire show by people who are jealous of the fact that you waited all day and earned your view of the stage. Here's a couple pictures from my show so you can get a sense of what the barricade will look like: http://i.imgur.com/mEZkDJV.png (onstage) http://i.imgur.com/Ep2M5Jk.png(onstage) http://i.imgur.com/ebsZUEO.png (onstage) http://i.imgur.com/8Aa8zIl.png (signing stuff at the barricade)

All that said, I got some really good pictures!

That's unfortunately the sad truth. The fact that I was fighting for my dear life seriously hindered being able to enjoy her performance. She was great, but the crowd was overwhelming and SO abusive. After that experience I don't think I'll bother seeing her live again unless it's a seated venue.

It was extremely frustrating. I got really angry with them and I scared a few of them because I was NOT being nice at all. If you have a chance to see her, I'd opt for a seated venue to be honest. The view from the barricade was amazing, but the crowd is beyond violent.

So I was at the Seattle show yesterday on the 27th, and I thought I'd share my experience just to give other people some insight into what they are really getting themselves into at these shows. We showed up at 6am outside the venue and there were already a few people waiting. By 8am, there was a full line that had formed, and the venue staff gave us raffle tickets for being the early birds that guaranteed us first entry into the show, which was really nice. I was in a group of four— myself, my brother, my friend, and my brother's girlfriend. We hung out all day at the show and would leave in groups of two for food and bathroom breaks. By 10am there was a line around the building, and by noon they had herded the line into winding gates, and later formed more lines on the opposite side of the venue doors. By the afternoon it was a zoo there, and one lady told me about an hour or so before the doors opened that the line on our side had extended into three levels of the parking garage across the street. There were A LOT of people there. As far as the tickets went, myself, my brother and his girlfriend all had will-call through Adventures in Wonderland, and my friend had gotten hers through the Ticketmaster presale. The staff kept telling everybody it was a paperless event and that you needed your credit card only to get inside, but they failed to acknowledge the fact that a lot of us had the AIW tickets which were made available to us around 2pm at the box office. Anyway, the AIW tickets were totally valid. Our line got first entry as promised when the doors opened at 6:30pm, and everyone of course ran to the stage against the staff's command. My friend had a hurt knee so we walked as fast as we could and were still able to get a spot up against the barricade. About 20 minutes later we were given the okay to stand, and then shit really got insane. My brother and I secured spots at the barricade and had the two girls in front of us with our arms extended around them so that they wouldn't get crushed against the barricade. I'm going to be honest here— the majority of the crowd was extremely rude. "Feral teenage girls" is the only way I can describe it. Fortunately my brother and I are both over 6 feet tall and weight 200 pounds each, so we were able to hold our ground, but it was a nonstop struggle from the time we stood until the end of the show. It honestly was the worst during the opening act— SO much pushing and shoving. There was a group of girls behind me who were physically assaulting me the entire show— hitting me, pinching my ribcage, kicking the backs of my knees, scratching me, pulling at my hair— it was ridiculous. One girl who looked like she was sixteen told me she was going to stab me if I didn't move. I of course didn't move, and she of course didn't stab me. One girl poured water on me. My point is, people are INSANE at these shows. My friend in Chicago warned me about it and I took her warning lightly, but now that I experienced the show, I cannot imagine being under 5'5" and lasting long on the floor. There were at least 20 girls who I saw get pulled over the barricade and taken out by security; some of them were stone cold passed out, and at one point during the show, cops came in and were arresting people. The large group of girls behind me who were attacking me the whole time did not seem to understand that I was physically pressed against a metal fence with a 5 foot tall person in front of me whom I was trying to protect from getting crushed— they still thought they were entitled and should have been allowed to be where I was standing. Before Lana came on, after the opening act, a security guard told all the guys in the front (myself included) to put our arms out against the bar on the barricade and push our bodies back to keep the girls in front of us safe, which I had to do multiple times throughout the show, and every time I did it all of the girls behind me screamed and acted like I was abusing them. Several of them tried to tell the security to kick us out for pushing back against them, but there was literally no other option— these girls did not seem to understand that our bodies were up against steel and that we were NOT going to move any further. One girl gave me a lot of trouble (the one who was pinching my rib cage) and she kept wedging her arm in-between mine and the guy's next to me on the barricade, and I told her repeatedly to get her arm out because when a pushing wave came she was going to end up with a broken arm, but she refused to listen to me. Luckily, I had a really nice Australian guy to my right who was protecting his girlfriend against the barricade, and to the right of us was a French female college student from Paris who was super friendly and had seen Lana before in Paris last year. I felt bad for her because she was against the barricade as well and people were pushing on her the entire time and she was fighting back. Honestly though, the crowds— mainly teenage girls in flower crowns— need to CHILL out. I waited in line for 14 hours and we EARNED our spot against that barricade. Honestly I felt like 80% of the crowd were a bunch of spoiled high school girls who had gotten tickets through their parents, and they had absolutely no respect for anybody and were horribly entitled. One girl who was attacking me informed me she "knew more of Lana's songs than I did," and that I shouldn't even have been there— goes to show the maturity level/age group of these girls. I'm glad I was able to give them a wake-up call that they can't always get their way, especially when they are going to try to cheat their way to the front and threaten and hurt people to do so. As I said, I had the benefit of being a big guy who could easily handle their attempts at destabilizing me, but it was disturbing how aggressive and pissed off they were. When the show ended, the security guard near us came up to the barricade and gave me a thumbs up and told me I did the right thing by pushing back and holding my ground to protect my friend in front of me, and all of the girls who had spent three and a half hours mauling me scoffed and were appalled. It was a nice affirmation. As far as Lana's show goes, it was of course incredible. She came down to the barricade and took pictures with fans midway through the set, but stopped and turned around literally FEET before us unfortunately. I got some great photos though and did my best to enjoy the music. But, yeah, the show was as insane as I was warned it would be. Worse than punk shows. I've seen Hole live before and the crowd was tamer than this. What it comes down to is that the majority of the crowd was immature, selfish, and incredibly mean-spirited. Beware of that. Unless of course you ARE one of these people, in which case all I have to say to you is: GROW UP. Also: make sure you are hydrated and have eaten something, even if it's light. A lot of these girls were passing out as I said and many of them were pulled over the barricade because they couldn't handle it. One of my friends from college was there on the opposite side with three of her friends, and she told me that two of her friends collapsed one had a panic attack and had to be taken out. I guess my point is, yes, these shows ARE as crazy as people are saying they are, and this is coming from a 23 year old male who has gone to multiple punk and rock shows before and been in moshpits. BE PREPARED PLEASE.

Thanks for the input so much! I'm probably still going to show up at 6am just as a safety measure, and especially since our hotel is right across the street so it's not like it's far away.

Really? I'm from Portland but I've been to a few shows in Seattle over the years (Bumbershoot, at the Moore), though I've never been to the WaMu theater— Bumbershoot was wild, but it's a festival so that was expected. It just seems like Lana's shows are absolutely insane based on what I've heard. My friend in Chicago told me about her horrifying experience seeing Lana there, but then again, Chicago is way bigger than Seattle. I still want to show up early to be on the safe side. Maybe we'll end up being the very first in line(?)

I don't think singing is bad as long as you're not screaming at everyone around you. There are certain artists who I HAVE to sing along with at times when I see them live, and it's usually ones who I'm really enthusiastic about or obsessed with. When I saw Courtney Love last summer I couldn't resist the urge to sing along to some of my favorite songs of hers— I think I sang along with all of "Violet" and a few others, but she encouraged it by putting the mic out toward the audience at times. It's sometimes just a natural reaction, but there is a point where it's so obnoxious that you're distracting those around you from the performer onstage.

I was actually thinking of that. I like being on the sides because you get a full view from an angle and the scope of the view seems to be better. I've been to shows in the past where I was front row to the side and it was a great view to be honest.

Thanks for the responses so far everyone. I plan on getting there around 6am then with coffee in hand, and I'll probably make everyone in my group do the same— it's a collaborative effort. Haha. We'll have to pay for a parking spot in one of the garages for CenturyLink field and then just sit outside the venue. The fact that the hotel is across the street is very nice, although we aren't staying the night of the concert, so we'll be checking out when we leave at 6am or whenever (we're driving back home to Portland after the show). The plus side of it though is just the fact that we'll be so close and be able to see what's going on at the venue. Some of you knew how large the pits were at your shows, but I've never been to this venue before— it's the WaMu theater. I've heard it can hold between 3-7,00 depending on how they set it up. I am glad it's not seated though, I saw Courtney Love in Seattle last summer at the Moore Theater which was seated— NOT conducive to a hard rock show. ALSO— I have another friend who goes to my university who is going to be there as well with some of her friends, but they're coming up to Seattle the day of and won't be there till 10am. They were going to try and meet Lana when she enters the venue, but I'm not sure leaving a spot in line is worth the attempt. Anyone know anything about this? I'm personally not that concerned about meeting her, just want to get a good view and enjoy the music.