http://journalstar.com/news/local/govt- ... b7132.html
Some people with club seats at the Pinnacle Bank Arena say the city has reneged on contract terms by refusing to let them use their seats for the Pearl Jam concert or give them a chance to buy other seats ahead of the crowd.
Tom Lorenz, the arena's manager, is being very circumspect in his answers to questions about the issue.
That may have something to do with the arena's deal with the band, which often negotiates giving its fans first chance at a venue's best seats.
At the Pinnacle Bank Arena, for $750 a year, people can reserve a club seat -- a wider seat in a prime location and with club access -- and the right to purchase tickets for most non-Husker events.
The club seat contract does warn owners that they may not always get their seat, but it says that when that happens the club seat holders will be able to purchase tickets “in the best available seating in the lower bowl of the Pinnacle Bank Arena."
However, the 800 club seat holders have not been allowed to purchase those better seats for the Oct. 9 Pearl Jam concert.
Instead they must wait until 10 a.m. Friday, when tickets go on sale to the general public.
Instead of answering specific questions about the issue, Lorenz told the Journal Star by telephone, “The Pinnacle Bank Arena is extremely happy to be one of the 10 concerts that Pearl Jam is doing this fall across the country. We are dealing with club seat issues and club seat questions by calling individual club seat holders.”
And Lorenz has one answer to other questions, such as whether the restriction is part of the Pearl Jam contract or whether club seat holders can buy tickets early if they call.
“That’s all I can say,” he said.
The story announcing the Pearl Jam concert explained that all tickets for the show are $69.50. There will be a 1,000-person standing pit on the floor. The remainder will be reserved seats.
“That’s the band’s policy,” Lorenz said when the concert and its single-ticket price were announced.
"They take a very active role in the ticketing process," Lorenz said. "They’ve always been very active and vocal about ticketing services and the way tickets are sold and priced. They’re just continuing the focus they have on taking care of their fans."
Pearl Jam's website has a section devoted to how members of their fan club can get tickets and includes the group’s focus on getting the best seats for its most loyal fans.
"We reserve the best seats in the house for Pearl Jam fan club tickets, starting from the first rows on the floor and extending back," the website says. "We also reserve the side sections closest to the stage when necessary.
"In some cases there will be season ticket holder seats in these areas, however we do our best to work around these circumstances which are out of our control."
Some of Pinnacle Bank Arena's club seats have been unavailable for other events, such as when stage configurations displace the seats, said Stan Beeder, a club seat holder.
But people were always able to buy the next best available seats in pre-sale offerings, he said.
"To me, it is just shocking they can do that," said the Lincoln attorney, who tweeted his frustration: "#pinnaclebankarena is knowingly violating my club seat license right of first refusal by not offering presale to the Oct. #pearljam concert."
The Pearl Jam website tells fans, "We go to bat for you," Beeder pointed out.
"Maybe the JPA should have gone to bat for us," Beeder said.
