We receive and publish a letter describing the difficulties faced by a disabled person who wanted to attend a concert with his son at the location indicated on his ticket at the La Maura Racecourse.
I bought two Golden Circle tickets right next to the stage for The Weeknd on July 26th. A school gift for my 14 year old son: he really wants to see his musical idol, about which he knows every line. I, her dad, am disabled, but I can walk. However, I ask Live Nation Italia, the organizer of the event, if there is a possibility of priority access, for fear of a possible queue in adverse weather conditions. Only priority access, I don’t need any other help.
We enter the concert through the only dedicated gate where we are told that to get to the square we booked we have to cross the lawn and go to the opposite side where the square we paid for is located. But here we meet a wall of rudeness on the part of the employee, who again sends us back to the entrance gate. And they threaten to kick me out too. I don’t understand the tone, let alone the reason for this hatred: I have a ticket for a specific area, regularly bought, I enter the disabled access and I am directed to the area for which I have tickets. But this right is denied to us. We are forced to cross the lawn again under the sun and already occupied by many young people to return to the non-functioning entrance gate. Here, another employee explains to us that as soon as we enter with disabled access, we are forced to stay in the area where the disabled platform moves. Although not the same as we booked and paid for. For them, it is a matter of responsibility. I propose two alternatives: relieve them of responsibility by forcing me to leave so that I can re-enter directly through the right gate of the Golden Ring, or inform the observation point to the right of the Golden Ring to let us through: the tickets are registered and we are easy to identify. . But none of this is possible, because there is no more control for the control system after checking the ticket barcode. You are in or out, period. “Are you wheelchair accessible? the attendant told me, perhaps hinting at privilege or cunning, “it means you have a problem. So you’ll have to stand on the disabled platform.” But apart from the fact that I paid for a more expensive area closer to the stage.
Thus, my son and I remain trapped in a severe downgrading of unshared or inadequately presented rules, the inability of an organization whose left hand cannot communicate with the right hand. Tickets are nominal and code – they can only be bought and resold through official venues – but the organization of the concert cannot cope with our need for access to the area for which we paid. But even more serious was the threat from the duty officer, who countered my arguments with the desire to expel us.
This was my son’s first concert. The only idol he has. Ruined by rudeness and organization, unable to solve a trivial problem.
Live Nation Italy response
We consider it appropriate to make some reflections on the stated facts. The person who wrote the letter and claims to be disabled but able to walk writes that he requested and received privileged access to avoid queues and problems associated with bad weather, but these gates are not skip-the-line, but are made for people with disabilities , from there he is still allowed in, and then his ticket is stamped and sent to the platform for the disabled, located in the immediate vicinity. But the gentleman insists that he wants to go into the pit, the place for which he bought a ticket and which is located at the opposite gate of the structure. It is one o’clock in the afternoon, either the gentleman requested privileged access, having no details and therefore could go directly to the seat corresponding to the purchased ticket, which he did not, or, being really a person with a disability, he should have bought a ticket. the right ticket and go to a specially prepared podium. Of course, access to an 80,000-seat venue is not left to arbitrary interpretation or convenience.
In any case, and for the sake of clarity, access to the pit stops is given to people who have regularly purchased a ticket, who enter the gates intended for them, and where the employees hand them a bracelet of a different color depending on the destination. To avoid overcrowding problems in different sectors, each gate has equipment related to that sector. Verbally asking the viewer to take responsibility has no value.
The handicapped area is by no means a downgrade, but it is a place equipped to accommodate guests as comfortably as possible with umbrellas to protect from the sun, seats and attendants for every need in a viewing space that is certainly well placed, elevated, like it’s right and better than many other places including some potholes and close to the escape route if there’s a problem. A living nation, whose president is the guardian of a 100% disabled person, has always been attentive and sensitive to these issues and, as expected, has used the maximum possible resources, which is clearly seen in each of our events, which is either for 1,000 or 100,000 people. On the merits of the events as set out in the letter, we found no discriminatory act other than the application of common sense and safety rules.
Robert DeLuca
President of Live Nation Italy, organizer of The Weeknd concerts in Milan, Ippodromo La Maura.