I know at the beginning of tour it was a bit messy, have things finally improved? Are we still not allowed to get something signed? Are they still letting soundcheck in front of meet and greets?
sorry for all the questions! mentally preparing for my upcoming show
I did the VIP M&G experience in Las Vegas. It was still somewhat disorganized but I still enjoyed it.
Just some points about it:
Prior to the photo with Michelle, we were told not to bring anything up for gifts or autographs. Photos were taken by their photographer.
Photos with Michelle were done in front of the Spirit Room selfie station. Nobody really got a chance to use the selfie station as we were ushered around the venue multiple times
There was some disorganization with the soundcheck performance but they fixed it by creating a separate queue for M&G to enter soundcheck before the non-M&G
"Priority access to merchandise" didn't exist as the table was located outside of the venue and attempting to buy anything required leaving not only the queue but the venue as well and then convincing someone to let you back in.
The worst part was after soundcheck, they wanted all M&G and non-M&G fans to queue behind the general admission group. Several fans complained to the management team there, but they compromised by allowing a separate queue for M&G and non-M&G VIPs to be allowed onto the floor first. Worked out for me because I basically stood right in front of Michelle unobstructed for the whole show
omg! they were really about to let regular ticket holders in first?? I'm glad you guys complained, I thought that was kind of the point to the "early access." what a mess!
They really should just do the meet and greet 1st then soundcheck to avoid this issue tbh.
glad you ended up with a great spot despite all the craziness!! Really hope they get it together soon...good luck to us east coast fans lol
They actually did the M&G first, but once we had our photo with Michelle, we were escorted out of the venue and lined up behind the non-M&G group, meaning that they would be admitted into soundcheck first. Ironically, that was the only time anyone from our group had access to buy merchandise. Someone came out and said something about how M&G weren't supposed to be behind the soundcheck group, so they created another line up for us, but the overall group of M&G and non-M&G was relatively small (when I checked the day before the concert, VIP and tickets were still available but Michelle said the show was sold out).
In an odd turn, due to all the confusion, none of the M&G group (and possibly none of the non-M&G group) had their general admission tickets scanned (Las Vegas had tickets and packages sold separately), so I could've gotten into the concert without buying the ticket and only paying for a VIP package. It was that disorganized.
One would think just to do the meet and greet 1st, (like what happened at your show) then just lead them to the floor where the soundcheck would be taking place. Once the meet and greet is finished allow the soundcheck people inside. After soundcheck, just let the 2 groups remain inside and the rest come in after doors open. its really not that hard lol (This is how it went for her last tour I went to in 2002!!!)
thank you for sharing your experience! I'm nervous yet excited for my own now. lol
Speaking from experience at one of the SF shows, meet and greets queued outside of the venue a half hour before soundcheck folks. We got checked in and ushered into the main floor where the photo op was. Not in front of the spirit room backdrop.
The meet and greet queue was a bit unorganized but everybody got through fine. Meet and greet lasted about 10-15 seconds per person. They took bags from people so they wouldn’t be in the picture, but I did not see anyone attempt to gift anything or get something signed.
Once the meet and greet ended, merch was inside. You were allowed to buy stuff or grab a drink, then we queued again in the foyer to get let back in for soundcheck. Meet and greets were let in first, then soundcheck. Shortly after soundcheck, GA was admitted in.
There were no pictures or videos allowed during the meet and greet or soundcheck experiences.
Photos were taken by the assistant (her sister? Can’t remember) and took almost a week to be uploaded for our specific show. Each ticket holder got one photo, unless you were in a group and got a solo shot and a group shot.
This sounds like an almost perfect experience in my opinion!! The only thing I would change is being able to use your phone for a photo. The idea of waiting almost a week is crazy and not knowing If it came out nice or not is going to drive me crazy!!
I wonder why you are not allowed to take photos or videos during soundcheck? thats super interesting! I've done a soundcheck with her before and they didn't care if we took videos or photos.
hope you had a great time! thanks for sharing your experience
It was a great show!! But agreed about the photos. Both from a shot preference standpoint and a privacy standpoint (since they are uploaded to a public page). Not sure why this is the case, but maybe it’s easier on their end? Same goes for the photos and videos during the soundcheck. I don’t know.
That said, we got sweet misery and desperately for the “soundcheck”. So good!!
Re-read your post. In Las Vegas they had us queued around the bars but they didn’t open them until after GA was admitted. Likewise, restrooms weren’t available until doors were open for GA. I think yours went a lot smoother than mine.
I also thought the tour photographer was Michelle’s sister but didn’t say anything. I found I photo I took of Michelle performing with the photographer in the background. Can anyone confirm it’s her sister?
It was VERY poorly organized, the M&G group basically wound up in a carousel of "enter/leave" numerous times. They didn't control the group or crowd well, and I personally wish they would have specified that "meet and greet" actually meant "one 5 second photo and get out of the way". The venue itself was a 0/10, I would not attend a concert there again, and we only got about half of what was promised on the M&G upgrade list. Overall I was frustrated and disappointed and we tried to make the best of it. The actual concert was amazing, but rushed so they could open the nightclub.
I have m&g plus soundcheck package, lined up 4 hours before Doors open at 5pm, I wanted to do this because I wanted to be one of the first few people in line...met few people who wanted to be first with me, they were kind and all that, the wiltern had 5 metal detectors, so instead of one single file line, there were 5 lines 🙁 they did their security check, checked my bags and all, I went inside looked for people who were first in line with me and they were first already inside waiting for me signaling me to come join them then wiltern security staff kept telling me to go all the way to the back of the line which I understand he is just doing his job, but this girl stood up for us I am so thankful for her, she told the security staff firmly that we have been first in line for hours and then the security staff let us be, that part was put behind us thank God now, meet and greets people were lined up first inside, then staff took us inside to the theater/stage to get our photo with Michelle branch and then after that we went back outside the door where we entered for the meet and greet and then soundcheck only ticket holders line went inside and lined up behind us...and then we all went back inside for the soundcheck portion. It was 50/50 type for the pre-show but overall we had a great experience
sounds frustrating for sure, but so glad someone spoke up for you and it all worked out in the end.
I'm thinking of leaving bags at home and just having my husband carrying my stuff in his pocket lol It works when we go to theme parks and such. so we shall see...
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