trev1
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 101
|
Post by trev1 on Aug 29, 2012 13:24:16 GMT
OK, let me state firstly that I really enjoyed the weekend more than ever before, mainly due to the people I met and the quality of some of the bands. But once the Matthew Street Festival outdoor stages were cancelled , some of the best bands were transferred to the Adelphi Hotel. HOWEVER when I got to the entrance the bouncers would not let me in saying that it was availble to punters with the WRIST BAND only. This was an xplicit instruction from CAVERN CITY TOURS, beatle week organisers. To cut a long story short, after arguing with the bouncers for 10 minutes, I realised I was not getting in, which was extremely dissapointing for a huge Beatles fan like myself. For the first few Beatle weeks I booked it as part of a PACKAGE. However I soon realised that the prices of these packages are much much more expensive than actaully buying the tickets for the events seperately and looking after my accomodation myself. I am struggling to make ends meet in the current economic climate and it cost quite a lost of money to come over from Ireland. I stayed in the Lord Nelson hotel which is excellent due to it's location (5 mins walk from the adelphi, friendly staff, spotlessly clean rooms and a bar that is open 24x7 - yes i even managed a night-cap after the adelphi all nighter!). I worked out that it was about 30% more expensive to book a package and thus be a lucky ducky and obtain one of those precious wrist bands. The priceof the packages do not make sense ! It seems that CCT have not taken into account that current econonic climate. Basically on average people have less money but the prices are still very expensive. Like isn't the whole 'point' of the 'package' to provide 'value' and make it LESS expensive overall and not more?. It's gotten to the stage where i feel CCT are just manipulating and taking advantage of & exploiting us bealtes fans. While I was talking to the adelphi bouncers, I asked to speak to a respresentative of CCTs. But he informed me what they were unavilable today. I tried calling them but a talking voice informed me to call back the next day. Jesus , like in all fairness the Monday at the Matthew Street Festival should be the one day that a rep (or reps) from CCTs should be avialable to assist bealte fans, many of which come from other countries. The ironic thing is all other days they had a table to asnwer any beatle fans questions just inside the door of the adelphi.... By the way, I was willing to pay a small fee on the door for entrance to the bands that Monday afternoon. That would have seemed fair to me. Ok, the people with wrist bands get in for free , but for those who have not (which were many , in the 10 minutes I was there I seen at least a dozen dissapointed beatle fans been turned away just like myself) to pay 5 quid or something like that. From what I was told inside the adelphi was only 2/5 to 1/2 full.
|
|
monty
What Goes On In Your Heart
Posts: 51
|
Post by monty on Aug 30, 2012 9:16:28 GMT
Completely agree. That decision made on Monday was a disgrace. Why should Beatle fans who live locally or have arranged alternate accommodation be exempt? I hated the Cavern on Monday. It was too busy and attracted people who clearly were not real fans. I felt sorry for one Japanese fan. Some scumbag kept barging through everyone, supposedly enjoying himself but it looked like he was looking for trouble. Rough as toast. And ge kept doing it to this guy. I hate locals who put my home city in a bad light. I wanted to go with the fans to see the best bands. But no. I didn't have a wristband. Two years ago I got a package just to get the full experience. And I only live a couple of miles away. It seems if that if you want to be a part of Beatle week, that's what you have to do.
|
|
alix
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 340
|
Post by alix on Aug 30, 2012 10:32:45 GMT
Making it wrist band only was the easiest way for them to keep out the riff raff who may well have been just looking for trouble - like the guy you saw in the Cavern.
It's a shame that it then excludes genuiune people like you too. But if they'd put a pricing structure in place.... how would people have taken that?
Also possibly the 'private party' (wristband) element may have been an Adelphi stipulation due to staffing - they would have been planning a quiet day as BWers not due in until after midnight that day and we'd taken over the place for god knows how many hours on sunday so how many staff did they have available?
I think the issue shouldn't be about wristband only events but making it possible for people to buy ticket only packages as well as full hotel & ticket packages.
(& yeah i'm still wearing my wristband)
|
|
trev1
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 101
|
Post by trev1 on Aug 30, 2012 11:15:02 GMT
Monty I must have missed you down in the Cavern that Monday afternoon. I watched Johnny & The Moondogs and they were very good. I did see one or two rough looking lads hanging around alright. But I only stayed there for an hour due to the heat.
On another note, even though most liverpool people are great, i had to walk past Lime Street Station on the way back to the hotel from the adelphi on the Sunday, and it really was like the sess-pit of humanity, I was astounded by how many drunken people there were, young and old and most of them wearing liverpool jerseys, people throwing cans around and getting sick on the street, along with half a dozen police cars and vans at the ready, ....it was such a bad vibe. I picked up the pace of my walking big time !
|
|
|
Post by carolbscotland on Aug 30, 2012 12:18:49 GMT
I have to agree with some points raised in this. Trev - Ive been going for 8 years and have always bought a package, as i felt having the wristbands and tickets all included gave you more options. The last couple of years we have not been going to the Phil shows (which are priced at about £20 each) The Adelphi party tickets are about £15 and so is the sunday convention ticket.
The full package my sister and i pay for means CCT get around £1000 or more just from us two! And really most of it is just a waste (for us anyway) Next year we are going to book an apartment and buy our tickets seperately. This way we will save a couple of hundred pounds each. More drinking money!
|
|
|
Post by The End on Aug 30, 2012 13:28:57 GMT
My biggest gripe was with the way Mathew Street Festival was cancelled and moved to the Adelphi. I only found out about the cancellation after someone kindly left a handwritten note on our front door, which I posted a picture of on the Beatle Week (official?) Facebook page asking "is this true?". No one one replied saying it had moved to the Adelphi - but fair enough, if it's not an official CCT-affiliated group they shouldn't have to. BUT, as someone who had spent nearly £500 on a package, and as a gold wristband wearer, couldn't the change have been communicated at least via email? My two other gold wristband-wearing friends and I spent the afternoon around Albert Dock instead, completely oblivious to the fact that the bands were playing the Adelphi. I only found out much later that night (I think it was Trevor that mentioned it). The fact that our afternoon was highly enjoyable is a moot point - luckily we DID enjoy it otherwise this rant would be 5 pages long!!I think everyone knows my love of the Overtures (sorry Si!) and to find out I had missed them playing the Adelphi was absolutely gutting! Cavern City Tours has the email address of every wristband holder and, in this day and age, there are a plethora of other ways and means of communicating these things - why weren't they used? On a side note, it does seem to be only my friends and I that didn't know about it!!! LOL!! Rant over To CarolB - I agree 100%, I rarely go to the "sit down" gigs either - for me they are completely lacking in atmosphere. In fact, in the end, although it wasn't planned this way, we didn't go to any of them this year. I wish there was an option to knock the theatre tickets off of the package to make it cheaper! On to 2013..... AL
|
|
nagai
And That's A Start
Posts: 23
|
Post by nagai on Aug 30, 2012 13:46:05 GMT
I only found out that the outdoor gigs had been moved to the Adelphi at 2am on the Tuesday morning, after waiting in the ballroom for Gleison Tulio to come on, but he had been replaced by Hocus Pocus, as Gleison had already played in teh afternoon.
Yes, it was a badly managed change of venue, I'll bet there are a lot of people like myself that missed many of the bands that they wanted to see.
|
|
alix
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 340
|
Post by alix on Aug 30, 2012 14:18:55 GMT
Me and my room mate only found out at 3pm what was happening in the Adelphi coz i luckily happened to check Facebook for something else at that point and found the Overtures post about them playing at 3.30pm.(which was more the time Ringer started)
|
|
|
Post by heybulldog on Aug 30, 2012 14:58:43 GMT
Totally agree that the ad hoc organised gigs at the Adelphi on Monday Afternoon were a complete fiasco. I didn't leave for the street festival until quite late. CCT could have stuck a notice on the doors of the Apollo Court alerting everyone to the fact that there was something being put together for the Adelphi. They only bothered to do this for those staying at the Adelphi itself. But without any prompting from CCT how were you going for find out what was going on. Would have loved to have seen the Overtures too.
|
|
|
Post by carolbscotland on Aug 30, 2012 16:14:36 GMT
We only found out by checking facebook and seeing the official Overtures page, they posted that they were playing the Adelphi. We tried to spread the word to as many people as we could, by posting in the FB Beatleweek page. Oh what would the world do without FB? CCt did nothing to alert us.
|
|
|
Post by The Sun King on Aug 30, 2012 22:25:41 GMT
yes I fully agree CCtours are like a mafia run outfit. Burly bouncers on doors at Adelphi it was like police state.They could do with some competition they seem to have it all sewn up
|
|
alix
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 340
|
Post by alix on Sept 2, 2012 0:08:19 GMT
At least CCT did something - they are only partly responcible for MSF. Liverpool Council have a stake and other parties too. What did the other interested parties do except go "sorry it's off outside but the bars are all still going" in fact look at the brochure issuu.com/ihughes007/docs/mst/1 thier name does not appear in it. Sure it started as Bill's baby but as it grew they passed it onto others to manage while they concentrated on BW and the Cavern Club & Pub The MSF has never been pulled completely at the last minute like that before, they've got no precident for how to deal with it. Lack of help desks, and unavailability on the phones may have been down to staff collapsing in corners having been racing round like headless chickens for a few hours and checking on the situ down Mathew Street. Perhaps signage had been sent to Apollo Court which the never present staff were meant to have been posting? Unless CCT had a member of staff staying on site (most of their team were either at Newton this year or maybe Adelphi) they'd no way of access unless ther was someone at reception ( a rare thing!!!!!!!) NOW the Apollo Court's a bunch who don't give a shit about us BWer's - even the Adelphi care more and in the past they've been nortorious for looking down on us.
|
|
|
Post by heybulldog on Sept 2, 2012 18:37:04 GMT
"NOW the Apollo Court's a bunch who don't give a shit about us BWer's - even the Adelphi care more and in the past they've been nortorious for looking down on us."
Do tend to agree that the customer service at the accommodation venues could be a whole lot better.
Thing is I don't get it "Beatleweek" must be the Adelphi's single biggest earner for the whole year, you would have thought they would much more appreciative of the custom instead of more or less taking the beatleweek guest for granted.
|
|
alix
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 340
|
Post by alix on Sept 3, 2012 14:18:33 GMT
"NOW the Apollo Court's a bunch who don't give a shit about us BWer's - even the Adelphi care more and in the past they've been nortorious for looking down on us."Do tend to agree that the customer service at the accommodation venues could be a whole lot better. Thing is I don't get it "Beatleweek" must be the Adelphi's single biggest earner for the whole year, you would have thought they would much more appreciative of the custom instead of more or less taking the beatleweek guest for granted. Back in 1997 BW was officailly the Adelphi's second biggest event of the year financially - only beaten by the Grand National. Since Eileen's gone things have been a lot better at the Adelphi - the management didn't realise Bill was joking Sunday night about all going to Brazil next year and paniced!
|
|