phishcrash1

Phish too big for LiveNation.com to handle

Phish crash

“Former Live Nation executive Michael Cohl made news last week when according to Pollstar, he reportedly sold about forty percent of his shares in the company worth an estimated $1.73 million. The move comes after a $19 million loss Live Nation suffered in December when U2 exercised its right to have the company buy back shares it paid the band, dealing a new blow to investor confidence in the entertainment and ticketing company. Cohl resigned as chairman of the company in June 2008.”
[IT Business Net]

Anybody that spent any time on Live Nation’s clunky website in the months leading up to, and during, their recent swtichover to selling their own tickets probably could have predicted this. Nobody loves Ticketmaster, but at least they, after years of experience, know what they’re doing. The above slightly-altered screenshot was taken shortly after tickets went on sale this morning for Phish’s 2009 summer tour. I tried it after reading some of the reactions people were leaving in the comments…

“Wow LIVE NATION IS WORST THAN TICKETMASTER! Anyone have luck?” [Anonymous]

“TOTAL LAME, I was on the screen, pressed reload at 10:00 and haven’t been able to get on livenation since.” [Anonymous]

“I got to the point where I put my ticket request in and then the security code and then it crashed. What a joke.” [Anonymous]

“Same thing just happened to me! Never thought i’d ever say this, but i want ticketmaster back!” [Anonymous]

“So much for the big Live Nation ticket website. What a joke. Come back ticketmaster, all is forgiven” [Anonymous]