I know that a lot of people were upset they couldn't get in to this party. I know there was a HUGE guest/VIP list. I know http://GOING.COM had a RSVP list. I know they sold TICKETS to the damn show. I also know, only having been to Green Dolphin ONCE ever, that the security staff are notoriously shitty. I'm not alone in knowing all this - it's common sense working in the industry.

Now, everyone in Chicago has been talking about this party for months. Everyone and their mom were friends of someone, knew someone, worked for someone - because it was the biggest show of the summer. If you didn't buy tickets and you honestly thought that you were going to get in on http://Going.com's RSVP list, or thought for a minute the show wasn't going to be HUGE and a major logistical nightmare for those who were running it, or didn't know that when a venue hits capacity, there is a one in one out rule - maybe you shouldn't go out and be pissed off after.

http://Going.com is a NEW, brand new company. They are still working out a lot of kinks in their system. (Example: for the Kill Hannah show at Metro, you could RSVP online, but then one had to wait in line for HOURS to get a bracelet to get tickets. That's right, you had to wait in line to get a bracelet, then wait in line again to get a ticket.)

Everyone has a job to do - the security staff, the promoters, the DJs, the artists. It's a complicated system, especially with organizing a TOUR, not just ONE party, but a whole tour. Not everyone can be pleased or happy all the time. Seriously, it was one of the best events, I have been to in this city. None of the door staff or security people were rude beyond DOING THEIR JOBS. Clubs have a huge liability, and they rely on their security staff to do their jobs 110% accuarately. Also, security people get bombarded with people at these events who:

know someone, please let me in
i work for so and so, please let me in
drunk as fuck, please let me in
don't you know who i am?, please let me in
i left my ID at home, please let me in
you are an asshole!, let me in!

ALL NITE LONG, EVERY NITE.

Yes, there are always exceptions to the rules. How many assholes do you know in the world?

Now, I don't personally like the Green Dolphin as a venue. But, they have a large capacity, an amazing sound system and parking. There wasn't another joint in the city I would have personally booked this gig.

Taking all this into consideration, you throw in that it is Lollapalooza weekend. Who isn't in town that isn't VIP and will of course get into Green Dolphin before Joe Clubkidd?

Also, having known people involved with the tour intimately, I know that Mas were exceptionally organized and did the best jobs they could in every city they worked in. They don't have to make anything up to Chicago except to bring the same caliber of artists back, again and again.

Misa

As far as nepotism and favoritism - if the bands and djs have guests, such as the head of their record label, distributor, or production manager, yes, they do. That goes without saying.
As far as another event, I'm working on it.
I don't live in Chicago anymore, so its not like i'm around to just pop one out.
My track record producing events - i've been doing it for 13 years, they are solid, everyone that knows me and my history knows that to be a fact. Every other after party on this tour went off brilliantly.
There were other things behind the scenes that happened that the people attending don't know about, and I am not one to air these types of things on a public forum.
Again, sorry you had a shit experience.

I'll first off say that in terms of Zach having nothing to do with the party, it was through him that most of the people I know heard about the event.

But onwards and upwards. If you want to make up to Chicago for the fiasco at the door I'm game. I've been doing this for almost a decade myself and have very little patience for the way I felt people were treated at the door. The nepotism and favoritism I witnessed and heard about don't have any place when it's at the cost of your actual guests.

I'm not against giving friends and industry some favors because we all do that, but when there's a line down the block and what was advertised isn't just not happening but looks like it's being activily compromised I have so little patience that, well, I know a lot of you know how I reacted.

But I also try not to hold grudges. If you can make it up to us, hey I'm game. I neither demand nor expect that you go bring back Ed Banger but it still should be something to show you have the ability to competently produce an event and that makes people go "Okay so she may not have done it 100% the first time but this is a good make-up." We're all human, we make mistakes, I do appreciate you owning up, to a degree, to the fact that it wasn't perfect.

But keep in mind - pretty much what I hear is the talent was great but the production wasn't entirely on-par. You're going to have to do more than just book a great act to make it up, you're going to have to give people a memorable experience.

Lastly, I'm a hot head, I'll admit it, it's my east coast blood. I take back none of my criticism, though if things I've said were a bit too personally nasty, my apologies on that point.

Now show us what you can do to make it up to Chicago. I don't care about anyone making anything up to me personally. Personally I was let in even though they couldn't find me on the list, I was personally treated well. But that means very little to me when other people, namely ones I'm with, aren't.

Zach didnt do anything for this party, and if he did, I want to know what. No one even knew he existed until the day of the Chicago show when he threw a fit at the door because he couldn't wait 5 minutes for the girl at the door to check his name, she was a little overwhelmed. We also ran into glitches with the system, where people who RSVP'd, names didn't appear on the list.

The head Going rep in Chicago that we dealt with, who was very accommodating and helpful, is George, and behind him, is an entire company located in NYC.

Going was a sponsor for Dafter party in every city, and the deal was done with the head of http://Going.com. There was and IS a lot of confusion regarding what the exact deal with going and RSVP'ing. We met with the company this week to discuss the confusion in Chicago (and other cities) and they are working on making things more clear moving forward from here. They are growing fast and working hard to make sure things go smooth for both promoter and people who use the site.

Our company also suggested having a free event with going to make up for the misunderstanding in Chicago, it sure as hell won't be anything like the Dafter party, but we really do care about what happened, and want those who were unhappy to know that. We were also not completely happy with the venue, but, you know what, things don't always go exactly as planned, and it was an insane event, more insane than anyone planned for it to be, and these things happen.

The promoters of this party were Throne Of Blood, Ed Banger, and Daft Punk. My company, Mas produced the events for them, and this included working with local promoters in each city to drop fliers off in stores, and hit their email lists. In Chicago, this was was done with the help of Relode, Music 101, New Indie Mafia, and Boombox Disco.

I am "the main one" - Lori, and think it really sucks that some people are pissed off, but plenty of people had an amazing time.

My events track for the past 13 years pretty darn solid, so this happening, definitely upset me. Never had this kind of drama.

And no one lost 9k, the party broke even and covered its costs. We wanted the party to be free, but sound systems, flyer's, design, staff, etc, don't pay for themselves.

And those who were really upset, please, send a personal email to: tell.me@mas-forever.com, let me know exactly what your issue was. In return, I would like to send you something for the trouble you had that night.

We had nothing but the best of intentions with this party, trust me. And for those that made it in, thanks for kicking ass with us, it was one hell of a night.

Lori

Busy P rocked it so hard!!!!!!!

I agree. And anyway, Zach, what you gave them in return was awesome.

Ha ha, I heard the promoters lost 9K on the party - and loosing that was WELL deserved on their part. I'll never support a thing they do again.

(I'm told the main one's name is Lori and she works with some pretty big act. Regardless, I wouldn't support anything she's involved with ever again)

No- thank you! I have to admit, this was one of the best parties I've been to in Chicago. Big -no huge- fan of Daft & Rapture, so this was a big deal for me. It really sucks for those that weren't able to experience it, as for the venue - I think it was pretty ok for an event like this (over 1K peeps). They did have an overwhelming response but I think that's b/c Chicago rarely hosts events like the Dafter Party. Please, please bring more.

Right. Cutting the list made total sense to me. I wouldn't have RSVP'd, though, if I had known that paying would have gotten my group in with less hassle.

Yes, they were there, check the pics:

www.mas-forever.com/blog

This going rep's name was on the list in fact, but the security was letting one in, one out, and he didn't want to wait apparently.
Actually a few days prior, when we realized that the list was getting as big as it was, we cut it, as we were getting concerned that THIS exact scenario would occur.