SLANE 2009 Oasis - All Discussion - No ticket sales.

Neo#

flas wrote: »

another thing whih i found was crazy was me and 2 mates stopped a female gardai and asked her if she knew anything about where to get the bus back too dublin from after the gig after we had been walking for ages,her actual advice was to "plead and beg" one of the private bus drivers to let us on and bring us home,we were shocked,all we could do was laugh and keep on walking!

I was right beside you when you asked her I think. It made me even more angry!

ronbyrne2005

Maybe they could set up some temporary car parks in the fields on other side of River opposite the main stage and set up temporary bridges to get people across. Gravel could be put down on several large fields and busses arranged in best manner to faciltate easy and rapid departure.

ronbyrne2005

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/organisers-promise-review-to-tackle-chaos-at-oasis-show-1784839.html

THE organisers of the controversial Oasis concert at Slane have admitted there were problems and say they will work to prevent a repeat at future gigs at the famous venue.

The owner of Slane Castle also acknowledged yesterday there were "serious problems" at Saturday's event.

As concert-goers claimed they feared for their safety at the 80,000-capacity venue, Lord Henry Mountcharles pledged to address the issues raised.

Promoter MCD has also asked anyone with complaints to get in touch directly by email at contact@mcd.ie.

All the problems highlighted by fans will be looked at -- including transport, queues for bars, and access to the venue -- at a debriefing meeting to be held in the coming weeks.

MCD, Lord Mountcharles, Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann, and the gardai will attend the meeting; but it is understood that there will be no fans' representatives present.

Their stories continued to emerge yesterday with some telling how they waited in ditches in the cold to get home, while others told how they witnessed serious assaults and drug busts in the VIP area.

Others experienced overcrowding and some crushing, while one woman fan was kicked in the face.

MCD maintained that attendance and capacity at the concert was 80,000, amid claims that more had gained entry without having their tickets checked. They said ticket scanning checks were suspended for about 30 minutes shortly after 6.35pm at one entrance to ease queues and a build-up of people through the forest laneway.

"However, at the same time the gate behind them at the bridge entrance was closed thus ensuring that no one could enter the system knowing that ticket

BaZmO*

I find it funny that people that actually had no real problems getting to and from the venue keep slating those that did calling them typical Irish whingers. Just because you had a trouble free day doesn't mean that others did too.

Plus the excuse that it's just what's to be expected at gigs like this and it's always been like this is not good enough. What's wrong with wanting improved conditions?

There is no point in complaining about drunk and boisterous people or even people taking drugs cos that's something that happens at gigs and it will never change, but there should be a certain level of competent organisation that should be expected at events like these. Nobody is looking for a red carpet laid from O'Connell Street to the Main Stage ffs.

I think the organisers got very lucky that no one got seriously injured and also with the weather conditions.

On the plus side though I reckon this time they'll have to make some serious changes, it's just a shame that it takes serious fvck ups for things to change in this country rather than gradual improvements.

Slutmonkey57b

I've been to Slane before, and like a lot of people have said, it's not a venue for the faint hearted. I also don't think it's as good a venue as people like to say it is. Whether you're of the opinion that people should just suck it up, or that everyone should arrive at the venue on a litter carried by four servants, the picture below is the single most damning indictment of MCD and Mountcharles, because they have no answer to the following question:

If there is an emergency in the middle of that crowd, where are people going to go?
If someone needs medical attention, how are you going to get to them?
If there's a fire, or a panic, or a rush, how are people going to get OUT of there?


a) You can't, and they're not.

presetbandit wrote: »

dixiefly

In the indo they have mentioned that a woman got kicked in the face!! Anyone see that?

The organisers said they would improve it for the next time. They should never get a licence until they can spell out clearly their new improved systems. So so lucky that they wasnt a fatality.

All the investigations in the world wont help those effected by this. If cost cutting and running with less staff has caused this then the people running the event should not profit out of the cutbacks. The organisers should be forced to make a €500k donation to charity as a recognition of this.

Bluetonic

BaZmO* wrote: »

I find it funny that people that actually had no real problems getting to and from the venue keep slating those that did calling them typical Irish whingers.

It's nearly as funny as people who experienced no problems being accused of being employees of MCD by those who experienced problems. Fact is lots of people had no problems and lots of people had problems.

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

If there is an emergency in the middle of that crowd, where are people going to go?
If someone needs medical attention, how are you going to get to them?
If there's a fire, or a panic, or a rush, how are people going to get OUT of there?

Why not ask the question of Meath County Council who granted permission for it to be used as an entrance?

BaZmO*

Bluetonic wrote: »

It's nearly as funny as people who experienced no problems being accused of being employees of MCD by those who experienced problems.

I know, I cringe when anybody says that. But then again everything is a conspiracy nowadays. :rolleyes:

Bluetonic

BaZmO* wrote: »

I know, I cringe when anybody says that. But then again everything is a conspiracy nowadays. :rolleyes:

paulocon

dixiefly wrote: »

In the indo they have mentioned that a woman got kicked in the face!! Anyone see that?

The organisers said they would improve it for the next time. They should never get a licence until they can spell out clearly their new improved systems. So so lucky that they wasnt a fatality.

All the investigations in the world wont help those effected by this. If cost cutting and running with less staff has caused this then the people running the event should not profit out of the cutbacks. The organisers should be forced to make a €500k donation to charity as a recognition of this.

Did I miss something or was there a massive humanitarian crisis on Sunday?

Got a text yesterday to switch on Joe Duffy and it provided a good hour of entertainment.. fair play to Joe as he managed to get the word 'fatality' in there at least twice. Loved the callers who started with the line 'I've been an Oasis fan since before I was born.. I'm in my late thirties and work as a banker in the City so I would consider myself sensible....'.

I went, had a great day and got home without any problems. From what I read on here, the issues that need to be addressed seem to be...

- Why did people queue 2 hours to get in and end up missing Kasabian? (MCD)
- What the hell happened with the buses? (Dublin Bus)
- Who came up with the bright idea of only handing out 2 pints at the bar? (MCD)

If you feel that strongly about what happened, sent a letter or email to the relevant company..

As for all the other stuff about drunkenness, drug-taking, walking, muck, isolated fights etc. it was a rock concert after all

If only the Joe Duffy show was around in the 80's.....
http://www.tribune.ie/archive/article/2007/jul/22/the-night-the-riot-police-got-my-cider/

Absolute Zero

NickNolte wrote: »

Coincidental that all these people defending this horror show all have 1 or 2 posts. :rolleyes:

Where some people will complain about people being moaners, the rest of us will accuse the same people of accepting being treated like crap. Swings and roundabotus. The cold hard fact of the matter was that the organisation of the event was appalling; particularly after a certain time at the Dublin entrance and particularly on the way home after the gig. Anyone who was there and disagrees is just not looking at the facts.

Nah sorry we have lifes to get on with

Ah get over it you poor little things.. Its a gig with 80000 people coming into and leaving a small village. They cant have any more entrances or exits and dublin bus can only put on so many buses. Dont know what people were expecting its the same every time Slane is on. You come prepared knowing what to expect. If people cant last a few hours without a beer then the problem is with yourself not with the venue.

dixiefly

paulocon wrote: »

Did I miss something or was there a massive humanitarian crisis on Sunday?

No you didnt miss anything. The point I was (trying) to make was that there is no real way to compensate the large numbers of people for the extreme inconvenience and, in some cases, trauma that they had to go through. At the same time the coffers of MCD etc are nicely topped up.

my_mate

Croke Park manages 80,000 people in an even smaller area without the hassle seen in this thread.

A lot of problems could have been addressed by hiring sufficient staff to manage the crowds, or by applying some common sense methods. For example, people shouldn't have been admitted to the confined lane pictured above until people at the head of the queue had exited the area.

BaZmO*

my_mate wrote: »

Croke Park manages 80,000 people in an even smaller area without the hassle seen in this thread.

A lot of problems could have been addressed by hiring sufficient staff to manage the crowds, or by applying some common sense methods. For example, people shouldn't have been admitted to the confined lane pictured above until people at the head of the queue had exited the area.

You can't compare the two. Croke Park has about 20 million entrances and is in the City Centre of a European Capital. Slane has two entrances and is in a small village. Chalk and Cheese.

BumbleB

dixiefly wrote: »

If cost cutting and running with less staff has caused this then the people running the event should not profit out of the cutbacks. The organisers should be forced to make a €500k donation to charity as a recognition of this.

Well ,they didn't cost cut the price of the ticket or the disgraceful booking fee.

The problem lies in the fact that they are only 2 major players in music promotion here ,they suffocate all the competition .

I personally know of a big name gig that was meant to happen in another huge outdoor venue which is better than slane ,that none of you have heard of yet that did not see light of day because one of those 2 made sure it would not happen.

These people aren't musicians or do it for the love of music they are business parasites .

Traditionally big festivals were ran by musicians and young people such as woodstock ,isle of wight 1970 .Yes they made money and that was part of it but not the b 'all .

These people have everything paid by sponsorship before tickets go on sale ,everything else is just creaming the people that pay top dollar to get into the gigs.Its wrong and it is a recession and these people should realise this.


You people have the power .I personally would like to see a year long boycott of all the major gigs to bring these people to their knees.Bring back real promoters into the music scene and real reasonable prices.

They don't deserve our custom. period.

squonk

I've just caught MCD's statement now and I must say I'm not impressed. They appear to be trying to shove the blame for Saturday's shambles onto the bus companies. While I know people had problems, they themselves knew how many concert tickets they had sold (more than 80,000 as they stated if you ask me) and should have knows that a lot of ticketholders would opt for public transport from years of running the gig in the SAME VENUE.

I myself bought my ticket when I got on the bus in Drogheda as did my mate and it seemed a very sensible and straight forward thing to do. Had there been a system in place where tickets were not sold on the day, we wold have booked earlier in the week but I don't see how that was a problem anyway.

The gig itself had serious problems. We all know how long it took people to get into the venue, how long they had to queue for beer etc. Saying that the queues were down to promoting responsible drinking is baloney. That daft policy caused more trouble than it sorted. If they were that concerned about responsible drinking they'd have made sure bags were checked properly on the way in as it seems that a lot of people had no problem getting not only beer but spirits into the site. If they were concerned about responsible drinking they'd also have done something about the gangs of lads congregating on the road down to the bridge when people were getting off the buses.

I'd say Shaggy's 'It Wasn't Me' is on repeat play in the MCD office at the moment judging by that statement they released yesterday. They should own up to their responsibility and include a fan representative in the discussions regarding next year's gig. Saying you'll take comments on board means absolutely nothing if nobody who actually pays to be at the event is involved in the consultation process. All very substandard.

paulocon

dixiefly wrote: »

No you didnt miss anything. The point I was (trying) to make was that there is no real way to compensate the large numbers of people for the extreme inconvenience and, in some cases, trauma that they had to go through. At the same time the coffers of MCD etc are nicely topped up.

Not trying to make light of what happened but I really do wonder at some of the posts on here. I don't get out too often as I have a young family but the last few times I have been out, I have been 'inconvenienced' on each occassion..

Ballina - waited 1.5hrs+ for a taxi.. people skipping queues, people urinating (to quote a phrase) on the street. In the end, a sister of one of the gang we were out with got our of her bed to pick us up..
Drogheda - waited 1hr+ for a taxi. Again people skipping queues.

These things are a fact of life and in many ways are what you sign up for when you head out for a night. While something of a pain in the ass at the time, I can't say it ruined my night on either occassion. I am not saying if it's right or wrong but talk of compensation baffles me.

As for the trauma, I didn't come in through the Dublin entrance and wasn't stuck in the 2 hour queue so can't comment but I have been in many similar experiences both at gigs and at sporting events - can't say I was traumatised but like I said, I can't comment on the severity of this crush.

With the reports of complete lack of security on the forest entrance and the undermanned entrance-points - this is the main area that needs to be looked at and addressed prior to the next concert.

shizzel

the bar by the entrance along with the toilets and a couple of chippies were completely closed off to the rest of the gig ,isolated and operated a one way system which brought everyone leaving back into the crowd that was entering the gig...........all wrong ! why cant they just open up as much available space. makes scence, and a human barrier made of stewards at the bar allowing one person through until the crowd pushed the barrier out of fear for their lives..(btw. did anyone else see that wow!!)... also a couple of acres that could have been opened up stage right which would have gave people room th breath wrong wrong wrong... mcd shazme on you...

dinneenp

MCD STATEMENT:
We fully accept there were delays entering the venue mainly due to the larger number of fans than expected that used public transport and while this is welcomed it did cause delays. While bus tickets were widely available in advance, going forward we will actively encourage fans to book their bus tickets in advance, as the majority of tickets approx 17,000 were purchased on the day of the event. It is a credit to Dublin Bus that they were able to facilitate the increased numbers, rather than having thousands of fans left stranded.

On site venue bars were the same size/number as previous sell out concerts. To encourage responsible drinking it is policy to serve only 2 pints of beer per person at a time which is welcomed by Gardai, Drinkaware etc however this added to longer queues than acceptable and something which will be reviewed.

Overall the 80,000 fans who attended were extremely well behaved however there will always be a small number of individuals who engage in anti social behaviour which is totally unacceptable. Gardai have reported that there were no major incidents and stated in today’s Irish Independent that the concert passed off better than previous concerts at the venue.

Attendance and capacity for the event was 80,000 which has been the capacity for standing concerts at the venue for the last 20 years.

All the issues raised above will be immediately addressed at the post event debrief meeting and changes will be implemented as required for future Slane concerts.

evil_seed

my_mate wrote: »

Croke Park manages 80,000 people in an even smaller area without the hassle seen in this thread.

A lot of problems could have been addressed by hiring sufficient staff to manage the crowds, or by applying some common sense methods. For example, people shouldn't have been admitted to the confined lane pictured above until people at the head of the queue had exited the area.

Croke Park is a purpose built sports arena built to handle those kind of numbers. Slane Caslte is a private estate that's opened up for the public once a year for a massive concert. Til there are security gates/entrances put in place or the place is upgraded so it can handle modern day events you cannot compare the 2

squonk

evil_seed wrote: »

Croke Park is a purpose built sports arena built to handle those kind of numbers. Slane Caslte is a private estate that's opened up for the public once a year for a massive concert. Til there are security gates/entrances put in place or the place is upgraded so it can handle modern day events you cannot compare the 2

Well my mate who was with me on Saturday was also at Take That in Croker the week before and she said MCD stuffed that up as well. From what I was told, if the management of the arena had been left to the GAA's staff, things would have gone smoothly, but MCD's staff screwed things up so it looks like even with custom arenas designed for the purpose of containing large crowds they can manage to pull a fcuk up out of the bag.

mspacman

This was my third time to Slane, and I didn't see much differences between this and the previous two I'd been too - apart from the fact, I would say that there were definitely a lot more people at Oasis than should have been in that field and also the queue's for the bar were a little out of hand. But I'm sorry, I just put that down to having 90,000 people in a field.....

To those of you who keep saying that those of us [not moaning about the gig] that we're just willing to accept it and whatever else - that's not the case. I enjoyed myself the other day. I didn't encounter any problems throughout the day. BUT here's a thought, how many of you, that have been venting your anger on here or ringing Joe Duffy...how many of you have actually sent written complaints to Henry Mountcharles/MCD/Meath Co. Council/Ticketmaster???????? I'd say it's a significantly less people than have been moaning. And yes, it is moaning.

And to the person who replied to me above asking if I've been to Oxegen. Yes I have. And I've had a great time each time. But I remember last year and the year before, people ringing Joe Duffy on Monday morning to report their tents being trampled on or set on fire or whatever else.

It's all about moaning to Joe Duffy - he's not a frigging ombudsman you know, you have to do something about your "complaints" as well!!!!!

dr oatker

We went in early so we didn't have any problems getting in. I was with my son (16) and two of his mates so there was no queuing for beer. I thought Kasabian, the prodigy and Oasis were brilliant. It was pretty packed on the way out but we were moving all the time and I never felt that there was any danger of a crush. I was in Pairc Ui Caiomh in 1996 and there was a horrendous crush on the way out of that. The crowd on the way out on Saturday was no worse than your average GAA championship match.

Why don't they scan tickets before people get on the buses in Dublin, The same way as you can get pre approval for customs flying out to the states. That might have eased the congestion. Secondly, they should not have used the forest gate for an entrance they should have use the gate that the Dublin-bound people came out and had the punters walk up the main road, a much wider road.

There is not a whole pile you can do about queuing for beer, that's inevitable at a gig and I think that good ideas to alleviate that situation have already been posted so I'm not going to repeat them.

TAGG

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

There seem to be a some very long winded posts from people with a low post count who had a seemingly great experience inside the event and have not a bad word to say about those parts of the gig that MCD are directly responsible for. I wonder why that is.

I can tell you why that is:

1. We drove from Dublin, so came through the Drogheda entrance, not the Dublin entrance, where the trouble seemed to be.

2. We arrived early, as advised, so there were no queues for anything - instead, we had a great time, sitting in the sun and enjoying the bands.

3. Other than a couple of pints early on (when there were no queues), we didn't drink...we'd paid to see the bands, not stand in a beer queue. This also meant we were not drunk or off our heads like a lot of other people, so were able to make common sense decisions and try and stay out of the way of troublemakers.

4. We left a couple of songs early (we could hear them on the way out anyway), as we figured that getting 80,000 people out of a venue exited only by minor roads would take some time.

5. We didn't go back on the bus, where from reading all the posts, it's apparent there were major problems.

That is why we had a brilliant day. I have nothing to do with MCD or anyone else linked to Slane. There were clearly problems on the day and that I am not disputing. However, I believe in a balanced argument and wanted to put forward my experiences as everyone else has done...I believe that is what these forums are all about.

really reilly

never heard such bull**** in all my life. what do you people want ta be chauferred in by the hand an shown a seat . its a ****ing rock concert what were yas expecting. was their and taught it was a top gig . did yas all expect no queus at a concert that had nearly a 100,000 at it . when did the irish turn into such nitpickers . **** sake

mspacman

The Blonde One wrote: »

No, I wasn't there (never said I was), but fortunately I was blessed with ears and I'm able to listen to what people say. Go back and read my post, I never said they spoke to each other at Slane either. Oh, and an Xpose insult....that hurt me real bad :rolleyes:
Why should people take what you say as being the last word? Other people have opinions, if ya took a moment to listen to them you might learn something.

I didn't say that you said you were there. You were saying that what I said about the Manchester gig was rubbish cos you "know some people" who were at the gig. And who's taking my word as the last word? That's ridiculous. You have NO argument so stop trying to pull at straws...

Mental Mickey

really reilly wrote: »

never heard such bull**** in all my life. what do you people want ta be chauferred in by the hand an shown a seat . its a ****ing rock concert what were yas expecting. was their and taught it was a top gig . did yas all expect no queus at a concert that had nearly a 100,000 at it . when did the irish turn into such nitpickers . **** sake

Is that you, Liam!!??? All that people want, is for the event to be run as safely as possible. Not to be fearful that they may get injured at an event that they are trying to enjoy!!!!

mspacman

really reilly wrote: »

never heard such bull**** in all my life. what do you people want ta be chauferred in by the hand an shown a seat . its a ****ing rock concert what were yas expecting. was their and taught it was a top gig . did yas all expect no queus at a concert that had nearly a 100,000 at it . when did the irish turn into such nitpickers . **** sake

Exactly, I think it's all completly blown out of proportion. It''s time to move on now and forget about it.

And for the record, all this about the Dublin exits being the problem, I entered and left by the Dublin gate and had no problems. The only real problem I had, was people walking snails pace out through the village. They're probably the moany ones. Tip for you all, the slower you walk, the longer it takes to get home!!!!!!!!

finno

presetbandit wrote: »

A few pics from that lane in the forest.
from the very few security guys of which were radio less so if something did go wrong and we are lucky it didn't we would have been fe@ked esp as the prodigy were on stage at the time the photos were taken.

who in there right mind would let such a crowd (80,000 plus)into a 4/5m wide lane that was running into a dead-end/bottleneck like this with more and more people joining in to the que,in my mind the people who planed this and the health and safety people that allowed this need a good kick in the arse.

i had a good day at this but lack of planning/security and the bar which was a joke took alot away from my day , also have to admit that the Hillsborough Disaster came into my mind a few times .

another gig that would see 85 euro better spent would be http://www.dourfestival.be/en

have been the last 2 years in a row, how and why do we have it so bad for price and quality over here.

Fcukin hell :eek: when i walked through there at 1pm there was only about 20 people if even that. I got back to dublin at half 12 we started to walk back to the bus when champaine supernova came on, cause we were right side of the stage and when we looked back and seen the crowd behind us we knew it would takes us forever to get out.
Looks like we were right too reading the posts on here