A Tale Of Two Bands

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The best of times were when the latest Pearl Jam album arrived in my mailbox from the Ten Club 5 days before it was dropping in the record stores. Not only was it early, but the packaging was better than the store-bought version and for a little more (maybe $5-$7) I received a CD from Pearl Jam's 1992 New Year's Eve show in NYC containing an early of version of them doing "Sonic Reducer" and rarity "Speed Wash." Two months ago, when tickets for their latest tour went on sale, I was able to login from the computer room in the Bellagio vicinity Las Vegas. They went on sale at 10:00 PST, but Vegas being Vegas, I was still struggling with the repercussions of the previous night's activity. At any rate. I logged in, hit ADD TO CART for 2 tickets to PJ's DC show at the Verizon Center, waited patiently for an Internet page to refresh with the confirmation, and got the fuck out of Dodge.

Fast forward to this week and we are witnessing Top experience the worst of times. A Frusciante freak like myself, Top ordered the STADIUM ARCADIUM Limited Edition Black Box when it first became available. He is still waiting for it. In fact, he canceled his order this morning, but isn't sure that it will go through because they sent him a cryptic e-mail that said it takes 3 days to process such matters. This is bullshit. Not to mention the failure of either the band, Apple, or a combination of the two to make their promotion of the CD (in combination with a ticket pre-sale) come to successful fruition. Additionally, I have never had a more annoying experience purchasing tickets than the one that I had with the RHCP Fan Club pre-sale. You had to log in, click on tickets for your respective show (new browser, waiting, slow refresh), then get to the next page where you received a code (you had to write this down, or get it from you e-mail account) and a link to buy the tickets (another browser, waiting, slow refresh). When I finally arrived at this link (JK was already calling to tell me that I had Radiohead tickets which went on sale at the exact same time) I had to enter the code and my credit card information. Here's the catch: the code didn't work the first time. Or the second time. Or the third time. At this point, you know my psycho ass is going to keep trying until my mouse shatters in my death grip. All the while I am looking at floor seats that I am oh so close to getting. On the fourth try I got through. I was ready to explode.

It is obviously far worse for the people that pre-ordered the album with the thought that they would receive an opportunity to buy tickets to RHCP shows before the general public on May 13th. Ticket sales being what they are these days, this was a great promotional idea that sadly, failed miserably. Those fans, along with Top sans Black Box, are dealing with a band that is nowhere near the expertise of a band like Pearl Jam when it comes to band-fan relationships and management of a fan club.

While Pearl Jam has thrived and fed off of their interaction with their fan club, RHCP has had commercial success to the point that their fan club hasn't taken the same shape as the Ten Club. The Ten Club has emerged as one of the premiere fan clubs. One that strives to deliver what the fans want, and when they fuck up, they are quick to correct themselves, remedy the situation as best they can, and move on. The fact that Top is dealing with an automated response right now speaks volumes on the state of the RHCP Fan Club and their inability to deal with a rush when they had ample time to plan for it.