SLANE 2009 Oasis - All Discussion - No ticket sales.

PirateShampoo

I took the car, only driving from Balbriggan, we arrived early to watch The Blizzards. Got a nice spot on the hill in front of the stand. Queing for drinks was no problem intill Kasabian was due on, when it got to that stage there was no more point in trying. Got myself a lovely Burger that was the size of my head. Had a great time. Oasis and Prodigy where brilliant.

Watched the fire works, while waiting to get out. Finally got to the car around 12 ish and took us 45 mins to get to m1 due to people falling all over the road. Suprised there was no one run over.

Had a great time. Loved it.

Yes there was scum at the gig but what where you people expecting, maybe you stick to electric picknic.

gcgirl

My name is URL wrote: »

I heard Prodigy were far better than Oasis. First time in years that I didn't go, kinda regretting it tbh

The Prodigy are always A1 i remember them in the last trip to tipp back in 97 !! Fantastic !! one of the best gigs i ever went to and was stone cold sober!

PirateShampoo

Juha wrote: »

Glastonbury is not on mainland Europe.
Honestly, this festival had one of the worst organization and arrangements I've ever seen. It felt like there were way too many people on the castle grouds, it did not feel safe at all. Then again, this has happened elsewhere as well, Roskilde (Denmark) 2000 with 9 deaths being an extreme example of that. It did feel yesterday that something could have gone as seriously wrong in Slane too. Drunken people walking on narrow road sides while busses passing etc.

And Slane is mainland Europe?

Mahou

The tiger cubs aren't prepared for gigs like this. Having to queue for a beer and trying to get home on a bus. I mean wtf loike omg. Saw both groups in Cork in 96 I think. Great gig.
Was at a gig in Slane years ago and had to do the long walk. It wasn't pleasant but we made the most of it and had a laugh.

Juha

PirateShampoo wrote: »

And Slane is mainland Europe?

Read the thread.
Somebody said this could not happen on mainland Europe and other person tried to prove him wrong by posting a link to article on UK festival.

LightningBolt

The music itself was fine. 90 minutes for a drink may have been a slight exageration, no? I only lined up once for drink just before Kasabian came on and it took me 50 minutes. After that I wasn't bothered drinking anymore. That was my only real issue inside.

Outside was a complete disaster. There was people losing it with bus drivers who were really ignorant for the most part, in fairness the planning had nothing to do with them at all but they could have at least tried to radio in to find out what people should do. Most people were rightly concerned with where and when more buses were going to arrive. It wasn't even possible to find out if we were to keep on walking on up the road or walk back to the original collection point.

I rang Navan Garda station to see if they could get in touch with whoever was overseeing the Dublin Bus operation but due to the amount of people in the area the reception was **** and the line cut out. I don't think I've ever witnessed such a shambolic organisation before (I've been to Slane before so I expected some delays).

The ironic thing is that I was one of first to arrive home. An empty bus arrived just past the cause of the delay and a driver was ordered to take a full load (himself and a garda had a fully heated row over it). Garda turned the bus around and off we went thankfully. Managed to get in to town just after two. Had several messages from friends from just before 5am and on saying they were only just getting in, six and a half hours after the gig finished.

I've been on well run Dublin Bus event transport before, this time they ****ed up big time coupled with the lack of a garda operation.

SoupyNorman

Kazooie wrote: »

6 euro they were. 15 to park in a carpark (a field). 10 for a snackbox (1 measily bit of chicken). My hole is quite sore from the rapin dished out at Slane yesterday. That would be my gripe. But sure aren't we used to this rip off society though, nothing new.

If anyone knows anything about anything about concerts/festivals is that you are going to get ripped off, moaning about that side of things is just pointless.

The main gripe with people seems to be with the organization, the organizers know how people are coming and it's a simple case of failing to prepare, that or the venue just cant handle that volume of bodies.

The Pontiac

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Reading some peoples experiences I have my doubts. Seemingly the place was swarming with scum.

Kazooie wrote: »

I wouldn't say swarming. prodigy will always bring in the pill heads but They were out numbered by (all be it very drunk) normal people like me.

An Oasis gig is an absolute guarantee to attract a huge scum element. I'm not saying all Oasis fans are scum, but to say all the scumbags were prodigy fans is bullshít. Anyone not expecting this yesterday is living in dreamland.

Gunn4r wrote: »

Gigs are loud. People / drink and do drugs and some get arrested and some don't. People run around and fall over, people shout and fight.

Again, it all depends on what gigs you go to..

Zzippy

Has it always been that bad? I've only been to Slane twice, last for U2 and I drove. Left after the last song, walked about 2 miles to car park, got in car and drove to Swords where we were staying, made it to the pub for last orders (not a late bar either). So back in a comfy pub drinking pints by 12.30. Thats mad not getting home til 4 or 5!

didnt bother wit bar either.. did all my drinkin beforehand. was great craic out oj the grass nd then in for kasabian.

we were lucky cause our bus was one of the first towards navan

greenninja27

I thought each and every band was excellent, the ony reason I got to see them though is because having already cued for an hour for a beer I had decided I wouldnt be doing that again. I thought the way the thing was run ruined the whole bloody thing for me. I got the distinct feelin they took the money for the ticket and after that they didnt want to know people were being herded around like cows. And walking down dark narrow roads with buses everywhere. I got on the bus home at half 11 and we didnt move two feet for 2 hours. I finally got back to Dublin at 4.30 am from a concert finished at 11. I could get to Africa in that time. NEVER again. SLANE SUCKS.:mad:

Rowley Birkin QC

I had a great night, then again my mate collected us from Slane and we got a taxi down.

abouttobebanned

Was this people's first slane gig or something? I thought the long walk out of the place was well known at this stage.

is_that_so

SoupyNorman wrote: »

If anyone knows anything about anything about concerts/festivals is that you are going to get ripped off, moaning about that side of things is just pointless.

The main gripe with people seems to be with the organization, the organizers know how people are coming and it's a simple case of failing to prepare, that or the venue just cant handle that volume of bodies.

The big problem with Slane has alway been its location. Visually it's a great spot and the natural amphitheatre is spectacular. However to get those 80,000 people in and out means transport, private and public, has to be corralled in fields miles away. Unlike Oxegen people have to come and go on the same day, mostly on a very narrow and easily overloaded "national" road. Organisationally I never found it a problem mostly because I knew what to expect and made arrangements to ensure I didn't get caught in the inevitable chaos of "closing time".

cee_jay

Oasis were good - although they need to get a bit more original in their line up - you could predict what song was coming next.

To the guy at the top of the hill who kept stripping off naked and swinging it about in our faces during the Prodigy, put it away, you aren't good looking and we really don't want to see it.

To the girl who sat down in the middle of the field during the oasis set to put on a full face of make up and brush her hair, you are at a gig, I really don't think anyone will be looking at you if you had no make up on. And don't look at us with daggers if we are dancing and enjoying ourselves and happen to touch you in the process. Perhaps you should have left if you weren't enjoying it.

Got to Slane from the Navan side during the Kasabian set, saw the queue for drink and decided we'd much prefer to enjoy the bands/music instead of queuing for 45 mins for watered down beer/vinegar wine in a bag.

Had a bit of a walk back to our bus on the navan side on the way out but that's to be expected. Passed 48 buses owned by Dublin Bus parked up in Navan on the way home. We stopped off for food in Trim and were home in Limerick by 3:30.
A friend text me at 2:50 to say they were just on a bus back to Dublin at that stage!

Kazooie

<Ollie> wrote: »

An Oasis gig is an absolute guarantee to attract a huge scum element. I'm not saying all Oasis fans are scum, but to say all the scumbags were prodigy fans is bullshít. Anyone not expecting this yesterday is living in dreamland.



Again, it all depends on what gigs you go to..

Apologies if thats how it sounded. I I didn't mean it to sound like that. I didn't infact call them scumbags either. Oasis brought in scome scobes and always do.

Bluetonic

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Should have more than one entrance to the gig

There was more than one entrance.

The Pontiac

Kazooie wrote: »

Apologies if thats how it sounded. I I didn't mean it to sound like that. I didn't infact call them scumbags either. Oasis brought in scome scobes and always do.

I did though. I've many other names for them too..

weemcd

For all the hassle when I'm talking about Slane next year I won't be complaining about the long walk or overpriced food or beer cues.

I'll be remembering how much I enjoyed myself. . .

heymayo

Hi Guys, Does anyone know if a DVD was made of Slane Last Night??

renraw

cazze wrote: »

What a shambles the whole thing was !

1. the close the bar at the top of the hill during the Prodigys set forcing thousands to make their way down to the bottom bars causing shoving and mini crushes in the process

2.i have been to slane other years and never have i seen it so packed
would this have anything to do with no tickets been checked
i seen a lot of touts on O connell street selling those internet printoff tickets
whos to say they werent just mass photocopies
it wouldnt have mattered any way but this could have led to a serious incident due to overcrowding

3 Dublin bus
What a joke a lot of rude bus drivers(whats new)
i will say our driver in the end was a nice guy

4 MCD have a lot of questions to answer for yesterdays shambles

5 Oasis for okay
sound was pretty good pity there was'nt more crowd interaction
a longer encore would have been nice
but hey its not a bruce springsteen gig is it !

Serious? did they not check tickets? if not, god damn it :mad:...wish they wouldn't check em at Oxegen

maninasia

1. The ticketing system was a fiasco. Printing out tickets obviously led to loads of counterfeits being sold to gullible punters. Seemingly there was a crush of people getting in around 5pm and they just opened the gates, nobody checked our tickets! Took over an hour to get from the gate to the actual concert venue. The place was full and it was entirely possible that there were more than 80,000 there. Crowd control and safety issues going on big time.

2. Queues of 40mins-1hr for 1 brand of beer....I didn't bother... Crap unhygenic food...don't even provide water to wash your hands..

3. Tonnes of cops standing around everywhere doing nothing, still better to have them than not I guess.

4. Transport was a disaster, all buses and coaches have to park on the side of a country road extending miles from the stadium. We left early and we still got stuck in mad traffic...I feel very sorry for the people stranded behind us (22 euro for bus tickets, 80 euro for tickets, 6 euro manky burgers.....complete joke).

5. Prodigy and Oasis sets were great, the problem was we were so far back they were pin-pricks (I know can't expect much with an 80,000 crowd).
Oasis didn't make much effort to get the crowd going but they never do.

6. Usual alcoholic fest that is Ireland...just not into being surrounded by drunks and druggies anymore piles of rubbish and crap everywhere...

I'm not ever going back to Slane, it's not an enjoyable day out all things considered....I was thinking to myself I'd have been better off going to see the street performance in town and meeting up with mates for pints...I'd say a lot of people thought the same. It'd be Croke Park or O2 for me from now on......

Irjudge1

MCD must be delighted that discussion of their gigs is back on Boards.:pac:

Kazooie

<Ollie> wrote: »

I did though. I've many other names for them too..

Ya you mis-quoted me. Hope thats a word.

mcwhirter

It would have been interesting if the weather was really bad, imagine walking 6km in pouring rain.
Anyway I don't appreciate dublin bus ( I counted 3 buses together)stopping just south of the ashbourne roundabout on the N2 to let a load of skangers out to pee all over the side of the road causing the traffic to slow down.
Dublin Bus, you are a joke, when will ireland ever get a decent privatised bus service. Not in my life time since the celtic tiger is now over and we will be back to the public transport of the 80's.

Don't blame Slane for this, it is an amazing place for gigs but requires a lot of organisation to make it work. Sadly that wasn't done this time.

Plug

Something similar last year for me and a few mates. We had no bus back to kilkenny from meath so we had to get a D bus back to dublin and walk to the train station. Wait for about 9 hours on a comedown in the freezing cold. This only gets worse because one of my friends had sh!t themselfs and the smell was dirt!
Consider yourself lucky:D

wellbutty

Drove up from Waterford to my first Slane, not knowing what to expect but what the f***??????????????

Looks like the crowd going through the forest was so bad the cops had to remove the ticket checks...does this happen every year????? Why would anyone pay 80 quid next year if you can get in free??!

Why couldn't they use the main street as the entrance from the start???

The queue for a pint was unbelievable, how can there be so few bars??? ONE HOUR to get a drink! How can they be so slow serving either wine or a pint????

Reckon the crowd was over 80000, Oasis made it all worthwhile.

I pity all those waiting for buses that weren't there.

Bring on next years one

Dub13

Plug wrote: »

Something similar last year for me and a few mates. We had no bus back to kilkenny from meath so we had to get a D bus back to dublin and walk to the train station. Wait for about 9 hours on a comedown in the freezing cold. This only gets worse because one of my friends had sh!t themselfs and the smell was dirt!
Consider yourself lucky:D

How does a adult sh!t themselfs..?

ManwitaPlan

First time at Slane and I must say I felt the whole thing was a bit of a nightmare.

The big walk after the bus drops you off is sh1t but its no big deal, I was expecting it so I thought fine.

Then when we got to the entrance it was just disaster. We heard Kasabian starting while we que'd and by the time we got in they had finished and all:eek:


So we got in, pretty p1ssed we missed Kasabian, so we say whatever, lets make the most of it and get a beer....ridiculous que for that so we thought fvck it, lets just get something to eat.

Hotdog please. No hotdogs! Burger please. No burgers! What do you have? Chicken burger. Ok give us that. €12:rolleyes: (and of course it goes without saying it was sh1t).

So at this stage I was pretty p1ssed and fed up with the thing but we made the most of The Prodigy and Oasis who were brilliant. It almost all felt worth it standing there as the light faded listening to Oasis....then there was the nightmare after it!

We walked and walked and walked and by the time we got on a bus we realised we would;ve been quicker to keep on walking the bus was going so slow. Didnt get home until 2.30, the brother didnt get in until after 4:mad:


Not sure there is much they could've done differently but the whole thing just felt like an ordeal. Not really my scene and I wouldnt go back again.


Edit: Managed to finall get a beer near the end. Needless to say my €6 plastic cup of watered down Heineken was'nt exactly the nector of the gods:P

Blush_01

[-0-] wrote: »

I can't believe people are saying things like "Ah sure that's Slane for you".

It's not good enough IMO. I would never go if that's the way you are treated afterwards. Thanks for your money! We won't look after you to ensure you are safe afterwards. What a farce.

There's limited access to Slane Castle. It's part of the whole experience. "If that's the way you're treated" is part of the experience - it's what you go for. If you're not open to it, there are other gigs to go to around the country. You know you have a certain amount of time to get back to the buses, that's made clear on the way in. You know how long it takes you to get there, you walk in. If you're going you're considered to be an adult or under the supervision of an adult, so I guess you have to act like one. Shocker.

I found the really worst part is just after you get out and you're walking towards the village when everyone is crammed together and it's more like a mass shuffle. It's better when you get up to the village though.