My friends and I started falling in line for the Paramore show at 12 NN to make sure we have the best view during the show. After all, we already paid 10,000 pesos for our tickets. We didn't want to take a chance. One bouncer allowed us to go around the venue, and we were very happy to see the VIP area that could fit around 100-200 people really near the stage. "It was worth it!" - or so we thought.
At around 6 PM, they finally let us in. We were among the first ones to enter because we were the first ones to fall in line in the VIP section of the venue. We ran towards the stage, and got confused because the VIP area previously located in front of the stage was now gone. It was just one big area that could fit thousands of people. Then we started hearing people saying "How come we are in the VIP area?" THEY GOT THE VIP AND GOLD SECTION MIXED UP. In short, the people who paid 10,000 pesos and people who paid 3,950 for their tickets were located in the SAME AREA. Some of the VIP ticket holders were even behind the Gold ticket holders. In short, we paid roughly 6,000 pesos more for practically nothing. We felt robbed.
So, we started making phonecalls. We called Royd Tan, the one who sold us the tickets. However, he said that he can't do anything about this situation and gave us someone's cellphone number. We tried calling the number but her cellphone was turned off. Then we called Charlamagne Lim, the producer of Little Asia. We were asking why this mix up happened and we demanded for a refund. According to Charlamagne, the management of Paramore decided to change the seatplan last minute for "safety reasons," and they couldn't do anything about it. They moved the VIP section to the back of the Gold section.
He had many suggestions:
1. Move to the VIP section behind the gold section
2. Ask for more security for the VIP/gold area
3. Get "free" autographed posters from Paramore
4. Give us a meet-and-greet for the next concert he is going to handle.
Well firstly,we obviously do not want to move to the new VIP section that is behind the gold section. We bought the VIP tickets not because of added security, but because it is closest to the stage. Second, we do not want autographed posters of Paramore in exchange of the 6,000 pesos we shelled out. I told him that I could just get that on e-bay. The essence of getting an autograph after all, is the fact that YOU were the one who was able to get the autograph. And last, we don't want to meet and greet some random band we might not even like.
This is the official statement of Charlamagne Lim:
"First of all, I wanna apologize for what happened last night. We didn't want that to happen, the Paramore management and security decided a few hours before the show started to move the VIP section further back for the safety of the band and for their security reasons. We were against it and we didn't agree, but they told us that the show won't push thru if we won't listen to them. We had no choice but to comply. I know you guys want a refund, so we talked to their management again, unfortunately they didn't agree as we expected. What can we do is to compensate all our VIP buyers only.
We made a deal with Paramore's management and they will give all our VIP buyers an Official Paramore autographed picture and it will be personalized. It will arrive end of this week or next week, because it will come from the USA and they will just ship it here. Also, we will give you the Official Paramore Concert T-shirt in the Philippines. the shirt was never on sale but was used during the concert last night, so the people who will have this are all VIP Buyers only and that's YOU!
Wear it with pride :) to my customers, pls txt me the names of your autographed pictures and sizes of your shirts. Pls. include the gender because it will be a baby tee for the girls and shirts for the guys. To my good friend Royd's customers, pls contact him directly and I'm gonna talk with him with all the VIP tickets that he sold. I will make sure that all his customers will get them.
Again, we want to apologize for what happened, we are so sorry and humiliated for what happened. Hope you understand what happened last night was beyond our control and jurisdiction, last night was a LESSON on our part. We will make sure that it will never happen again. We will include that on our contract next time.
Pls. forward this message to all the VIP buyers only. Hoping for your understanding and kind consideration."
I'm sorry but I'm not about to agree that my 6,000 pesos will go to an autographed picture and a t-shirt. Let's get real, folks. 6,000 pesos is a LOT especially for a student like me. I will not be wearing that T-shirt with pride, because IF I agree to this and wear this t-shirt, I will be constantly reminded of the 6,000 pesos that was practically stolen from me. And oh, if it really was out of your control, then how can you ensure the future audience of your productions that it won't happen again? There were internal problems and we were the ones who suffered. We demand for a refund!!
P.S. VIP ticket holders, please post your experience on the comment section!!
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