I think Utada's event at Sephora at the Hollywood & Highland mall was one of the most unorganized events I've been to in LA. There was nowhere on the email blast that stated wristbands were being handed out to fans who wanted to be able to meet Utada.
After spending hours waiting in line we started noticing people had wristbands and then 5 minutes later security said anyone without a wristband wouldn't be able to see Utada and "for their best interest should leave" instead of waiting around to get their hopes crushed.
I think having booked such a small venue was the first mistake and for not making it clear to either get there really early or even call Sephora to book wristbands was the second mistake. Tons of fans including myself were turned away from seeing someone we waited hours for to see. I know it's not her fault for booking such a small venue but to not think a huge international superstar would have a large following and book a small mall venue thinking that would suffice was a huge mistake on Island Def Jam's part.
It's sad to say I waited to see one of my favorite artists just to get turned away in the end due to bad organize and communication between her fans.
Hopefully they will try to correct the issue with some free press or better yet a larger venue that will hold the amount of fans that turn out to see her next time.

Needless to say, my friend and I didn't get in to Sephora's after waiting hours. Whoever thought of having Sephora's host a mega star like Utada is an idiot. On top of that, the "security" people were rude and at one point threatened to arrest people standing around the front area hoping to catch a glimpse of Utada. This event sucked big time.

Quote:

I got there an hour before it started.

(censored)....I'm gonna to check in the morning about the event then...

Amazing event tonight! I got in through sheer manipulation skills, but it WAS terribly organized. I got to see Utada though!!! Wheee!!!

I definitely have some good photos and a pretty great video of Utada as she is walking in. ( I was right at the velvet on the turn) I'll post these up tomorrow for your pleasure. But yes, HORRIBLY organized, extremely rude "security", and false hopes advertised all around. I never got a photo with her, but I was about 1 foot away :P

Super unorganized but it was nice seeing Hikki. I used my phone to record her coming in through the doorway, too. ^^

It was fun listening to her talk. Especially when she mentioned the time she was drunk and fighting tug of war with a friend's dog using her mouth. LoL.

But I was too far back (that and I'm short and had a crappy camera) to see her, much less take good pictures. Didn't get an autograph either D:

Overall, the only thing that made up for all the chaos was Hikki. I didn't RSVP but got super lucky and was able to get in and have a spot in the middle of the crowd.

Definitely one of the worst organized events I have ever been to. But I was able to get in, thank goodness, along with my younger sister and our friend. But I actually thought the "security" people were very nice and friendly- they helped my friend get in after forgetting that he had RSVPd, and another guy I met got in after pleading with security. My sister cried when we didn't get a picture with Utada, though. It was really mean of them to provide false hopes like that. Plus I had written her a poem I really wanted to give her, and that never happened 'cause I never got close enough. Darn Sephora. Let's hope the next Hikki event is a nice, ORGANIZED concert. ^^
Ah, well. At least Utada was there. And the showing was great, so maybe this will help solidify the decision as to whether or not to host a tour? I guess we'll see soon enough. I'll bet the NYC one is going to be even bigger.

Kisses & Cuddles,
Shuri/Eli

P.S. Creepy little factoid: the guy who gave me my orange wristband KNEW WHO I WAS without ever asking me my name. Did this happen to anyone else? :/

P.P.S. I got a few pictures on my camera phone, which was inconveniently dying, so I'll post them up tomorrow after a good night's sleep. Just being in LA wipes me of my energy. x.x'

Well, I arrived about 5 minutes before it started and didn't get in. I did rsvp but was told that it didn't matter, what mattered was getting an orange wristband. I was disappointed, but I didn't get there as early as I should have, so I don't really have anyone to blame but myself. I did meet a pretty cool girl in line though. I didn't find the security all that rude. Some people were cluttering up the area, and they were just doing there job. Big baldy was pretty nice. That other white shirt younger guy was a bit of a doo doo head...oh well. Giant baldy guy did me a solid and got my parking validated. I didn't lose any money on that. So all in all I'm content.

I got there about 5 hours early. The line was practically non-existent at the time (around 10-15 people), so I picked up my wristband and shopped around until about 2:30, when I got into line and there were about 25 people in front of me.

Then it was just waiting. KIISFM came around a few times and gave us stuff (hats, T-shirts, stickers) and we chatted with some of the security. At that point it seemed like a fairly organized event if you had that wristband.

Someone came around and asked us to sign her drawing of Utada too...

Then when we were allowed in, it was seriously a mad rush to the end of the store. Managed to get fairly close to the front, and being tall helped get a good view of her.

The interview was great. She would sing along when she played the song. When people in the front did a "WOOOOOOOOOOO!" she would respond. She would wave back at people waving at her, or point at signs and laugh.

After the interview was when the event went from decently well organized to absolute crap. They wanted us to form a line, but since it was a huge crowd, it didn't work. So they just drew a line and everyone not in that line got forced to the back of the line. So a good majority of people who arrived early didn't get anything.

When she was leaving, they said they had a limited number of autographed photographs at the store exit. When people rushed to the store exit, security just forced us out and closed the doors, then threatened to arrest us if we stayed around (even if we still had friends inside and had to wait).

The people inside who wanted to leave couldn't leave. But they passed out some Utada makeup bags to people who were left inside.

It was all great until she left. =/

Oh, and a picture.

[ADMIN EDIT - Image too large, sorry] http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6015/dscn3007.jpg