Blur Sat 24th June 2023 Malahide Castle

I have to say that I really like the Golden Circle and I don't mind paying a bit extra for it (once it's reasonable) as I don't have the time or ability to queue outside venues for hours before gates open.

Foo Fighters had one in the RDS that was priced the same as general standing which was great so it was first come first served on tickets.

The one for Blur was great that you could get up close without having to worry about being swarmed.

As pointed out though, the toilets were so far away and wading through hoards of people to get them wasn't fun.

Nothing bigger than a4 sized tote is rule these days. But small pack back should be grand

You could say the same thing about most seated gigs though. Seats up the front cost more.

Does anyone know if all the people in the queue for the Dart got a Dart?

We got ours about 23:50 and I heard last Dart was at 00:00 and there's no way everyone in the queue would've fitted on one more Dart (I'm guessing if they did finish at midnight then there would only have been one more Dart)

Didn't have a Gold Circle ticket, but the Circle didn't seem that huge tbh. I had visions of it taking up half the venue, but being outside it was grand. Could still be reasonably close.

With regards to the DART afterwards, we were really slow getting out. The queue was WAY up the road, so thought it'd take forever to get on one, but it was absolutely grand. Far less painful than getting there, when we were stuck waiting in Tara St for an hour and a half, then packed into a train that felt like a sauna.

Sorry, but the Gold Circle barrier, which we were at basically, went right back to roughly 15 metres (give or take) in front of the sound stage. That is not close to the stage. Close enough to enjoy it yes (thankfully), and make out the band etc. But not close by any definition. Fair enough if it didn't bother people, that's grand. But there were a lot of people bemused, lots more than are on here. It's just not cool. Try and find an aerial shot (I couldn't) if you can. There are aerial shots of previous shows, where the distance from soundstage to barrier, to stage, can be imagined. Quite a distance.

Barrier could be closer to stage so people aren't feeling short-changed, volume reduced, and Gold Circle people catered for - special needs, young folk, people who need space, whatever. Is that too much to ask? As someone mentioned yes, seated gigs can also have tiered prices obviously, but you would usually have a seat, in a small enough venue, with a good view. For nearly 90 quid you expect more. An armchair with my own waiting staff preferably :)

Thankfully Blur rocked my socks off so I wasn't thinking about it.

Gold Circle is a load of bollocks. A pit allocated on first come first served should be the way. Utterly sick of the fan being taken for a ride by all and sundry. And i rarely go to big gigs, it just doesn't sit right with me.

It's another cash grab. Make it a fan club thing or something if people are that desperate to get in to it.

And sure blur couldn’t be described as an active band in the last decade

That’s the marlay park set up thus year for def leopard/motley crue and the weeknd

I’’ll say there is barriers/wristbands at if

Selling pit tickets have been going on for years, nothing new or exciting. It’s just been rebranded as good circle in the last decade

The reality is that if the price was too high for not being in the golden circle versus being in the golden circle, people didn't need to go and can vote with their wallet. The "seating plan" was there for all to see so it's nonsense to say it was giving two fingers to fans. Not to mention, it was one of the smallest golden circle areas I've seen. The ones at Foo Fighters, Rolling Stones were way bigger.

You could make the exact same argument that it's unfair that just because people have the time to queue for a gig for hours before, that they get priority and into a pit.

I'm not sure I understand your point and forgive me for pointing out that calling someone's opinion "nonsense" needs a better argument than you provided above. By your rational just because something is announced in advance, then it's fine? As you know from my comments I'm not coming in crazy hard on this. But you won't convince me that this can't be done better. And the fact that the GC areas in those other shows were bigger makes no odds to me - that just makes those shows even worse IMO. This is for money not the audience experience. Happy to respectfully disagree.

Sound desks at outdoor shows have to be about 20 metres of so back for the sweet acoustic spot for soundchecks and live sound mixing.

its been standard practice for decades that the pit ends at the sound desk. Operationally easier to have fencing etc running from sound desk.

charging for pit access has also been a thing for years as well. Again it’s not universal and sure likes of malahide/st Anne’s were not charging every night.

neighbours of concert venues understandably don’t want people camping outside their houses for days before so selling pit access helps this.

its been a part of event licensing approval that promoters can’t have people queing outside venues anymore.

so selling pit access is now more common and if it’s a nominal add on that people can choose I don’t see it as too bad.

acting like being in general admission is such a dramatically worse experience