TimmyB Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 from www.billboard.com Edited By Jonathan Cohen. August 17, 2004, 3:20 PM ET Phish Sorting Out Festival Refunds As Phish's career-ending Coventry festival in Vermont is slowly dismantled in the mud, producers are unraveling the impact of torrential rain preceding the concert that vastly impacted the band's final fest. After state police closed highways leading to the festival on Friday, some fans walked miles to the festival grounds, while others simply turned back. "We're still sorting it out, but we estimate about 65,000 people were here on the grounds," says Dave Werlin, president of Great Northeast Productions, promoter of record for Coventry and all previous Phish festivals. "We're trying to understand how many people we'll have to offer refunds to." Detailed refund information was posted on the Phish Web site today (Aug. 17). "When people normally come in [to a Phish festival], they present their ticket, it's torn and they get a wristband, but this was far from normal," Werlin continues. "People came walking in from every direction. Most walked in and found their way to the box office and exchanged their ticket for a wristband and then found their way back to the stage." Clearly, though, many Phish-heads entered without their tickets ever being torn. And then there are those that never made it in at all. Werlin says doesn't expect many fans that actually attended the concert to try and get a refund. "We believe in the basic decency of Phish fans and think that will be a non-issue," he says. "But we're still trying to get our hands around how many refunds there will be. Several thousand, anyway." Werlin stresses that it was not the band, management or producers who made the decision to turn fans away, but rather Vermont state police. "To us this was a frustrating decision because it was not our call," he offers. "It was not our desire to do things this way, but it became a public safety issue." As it stands, Coventry will end up grossing about $10 million, up from $8.25 million from the band's It festival last year. And Werlin has no regrets about the band's final performance. "We were blessed with clear skies on Saturday and decent weather on Sunday," he says. "The band played incredibly well, production was great, the sound was great, and there was a real emotional interaction with the fans." -- Ray Waddell, Nashville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyB Posted August 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 from www.phish.com COVENTRY REFUNDS 08.17.04 To obtain full, face value refunds plus all convenience/service fees (excluding shipping) please send via US Mail un-ripped, original COVENTRY tickets (with the stub still attached) to the ticket company that you originally purchased the ticket(s) from (either Phish Tickets or Ticketmaster). If you purchased from Phish Tickets, send your unripped ticket(s) to: Phish Tickets ATTN: Customer Service PO Box 1911 Charlottesville, VA 22903 If you purchased from Ticketmaster, send your unripped ticket(s) to: Customer Service 4445 Corporation Lane Virginia Beach, VA 23462 If your ticket(s) were left at WILL CALL by Phish Tickets or Ticketmaster and were never picked up, you will receive a full refund including all convenience/service fees (excluding shipping) – you don’t need to contact us, the refund will be issued automatically. YAHOO AUCTION WINNERS please contact this e-mail address for further information: wwauctioninfo@phish.com If you’d like your ticket(s) back (without the stub), just include a self-addressed, stamped envelope when you request your refund. Please expect your refund to appear on your credit card statement within 3-4 weeks from the time you mail in your ticket(s). If you placed your order with Phish Tickets you will receive a confirmation e-mail acknowledging that your refund has been processed. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience. If you have additional questions that are not answered here please contact us at coventryrefunds@phish.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyB Posted August 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 Quote from FreekerByTheSpeaker, "I for one do think that everyone that bought a ticket to Coventry, in or not, should be refunded. That way no one can complain about anything, Phish has enough money to do it and it would forever solidify them in everyone's heart as the great benevolent entity they are. I love you Phish, I miss you already." I agree with you FreekerByTheSpeaker, though it doesn't look like that is going to happen, as the above post states. I miss Phish already too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 Why should they refund tickets to those who got to see the show?They did have more then 75% expected attendence or is it because some fans don't find 21 years of great music enough and expect more from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewRider Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 they should refund those who didn't get IN esau! If I had paid over $200 to go and didn't see anything then I would expect a refund! Now because they can't tell who got in and who didn't is their own fault, that's their own problem. Maybe they shouldn't have had the State Police lie to the fans, maybe they should have run things differently... I don't know, I'm not a concert promoter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewRider Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 All I know is there are some people who sold their tickets on ebay that must be PRETTY HAPPY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 they should refund those who didn't get IN esau! If I had paid over $200 to go and didn't see anything then I would expect a refund! Now because they can't tell who got in and who didn't is their own fault, that's their own problem. Maybe they shouldn't have had the State Police lie to the fans, maybe they should have run things differently... I don't know, I'm not a concert promoter. Hey A-RON, What lies were told? Read the first line in my post. Why should they refund tickets to those who got to see the show ?They did have more then 75% expected attendence or is it because some fans don't find 21 years of great music enough and expect more from them. Helps to read the post brother... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuckholes Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Jesus christ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyB Posted August 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Dear Friends: The Saturday Coventry show is now available for download at livephish.com: Phish 8/14/04 COVENTRY, Coventry, VT http://www.livephish.com/show.asp?show=346 SET ONE Walls Of The Cave (16:00) Runaway Jim (12:17) Gotta Jibboo (16:14) You Enjoy Myself (19:08) Sample in a Jar (4:34) Axilla I (3:30) Poor Heart (2:17) Run Like an Antelope (13:30) Fire (8:22) SET TWO AC/DC Bag (21:02) 46 Days (3:55) Halley's Comet (8:47) Ya Mar (7:06) David Bowie (17:32) Character Zero (9:33) SET THREE Twist (17:06) The Wedge (5:51) Stash (20:16) Free (15:01) Guyute (10:31) Drowned (4:13) Coventry Jam (21:54) Friday (8:16) ENCORE Harry Hood (21:41) TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM LIVEPHISH.COM MAILINGS: Please visit the link below, enter your email address, and select unsubscribe from the support pulldown menu. http://www.livephish.com/support Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewRider Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 The state police had told people you COULDN'T walk in, you WOULDN'T be let in. Considering people WERE let in I'm assuming that is what you would call a lie. The police and promoters didn't want to deal with an extra mess, not that I blame them. BUT, the fans were willing to deal with A WHOLE BIG MESS in order to see the band and I think it's great that people like Velvet said "fu©k it" and walked in. Obviously people that did walk in and didn't have their ticket ripped shouldn't go seeking a refund but that's the promoters fault, they should have had things organized better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 The state police had told people you COULDN'T walk in, you WOULDN'T be let in. Considering people WERE let in I'm assuming that is what you would call a lie. The police and promoters didn't want to deal with an extra mess, not that I blame them. BUT, the fans were willing to deal with A WHOLE BIG MESS in order to see the band and I think it's great that people like Velvet said "fu©k it" and walked in. Obviously people that did walk in and didn't have their ticket ripped shouldn't go seeking a refund but that's the promoters fault, they should have had things organized better. You should do some more reading Newrider. That was quickly changed ( and annouced),unfortunatley,by that time alot of folks had left.At first they were not allowing anyone to walk in,but then changed their minds after Phish persuaded them to allow it. Read the reviews my friend,you'll see,many people have mentioned the exact same thing about the change of mind. No need for caps I can read just fine and am not an idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Really? Did they eventually announce that walking in was okay? When? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewRider Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Sorry Esau, it's been a long week. Don't mean to take it out on anyone here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Really? Did they eventually announce that walking in was okay? When? All I read was someone saying they were driving away after being turned back and heard on the radio that mass amounts of people were walkng in regardless of what the state police said and that they were allowing it now and not turning those people (walking) away.I imagine those who were walking would have missed that.This is merely what I have read online,so who knows perhaps those people were lying...edit to add:ps.They state police didn't stop anyone who was walking or ticket cars parked on the service lane etc etc...seems if they didn't allow it they would have stopped sombody from doing it wouldn't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blane Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 What was said is that fans were "actively discouraged" from coming in on foot. We took this to be a green light for hoofing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PassedOutGuy Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Hey Blane, It was really good to see ya there brother... very sorry about the ride out situation as we never even made it through Montreal til after 6... and that was with gettin our car out of the mud around 10 am and onto the runway... Good to hear you were able to make other arramgements... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 What was said is that fans were "actively discouraged" from coming in on foot. We took this to be a green light for hoofing it. Thanks Blane,I wasn't there so as mentioned I was going by what I read. On another note... That doesn't sound like a "lie" from the police to me at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 My guess is the report they heard was from another radio station (not the Bunny). No worries POG, we got Blane to the plane easy as pie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 No worries POG, we got Blane to the plane easy as pie. Mud pie? Aloha, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak By Night Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 I distinctly heard The Bunny saying that walking into the show was "discouraged". I took that as a challenge! My buddy and I contemplated renting a canoe and canoeing in on the little river, but I'm glad we drove into town, parked for free, and got a free ride into the show! Things worked out well for us. When I was setting up my tent, I realized that people weren't the problem, cars were. FBN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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