I have been a little frustrated at some of the tricks promoters do to fool you. Some of it is minor and innocent, some of it is just ignorant and they are oblivious to their faults, and other methods are just flat out sinister, malicious, and fraudulent. I tend to over analyze the shit out of everything, so instead of merely bitching to my friends, I'll do it here for you all to hear.
One of the most fucked up tricks is not telling the public that one of the main performers was cancelled. They may tell you at the door, or not at all, but either way it is shady if they didn't blast it online publicly. Not very many people are going to turn away from the club after they spent so much time getting ready and getting to the club, so clubs use that against people.
Sometimes clubs will hold the line till it is really long, and let people in at a very slow pace, just so people passing by will think it is super busy, and by default a great party. Meanwhile the inside is dead and the music sucks.
Sometimes they won't tell you the exact time it shuts down. They may say 2am, when they really close at 1:30. Rounding up isn't because they wanted a more round number on the flier. They do it to get you to be more interested in showing up. Sometimes they will just list the party as "going late". What kind of shit is that? Just tell me the fucking time! Maybe they will keep the party going if it is still busy at closing time? So then just fucking say it like that!
These next two drive me fucking nuts!!! Not telling you the set times, and not telling you the door price!!! The reason promoters won't tell you the times the artists perform in advance, is to get you to show up as early as possible, since you may be fearful of missing an artist you really want to see. That means you are less likely to pre-drink somewhere else too, so they will be making more money off you. The reason they don't tell you the door price is because they just want you to show up to find out, and like I said before, people are less likely to leave once they've made their way over to the club. Also, if the night is not breaking even financially, they can jack up the price halfway through the night to try to get more money to cut their losses, and since they never said publicly what the door price is, you can't argue it.
Another trick is to say that presale tickets are sold out, when they really are not. This makes people think the show is in high demand, and they will be missing out if they don't go. It is just false hype.
Have you ever seen the events where there are like 100 DJs on the lineup, the party is 8 hours and has 4 rooms? Basic math will tell you that the DJs are only playing for 20 minutes, and any DJ that is only playing for that short is most likely a rookie with little skill. Promoters feel like their audience is stupid sometimes, and they think that people will be fooled into thinking the more DJs, the better the event will be. I'd rather go to a party with a few amazing DJs, rather than 100 shitty ones.
Sometimes a promoter won't mention that there is a seven dollar service fee when you buy tickets online, so your $25 ticket is really $32. Or, they will just blatantly change the door price from $20 to $30 when you arrive. Then when you show up and argue it, they basically just tell you to go fuck yourself. Other times the ad will say "free before 11pm", but then when you show up, they say, "sorry, that's only when you RSVP." Now in all fairness, some club goers don't read the event info properly, then get mad at the promoter and call them shady, when it was really their own fault. Whenever someone calls me out on something at my events, I ask them to pull out their phone and go online to prove to me there was a mistake. If indeed there was a mistake made, I will honor it. I can't even count the amount of times I have personally pulled up an ad on my phone that states cheaper pricing, and the club does not honor it. Usually they scoff at me like I am the asshole, so I make it a point to make good on false advertising at my own events.
Sometimes promoters will even jeopardize the safety of their patrons just to get people to come out. One example is not telling people that the neighborhood is a little rough. This is a bit of a grey area here because sometimes promoters may not really consider a certain area super hood, because they may be used to it, but others may have issues. If you are inviting people to an underground warehouse party in a bad neighborhood, it may be a good idea to let people know so they don't leave valuables in their car, or girls may want to dress differently to not attract attention. Like I said, this is a bit of a grey area, mainly because it can scare people more than necessary, and they may take it as a warning to not even come. A lot of the time people blow things out of proportion when they read it online. I have omitted information like this at times because sometimes it just causes paranoia, when all you wanted to do was tell people to be smart and aware of their surroundings. Myself, coming from a tough neighborhood, taught me that being aware of my surroundings and staying under the radar should be standard behavior in any circumstance, but for some people, they are completely oblivious to the seedy side of life. More than likely you will be fine if you are with a few people and hide your valuable in your car, or take them out completely before you leave the house. If you are being loud and obnoxious, drawing attention to yourself, you may be making yourself a target.
There are a few other promoter tricks that I won't say on here because they are just my pet peeves, and not too many other promoters know about them, so if I blast them on here publicly, more people will start doing them and pissing me the fuck off.
I understand that people invest a lot of money into these events, and sometimes they take a big loss. It is all part of the game, but no one should sacrifice their integrity and fuck over their main supporters in the process. We can all still profit in this game without the shady tactics.
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