Stanford Live

Last year we paid for a mini subscription to Stanford Live. Unfortunately, they oversold the number of tickets. The reason we were told had to do with a new auditorium and inadequate planning of number of seats versus space At that time, instead of our premium seats we were offered seats on the stage, which we took, thinking this was the first year and it takes time to work out all the kinks.
This year, we again ordered mini subscription and received our confirmation. Today, we got a phone call telling us we had no seats because once again they had over sold. I find it incredible to think that they cannot add the number of available places and print too many tickets. Surely, like any other venue, when the places are full, they stop selling tickets. It was clear that we were ‘dumped’ in preference of some one else having higher priority most likely because they were high donors. Those with money have greater advantages when it comes to getting seats. In that case, why did they bother even selling us the seats! To make matters worse, they offered us two concerts that did not compare with what we had chosen.
I am appalled and angry at their behavior. It has been thoughtless and certainly lacking in fairness. I would have expected more from Stanford, I’m sure there will be many of us complaining on social media.

To say the service is abysmal is giving them too much praise. Just like William C in the post on 1÷8÷13, I can’t get ahold of anyone on the phone. Tried to call them during normal business hours of 10am-​5pm on several tries and nobody picks up the phone. You just wait listing to muzak designed to bore you to death and get you to go away. I can’t believe they are getting so many calls that it takes this long to get thru. I actually stayed on hold once and finally it went to a ring (after 16 minutes) and then it hung up!

Terrible ticket-​buying experience. Over the past few days, I’ve been trying to purchase tickets for an upcoming concert as a gift for my parents, but the website simply wouldn’t let me get beyond the seating chart – tried on both Chrome and Internet Explorer, so it’s definitely a problem on their end, not mine. So I tried the more old school approach of calling several times, only to listen to Muzak for up to 10 minutes each time before giving up. I also left a couple of messages with the Admin Office to let them know about these problems and requested a response, but received none.
And now today, the website lists the concert as sold out. Bravo, Stanford, that was world class.

I really like what they are trying to do here at Stanford Lively Arts. Great selection of performers, and I just saw CHARLES MINGUS BIG BAND there the other day and that was the best!
The auditorium is on campus. Parking is hard to find, and the entrance to the auditorium is quite a small space for people who want to wait indoors. It was like herds of folks indoors waiting for the doors to open, so wait outside in the breeze and give your inner claustrophobe a break If s/​he is in there.
The seating was cool– from everywhere are good views of the stage. I am sure that this happens a lot, but there was Q and A after the show with some band members. I thought that was a good idea.
Good sound, good times, great big band– I am feeling lucky I got to see them here! I will be on the lookout more often for events here.

Stanford Lively Arts, a concert series in Palo Alto held in the Dinkelspiel Auditorium on Stanford University’s campus, has a great selection of performers throughout its season. Its tickets are reasonably priced ($ 44/​$ 48 for adults; half that if you have {a friend with,} a Stanford ID); it attracts great names (Emerson Quartet; the Juilliard Quartet; dance companies whose names I know I ought to recognize); the auditorium is small enough that everyone’s guaranteed a view.
Two huge detractors, though (aside from the fact that it’s all the way in Palo Alto!):
(1) The auditorium is *impossible* to find — last time I went there, after circling for parking for over 20 minutes, we walked for over half an hour in circles trying to find the damn place — even students out on the pathways didn’t know where it was! — meaning we arrived half an hour late to the show.
(2) The box office is apparently incompetent. I bought tickets online two days before a show, and, since that obviously wouldn’t have left time for them to be mailed to me, I emailed the questions alias requesting that they be held at will-​call. They wrote back, confirming; but when I arrived at the show, my tickets were nowhere in sight. A kindly usher let us in anyhow, but a week later, the tickets showed up at my mailing address! I emailed to complain and ask for at least a partial refund, and was given an apology, but they declined to consider a refund. That’s poor business practices!
Minus one star for each infraction. Otherwise, they’re great.