Except for getting through the gate, it was fantastic
by D. E. on 12/3/21TD Pavilion at the Mann - PhiladelphiaThis concert was all paperless, with tickets uploaded to smartphones. I uploaded my tickets (for 6 of us), checked and re-checked them well before the concert to make sure they displayed properly... and then, at the gate, they wouldn't show up on my phone's screen. I tried logging into the Mann's WiFi, using data, toying with any and every idea I could come up with, and the tickets wouldn't show. In the meantime, a huge line was forming behind me, and people were getting antsy to get into the venue. I showed the ticket-taker the emails that I had gotten from Ticketmaster and the Mann, proving that I had indeed purchased 6 tickets, to no avail. She made a big production of having us stand off to the side, along with another couple having the same problem, which was very embarrassing. We stood there at the gate while the ticket-taker let a hundred or so people in --- people whose tickets DID show on their phones. She finally called the guy in charge, whatever his title was (head of security, perhaps?), and asked him to take us all to guest services, and we all followed him, like sheep, to another area, where a different person listened to our problem and then just waved us inside when we told her that we had lawn seats and not reserved ones. Had we had reserved seats, I don't know what she would have done. It was rather tedious and more than a little humiliating. While I do have a smartphone, my husband doesn't, and so how would he have gotten in without me with him or without a paper ticket? This method of entry may make things easier for the ticket-takers and I am sure many people love not having to carry a paper ticket with them, but for many others, this paperless system just doesn't work well. I will not use this system again; if I can't print a paper copy to show at the gate, I won't go to the concert. By the way, the concert itself was fantastic, as the Philadelphia Orchestra always is. But getting to our seats was maddening and left a bad taste in our mouths.