desertrose Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Tour Life: Ben Packard – VIP Coordinator for Green Day Tour Life is my favorite new Stars and Scars section because it allows us to give the spotlight to some incredible men and women who offer an inside look into their world – and it’s grown to the point that people are talking! The music industry, while perceived as vast, is very interconnected. It’s been a pleasure to receive emails from biz veterans like Ben Packard who are interested in being featured – and we are happy to oblige! Ben‘s inspiring story includes building up his touring resume at a young age and currently working with Green Day as their VIP Coordinator. His humble, positive spirit has no doubt left an impression on his peers, and we are thrilled to learn more about this multi-talented dude! http://starsandscars.com/tour-life-ben-packard-vip-coordinator-for-green-day/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacejunkie punk Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 That's really cool. I didn't even know that was one person's job but I guess someone has to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizziebix Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Very interesting article. Great find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strychnine. Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 So this is the guy we can blame for the bullshit VIP package? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNICORN VOMIT Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 3 minutes ago, Strychnine. said: So this is the guy we can blame for the bullshit VIP package? To be fair I think he was late to the party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solongfromthestars Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 @Dirty Rotten Bastard pretty sure we are the fans camping out in the snow #GoPackGo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Rotten Bastard Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 7 hours ago, Strychnine. said: So this is the guy we can blame for the bullshit VIP package? Noo, I've spoke to him a few times and he's so lovely. He didnt set the VIP package up - he just works for it after it was established. 58 minutes ago, Maria Gloria said: @Dirty Rotten Bastard pretty sure we are the fans camping out in the snow #GoPackGo I read this last night and thought 'that has to be us in Green Bay!' I loved what he was saying about how he was surprised by Green Day fans - I remember in Deroit when he asked if I'd come all the way from England he couldn't get over it, and I was just like...it's not that big of a deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerjeezus Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 I liked the interview and the manager seems very nice. But the VIP package still sucks and I wholeheartedly hope the first time is the last time in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacejunkie punk Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 I'm surprised they even do a VIP package. There's something very elitist about it. It doesn't seem to be what GD are about. I'm glad they don't do VIP meet and greets like a lot of bands because those bother me even more. Why would they want to parade themselves for only the richest fans? It seems to go against everything they and the East Bay punk culture stands for. Please guys, don't ever do it, but while you're at it, lose the whole VIP thing for the same reason. Every Idiot is a VIP not just those with money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strychnine. Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 2 hours ago, Dirty Rotten Bastard said: Noo, I've spoke to him a few times and he's so lovely. He didnt set the VIP package up - he just works for it after it was established. Alright, then I've got no hate towards him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero_Of_The_Hour Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 1 hour ago, pacejunkie punk said: I'm surprised they even do a VIP package. There's something very elitist about it. It doesn't seem to be what GD are about. I'm glad they don't do VIP meet and greets like a lot of bands because those bother me even more. Why would they want to parade themselves for only the richest fans? It seems to go against everything they and the East Bay punk culture stands for. Please guys, don't ever do it, but while you're at it, lose the whole VIP thing for the same reason. Every Idiot is a VIP not just those with money. It's just as bad to charge the same money other bands do for a meet and greet for access to the front of the venue and a sandwich. It's elitist without the "effort" of having to meet the richest fans. It still gives the richest fans priority over poorer fans etc and goes against everything the East Bay punk culture stands for though obviously not what they stand for anymore. I'm beyond glad it didn't happen in Europe, we were all equal here. As it should always be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermione Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 2 hours ago, pacejunkie punk said: I'm surprised they even do a VIP package. There's something very elitist about it. It doesn't seem to be what GD are about. I'm glad they don't do VIP meet and greets like a lot of bands because those bother me even more. Why would they want to parade themselves for only the richest fans? It seems to go against everything they and the East Bay punk culture stands for. Please guys, don't ever do it, but while you're at it, lose the whole VIP thing for the same reason. Every Idiot is a VIP not just those with money. I guess the reality is their people say to them this is how we're going to have to do the tickets this time and they just sign off on it, it's not like they're sitting down and working it all out themselves. The thing is their regular tickets are very reasonably priced compared to a lot of other bands of their stature or who put on shows as elaborate as theirs, and on the 21st CB tour that was to the point that they lost money on it. At the end of the day the shows have to be profitable and it's a delicate balance to achieve that, could be that selling a limited number of these VIP tickets is a way of keeping the price of the regular tickets reasonable while still being able to put on the same quality of show and make a profit. It could be much worse, it could be that the whole of the front area is VIP only or they could charge loads more for regular tickets. As it is it's still totally possible for regular ticket holders to be at the front and regular tickets are still affordable so I don't think they're doing things too badly. The "VIP" package itself is a rip off (it's really the people who've paid for that who've been hard done by ) and I would prefer if they didn't have to do it, but as long as I can still afford to see them and get near the front I can accept it if it's necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thatsername Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 3 hours ago, pacejunkie punk said: I'm surprised they even do a VIP package. There's something very elitist about it. It doesn't seem to be what GD are about. I'm glad they don't do VIP meet and greets like a lot of bands because those bother me even more. I was once asked why Green Day never offers meet and greets like many other bands, and I said: "Well, they do! There's a meet and greet three times a night at every show when they pull fans on stage." And I love that about them because we all have the same chance to be the lucky chosen one, no matter if rich or poor. But I also think @Hermione is right and we can't complain too much about the VIP package thing, I mean, of course they suck, but it's not like the whole front area is VIP only or something. And if some sold VIP packages lower the price for the standard tickets, then I'm fine with it. Maybe that's even the reason why they offer it at all, to keep the price for the other tickets as reasonable as possible. Green Day don't rip off their fans, it's not like everyone's forced to buy a VIP ticket to be close to them and/or to be called up on stage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacejunkie punk Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 If the rationale behind it is to keep prices lower for most people then I'm fine with it, just as long as there was some rationale that the band were a part of as opposed to thinking they just blindly signed off on someone else's idea or went along because that's just the way things are done now. I like to think they have more of a hand in these decisions like they used to when they controlled ticket prices very deliberately. They have a huge crew to pay and everything's a trade off I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacejunkie punk Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Wow. Never said they didn't care, or that they didn't deserve to make money and I wasn't trying to hold them to any standard. The comment I made was more about the nature of these VIP packages in general and wondering why they were even a thing when they seem to only cater to the fans with the disposable income. Green Day may be far removed from the Berkeley scene but they are still very sympathetic on issues of income inequality and social injustice. I just find that to be incompatible with VIP anything. But as it was pointed out already that this could be to keep general ticket prices low, I said I was fine with that. So calm down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero_Of_The_Hour Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 5 hours ago, crock6000 said: Look, the VIP packages are a way for them to make the money that they lose by charging less than most bands for their primary tickets, instead of taking those group of seats that make up the $450 VIP packages. If they didn't do that, they would charge more than the whatever amount the primary tickets go for. I'm actually surprised on this toor, the secondary market isn't more nut when you sell a ticket for $69 and see it sold on stubhub or Jiffy or any of the European secondary markets, there becomes a time when you say "Man, they are being sold for that much anyway, that's our money, we earned that" and they sure fucking have. They have been touring forever and they have been producing great music since the beginning and to grips because they decided to make some of that secondary money and to begrudge them for it is a slap in the face if you ask me. Also, to the @pacejunkie punk, you guys need to ALL stop with the East Bay punk scene moral thing. They are grown ass men (well into 40s) and those days are long gone. That they even still acknowledge it, because it is ingrained in their fiber because they became musicians and still give respect to the scene from which they spawned doesn't mean that they have to follow their 17 year old or even 27 year old ideologies. I mean do you guys really think that the kids that used to party with them are all, if barely any are still "punk". I just recently had this discussion with an old man, I'll leave nameless that was there for all of it and we had this actual discussion and they are not. Most of them have families and jobs and all the things that are necessary to live. They sit at computers all day, lay construction, own businesses and became millionaires, manage McDonalds, yet nobody bothers these guys. The generation of kids today have parents that were PLUR Ravers (before it was EDM), their parents before them were hippies (peace man, response to the Nixon/Vietnam war) and that's just the way life is. When you are a kid, you are full of morals, beliefs and you swear you will hold on to these forever. Most kids are liberal, many become conservative. You don't know anything about life until you've lives now and as an older man that most around here, I can tell you every time I hear about Green Day not adhering to the punk East Bay morals of yesteryear, I smirk and can't believe I'm still reading that on this board. Green Day could charge more for their primary tickets and have inched it up a little and if that keeps them touring, I'm fine with that. And if hey want to charge $450 and it sells so they can recoup some of their secondary money without spreading it to everyone but those who can afford it, I am okay with that too. If you're not, then to me you're just being selfish as Green Day owes us nothing and to judge them for their business decisions because of their teenage morals is frankly goofy. That they still even acknowledge it (although less and less) is a throw to how committed they are. Let us not forget they through a benefit concert to the warehouse fire families just recently. They care. Here is a great bit about George Carlin (while complaint) so it's George Carlin entertaining, talking mostly about your grandparents if your Gen Y or somewhere between Gen Y and Gen Xl, but the baby boomers (the children of the post WWII boom, people came home from the war and had a lot of sex and there was a massive increase the US population because of it and cheese "love children" or "hippies" and the Summer of Love type people was just another subculture like the East Bay Punk Scene and here is George Carlin blaming them for changing their ways. It sort of goes against everything I've said here but it just shows that it's now always a life decision to have you childhood ideologies although in all sincerity, Green Day and especially Tre and Billie, still carry it with them more than most but they are not 17 anymore and it's not fair to apply it to them to the fullest. They are entitled to the fruits of their labor and they don't pass on the value of their tickets to their fans and for that you should be grateful. They could sell out arenas at a higher price. For the Millenials, a little Rollins to set you straight. George Carlin on hippies losing their values (his rant is valid and you can't say the same about GD: Where to begin. How about with the fact that GD's tickets are not insanely cheap. Not by any stretch. U2 had cheaper tickets for their gig here the other night. That being a massive sold out hometown gig in Dublin. They're kind of a big deal you know. It's a laughable argument that they need to do this to break even, make any decent profit or make tickets affordable. I feel you are going to deeply regret how confident you are that "the kids that used to party with them are all, if barely any are still "punk". Most of them have families and jobs and all the things that are necessary to live. They sit at computers all day, lay construction, own businesses and became millionaires, manage McDonalds, yet nobody bothers these guys." When Turn It Around is released. Clearly you are not familiar with the ongoing involvement most in the East Bay punk scene have had both in fostering new punk movement and in their own lives. Many continue to be involved in bands, are artists, writers and are involved in community projects and Gilman. I could go on for hours but I'm not bothered. Anyone who knows or cares about East Bay punk knows your post is ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaslight13 Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Henry Rollins nails it. George Carlin too. Although Green Day are gen X not baby boomers and baby boomers are the parents of gen y/boarderline gen x, not grandparents. I know I'm being nit picky, I just have a thing about generational divisions. Anyway, Green Day tix are RIDICULOUSLY cheap. Like stupid cheap. Like I thought Pearl Jam had the cheapest tickets of a highly successful arena band but Green Day beat them. I think VIP packages are a cool idea in theory but tricky to do without screwing some fans over. A much smaller band that I'm a fan of tried it and got all kinds of backlash for the early entry component. They didn't realize that that would suck for people who lined up all day and now are in the second row. They fixed it once they knew. The benefit of Green Day charging $415 for VIP as opposed to something affordable like $125 is there isn't going to be very many people opting in each show so you don't get 5 rows of fans in ahead of the line. It could definitely be a better package though. The problem is there aren't a lot of diehard music fans working in the industry. At least not in my experience. So they're clueless to what's practical/wanted by those kind of fans. The band was probably shown the package, told fans of other bands love this sort of thing, told that they need the extra income to fund all the fire/backdrops, etc. or else raise ticket prices, and signed off because the upsides were greater than the downsides. It's not perfect but it's not them completely losing their morals. This Ben Packard guy seems like a cool person. I want to know though where he's getting the positive feedback about the VIP package. Is he just asking the VIPs if they're having a good time? Seems like so many people complain about it that it's weird for him to be hearing something completely different. 1 hour ago, Hero_Of_The_Hour said: Where to begin. How about with the fact that GD's tickets are not insanely cheap. Not by any stretch. U2 had cheaper tickets for their gig here the other night. That being a massive sold out hometown gig in Dublin. They're kind of a big deal you know. It's a laughable argument that they need to do this to break even, make any decent profit or make tickets affordable. I'm not a U2 fan but very curious. How cheap are their tickets? Even if they have some cheap seats, I can't imagine the close ones are cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumpelstiltskin2000 Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 I lol'd at the VIP lounge! That would be standing in the foyer for an hour before being let in!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vomitslurpee Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Is this guy related to Hewlett? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero_Of_The_Hour Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 5 hours ago, gaslight13 said: I'm not a U2 fan but very curious. How cheap are their tickets? Even if they have some cheap seats, I can't imagine the close ones are cheap. The cheapest tickets were 39.05 Euro including booking fee. These were seated tickets and while they were not at the front they still allowed fans on a very limited budget actually attend the gig. A U2 gig!! The most expensive tickets were 186 Euro and were also seated, also not at the front. Pitch standing was the majority of the tickets and obviously what you would want to be at the front but like anywhere it's up to luck and queueing where you end up, and those tickets were 76 Euro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpsalty Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Meh, VIP has been around a long time and is slowly becoming a necessary evil. It could be worse but as it stands anyone still has he chance to get to the front regardless of what they pay and that's all that should matter if doing VIP doesn't bother you. It's a business at the end of the day and the dudes on stage are only a very tiny part of that business. And you can't compare American prices to U.K. Prices. Gig tickets are getting more and more expensive over here. I know Jaret Reddick (bowling for soup singer) is doing a few solo shows and tickets are around £29 and when it was raised to him on a Facebook live he genuinely had to clue about it/why it was so expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero_Of_The_Hour Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 I didn't see anyone comparing UK and US ticket prices. The UK is cheaper than most places I've been to for gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 I'm joining the "green day tickets aren't cheap" side here. I don't believe they use VIP to substidise anything, my actually belief is they believe there is a market for it and want to exploit it. Green Day tickets are pretty expensive in my opinion. The ones for the shows coming up this leg we're hitting over $100 after fees. If ticket prices remained like they were a few years back then I'd agree but right now they definitely are taking in a lot. That being said, I also think they maybe overshot their fame a little bit. Like the Rose Bowl and Wrigley Field shows where they are clearly struggling to sell it out with the reduced ticket prices. I'd love to ask them "what made you sign off on this?" Other notes, it compares with the choice to put more seats down in the venues to try and sell more tickets. You can price them very differently rather than the all standing GA price. I think someone on their management decided they either have to make this tour super profitable or try and cover some previous losses. I hate the VIP thing, on one hand they talk about how they have the greatest fans who camp out to see them but then give them a massive fuck you, that person who can afford it gets to go ahead of you. I stand firm believing that anyone should have the right to be at the front to see their favourite band and it shouldn't depend on how much money you make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermione Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 7 hours ago, crock6000 said: LOL. It's post like these that I wish there was a "laugh" button on this forum. That was funny. $400 for early entry, an album you already own, some prints and a sandwich and not much else and nothing involving the band themselves whatsoever is a bullshit package to be fair . Especially when they used to do contests for early entry AND soundcheck for free and many other bands do the same plus meet and greets for a fraction of that. It's optional and probably helps keeps the tickets I'm buying reasonable so I can't complain about a VIP package existing but I do think if they're going to charge "VIP" prices they should deliver a package that's worth that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermione Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 2 hours ago, crock6000 said: They do meet and greets for non-VIPs at almost every show. They also do meet and greets on the street. They are probably the most approachable HOLers in the books so yeah, there is that fact. Also, has anyone seen what portion of Green Day proceeds go to cancer research and other philanthropic acts they do? Not to mention, concerts in total. They don't publicize all their deeds but believe me they do plenty of them. I get the "they used to do this and I wish they still did" but Dad doesn't always have to get you the bike for Christmas to love you every year. Furthermore, I won't mention which one but there is a festival that there are 28 places for stage right and stage left that every year a group of Asian businessmen pay 1.3 million dollars for an all access artist pass (where they can be literally on the stage and they have done it for 6 years straight now) and that's over 30 million dollars for a 3 day show. Not a dollar of that goes to the artists. Don't really know how that fits in but the business of show is a business and GD has done a good job of keeping their fans happy with ticket prices and if calling a seat that is really just a $450 seat a VIP seat so be it. I don't disagee that it could be more given with it but one man's $450 is another man's $50. Just food for thought. Like I said I don't really have much of an objection to it because no one's obliged to buy it. I know some people might think it's worth it and good for them but I don't think what they're offering is anywhere near worth $400 so I will continue to consider it a rip off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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