SLANE 2009 Oasis - All Discussion - No ticket sales.

Paul Tergat

Reganio 2 wrote: »

Fair enough

A lot of people are blaming Dublin Bus for things that aren't there fault in all fairness. Like the not getting off the bus till 4 or whatever... Its hardly there fault do you think Bus Drivers wanna sit on the bus? It just annoys me when people give out about things that are not their fault.. they deserve grief for a lot of things they did but some of it wasn't their fault.

Well i blame Dublin Bus for a number of things but the main thing that really pissed me off was that when we were slowly moving out of slane there were loads of empty buses behind/alongside us. I saw empty buses as we were leaving meath and even some empty buses on the motorway back to Dublin. One bus that we were lined up alongside as we were beginning to move properly out of slane (it was at a traffic light that just stayed red) had just 3 people on it. It was a double decker Dublin Bus with 3 people on. At the same time, there were still thousands of people at the roadside desperate for any sort of ride home.

All it would have taken was to have some means of communication in place and some common sense too and those buses could easily have been filled.

Paul Tergat

cork*girl wrote: »

hopefully with the disaster that was the transport, people wont forget that the concert was brilliant and that oasis were fantastic.

my weekend ended perfectly when we met Liam in the airport on Sunday evening !

yeah thats something i imagine ill feel like in a couple of days. Oasis were ****ing biblical :pac:

BobSloane

Left Ennis at 3.30. Got to Slane at about 6.45. Was in just before the Podigy started. It was crowded coming in but didn't feel in any danger. My ticket was checked/scanned. Missed about 40 mins of prodigy in queue for the bar. Could see it was bad after ten minutes but got caught up in the dollar auction type dilemma where i had invested some time and wanted a return. Got out from the bar when Prodigy were playing outer space. Watched the first half of Oasis from in front of the screen to the left of the stage. Saw one fight. Could smell grass being smoked. (Also smoked some grass.) Didn't see anyone doing coke but saw plenty that were full of pills. They were harmless generally. Thought the sound could have been better and wondered if maybe a speaker was blown or something on that left side. Went to the jacks and back to the bar around the time slide away was on. Was in and out of the bar in less than ten mins this time. Watched the rest of oasis a bit further back than where we had been. Was slow getting out of the ground but constantly moving. Nobody seemed to be losing the head too bad around us. We went out the green exit and had to come around the corner where the merchandise store was so was probably on one of the slower routes. Got back to the car at 11.45. My friend drove back and woke me in ballinaloe for supermacs. We were back in ennis at 3.30. Twelve hour round trip.
This was my third time at Slane. I was at Madonna(:o) which definetly took longer to get out of the ground and involved minutes at a time of not moving at all and then moving a few feet. I'm almost sure it took over 2 hours that day to get back to the car. The queues were a pain but again I've been through worse. Chilli Peppers/pixies at phoenix park a few years ago was the worst gig i've ever been at for queues and getting in/out. But I'm glad i endured it as its a great reference point for big gig torture.

That dublin bus thing sounds terrible and I'm sorry people had to end an otherwise good day like that.

Third_Echelon

have to say that I had a really good day out...

Got a taxi from Navan and got there for about 2.30pm. In the gates by 3pm just as the blizzards were starting. Found a nice patch of grass and we sat there and had a few pints..

Drinks were easy enough to get up until 5pm, then it was just madness.

Glasvegas were really good. Kasabian, The Prodigy and Oasis were excellent... I didn't bother trying to get a drink after Kasabian. Went to watch The Prodigy and Oasis. Other mates who were in the queue for beers, spent over an hour trying to get a beer at the main bar. They missed the prodigy completely.

Oasis were excellent. All the old-school crowd pleasers were lashed out.. Probably one of the best performances that I have ever seen from them..

As soon as 'I am the Walrus' was over, I was flying up the hill to get out.. Took me 45 mins to get from the stage to stamullen tennis club (in the direction of Navan about 2km from slane castle). Hailed a taxi from there and was back to a mates house in navan, changed and in the pub by 12 midnight...

I was considering going with Dublin Bus from the city centre, but I am glad I didn't go with that option now... Sounds like hell having to wait that long...

Saying that, in the taxi on the way back into Navan we saw a load of Dublin Buses parked up empty.... Thought that they were waiting to go to Slane and bring more people back to Dublin and I was thinking that it wouldn't be too bad actually getting back, but it sounds like Dublin Bus did a great job of f**kin that up

Perhaps some things could have been improved upon with regards to organisation, but i didn't think it was that bad overall... I honestly didn't see a lot of the gripes that people were talking about here..

Anyway, my idea of getting Dublin Bus to AC/DC next weekend will not be pursued now... Drive down I think

extrafluff

I really feel sorry for the people that had a horror of an experience last night. I didn't - i had a great experience for my 1st time at Slane, 5th time to see Oasis.
Here's how me and the girlfriends day panned out: Got the bus at Parnell Sq. at 3pm - got there at about 4 and obviously we had to walk, we walked for until we got to the entrance of the bridge. We decided to hang back for a while and got something to eat and had a few drinks as there was a huge amount of people trying to gain access. It was a good idea as when we decided to go in it wasn't that bad.
Until we got over the bridge and up the forest route. That was mayhem and luckily for us there was a kind of unofficial express 'lane' that was moving - got into the venue near the end of the Prodigy.

Ticket wasn't checked at all and i had drink with me, 2 naggins and a shoulder and i was allowed in with them. They really just wanted to get people in. The security & Garda didn't care about the safety of the crowd at all, which was disgraceful really. I do feel hard done by for having paid for a ticket and not being asked for it. I wonder how many people got in for nothing. There was easily over 80,000 people there yesterday.

We decided to stay near the back as we knew it'd be a catastrophe trying to get nearer the stage and then out as the concert ended.
I loved Oasis - thought they were brilliant yesterday. I liked the set but would have liked a few less played songs.
Left a minute or so into Walrus and headed back towards the bus - it was easier and less chaotic than it was heading into the gig.
Got on the (not very full) bus at about half 11, i think. Was slow moving out of Slane and eventually got moving after about half an hour.
Let off the bus at Harts Corner, got pizza and was in bed at 1am.

I really enjoyed it. Organisation was shameful though, there could have been deaths, i'm surprised there wasn't .As someone mentioned earlier, it was like the emphasise was on trying to protect people from getting into the river and not to get them safely into the venue.
I had a great laugh with the many, many people that i encountered yesterday, bar the usual scumbags but i expect that when people just go to cause trouble.

I won't defend anything about the management/organisation of yesterday - its an understatement to say it could have been run better. I'll sign the petition too, even though i had an enjoyable day - i feel that if we get our point across we can demand a better service for Slane and ensure that there'll be a safer day the next time - if it gets its licence, that is.

I've heard from a few people i know that couldn't get a bus and were still walking at 5am in the morning. That is appalling.

Another gripe i had is the location of where the buses were parked on the road on the way back. The doors to the bus are on the left hand side facing towards the front, the buses were parked on the right hand side of the road which left people to become a danger for the traffic. How no one was knocked down is beyond me - people crossing the road at any point they could.

*exhales*

Slicklink

That there are so many posts here mainly along the one theme says it all.

Hasnt there been all kinds of legal threats here in the past from MCD ?

I was there and I wont mince my words. I'll be sending a letter to Justin Green anyway. I suggest yis all do.

I spent ages walking along a forest path which was badly bordered at times by metal barrier most of which were trodden on or broken along with the thousands of others. Nobody was there to separate people in the event of a fight or stampede. Some people were running through the trees to bypass the 1 step a second convoy and then cut back in at a future opening. Its a miracle no one was seriously injured. Cattle would be better treated.

Nobody checked tickets or bags at any stage - I can only imagine the amount of idiots with knives etc. I could have brought an RPG in with and taken out the stage for all the organisers cared.

Yes people did queue up to 40 minutes for a beers (or 2 max !!) for 6 euro each. The q's were so slow and people were very agitated as a result. I personally witnessed some guy getting a drink lashed into his face as he slapped some guy carrying his drinks back out through the aisles. Perhaps it might have been an idea to either put more bars in and maybe a screen so that people were at least calmed down by being able to see the gig whilst queuing for so long.

Toilets..... one big open toilet thats what it was..... a moat.

Thank god people were not made go back through the forest on the way back... I can only imagine! The walk back through Slane was sobering enough!

Worst organised event I can remember being at and I have done them all. Slane does not hold 80,000 people and serious thought should be given to any future events of people over 40,000. Maybe the kids didn't mind and maybe you do expect more when your older and have seen better events organised. Still it was dangerous and I wouldn't be rushing out to go to Slane again regardless of who is playing.

T-K-O

It was a complete disaster getting into the gig. I heard Kasabian in the Q to get in (ticket not even checked). I then had the pleasure of the prodigy in the Q for the bar. I did manage to convince a very friendly lady to hand over three pints Fair play.

Why is there only two beer tents ? Absolutely ridiculous.

I must add Oasis were excellent and I got back into two around 2, better than most people. Traveling all the way down and queuing for so long to see one act was a disappointment. Not sure If I would do it again.

BaZmO*

DenzelWishbone wrote: »

On the dark dangerous road we passed THOUSANDS of stranded people along the way, many lying in ditches, many crying, many looking scared and lost and with no idea of where to go or how to get home…it was a surreal, frightening and horrible experience…many of the buses were over-packed, going nowhere with people inevitably fighting on them…there must have been loads of people who never even made it home…

Haha. Don't be so silly! I just have this image of loads of Zombie little creatures in Oasis t-shirts still wandering aimlessly around Meath.

BobSloane wrote: »

Chilli Peppers/pixies at phoenix park a few years ago was the worst gig i've ever been at for queues and getting in/out.

That was the worst gig I've ever been to full stop. Shocking stuff really.

p_larkin99 wrote: »

Did you write into them about this mate?

Yeah, that article lifts pieces from Boards word for word.


As for the chaos at this gig, I'm actually quite surprised that people are surprised that it took so long to get out of Slane. That has always been the case. First time I went to Slane it took me 6 hours to get back to Dublin on the bus. (That'll teach me to stay and look at the fireworks!) :rolleyes:

Took me almost another 10 years before I'd go back again to see the Rolling Stones in 2007. I only went cos a mate was hassling me to go. But I made absolute certain that we left before the band finished (despite my friends protests) and because we did we made it back into Dublin before 12.00am. Slane is notorious for getting in and out of and you should always make allowances for it. Most people that go to Slane tend to only go once because of this hassle.

That still doesn't excuse that fact that it takes so long and the fact that it has being going for so long you would think that they'd have gotten it right by now. :rolleyes:

The bar sounds like a shambles, and charging €6 for a pint is shocking. It just makes more sense to charge €5 as it makes giving and getting change easier. And why can't they give out those little drinks trays that you get in McDonalds and put lids on the cups like they do in the O2?
That way you can get 4 pints each time. It'd cut down on the queuing.

T-K-O

Just as I got to the top of the queue for the bar they reduced the price to 5. Greedy ****ers ran out of change.

A-Train

The event was a shambles got to the bridge at the bottom of the hill about 3pm were we had to wait to meet one of the lads coming down the hill with two tickets that itself was an experience.

Eventually got the tickets after much hassle of us not being allowed up the hill and the lads not being allowed down it. We proceeded to enter the venue through the forest path, one of the worst experience of concert planning ever! Took an hour and 40 minutes to get to the top were they had 4 people scanning tickets which was a joke!

Inside was even worst, we stayed at the back so as not to go through the same thing when trying to get out. Bars and toilets were a joke, hour plus to get 2 beers!

Overall don't think I'll be heading back anytime soon!

John-Holmes

Great days craic for myself.

I was in the pit from the first song of the prodigy until I am a Walrus from Oasis. Christ I was never as sore as I was on Sunday morning. There was some shouldering and boxing going in the middle of the prodigy. Was better than any football training I was ever at in my life lol. Then when Oasis came on and ever one started schmoking the mary jane it got a lot calmer. Still a lot of shouldering but I didn’t see as many men getting black eyes as before lol. I really enjoyed the three main bands. Didn’t bother going near the blizzards or Glasvegas (what is the deal with the sunglasses you bollix?).

Walking out of that place was a heur. It is a while steep hill up from the stage. Felt like I was walking up to the mountain to work with the turf lol. Then the massive walk back to the bus. Got on the yoke about 11.30 and the bus driver had her facing for Belfast at 1am. Back up here for 3. Long fukin day!

Great days craic but the real long hike out of that place would make me think twice about going back.

P.S. I loved noel's line before half the world away.
"I fukin dare use not to sing along with this song". LEGEND

squonk

I was at Slane with one of my friends. it took us two and a half hours to get fom the bridge into the venue and then another 45 minutes to queue for a pint. At that stage we'd missed Kasabian on our way in and half the Prodigy set. We stayed on the hi8ll because we didn't want any hassle on the way out and had had enough of crowds after the experience coming in. The queue on the way in was scary at times with very few support staff around to do anything if trouble did happen. A lot of people were trying to bypass the queue by gong through the forest and other were shaking the barriers to try and get around them. I was just hoping that one of the barriers wouldn't fall on the queue.

For those interested, and on Facebook, my friend has started a group because she felt the organisation was so bad. It may grow into some sort of petition perhaps, but if you're interested, have a look at;

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=93097409206&ref=nf

ShotgunblueZ

Without doubt, the worst organised concert & most stressful I have been to.

'Security Checkpoint 1': walking down the hill before crossing the bridge = token jesture bottle/bag check by the Gardai, as no bags were checked at all

'Security Checkpoint 2': before entering the forest path outside the Slane Castle Boundary: Staff just looking at your tickets, nothing else if even that

'Security Checkpoint 3': after walking through the forest, 4 staff then decide to attempt to scan your ticket! Creating a huge backlog of fans, causing enormous grief and stress to so many

...and when you finally get in, your have the pleasure of queing nearly an hour for 2 beers...

What a joke...

robo

There is a piece on Herald.ie on this and Boards gets a mention -

Fans furious as it takes up to six hours to get home from Oasis gig

Angry rock fans are up in arms over what they claim is "disgraceful treatment" dished out to them at the weekend’s Oasis concert at Slane Castle.

But while fans were complaining bitterly yesterday about transport problems–buses in particular–as well as access to the venue and to the bars, gardai and organisers were expressing delight at how well their plans had gone and that the 80,000 fans had to be “realistic" in their expectations.

One concert-goer,who had paid a return Dublin Bus fare from Dublin,said he was refused from “scores” of buses before making it onto one that eventually left at 3.45am yesterday.

While Vinnie Diamond (26) from Dublin,said that it took him two-and-a-half hours to get into the concert along the narrow entry path to Slane Castle.

“We were herded like cattle into the venue,” he complained.

Online messages posted onboards.ie were also scathing about the organisation.

“I will never, ever return to Slane,”said one poster.

Many were furious at the long wait at beer stands.Some people were allowed to queue for up to an hour only to be told that the bar had closed when they reached the head of the queue.

“We do accept there were some delays entering the venue mainly due to the larger number of fans who decided without advance booking to make use of public transport, which is indeed welcomed,”MCD’s Justin Green said last night.

Slane owner Lord Henry Mountcharles said he had not had any reports of people complaining about transport and access to the venue.

JJ

It's nice to hear that Lord Mountie is on top of the goings on in his backyard.

BaZmO*

JJ wrote: »

It's nice to hear that Lord Mountie is on top of the goings on in his backyard.

Sure the only people he'd be talking to are people that get helicopters to and from the gig, so he's probably right, he more than likely didn't hear "any reports of people complaining about transport and access to the venue"

lolly0306

bigpoppa wrote: »

?fights ?coke being snorted off 10cent coins?full pints being thrown into crowds?

It's called a gig, I have seen people piss into pint glasses and throw them at u2 gigs and feile. Bad **** happens at gigs. When you get lots of people together with drink they will fight.

No it is not pretty and people shouldnt do it but they do. Yes it should be possible to get home safe and sound quickly but it doesnt always happen that way. Can anyone honestly say they didnt expect a nightmare getting home from Slane.

Gigs are risky and people who are going to oxegen should realise there will be bus issues, overpriced food and god forbid drug taking.

I think people on here have genuine gripes but need to perhaps think that sadly gigs probably aren't for them.

I know all this stuff happens at gigs and I don't have a problem at all with that.... but if we're going to pay the guts of €100 we can damn well complain about the shambless afterwards.

My main problem was the bad organisation..

On the way in (the forest walk) we had to guys right in front of us have a full blown scrap knocking us over getting punches swung at us, just cos these 2 dopes were sick of the waiting, not one security guard or anything there to stop it just us....a fu**ing disgrace, there shouldn't be a small group of girls trying to break up these two!

Nothing to complain about inside it was brilliant!

We left the concert at 10.30 and didnt get home until 5am, we were so tired from walking so far we crashed out on the side of the road, for a bit and all the busses were still at a standstill, finally when we did get on a bus at 2.30am it took half an hour to even edge out onto the road, made it back to O'Connell bridge at 4.15am.

We paid €80 for the ticket, the least they could have done was looked at the bloody thing.

€20 for the bus, to wait around while 80,000 people try and jump on one!

Hours of walking, hours of Queing.

Im sure Noel and Liam had a cushy journey home.

rgiller

My own experience of the day was very different to most of you:

I drove to Slane from Dublin at 2pm, got to the car park (furthest from the venue) around ten to three and walked in from there. I'd say we were in the castle grounds at 4 o'clock, having stopped for a quick pint in one of the pubs on the way. No queuing problems to get the tickets scanned at that time and not much of a queue for the bar, so we had a few drinks while Glas Vegas were playing.

We were about a third of the way up the hill from the stage, with good room to sit around and listen to the music. Kasabian came on then and everyone was up, jumping around and having a great time. The queue for the bar was ridiculous at this stage so we didn't bother with any more beers for the rest of the day. Prodigy got everyone going (the highlight of the day IMO) and the place was jammed for Oasis.

We left before the encore but could hear it on teh walk back to the car park. There was a big crowd of people who left at the same time as us (couple of thousand I reckon) but still, it was no hassle walking back to the car and there was no traffic on the way home. Got back to the house for half 11 / 12 o'clock. All in all a great day

grumpytrousers

Didn't go, but was at the Stones in 2007, where I stayed for the fireworks, so i've *some* idea of what goes on.

Long walk *to* the show - expect it. You can't reasonably hope to be dropped off at the door
Similarly long walk *from* the show - expect it, but really, only the same length-ish as the ruddy walk you had to the show.

I've no idea where I was going either time - was with friends who did - but I do recall on the way home, that all the buses were lined up on a main road, you know, the kind with a hard shoulder. There was a bit of a wait, but we survived it.

I don't think anybody should complain, unless there's genuine danger, about what goes on inside a muddy field in the middle of Co Meath. You take those risks with an outdoor gig, and sharing your space with 79,999 others.

However, if you pay heed to the concert organisers and the Gardai, who advise you to take public transport, and you pay €20 for the privelige, then you are entitled to complain, bitch and moan if that part of the gig turns out to be an utter shambles. Losing your wellingtons, virginity and miraculous medal during a show is the kind of stuff that one should almost hope to have happen, DURING the show.

However, walking in the dark, on unsigned roads, to buses that may or may not exist due to a lack of joined up thinking on the part of the same people who bloody well urged you to use this service in the first instance is NOT good enough.

One of two things can happen here, right now.

Those of you who are p*ssed off with what happened can either spend 10 minutes composing a strongly worded letter to MCD outlining your disgust at the system that was in place and stating that unless theres public comment on what went wrong and what they'll do to reduce risks of this in the future, that you'll seriously consider foregoing any further gigs in Slane.

If you sit back, say nothing and merely bitch on the internet, they won't give a f*ck and it'll get worse and worse until somebody, God forbid, gets killed or something on the long walk to the buses.

10 minutes and the cost of a stamp.

Do it.


This is what everyone with a genuine complaint with any gig should do, yes the comments here are beneficial to keep people informed but in order for things to change for the better a little step further has to be taken - Lordgoat

vixenbees

after starting this thread, id just like to mention im also never going back to slane..... had the same issues as everyone. left the gig at 11 and got back to the bus at 12.30... after waiting on a few stragglers we left at 2am and the bus arrived in waterford after 6am.. total joke. I expected delays but not to this extent. been to loads of gigs before and never had such bad issues.

also, my boyfriend was sick inside the gig, hadn't had 1 drink but has been recovering from a stomach bug. anyway, he was close to fainting a few times so decided to go back to the bus around 5pm which was a 5km walk away. no guard or ambulance would drive him cos he wasnt considered priority cos he'd already been seen by a medic.. he physically couldnt walk cos he was so weak. by pure chance a half hour later, one of his mates was working for MCD that day drove past on a golf buggy thing and stopped to see what was up.. he radioed to someone who got him a lift back within 5mins!!! His bro headed back to the bus with him, no point in us all going back. Never seen so many people who couldnt give a crap though.

nmg-lky

I cant believe some people are complaining so much about Slane! We drove from Donegal. parked up in the campsite, few beers and walked down around 4 through the town. Had to queue a bit but nothing major. We sat up on the hill as didnt fancy being down the front. Used the top bar, ok took maybe 20min at worst but what do you expect! Some of the fans in there were just wasters looking for a fight trying to push in past to get a drink, thats the only compliant i have. Walk back to campsite was tough. but knowing there was a crate of beer in the car i didnt mind.

First time to slane, great day i'll def be back!

mad4it

as a slane virgin i didnt no wot 2 expect but wdf?? the organisation of slane after d concert was a disgrace. we got in 2 d field wiout 2much hassle, 2hr walk tho but it was a quick 2hrs wi d help of a drink r 2.. and d banter was good craic we missed prodigy but wasnt 2worried as not a big fan (by d talk of it they put on a gr8 show) oasis wer gr8 and we even talked r way in2 d pit we brought in r own drink so had no probs runnin 2 d bar but d qs 4 d toilets wer terrible but hey that always d way at these things. we left d pit after d show finished. d pit didnt seem such a good idea as we looked up d hill 2c d crowds and crowds of ppl:(.
we expect d 2hr walk bac but omg it took us 3hrs 2 get near a dublin bus as most ppl insisted on walkin at a snails pace. never saw a guard after we crossed d bridge. every1 was confused not noin if they wer gonna get home r not and im very surprised no1 was knocked down on those dark roads and d amount of ppl stranded was terrible. when we finnaly got a bus it didnt move a inch 4 bout a hr and we had d company of the most annoyin person i hav ever met. she just wudnt shut d f*c up chattin bout how she was gonna fight wi every1 (classy bird) d whole bus was ready 2strangle her and she didnt care that d whole bus was laughin at her and hating her. jerry springer wud loved 2hav got her hands on this dol wi al her problems. we finnaly got 2d city bout 4ish. we decided 2use dublin bus as usally it d best way 2 travel 2any of these concert but never again. my friends from donegal wer home b4 we got 2d city:eek: wil i go bac 2 slane?? yeah but it wud need 2b som1 gr8 playin and i wud def take a tent and not hav 2depend on d disgrace that is dublin bus

Wile E. Coyote

Good god people grow a pair and stop with all the moaning and bi*ching.

Were you honestly expecting to walk onto a bus straight after the concert and be home within the hour? Yes maybe Dublin Bus f***ed up but that had nothing to do with the organisers of the event. YOU chose to buy the bus ticket and take the chance. There was nothing stopping you from organising your own bus with your friends which could leave whenever you wanted to. There was also nothing stopping you from driving down parking for the day and then driving home afterwards was there?

For everyone moaning about the queues to get in, the golden rule of any big event is to get in early. Everyone knows that there is a bit of a walk to the concert site no matter what direction your coming from. I don’t know how many times I heard ‘Leave early and give yourself plenty of time’ on the radio that morning. If you didn’t do it then that’s your fault. To jump on a bus in Dublin at 4 and expect to be in the concert site by 5 is just stupid.

The queues for beer. You paid €80 for a great gig. If you constantly need to have a beer in your hand to enjoy yourself then there’s something wrong with you. There’s nothing wrong with having a drink but if you see that the queue is a mile long and still take your chances going to the bar then you can’t really moan and complain. I saw one poster here who complained that he missed Kasabian and the Prodigy cause he had to queue for and hour and a half during each set to get 2 beers. How stupid are you??? Fair enough you might take your chances the first time but after standing in line for an hour and a half why would you go and do it again?

For all those giving out I think the bottom line in all this is that YOU weren’t prepared for the day. YOU chose to go with Dublin Bus instead hiring your own bus or driving. YOU chose not to get to the event early, those that did had no problems getting in and YOU chose to stand at the beer tent for an hour and a half for two cups of watery piss.

Everyone that was prepared enjoyed a great gig and would gladly do it all again that’s what you pay your money for!

BaZmO*

vixenbees wrote: »

after starting this thread, id just like to mention im also never going back to slane..... had the same issues as everyone. left the gig at 11 and got back to the bus at 12.30... after waiting on a few stragglers we left at 2am and the bus arrived in waterford after 6am.. total joke. I expected delays but not to this extent. been to loads of gigs before and never had such bad issues.

also, my boyfriend was sick inside the gig, hadn't had 1 drink but has been recovering from a stomach bug. anyway, he was close to fainting a few times so decided to go back to the bus around 5pm which was a 5km walk away. no guard or ambulance would drive him cos he wasnt considered priority cos he'd already been seen by a medic.. he physically couldnt walk cos he was so weak. by pure chance a half hour later, one of his mates was working for MCD that day drove past on a golf buggy thing and stopped to see what was up.. he radioed to someone who got him a lift back within 5mins!!! Never seen so many people who couldnt give a crap about him.

You let your boyfriend head back on his own?

He obviously wasn't that bad if you felt it ok for him to go back on his own.

jane1979

Arrived at main gate at around 5pm as well and it took me 2 hours get in place. Walk through jammed wooded area was disaster.

When I saw queues for getting a pint I decided not to get one – just waste of time. At the end of venue I was dehydrated so I was queueing for water. People were “begging” for 2EUR glass of water. That’s ripp off. There were just few bottles of water left in the tent - not enough water for all the people at the venue …that`s another disaster.
How could this just happened???

At the end of night people were moving ahead along buses because there was nobody organinzing transport at that place. We asked good few drivers why the lights on the buses are turned off and why people are not allowed to get in. Thay said that any idiot started moving buses from the very end and that was right. What a idiot!!! Drivers were not allowed to get people in until all buses behind them are not gone. How stupid!!! Finaly we got in. We were sitting on a bus for 2.5 hours and moving for inches - step by step. Didn`t get home until 4.30am and I was lucky because friend of mine gave me a lift from city centre to my place. No taxis in a city indeed.

I was lucky because loads of people were left in Slane, sleeping on the ground at petrol station or along the road like animals and nobody cared. It was awful. Who was responsible for traffic organization, where the f..k gardai were??? Who from Dublin bus f…ed it up??? Who is responsible for this? This was total colaps of Dublin Bus and Gardai. They did nothing!

It doesn`t surprise me that people refused to clear the road because of lack of buses. They paid for tickets and there were no buses for them!!! But what you can expect from Dublin Bus? They`re always the same, total mess. No excuse for Dublin Bus and Gardai!!! They have to face consequences.

Slane- never ever again, doesn`t matter who is performing.

squonk

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

Good god people grow a pair and stop with all the moaning and bi*ching.

Were you honestly expecting to walk onto a bus straight after the concert and be home within the hour? Yes maybe Dublin Bus f***ed up but that had nothing to do with the organisers of the event. YOU chose to buy the bus ticket and take the chance. There was nothing stopping you from organising your own bus with your friends which could leave whenever you wanted to. There was also nothing stopping you from driving down parking for the day and then driving home afterwards was there?

For everyone moaning about the queues to get in, the golden rule of any big event is to get in early. Everyone knows that there is a bit of a walk to the concert site no matter what direction your coming from. I don’t know how many times I heard ‘Leave early and give yourself plenty of time’ on the radio that morning. If you didn’t do it then that’s your fault. To jump on a bus in Dublin at 4 and expect to be in the concert site by 5 is just stupid.

The queues for beer. You paid €80 for a great gig. If you constantly need to have a beer in your hand to enjoy yourself then there’s something wrong with you. There’s nothing wrong with having a drink but if you see that the queue is a mile long and still take your chances going to the bar then you can’t really moan and complain. I saw one poster here who complained that he missed Kasabian and the Prodigy cause he had to queue for and hour and a half during each set to get 2 beers. How stupid are you??? Fair enough you might take your chances the first time but after standing in line for an hour and a half why would you go and do it again?

For all those giving out I think the bottom line in all this is that YOU weren’t prepared for the day. YOU chose to go with Dublin Bus instead hiring your own bus or driving. YOU chose not to get to the event early, those that did had no problems getting in and YOU chose to stand at the beer tent for an hour and a half for two cups of watery piss.

Everyone that was prepared enjoyed a great gig and would gladly do it all again that’s what you pay your money for!

Do you work for MCD because that's the greatest load of apologetic horse****e I've heard in a long while. I've done the big gigs over the years and know exactely what the story is. Yes, we expect that there's going to be a queue to get in and yes we expect to queue for bars and toilet facilities after we're in. What happened on Saturday was a shambles purely because ticket checking was badly organised and not placed where it would have allowed a lot of checkpoints to be set up prior to herding everyone into that small path. Once you were on the path there was no indication of where you were in relation to the venue or how far you had left to go. There were no personnel on hand to manage the crowd or even answer questions, let alone respond to any incident that could have occured. Getting out of the gig was OK but, again, there was very inadequate signposting for buses. If you can't see what was wrong on Saturday then I don't think you go to half the gigs you let on you do.

Jip

You can bet your house if eveyone at Slane were Barbara Streisland fans there'd be a full inquiry, Joe Duffy will be talking about it for days and partial refunds would be offered to all. But as your all young scumbag rock fans you'll get a big GTFO here.

mad4it

wile e

of cousre we wernt prepare 4 d day ie dublin bus. eh it was r first time there. i hav bn 2 many gigs and always used dublin bus and had 2 do d usual walkin and waitin and never had a problem wi this, its wot u expect wi d mass amount of people but dublin bus wer takin d piss on sat. we passed bout 30buses ful of people and they wer movin nower and d road was clear. all d buses wer parked that tight 2 each other they cudnt get out so had 2 wait on d bus upfront 2 full up b4 any1 cud mov. a bit of common sense when parkin wud haved made al d difference giv urself space 2 get out of d parkin spot r else dublin bus should of sort out a field wer d bus can park so they can leave once ful

but i do agree wi u bout d people moanin bout missin acts cos they q at d bar now com on people drink r acts that was your own choice and if u choose drink u should of saved ur sel 80eand sat on d bridge wi a carryout

lordgoat

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

Good god people grow a pair and stop with all the moaning and bi*ching.

Were you honestly expecting to walk onto a bus straight after the concert and be home within the hour? Yes maybe Dublin Bus f***ed up but that had nothing to do with the organisers of the event. YOU chose to buy the bus ticket and take the chance. There was nothing stopping you from organising your own bus with your friends which could leave whenever you wanted to. There was also nothing stopping you from driving down parking for the day and then driving home afterwards was there?

For everyone moaning about the queues to get in, the golden rule of any big event is to get in early. Everyone knows that there is a bit of a walk to the concert site no matter what direction your coming from. I don’t know how many times I heard ‘Leave early and give yourself plenty of time’ on the radio that morning. If you didn’t do it then that’s your fault. To jump on a bus in Dublin at 4 and expect to be in the concert site by 5 is just stupid.

The queues for beer. You paid €80 for a great gig. If you constantly need to have a beer in your hand to enjoy yourself then there’s something wrong with you. There’s nothing wrong with having a drink but if you see that the queue is a mile long and still take your chances going to the bar then you can’t really moan and complain. I saw one poster here who complained that he missed Kasabian and the Prodigy cause he had to queue for and hour and a half during each set to get 2 beers. How stupid are you??? Fair enough you might take your chances the first time but after standing in line for an hour and a half why would you go and do it again?

For all those giving out I think the bottom line in all this is that YOU weren’t prepared for the day. YOU chose to go with Dublin Bus instead hiring your own bus or driving. YOU chose not to get to the event early, those that did had no problems getting in and YOU chose to stand at the beer tent for an hour and a half for two cups of watery piss.

Everyone that was prepared enjoyed a great gig and would gladly do it all again that’s what you pay your money for!

What a riculous post. Have you even read the majority of the thread?

People paid for a service, if they and the majority of posts on here, seen to be unhappy with that service, they have every right to complain here. (I do urge everyone with a complaint to take 10minutes and make it to the appropriate place)

If you post a condescending post like that again were you refer to posters as stupid or any other form of patronisation there will be a lengthy ban.

This now goes for everyone.


Just because you may have had a good time or had a **** time but deemed it acceptable does not mean you can belittle other peoples experiences by telling them to suck it up etc

Wile E. Coyote

squonk wrote: »

Do you work for MCD because that's the greatest load of apologetic horse****e I've heard in a long while. I've done the big gigs over the years and know exactely what the story is. Yes, we expect that there's going to be a queue to get in and yes we expect to queue for bars and toilet facilities after we're in. What happened on Saturday was a shambles purely because ticket checking was badly organised and not placed where it would have allowed a lot of checkpoints to be set up prior to herding everyone into that small path. Once you were on the path there was no indication of where you were in relation to the venue or how far you had left to go. There were no personnel on hand to manage the crowd or even answer questions, let alone respond to any incident that could have occured. Getting out of the gig was OK but, again, there was very inadequate signposting for buses. If you can't see what was wrong on Saturday then I don't think you go to half the gigs you let on you do.

No i don't work for MCD. The buses were in the same place that you got off them. You leave the concert site, walk up to the village and theres a huge sign pointing you towards 'DUBLIN, DROGHEDA or THE NORTH'. I assume you know what direction you came from! I drove down early and parked up for the day. Had no problems getting into the gig because I was there early. Fair enough if you go down through the wood it is a bit of a tight squeeze but when you walk across the bridge you can see where the castle grounds are. Thats the distance you have to walk. Were you really expecting people to be standing every couple of hundred yards to tell you how far away from the gig you were?