The Free Miami deadmau5 Show Debacle

Earlier this month, deadmau5 was offered to play a free show at Club Space after he expressed his resentment for Miami clubs. The details of the show were announced yesterday, including the fact that the show is set to take place at the Ice Palace. Today the $1 tickets (with the $1 going toward the Miami Children’s Hospital) went on sale at 1 P.M. and sold out within seconds. Now everything has become chaos.

As seen in the picture above, tickets have been put up on sale for egregious prices on Miami’s craiglist. As is expected with supply and demand, the sheer demand for the free show greatly outweighed the supply (4,000 tickets) and the market has subsequently responded. Here is the kicker, though: the Ice Palace checks the ID of every ticket-holder, according to the following statement:

“Ice Palace does not accept tickets purchased from Stubhub or any other third-party ticketing vendor. When arriving at this event you must show photo id that matches the name on your tickets. We cannot approve any name changes if you have sold your tickets.”

So now presumably hundreds of tickets are now in the hands of scalpers who have essentially rendered the tickets useless. This free concert’s intent hinged upon two ideals: giving deadmau5 fans in Miami a chance to properly experience his intricate show and proving deadmau5’s conceptions about the Miami club scene incorrect.

Has any of this been achieved? Has the situation gotten worse?

While Space and deadmau5’s intentions were honest, the execution of said intention fell flat on its face. The entire process became suspect yesterday when deadmau5 expressed his confusion over the details of the show. Apparently the venue, flyer, and entire event details had been established before he even knew. This oversight did not seem to be deal-breaking due to the fact that deadmau5 eventually agreed to the show’s parameters.

The manner in which tickets were distributed showcased a failure in understanding of both the show’s intent and the power of ticket scalpers. If this show was targeted toward the true deadmau5 fan, why was it open for everyone? Want Tickets became a ticket-claiming blood bath and many die-hard fans were left without a chance to buy a ticket. Scalpers also jumped at the chance to make massive profits off a flimsy system.

In order for this grand idea to have worked, an entirely different avenue should have been pursued. For example, the show could have fared well with a “first come, first serve” system at the venue. Dedicated deadmau5 fans would have lined up early and a no-reentry policy would have quelled the scalper problem.

If deadmau5 and the Ice Palace felt insistent upon the online ticketing service, other processes could have been implemented. A 4,000 long waiting line could have been set at a designated time, which would have guaranteed all 4,000 people a ticket. Another method could have included deadmau5’s subscription service to offer exclusive codes, which could then be spread among subscribers friends or acquaintances.

In the end the show appears to still be occurring but under less than favorable circumstances. With an unknown amount of tickets in limbo, how many true deadmau5 fans will be in attendance? Before he deleted his twitter, deadmau5 asked everyone to just show up. Will the policies change in any way? He has a history of changing policies for his events.

Despite everything, his set will surely be one for his true fans. His recent work has emphasized beautiful piano melodies and funky breakdowns, which is a welcome change from the drop-heavy songs as of late. The event’s eight-hour run-time should also give the mau5 ample time to build up a set and leave his fans in awe.

February 15th will surely be one for the history books.

[Photo Credit: InTheMix.com // Deadmau5 Facebook]

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