The Many Facets of
the Pissed-Off Bjork Fan
It all started when one afternoon at work, I got an e-mail from Newbury Comics saying that there was a special offer. If you bought Bjork's new documentary DVD (one of many DVD's she released in the Summer of 2003), you would receive a complimentary ticket to the sold-out Bjork concert at Suffolk Downs (just north of Boston). You had to go to a Boston-area branch of Newbury Comics and my friend Stephanie found one last remaining store with tickets at Government Center in Boston.We jetted out of work at 5PM. I picked up Steph and off we went through rush-hour traffic to get to the Govt. Ctr store before they closed at 7PM. (For some reason or another, this particular store closed WAY earlier than any other Newbury Comics store.) We weren't exactly sure how to get there, but parked in the Chinatown/outskirts of Downtown Crossing area and hoofed it to the store. We made it with plenty of time to spare, immediately picked up some DVDs and free tickets and then killed time browsing around the record store.
Upon returning to the car, though, we discovered that we had incurred a parking ticket because we didn't know that parking meters ran later in Boston now. Oh well. Chalk it up to bad luck, BUT we got FREE $45 tickets to a sold-out performance of an artist we were DYING to see live, especially in light of her more recent material.
Fast forward to Wednesday, August 28, mere days before the scheduled Sunday, August 31st Suffolk Downs show. Steph & I had planned on getting to the show early, doing a little tailgating, etc. with other like-minded uber-geek Bjork fans. In my e-mail that Wednesday, Newbury Comics announced:
Bjork's Suffolk Downs Show - CANCELLED
Bjork's show at Suffolk Downs on Sunday, August 31 has been cancelled. If you received a free ticket with purchase of the "Inside Bjork" DVD your ticket is not valid. Therefore, if you would like to receive a refund on your DVD purchase please bring your "Inside Bjork" DVD and your Bjork TICKET to any Newbury Comics location and we will give you a full refund. The show has been rescheduled to the Fleet Boston Pavilion (the concert is still on August 31), but unfortunately your ticket will not be accepted at this venue. Sorry for any inconvenience,Maria
Newbury Comics Promotion"
I was furious. I felt ripped off because I had specifically made the effort to truck it all the way in to Boston and I bought the DVD and expected that Newbury Comics would be able to follow-through on their promise of a FREE concert. I went off. I immediately e-mailed Stephanie. Then I e-mailed Newbury Comics. THEN I totally went off and contacted the Boston area tv-channels and newspapers explaining how I had done all this and was now being connived out of a concert.
After getting a response from Paula Lyons of Channel 7 in Boston:
"Here's the problem. I don't think it's perfectly clear you were deceived. There's a good chance the concert simply did not generate enough interest to fill Suffolk Downs and so as not to embarrass her, they moved it to a much smaller venue. But yes, I think they should refund the cost of the DVD. Of course, if you never opened yours, the argument can be easier to make. I would make a demand in writing to Newbury Comics HQ and see what happens. I think Mass law will be on your side..an important condition of the sale was not met. The sale should be voided.
Good luck,
Paula Lyons"
...and getting contacted by Mark Shanahan at the Boston Globe (click here to see the brief write-up done on Friday, August 29th in the Boston Globe)... I found out MORE about why the concert was not just CANCELLED, but RE-LOCATED to a different, smaller, and more expensive venue, that being the FleetBoston Pavillion...
Bjork concert moved to new venue
By Steve Morse, Globe Staff, 8/28/2003Because of a failure to get a license for pyrotechnics, the Bjork show scheduled for Suffolk Downs on Sunday has been moved to the FleetBoston Pavilion. "We failed to get the right paperwork to do the pyro," said Sylvia Cunha of MassConcerts. Because FleetBoston Pavilion is run by the competing Clear Channel Entertainment, that means MassConcerts loses a $100,000 deposit put up for the event. Tickets will be honored at FleetBoston Pavilion but any free radio station giveaways have been canceled."
So, it was stupidity on those setting up the shows in the Bjork camp who are to blame here, primarily, for us eager Bjork fans (only 100 according to Mark Shanahan's brief piece, as gotten from, supposedly, Newbury Comics top brass) not getting to see Bjork in concert. What's truly amazing is that Suffolk Downs (or whoever was paid the nonrefundable deposit) is pocketing a cool $100,000 for doing absolutely nothing. Yeah, the promoters f---ed up, but for me it really sucks that I won't be able to go see an artist I've always wanted to see perform "live". Now I'll have to settle for hearing about it on the 5-minute entertainment report hours after the show, IF it's even mentioned at all.
I'm sure that a select few of the Newbury Comics black-clad main office people will be in attendance and cheering their heads off for Bjork (not to mention, opening act the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Perhaps Newbury Comics ought to consider being MORE HONEST next time when suckering us fans in to buy a DVD and get a free concert ticket:
"Newbury Comics would like to announce that if you come in and buy "Inside Bjork", we'll give you a "complimentary ticket" to a sold-out show that may decide at the last minute to refuse you admission because this isn't a "real" ticket, but a comp ticket, one given out to Newbury Comics as part of a trade, or nicey-nice kind of gift for Bjork's label doing business with us. Newbury Comics cannoyt guarantee that you'll even get to go to the show, but come in anyway and buy the DVD and MAYBE you'll get to go."
Truth in advertising? Yeah, I must be dreaming... that'll never happen.
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This was a reply from Joyce Kulhawik, Entertainment Maven at WBZ-TV in Boston in response to my mass-mailing about the whole Bjork concert switch-a-roo... It was received Tuesday, September 9, a tad after the fact, but it was nice that she responded just the same.
This is absolutely a bait and switch--although you probably need to read the fine print, since the rules were changed on Newbury Comics too--but I'd recommend that you e-mail our consumer reporter Paula Lyons at WBZ and tell her your story! You might have a very good case! Good luck!! and stay tuned!--JK