SLANE 2009 Oasis - All Discussion - No ticket sales.

NickNolte

Deleted User wrote: »

Will you write to anyone? will you send a letter to the organisers outlining your outrage? will you write to Dublin Bus and complain that their exit plan was a disgrace?

If you feel so strongly about all of this, I suggest you do something about it apart from moan on an internet forum in the hope the "someone important" might read it.

Why write a letter to an indifferent profiteer? Personally I think the most important thing to do is to write forum posts and make the public aware of what they can expect when they go to this venue. Had I known what was in store for me yesterday, I'd never have even considered going. It was an absolutely disaster.

Random

Map of Distance

So then, I have read through so many posts of whinge I thought it was time I should reply. You see that map, thats how much at the very most you walked yesterday, 4.7km or 2.9 miles, not 9 miles, not 10kms not even 6kms. Its hardly a bloody marathon .

I was at Keenans takeaway. The road sign there said 5KM to Slane. That was my basis for my 5KM comments.

When I got on the bus (finally) we drove a further few mins up the road and there was still crowds. We repeated this twice.

I would take from this that some people did walk between 5-10KM.

Tchaikovsky

Never mind having to queue for beer, how about having to queue nearly an hour for ****ing WATER! And by that point they were charging not for bottles, but for paper cups of water!

suzieb

suzieb wrote: »

Well just as you are wasting your time throughout today, thanking anyone that says something along the lines of " Dont go to slane if you arent up for this kind of festival" other people are entitled to speak about the situation at slane yesterday which was reminiscent of the hillsborough disaster and it is a disaster waiting to happen.

So yes I will be doing something other than "moaning" and writing letters to mcd, slane castle and whoever their representative is and also the Gardai and Dublin Bus.

This thread was set up for discussions on Slane and I will not stop posting my own experience just because you feel your experience was different.

Suzie B I never once said that you weren't entitled to your opinion. I did have a long walk back to my bus but I did not experience any other problems. I think it is a disgrace that people were left stranded but it was not something I personally saw. The reason I am making the point about people complaining in writing is that all too often you see people on boards complaining about this and that but never ever doing anything about it. If people experienced things like barriers falling over at the bar, and closing of toilets, being left behind after paying for a return bus ticket then I think it is their duty to take it further. Irish people like to moan, but they do not like to complain and make a real difference.

I was one of the lucky ones I guess, I saw no trouble, got there early so got to have a few cans in the field before getting in on time to see kasabian, my ticket was scanned but my bag was not searched. I got a nice spot in front of the sound stage, and yeh, it was a bloody long walk back to my bus which I then sat on for 2 hours before moving. But all in all I had a fantastic day.

jumbone

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.

Aye, but were they outgunned?

NickNolte

Chong wrote: »

The amount of moaning and whinging here is insufferable

Well it's perfectly justified so you're just going to have to suffer it.

Chong wrote: »

what do you want seriously, its huge event

I want to be left a reasonable distance from the venue - not to have to walk for nearly an hour to get there. I want the venue to be upgraded to cater for the expected crowds rather than having to queue for an hour and a half in a mud track to get into the venue. I want there to be sufficient catering facilities - I don't mind queuing for a pint, but an hour and a half? I want the greedy promoters/organisers to cut the capacity of the venue from 80,000 to something more managable, comfortable and safe for the attendees. I want to be treated like a human being basically. After spending €100 for travel and a few hours entertainment, I think I'm entitled to.

suzieb

Deleted User wrote: »

Suzie B I never once said that you weren't entitled to your opinion. I did have a long walk back to my bus but I did not experience any other problems. I think it is a disgrace that people were left stranded but it was not something I personally saw. The reason I am making the point about people complaining in writing is that all too often you see people on boards complaining about this and that but never ever doing anything about it. If people experienced things like barriers falling over at the bar, and closing of toilets, being left behind after paying for a return bus ticket then I think it is their duty to take it further. Irish people like to moan, but they do not like to complain and make a real difference.

I was one of the lucky ones I guess, I saw no trouble, got there early so got to have a few cans in the field before getting in on time to see kasabian, my ticket was scanned but my bag was not searched. I got a nice spot in front of the sound stage, and yeh, it was a bloody long walk back to my bus which I then sat on for 2 hours before moving. But all in all I had a fantastic day.

Well I am one of the great complainers in that if I have a problem with something I will not just moan to people about it I always act on it,very often it gets you nowhere but I feel at least I havnt ignored a situation.
By everyone posting their accounts on this forum it will let people make their own mind up,they can see the positives and negatives to a gig in slane.

I could let things slip like the queues for food and drink,that stuff happens but when I see my boyfriend that is 6 ft 2 falling on ground while queueing for a drink it would make me concerned for people smaller than that and especially girls. Like I said earlier we were given bad advice by a garda who told us to go to the wrong place to get our bus which led us up small dark country road with cars on it and it just seemed so dangerous. Couldnt believe that when we got to dolly mitchells pub the 5 miles to drogheda were up a really dark road with cars going fast and it led you right to the m1 motorway. I wouldnt fancy that walk in the daytime never mind in the dark with so many drunk people.

Looking back on my photos today we all had a great day out but with the chaos after the gig I wont be back unless its more organised.

bemused@itall

bigpoppa wrote: »

Tool moi? Mais Non!

I was actually at the gig and didn't have to queue for 90 mins for a beer? Do I detect some classic boards exaggeration perhaps ? I had several pints of Heineken and some nice food to boot It did take a while to get home but I was happy out after the gig. I think it took a good while cos there was like 80,000 people all trying to get home at the same time from what is essentially a remote country castle

A guy did spill some beer on my arm though at one point so I am going to burn my ACDC tickets now and hide in my house until Joe Duffy is on tomorrow and then I am going to call him. Twice. And let me tell you why, there were people at this gig. Lots of them. And some were drinking. I also saw someone with a pink cowboy hat and it made me cry.

Basically I am an Irish crybaby who lives in the lap of luxury and I expect gigs to be snuggly and safe like my bed at home. And as for Oxegen I am going down to it but they better have everything laid on perfect for me cos I am in effect a little prince who needs looking after.

This whole attitude about Ireland not being able to run gigs properly is wrong, it seems many people are just moaners

..............................................................................
Hey 'Prince crybaby'(bigpoppa) either you were at a differant gig, or maybe you were at the V.I.P section?, you also must have got a helicopter from the kip, if you did -then did you SEE all the mayhem??...... people's attitudes are spot on- yours is'nt- collective action it's called not moaning 'bigpoppa'

Stargal

I reject this idea that people are complaining solely because they expected some kind of perfect experience which never materialised. Screw that. My favourite gigs are when it’s dirty and messy and there’s a real all-in-this-together atmosphere about them (think Oxegen in 2004 when it lashed rain and turned into a giant mudfest). Last night was a shambles.

Yeah, we all know that there’s some stuff you just expect from Slane - long walks, for instance. But there comes a point where it stops being fun and all part of the experience and instead becomes frustrating, badly-organised and even, at some stages, dangerous. This was one of the most badly-organised events I’ve ever been to in my life.

I don’t really care about the scumbag contingent. They’re at all major gigs and you couldn’t really be surprised at the huge numbers of them considering Oasis and Prodigy were on the bill. But I do care about the total lack of security on the walk towards the gates, where there were serious fights, people throwing stuff at other people, hassling girls and pissing everywhere. And again on the way home, when buses and huge streams of people were fighting for space on a tiny road. V dangerous, and noticeably worse than any other major gig I’ve been to (and I’ve been to a lot).

No-one checked my ticket at any stage. The walk in to the forest was grand at first, but after an hour, when the crowd was still shuffling forward and barely moving, it got to be way too much. People started pulling down the railings, climbing over them so they could walk through the forest, and getting aggressive (I took a vid on my phone of one guy pulling down a fence and going mental at a steward, will try and post it later). The walk itself takes about 30 minutes if there’s no-one else on it – this was like being in a cattle herd for over an hour and a half.

Didn’t bother going to the bar – seriously, why bother? – but a queue of an hour for a drink when huge numbers of people were probably only at the gig for about six hours altogether ( 4.30pm- 10.30pm) is a joke.

Gig itself was savage.

Walk back was the basic horror story that most people seem to have had with Dublin Bus. Left the venue at 10.40pm, shuffled along for a few minutes but was able to walk at a normal pace after that. Still took us an hour and a half to get on a bus. We walked by loads of buses with people on them which couldn’t move at all because of all the traffic. Seriously, letting people on from the back? What a disaster. It was after midnight when we finally got a bus, another half an hour before it could move and an hour after that before we were back in Dublin.

Slane mightn't be a perfect venue, but I've been there before when there were absolutely no problems with the buses or crowd management. Hell, Oxegen manage to pull it off most years (well, the buses at least!). This was an aberration, but it was a serious one.

The people who are saying that it was all fantastic and people shouldn’t complain are doing that Irish thing of rationalising being treated like shít. The gig was savage, we can all agree on that - but we can still talk about the problems with how it was organised without detracting from the good time that was had by all.

DenzelWishbone

Chong wrote: »

Map of Distance

So then, I have read through so many posts of whinge I thought it was time I should reply. You see that map, thats how much at the very most you walked yesterday, 4.7km or 2.9 miles, not 9 miles, not 10kms not even 6kms. Its hardly a bloody marathon .

The gig was fantastic last night but the organisation was an absolute disgrace…we arrived early…1 hour queues for beer not fun but I didn’t mind that so much...we had bus tickets but we had to walk for over 4 hours and around 7-9 miles in the dark with no idea how we were going to get a lift!!!...we were unsure if we were ever going to get home – we had to beg a taxi driver and pay way over the odds to get a lift (btw the taxi driver told us we were 13km from Slane)…

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…I love music and I love big live concerts; Slane inside is an amazing venue but I will never ever go back…someone must be held account for this – Dublin Bus, the Guards and the event organisers have a lot to answer for…

celticwe

celticwe wrote: »

I will

You obviously like to be treated like ****,each to their own

Yeh, I like to be treated like sh*t :rolleyes: read my other posts. I didn't have any bad experiences. I am glad you will complain. I think that if the things suggested in this thread really went on, then something needs to be done. If people's lives were at risk then people need to take action.

NickNolte wrote: »

Why write a letter to an indifferent profiteer? Personally I think the most important thing to do is to write forum posts and make the public aware of what they can expect when they go to this venue. Had I known what was in store for me yesterday, I'd never have even considered going. It was an absolutely disaster.

Well you see it's this mentality that bugs me, of course you should write to them. Out of 80,000 people, maybe 60,000 had bad experiences, seeing people being crushed, no tickets being checked etc. If 60,000 people complained in writing instead of just giving out, something would have to be done? surely you must agree with this?

Internet forums are a fantastic way to get the message out there, I think they are full of useful information for people considering going along next year, but all MCD will do is threaten legal proceedings again meaning thread like these will no longer exist.

suzieb

suzieb wrote: »

Well I am one of the great complainers in that if I have a problem with something I will not just moan to people about it I always act on it,very often it gets you nowhere but I feel at least I havnt ignored a situation.
By everyone posting their accounts on this forum it will let people make their own mind up,they can see the positives and negatives to a gig in slane.
.

I agree with you fully, I am also a complainer, and you are right, very often your complaint will be ignored but at least you have tried to make a difference.

Shabbah

Slane was like a sick joke!

I'll never attend any concert at ths venue again. Ever! 80,000 people couldn't possibly have all arrived at the same time, so you cannot try to tell people it's their own fault for arriving later than others - that's just ridiculous - imagine the mayhem if everyone arrived at 2pm! Friends of ours arrived first thing, and they saw every act and said they'd never return to Slane because of the organisation (bar queues, queues in general, and lack of security being the main problems mentioned)

I just can't believe that there has been concerts in this venue before with large crowds? How can they NOT know what to expect and how to organise the place and the people? I saw no security (except at the bar) The queue at the bar was 1.5 hours (we joined queue just as Prodigy started) and came away with our 2 drinks each (whoppeeee) just as the Prodigy finished - RIDICULOUS!

Our tickets didn't even leave our bags once, tickets weren't checked, we needn't have bothered buying any.... our bags weren't searched, we could have had any amount of alcohol, drugs....weapons, and there were kids there!!! Saw loads of scuffles and a few full blown fights, no security around to get involved or break it up. In fairness, I did see alot of Gardai around, much more than concert security. It's a miracle that there wasn't a tragedy or two! Walking through the forest at about 6pm was horrendous. Most people I met were narky, grumpy, disgruntled and p*ssed off, it's no wonder there were so many arguments/fisticuffs happening around the place.

Why and how did a bar at such an event "run out of drink" so early in the day? Why were there not more bars? Why were the bar staff so slow at handing out the drink? I am definately putting pen to paper in complaint, as are my friends, but I'd imagine I'll be ignored. he whole day was a waste or time, money and energy.....

Our day went like this:-

3pm - Got on bus at Parnell Square
4.30pm (approx) - Bus arrived....not at venue but somewhere in County Meath
*went on our merry way walking, quite happy in the knowledge that there would be quite a walk but we'd be there soon.....*
*Walking through the forest took 1.5 hours at least...baby steps all the way, people all squashed together and plenty of scuffles and fights went on during the walk, no security to be seen along the way whatsoever!! Saw some families struggling through with young teenagers and kids, felt soooooo sorry for them*
7:05pm - arrived at top of hill while Prodigy started.
(went straight to bar, tongues hanging out for a drink...)
8:30pm - Whohoooooooo, got two pints!!
Back up to where our gang had gathered, Prodigy over Drank two pints (well needed after all the walking)
Oasis rocked the place!!! (but it was absolutely NOT worth the hassle of the day and I would never return to Slane to see them playing again)
10:25 - Headed for gate again
Walked and walked...and walked some more.....(didn't mind this part, everyone was moving at least, and I was getting the f*ck out of that place!!)
12:00am approx - Hopped on a bus
1:00am - Back to Dublin.........phew! Thank the Lord

By the time we were happy and relaxed with a drink in our hand, Oasis were about to come on, so we got about 2 hours out of it. You can say it's our own fault for leaving Dublin late, but how could we have possibly predicted that it would take 4 hours for us to get into the concert from Dublin and another 1.5 hours to get a drink???

An absolute joke!

Never again!

Reganio 2

Right I am going to get beaten for this as I am going to do the unforgivable and defend Dublin Bus.

The whole Bus fiasco is not fully there fault. The guys who run the gig (MCD I think?) tell the bus company how many buses they need, its not Dublin Bus fault their weren't enough. The 6KM walk again is not the buses fault, you wanted more bus but to not walk as far? The reason you had to walk that far was because their was so many buses and the buses are told to park there, some bus drivers even went against the lads and parked closer to the venue so people wouldn't have to walk that far. Some drivers were dopes as they left because some of the drivers had to go down at the likes of 2 and you are forced to be back in the garage by 1 AM then as that would be 11 hours which is there by law. So some drivers had to leave early.

As for the gig itself, I will say straight away its not for me so you veteren gig goers can ignore this. Personnaly I thought the sound was muck, I seen a few scraps as well but expected that. The forest walk was a joke and it took 2 hours or so to get through it. I was never once asked for a ticket or had my bag checked which I thought was a bit bad, if I had paid 80 quid for a ticket I would want to be sure that everyone in there had paid to be there.

People that were sleeping in the ditches, I can guarantee you half of them hadn't got tickets to get on the bus anyway. I know some people got caught up but again how is that Dublin Bus fault that people were blocking the road?

I don't know I wouldn't go back down to Slane again as I don't like them open air gigs as you have to watch what you are doing because scumbags were throwing stuff around and at people (Which will always happen at these gigs) but you can't sit down and enjoy the music IMO as you are constantly watching over your shoulder as some dopes behind us were jumping on each other (I know a mosh pit but we weren't there they were just 4 dopey mates) and they were jumping on each other bumping into everyone knocking people over like.

mardybumbum

Blizzards - Pretty Ok
Glasvegas - ****e
Kasabian - Better than I expected
The Prodigy - They have a new fan after their performance
Oasis - Great Band

Reganio 2

mardybumbum wrote: »

Dublin Bus - Snip

Can I just ask why mate? I was down with Dublin Bus for the gig but don't work for them so have no reason to defend them.

icdg

Both Oasis and Prodigy were very good. The only previous time I'd seen Oasis live was their infamous Witnness headline (2002 I think) where they were diabolical, went through the motions and left without as much as an encore. Thank goodness this wasn't a repeat and they played an excellent set.

The queues were bad alright - food stands had no sense of order and skipping going on abound. I was on a privately organised coach, which (along with all the other private coaches) was even further away from Slane on the N2 than both sets of CIE buses (I can't state the exact distance with precision, but on the way out of Slane I passed two route confirmation signs and Dublin was 5km closer on the second). The advantage of this was that we missed most of the traffic jams and got out of Slane quite quickly.

Absolute Zero

DenzelWishbone wrote: »

Chong wrote: »

Map of Distance

So then, I have read through so many posts of whinge I thought it was time I should reply. You see that map, thats how much at the very most you walked yesterday, 4.7km or 2.9 miles, not 9 miles, not 10kms not even 6kms. Its hardly a bloody marathon .

The gig was fantastic last night but the organisation was an absolute disgrace…we arrived early…1 hour queues for beer not fun but I didn’t mind that so much...we had bus tickets but we had to walk for over 4 hours and around 7-9 miles in the dark with no idea how we were going to get a lift!!!...we were unsure if we were ever going to get home – we had to beg a taxi driver and pay way over the odds to get a lift (btw the taxi driver told us we were 13km from Slane)…

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…I love music and I love big live concerts; Slane inside is an amazing venue but I will never ever go back…someone must be held account for this – Dublin Bus, the Guards and the event organisers have a lot to answer for…

piss off ya troll , that was a brilliant concert and your making it out to be a scene from dawn of the dead... and dont say i didnt know about the situation my freinds were some of the people left behind and they had to sleep in a garda station in dublin city centre and then take the bus back to kilkenny in the morning... sh1t happens just get over it and that was a brillaint concert

dylano_k

woodzyx wrote: »

What's that Ben Stiller film where there's a basketball scene and while these two guys jump for the ball, one's large and sweaty and fairly mingin basically and (in slow motion) he rubs his whole stomach off the other guy's little face?
It may be Dodgeball.

Anyway, this kept happening to me with this one guy who, aside from traumatising me, kept starting little heckles and 'punch-ups' with everyone. This was during Oasis!

Basically I didn't let this gob****e ruin the whole experience. If that was worth it for Oasis than so was the ****ter of a walk and the fact that we were stranded at a garage for a further couple of hours...- far less traumatising.

Think it was "Along Came Polly" ??

NickNolte

Absolute Zero wrote: »

piss off ya troll , that was a brilliant concert and your making it out to be a scene from dawn of the dead... and dont say i didnt know about the situation my freinds were some of the people left behind and they had to sleep in a garda station in dublin city centre and then take the bus back to kilkenny in the morning... sh1t happens just get over it and that was a brillaint concert

So you're saying that what he's said is true but to stop moaning about it? Bizarre. Honestly, Irish people would pay to be shat on.

Caoimhín

Yis are all a shower of spoiled gimps, raised on a safe diet of neatly packaged Oxygen, what with yer security, toilets and no queues.

This stuff happens at concerts, jaysus, ye wouldnt last an hour at Feile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9ile_Festival

Aaah them were the days, 72 hours straight drunk as a monkey, covered in mud and sleeping in a car boot and nathin to eat except Taytos and warm cider.

Random

Caoimhín wrote: »

Yis are all a shower of spoiled gimps, raised on a safe diet of neatly packaged Oxygen, what with yer security, toilets and no queues.

This stuff happens at concerts, jaysus, ye wouldnt last an hour at Feile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9ile_Festival

Aaah them were the days, 72 hours straight drunk as a monkey, covered in mud and sleeping in a car boot and nathin to eat except Taytos and warm cider.

"This stuff happens". That's fair enough. We're entitled to complain about it though and have reasonable justification for it.

Lot's of people? Fine. But why wasn't there planning in place? Why did Dublin Bus not have buses waiting? They were apparently lacking and without any information or guideance. Why did the Gardai not prevent people walking miles down a pitch dark main road and people essentially getting stranded? We're entitled to ask these questions.

I'm not saying I wanted a train direct to the venue and comfy armchair seating with waitress service (although it would have been nice). I'm just saying things went wrong and need to be addressed.

Absolute Zero

Caoimhín wrote: »

Yis are all a shower of spoiled gimps, raised on a safe diet of neatly packaged Oxygen, what with yer security, toilets and no queues.

This stuff happens at concerts, jaysus, ye wouldnt last an hour at Feile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9ile_Festival

Aaah them were the days, 72 hours straight drunk as a monkey, covered in mud and sleeping in a car boot and nathin to eat except Taytos and warm cider.

Finally some one who agrees with me , if you arent prepared for the worse then dont go, it was a brilliant concert and the walk back to the busses was a b1tch especcialy if u were down the front for prodigy but it was well worth it and a great day out.. for mostly everyone.

NickNolte

Caoimhín wrote: »

Yis are all a shower of spoiled gimps, raised on a safe diet of neatly packaged Oxygen, what with yer security, toilets and no queues.

This stuff happens at concerts, jaysus, ye wouldnt last an hour at Feile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9ile_Festival

Aaah them were the days, 72 hours straight drunk as a monkey, covered in mud and sleeping in a car boot and nathin to eat except Taytos and warm cider.

...and some people are happy to be treated like the moronic sheeple that they are and to pay for the privilege.

Stargal

Absolute Zero wrote: »

it was well worth it and a great day out.. for mostly everyone.

This thread suggests otherwise.

Random

My problem wasn't the walking. My problem was the aimless walking with no direction or guideance from Dublin Bus or AGS. The complete lack of communication and the confusion a lot of people faced. Do we keep walking? Do we stop? Have we gone too far? Why won't the bus driver talk to us? Why doesn't AGS have the answer?

From my experience there it seems like at some point after a number of hours (approx 3am?) someone in AGS hit the panic button, realised this sh!t was ridcolous and Garda cars, bikes, jeeps and vans were suddenly everywhere (I don't know if they called in additional support or what but it worked) trying to clear up the mess that was the N2 up to 10km from Slane on the Dublin side.

NickNolte

Absolute Zero wrote: »

Finally some one who agrees with me , if you arent prepared for the worse then dont go

Haha. Seriously, some people are just unreal. Are you suggesting that people should just accept being treated the way they were yesterday after paying €80 for a ticket?

xxdilemmaxx

I can't get over this attitude that people should "suck it up", it's a small miracle that someone wasn't killed at that concert. On the way in through that forst walk we were at a standstill and people were getting seriously aggro and starting to push people.

What would have happened if someone had an accident or some kind of medical emergency in the middle of it? It would take two hours to get medical staff in there.

I left Slane at 11 and got home (raheny) at 5am, what a joke, I will never ever go to Slane again and will be complaining to the organisers today.

I've been to many festivals and gigs and have never seen a disaster of this proportion before.

greenninja27

Absolute Zero wrote: »

Finally some one who agrees with me , if you arent prepared for the worse then dont go, it was a brilliant concert and the walk back to the busses was a b1tch especcialy if u were down the front for prodigy but it was well worth it and a great day out.. for mostly everyone.

it wasnt a great day out for mostly everyone it was a ****ty day out for mostly everyone I only live in dublin and I got to the city at half 4 into bed at 5, what if your daughter was one of the poor girls that bought a return ticket out of Slane and was left in tears at the side of the road

dylano_k

Overflow wrote: »

I take it you have never been to Slane before!

Im afraid its like that every single year, always has been as far as i know. Sure didnt you have to walk into the place? Was that not the exact same walk as the one back, except for the mass exodus of people.

I think the way in was actually different, it was a narrow walk through what seemed to be like a park or something.