SLANE 2009 Oasis - All Discussion - No ticket sales.

ronbyrne2005

Jip wrote: »

Take a look at photo 1 in this story
http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/organiser-denies-gig-marred-by-chaos-1783112.html

It looks like there's a pile of people there. Last time I was there was for U2, never again after that said I, and from my vantage point on the hill at the time there never looked to be that many people. And juding by the day light I imagine it was taken well before the main bands came on.

If someone had aerial photos of U2 and this gig and compared crowd sizes using software maybe a good estimate of crowd could be made. Definelty seemed much more packed than at U2 in 2001 and much worse access transport etc.

tadhgenright

Hi there,

Reporter here from RTE News.

I'm trying to put something together on the Slane chaos and I wonder if anyone has got some photos of the mayhem waiting for a bus home or anything else from the gig that you think should be highlighted.

Please get in touch.

Tadhg.

grumpytrousers

Bluetonic wrote: »

Bear in mind capacity for The Rolling Stones was 60,000, not to mention a different crowd totally.

fair point. thought all slane gigs were a blanket 80K capacity, but there were seated areas in '07.

Ron DMC

Justin Conboy wrote: »

I can’t believe you’re a Moderator. Tens of thousands of people complain about panic attacks, fear for their lives and "The Next Hillsbourgh Disaster" and you flip it away as if we're all telling lies!!!!!!!!!!!

Idiotic statment from a moderator.

Justin.

Being a moderator of forums that have nothing to do with Gigs means nothing. I'm still entitled to my opinion.

I understand that there were issues with safety, overcrowding etc, in fairness I saw it with my own eyes, but I still enjoyed myself. Others did too. We didn't all consider waiting for the empty buses to be acurse worse than death. It wasn't raining thankfully, so sitting or wandering down the side of the road for an hour or two to let the buses by wasn't that big a deal (for me).

condra

The whole thing was an absolute shambles.

xxdilemmaxx

Have many people made complaints already? If so, who did you email? Or did you send a letter of complaint?

Had a look at the MCD website, there's a feedback form on the contacts page but not sure if that's any use....

Slicklink

Bluetonic wrote: »

@Slicklink
The majority of your points should be for Meath County Council not MCD.

On the point of putting a screen in the bar area it's not done for a fairly obvious reason.

What obvious reasons. That it might calm people down ! They could still hear the concert after all - distractions are everything when you have long queues. There was one to the left of the other bar but NOT the main bar. People were queuing, fighting over queuing and generally frustrated that they couldnt get a beer and watch the gig as a result.

BrianD wrote: »

Don't expect a retraction from me. I have worked at numerous music events in Ireland including numerous Slanes. Unfortunately, it can be hard for the Irish concert going population to accept the truth about themselves. you may wish to continue living in your own bubble world. MOST people had different experiences to yours. I suggest you read them rather than trying to strike some feeble attempt at balance.

Slane has always been well organised but it is a difficult place to get out of with 80,000 people on the move. Ideally, you'd stick it in a field on the side of a motorway but then again you lose the Slane charm.

Eh Brian you are talking out your a r s e. As someone that has worked in a related area for 15 years I can tell you that Slane's organisation this year was far from acceptable. But anyone who attended that gig could tell you that, its not brain surgery. Dont blame the Irish mentality of attempting to have a good time and a day out as being the problem. That many people were numbed by alcohol probably helped increase a sense ah sure we will put up with it in general.

Slane is a safety issue. It does not have the necessary infrastructure to support these type numbers adequately.


And Ron DMC, I suggest you keep moderation to a minimum to avoid being accused of censure. People are quite rightly annoyed at the shambles the organisation of the event REGARDLESS of the performance of the artists. One can impinge on the other to such an extent that people well just leave.

Doctor Breevil

That tunnel entrance was an absolute nightmare. Missed pretty much all of Kasabians set while standing in that monsterous queue while 6 boys first day on the job were swiping tickets at the front. Once in......all good, waiting for a pint is abit demoralising but what can you do! Great gig....until home time

Thought I wasnt going to make it back for breakfast. By the time we got off the bus it was like the saturday club, everyone felt like they knew eachother for about 4 years, indeed what it felt like. Total Gridlock. Total Disaster.

Im jet skiing up the boyne next time.

Bluetonic

Slicklink wrote: »

What obvious reasons. That it might calm people down ! They could still hear the concert afterall - distractions are everything when you have long queues. There was to the left of the other bar but NOT the main bar.

A screen will encourage people to congregate there and add to any possible congestion. The general idea with a bar area would be to get people away from the vicinity as quickly as possible so you can get more people in.

johnboy7

I enjoyed the concert itself on Saturday, as far as venues go Slane has to be one of the best with the setting and the hills allowing a much better view than most. I have to say that regarding bar facilities, transport etc it was a bit of a disaster. I am a regular visitor to Slane, Oxegen etc and I am happy to walk a reasonable distance and queue a reasonable time. It is all to be expected at outdoor concerts.
The bar was a joke. I was in a group of 4 and I went to get a drink for everyone just after Kasabian ended. By the time I reached the front of the bar The Prodigy were in their last 10 minutes. I was then told I was only allowed 2 drinks. I tried to explain I needed 4 to be told "Do ya want the ****in drinks or not?" With little choice I took the 2 pints and promptly told her what I thought of their customer service in similar industrial language. Why could they not have those little cardboard holders that hold 4 drinks like at every other concert? Think of how this would cut the queues to the bar.
On leaving we couldnt find our private bus. At about 4am after walking about 8 miles down the N2 through clouds of exhaust fumes I was able to talk a guy into dropping me into Dundalk for €50. After walking and standing all day and night I was sore and tired and would have paid anything.
As I said I am always prepared to rough it at these events and I appreciate the logistical problems so many people in a little village creates. I was prepared to be patient. This though was way beyond that. They seriously need to learn the lessons of this if they are to go again next year.

Wile E. Coyote

grumpytrousers wrote: »

The real killer here, and it's something that didn't affect you and thus you've sidestepped it in all your posts, was the inordinate wait that people had to suffer trying to get home. As I've stated before, I saw the Stones at Slane, it's only 2 years ago, and there was nowhere near the chaos, and nothing close to the complaints afterwards to Joe Duffy et al.

The Stones in '07 had a much older and dare I say wiser crowd. There was also 20,000 less fans and about 300 extra Guards on patrol. Only 400 on Saturday for some reason. People will always have to wait for their transport and unfortunately some had to wait a lot longer than others but the way some people are going on about having to walk a few mile for the bus or because they couldn't get a drink inside the venue is ridiculous. You'd think it was the end of the world.

It's been two days since the gig. How many of you that are on here complaining have sent e-mails or letters of complaint to MCD, Dublin Bus, Meath County Council or An Garda Siochaina?

Justin Conboy

Ron DMC wrote: »

Being a moderator of forums that have nothing to do with Gigs means nothing. I'm still entitled to my opinion.

I understand that there were issues with safety, overcrowding etc, in fairness I saw it with my own eyes, but I still enjoyed myself. Others did too. We didn't all consider waiting for the empty buses to be acurse worse than death. It wasn't raining thankfully, so sitting or wandering down the side of the road for an hour or two to let the buses by wasn't that big a deal (for me).

Fair enough. I got a bit anoyed with your statment. I apologise for taking your view out of your context and putting it into my own.
Sorry.

Honestly, I was a very anoyed when I wrote that, because I felt Joe Duffy gave Lord Henry Mount Charles so much time to talk, on Live Line, but whenever he was asked a question, he just said he didn't have the facts to hand, therfore he couldn't comment. Why is he on the show if he can't comment on issues!!!

Chat Later.

Justin

Gavin "shels"

greenfly wrote: »

Pints were €5 and water was available for free!

Pints were €6 up until my last pint which was just before Kasabian came on, so from 1pm till then they were €6. Also water was only free if you were near the barriers were the stewards were giving it out, if you went to one of the tents they were €3 for a bottle or so they were from 1pm till Kasabian came on.

Femelade

Myself and my boyfriend got a bus from parnell square at around half 3. no problems there.

Our bus hit a car when we were a few km's outside slane, nobody hurt but we were on the top deck and people were drinking and standing up and any one of them could have easily gone through the window if near enough to it. so we had to walk the rest of the way into slane.

we got to the caste gates and we each had a bottle of 7up, we handed them to the steward there thining he would dispose of them but he just took the tops off them and handed them back, didnt check what was in them and didnt chesk if there was anything in my bag.

took us over an hour to walk along the laneway to the castle, finally got to the venue, nobody checked our tickets.

we walked over to the nearest bar area to get a drink, but they were closing the gates then. we didnt know why, so we decided to walk down the the bar behind the seated area. we queued for 50 mins to get 2 drinks each, I had seen loads of people come away from the bar with 4-5 drinks, they must have had some contacts but there was no way of me getting any more than 2. there were a few girls in the queue behind me that were intent on passing me out, the finally did as we neared the bar, right cheeky b!tches.

we walked back up the hill and watched the gig from there.
when oasis came on i walked up to the bar that was previously closed.queued for 5 mins to get 2 pints.

went to one area to go to the toilet but the ground was destroyed before i even got to the toilets cos the boys obviously had no patience to queue for them and were just pissing on the fence, the ground was saturated, it hadnt rained all dayi couldnt get anywhere near the toilets..so i queued else where, queued for a toilet that had just been cleaned, so that was nice.

we left at around 10:30.
My boyfriend had been waiting to hear champagne supernova, we didnt they were going to play it, so we left. we heard it as we were walking up through the village

i needed to use the toilet again, and a guard let me use the ladies in the station.

we eventually got to where the buses were parked.
we walked passed loads of full buses and eventually got on one, after passing about 15. no ticket checked.
back in dublin for 1am.

so it wasnt all bad!!
we were actually giving out about it yesterday, saying it was a bit of a disaster, but after reading this thread...it seems the only downfall was missing champagne supernova..and that was our own fault, but had we stayed for it, we prob wouldnt have got back to dublin until 3-4am!

we even got to see the fireworks while walking back to the bus.

Stark

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

The Stones in '07 had a much older and dare I say wiser crowd. There was also 20,000 less fans and about 300 extra Guards on patrol. Only 400 on Saturday for some reason. People will always have to wait for their transport and unfortunately some had to wait a lot longer than others but the way some people are going on about having to walk a few mile for the bus or because they couldn't get a drink inside the venue is ridiculous. You'd think it was the end of the world.

It's been two days since the gig. How many of you that are on here complaining have sent e-mails or letters of complaint to MCD, Dublin Bus, Meath County Council or An Garda Siochaina?

I wouldn't consider a kick in the balls to be the "end of the world" but I'd be fairly pissed if I paid €80 for it and it was avoidable with a bit of effort on the organiser's part.

leomessi

What a day!!!

Me and my mates went up on the friday, and camped out in some field that a farmer was renting out.

2 Nights = €25.

At around 2.45 we headed down to the venue which took around 8 minutes.

Flew through the security, although it took the them around 40 seconds to scan my tickets.

Sat down fro Blizzards and Glasvegas, and got up to just outside the pit for Kasabian who were amazing.

There was a mosh pit but it was nothing.

Got an ice-cream and watched the prodigy from the side.

Got back up to just outside the pit for OASIS.....

NEXT TWO HOURS ****ING UNREAL.

When it ended it took about 20 minutes to get back to the campsite.

No trouble, in fact everyone was taking the mick out of the security guard who kept saying ''whist (west)"

10/10 Day!!

BTE72

lampy wrote: »

BTE72 wrote: »

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

well what do you expect for that price

Em...

Think i already covered that one repeatedly.

Lord Fanny Adams' corporate solutions
An Garda Siochana
MCD
Bus Eireann

1 person from each of these to sit down beforehand and come up with a decent exit plan .

There are 2 opposing sets of opinion here. The people who left early versus everyone else who stayed to the end and weren't positioned at the gates waiting to get out.

I had a great day overall, smashing concert musically. Crap if you ... God Forbid wanted a beer to enjoy with it. And God Forbid wanted to stay to the end.

I presume all in favor here today got on a bus early and got into Town before 1 o'clock so therefore couldn't give a damn about the melee afterward.

Justin Conboy

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

The Stones in '07 had a much older and dare I say wiser crowd. There was also 20,000 less fans and about 300 extra Guards on patrol. Only 400 on Saturday for some reason. People will always have to wait for their transport and unfortunately some had to wait a lot longer than others but the way some people are going on about having to walk a few mile for the bus or because they couldn't get a drink inside the venue is ridiculous. You'd think it was the end of the world.

It's been two days since the gig. How many of you that are on here complaining have sent e-mails or letters of complaint to MCD, Dublin Bus, Meath County Council or An Garda Siochaina?

I've sent an email of complaint and refund to MCD. They organised it; The Buck stops with them. My contract of licence is with them.
Poorly organised by the Staff, The Gardai, Dublin Bus but the buck stops with MCD. They have my name and address and my mobile number. No call back off the as of yet!!!
I'm suprised people don't need counselling after the gig. Seriously....

J

BaZmO*

Justin Conboy wrote: »

Honestly, I was a very anoyed when I wrote that, because I felt Joe Duffy gave Lord Henry Mount Charles so much time to talk, on Live Line, but whenever he was asked a question, he just said he didn't have the facts to hand, therfore he couldn't comment. Why is he on the show if he can't comment on issues!!!

Well at least he actually had the balls to come on the radio, not like MCD and Dublin Bus who refused to.

Slicklink

Bluetonic wrote: »

A screen will encourage people to congregate there and add to any possible congestion. The general idea with a bar area would be to get people away from the vicinity as quickly as possible so you can get more people in.

Eh were you actually at the gig ? People were congregating at that area, some for up to an hour BECAUSE THEY COULDNT GET A DRINK

and most people believe it or not DID want to "get away from the vicinity as quickly as possible so you can get more people in".

What part of the problem and the solution did you not understand..... ha ha

Having seen leomessi's enjoyable experience I am now sick that I didnt queue an hour for an ice cream (had I seen an ice cream queue!!)

BaZmO*

leomessi wrote: »

Got an ice-cream and watched the prodigy from the side.

Aw bless

Gavin "shels"

Now nobody has any excuse not to make a complaint, I've found the most revelent contact details for all parties involved with Slane, so hopefully people start voicing their anger to these parties instead of just here.


MCD - http://www.mcd.ie/contact/

Garda Siochana; Press and Public Relations Office - press_office@garda.ie
Garda Siochana; Traffic Department - traffic_dv@garda.ie

Dublin Bus;Sales Office and Information Bureau - INFO@dublinbus.ie

Bus Eireann - http://www.buseireann.ie/bubble.php?id=88

Slane Castle - enquiries@slanecastle.ie

Meath County Council - info@meathcoco.ie

Peppi Doe

herded like cattle to get in, usually takes 20mins to walk up avenue...took 2 hr 15 mins, horrendous, tickets not checked, someone could have been seriously hurt, few fights broke out & not one to stop them, v scary, hardly moving, i just wanted to go home at that stage, 10 foot wide muck path with metal barriers each side....one girl was having a panic attack & there was nowhere for her to go. Once inside place was rammed, never like that before, usually space up the back near the food stand...all rammers...queued 40 mins for drinks...oasis good, home just after 12 as left before the encore, never again, worst ever...the other 2 trips to slane were great, no hassles, something went seriously wrong, only 1 entry for 80000 people.....

Cathal_91

it was badly organised to say the least, and oasis didnt exactly attracted the most intelligent people, i feel sorry for all the decent people there for a bit of craic and geniunely there for the music, place was over run with complete **** there to start fights.

and for **** sake how are ya meant to find a bus in the pitch dark down a country road when theres 100's of other buses, one of our m8's was left behind lol

Red Sleeping Beauty

Joe Duffy show on it now :
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/player_av.html?0,null,200,http://dynamic.rte.ie/quickaxs/209-rte-liveline.smil


Mentions of Hillsborough are chilling. The Lord of slane is on there now.

TheTubes

Boardsie quoted on the indo site:
http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/organiser-denies-gig-marred-by-chaos-1783112.html

Online messages posted on boards.ie were also scathing about the organisation at the concert.
"I will never, ever return to Slane," said one poster.

This may have been posted already today but a very quick flick through the last few pages says no.

Bluetonic

Slicklink wrote: »

Eh were you actually at the gig ? People were congregating at that area, some for up to an hour BECAUSE THEY COULDNT GET A DRINK

If you can't see how having a screen in an area which is already prone to congestion is a nothing but a bad thing then I give up.

ps Nice quick edit but I am not a joker, I'm deadly serious.

Peppi Doe

why couldnt we have gone in the road we exited on? would have been handy????? panic attacks saved, teeny bit more civilised & less like animals on way to market

bubbleking

10am bus departed home town - 20 of us organized our own private bus

12.30pm arrive at slane from the navan side no traffic and get dropped off 200m from the entrance gate.

12.30 - 2pm chilled out on the hill outside slane havin a few drinks

2.30pm went into the concert no ques no hassel

2.30 - 4pm made the most of the bar when there was no ques

4pm - end of concert - unbelivable craic up the very front for kasabian, prodigy and oasis

after concert - took us a half an hour to get out of slane and then about a 20 minute walk to where our bus was parked.

straight out, no ques no hassel

honestly one of the best concerts i was ever at

suzieb

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

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?

Well I for one came from Drogheda on a bus eireann bus so I did follow sign saying Drogheda,like thousands of other people. Only to find this didnt bring us back to Drogheda buses at all. It brought us up a dark country road which was the road to Drogheda,but not where you get the bus from and that is the reason so many people were stranded outside DOlly Mitchells pub until 3 in the morning when taxi's finally started picking people up from there. Lots of gardai stationed here,one of them a sergeant who says it was a disgrace what had happened.

Should have recorded my conversation with him in light of AGS coming out now and saying that everything went without hitch :mad: