Bruce Springsteen gig

leahyl

To be honest guys I was just so delighted to see him! Yes I was a bit disappointed that he didn't do Glory Days, The River, My Hometown and Human Touch but his amazing stamina and charisma more than made up for it!

I heard that there was a huge crowd down the millennium gardens across the river as well and they could hear everything as clear as day!

bogman

Still recovering, what a night, local businesses had a field day

Half way down the pitch, big screen was a godsend, sound quality was way ahead of the marquee, just as well there wasn't an emergency at the showgrounds exit with it being locked and all

9/10 for my 1st Springsteen concert, 3hrs 20 mins, you couldn't have asked for more, so who is going to Kilkenny next weekend :-)

grainuaile

Hey there ... I'm the OP on this so thought I'd update anyone who still cares :P we drove down and back up home again after the gig, 5hrs each way but totally worth it. The show was just amazing, as I knew it would be. This is my fourth time seeing them and the first time without rain! Made a nice change
I haven't been to Cork or Pairc ui Chaoimh before and thought it was quite a good venue actually, although we did say we wouldn't go to a match there, there is a lot of walking involved and feck all parking. We lucked out there, pulled into a filling station to get our bearings and they had space to park round the back, no charge:) were fairly relieved the car was still there when we got back mind u!
And as for those giving out about the set list, he has such a huge back catalogue that not everyone is going to hear their favourites (although I did, Thunder Rd for the encore ... shivers )

evilivor

Probe into chaos around Springsteen concert

A review is under way into potentially serious crowd control problems after the Bruce Springsteen concert in Cork, which sparked fears of a Hillsborough-type crush incident.

Thousands of concert-goers were corralled towards one small gated exit outside the Páirc Uí Chaoimh GAA stadium after Thursday’s gigs. Huge queues built up in the Showgrounds area as the exit struggled to cope with the volume of people streaming out on to Monahan Road.

As fans continued to flood out of the stadium, the queue stalled with delays of up to 45 minutes reported.

Fans closer to the gate began to panic as the crowds swelled to the rear — there was some crushing at the front. It resulted in gardaí ordering the GAA to open a second gate, redeploying officers to that area.

Stewards then advised fans to scale fences and cross an open field to leave by this gate.

Angry concert goers vented their fury at organisers yesterday.

“Thomond [Springsteen played there on Tuesday] was so much better organised and safer. Last night was a health and safety hazard when leaving the grounds,” said Louise Murphy.

Alan Cogan said it was a great gig, but disgraceful organisation. “Hang your heads in shame organisers and say a prayer you aren’t waking up to a tragedy that would be fully of your making,” he said.

Concert goers also complained about the operation of the bar voucher system, with delays of up to two hours reported at some alcohol outlets.

Concert promoter Peter Aiken, who staged the gig in association with the GAA, said he was “annoyed” that the crowd problems had developed.

“I have asked our event controller, and the various bodies that were involved, for a full report, so I can’t comment in detail on it until I’ve seen that report. But it shouldn’t have happened.”

Supt Barry McPolin, who is in charge of policing in the city, said there was an initial debrief of the situation after the concert. However, he said all the agencies involved (including the concert promoters, the GAA, gardaí, the HSE, and the city officials who granted the concert licence) will be invited to attend a formal review of the entire event over the coming weeks.

“The exit issue from the venue will form part of a forensic review of the event in the near future and any lessons that need to be learned from the management of the event will be incorporated into any future events that may take place here,” he said.

He praised concert-goers for following Garda and steward directions. “There were no arrests associated with the concert. The crowd were good natured and in great form.”

JohnMearsheimer

I enjoyed the gig for the most part. There were a bunch of girls next to us who would have been more suited to a Westlife concert. When Born in the USA came on about 5 of them in a row went up on shoulders blocking the view of a whole load of people behind them. A load of people asked if one or 2 of them could come down to give people a chance to see but they were told to f*** off.

I'd have liked if he did I'm On Fire, Hungry Heart and The River but I guess his back catalogue goes back 30-40 years at this stage. He has to mix things up for his own sanity as well. Plus it will give us all a reason to see him again When he came out for the last song with the harmonica I was convinced he was going to do The River but Thunder Road was great too. Born to Run was fantastic, Jake Clemons did a fantastic job on the sax for the night.

Getting out was a bit of a disaster. I could see the other gate was open but at completely the wrong side for us to get to. We had to walk through nettles for a bit to get out.

juneg

http://www.setlist.fm/setlists/bruce-springsteen-2bd6dcce.html

This will show you the set list of all the concerts he has played and how many times he has played each song.

I was in Thomond park and it was very well organised. No crowd issues and plenty of toilets, bars etc but I suppose they are used to hosting huge sold out events there.

My first Bruce concert though I know his songs well and have been a fan since his " Dancing in the dark" days with Courtney Cox!
. I wouldn't have minded hearing any of the songs to be honest as the atmosphere was so good.
He really leaves it all on stage doesn't he!

housetypeb

The voucher scheme was a disaster for the concert goers but possibly made money for who ever had the beer contract.
A lot of people bought vouchers but didn't bother waiting for beer as they knew the concert would be around 3 hours long, and to miss half a Sringsteen concert just for a few beers wasn't worth it.

leahyl

housetypeb wrote: »

The voucher scheme was a disaster for the concert goers but possibly made money for who ever had the beer contract.
A lot of people bought vouchers but didn't bother waiting for beer as they knew the concert would be around 3 hours long, and to miss half a Sringsteen concert just for a few beers wasn't worth it.

I couldn't believe the amount of people who actually queued outside for 40 minutes just to get a pint! If I saw a queue that long I wouldn't have stood in line to begin with! Crazy stuff, missing 40 mins of a concert (esp Bruce!) just to get a pint!!

JohnMearsheimer

leahyl wrote: »

I couldn't believe the amount of people who actually queued outside for 40 minutes just to get a pint! If I saw a queue that long I wouldn't have stood in line to begin with! Crazy stuff, missing 40 mins of a concert (esp Bruce!) just to get a pint!!

I was the same. I saw the queue and said feck that. The sun was beating down on the queue as well. We just took shelter in the shade for a while before it started.

SpaceTime

leahyl wrote: »

I couldn't believe the amount of people who actually queued outside for 40 minutes just to get a pint! If I saw a queue that long I wouldn't have stood in line to begin with! Crazy stuff, missing 40 mins of a concert (esp Bruce!) just to get a pint!!

You forget that a large number of people here are basically alcoholics though.

One of the best concerts in years and they're in hour long line for beers.

Nicely sums up the way we don't really notice quite how addicted a large % are

leahyl

SpaceTime wrote: »

You forget that a large number of people here are basically alcoholics though.

One of the best concerts in years and they're in hour long line for beers.

Nicely sums up the way we don't really notice quite how addicted a large % are

It's ridiculous - so many people just giving out about the drink queues rather than commenting on the actual concert - because they missed most of it queuing for drink!! I didn't have one drink and I was happy out (and I do drink normally btw) - why do people absolutely have to have an alcoholic beverage to enjoy a concert in this country?

the beer revolu

SpaceTime wrote: »

You forget that a large number of people here are basically alcoholics though.

One of the best concerts in years and they're in hour long line for beers.

Nicely sums up the way we don't really notice quite how addicted a large % are

leahyl wrote: »

It's ridiculous - so many people just giving out about the drink queues rather than commenting on the actual concert - because they missed most of it queuing for drink!! I didn't have one drink and I was happy out (and I do drink normally btw) - why do people absolutely have to have an alcoholic beverage to enjoy a concert in this country?

leahyl wrote: »

I couldn't believe the amount of people who actually queued outside for 40 minutes just to get a pint! If I saw a queue that long I wouldn't have stood in line to begin with! Crazy stuff, missing 40 mins of a concert (esp Bruce!) just to get a pint!!

It's all very well saying that people shouldn't need drink at a concert but if the organisers decide to offer a bar service, then that service should be fit for purpose and have the capacity to cater for the numbers that are likely. Also, I reckon a lot of people had bought vouchers before realising just how big the queue was and then didn't want to loose their money so they queued. I believe the queuing system was poorly organised with much queue jumping going on. It seems the organisers were happy to take peoples money but offered little in return.

It seems a bit unfair to turn it around and have the attitude that it served them right because, in your opinion, they shouldn't need/want drink.

leahyl

the beer revolu wrote: »

It's all very well saying that people shouldn't need drink at a concert but if the organisers decide to offer a bar service, then that service should be fit for purpose and have the capacity to cater for the numbers that are likely. Also, I reckon a lot of people had bought vouchers before realising just how big the queue was and then didn't want to loose their money so they queued. I believe the queuing system was poorly organised with much queue jumping going on. It seems the organisers were happy to take peoples money but offered little in return.

It seems a bit unfair to turn it around and have the attitude that it served them right because, in your opinion, they shouldn't need/want drink.

Nothing wrong with wanting a drink but when you queue for 40 mins to an hour just to get one and miss most of the concert then I don't have much sympathy for people to be quite honest!

Bowlardo

leahyl wrote: »

Nothing wrong with wanting a drink but when you queue for 40 mins to an hour just to get one and miss most of the concert then I don't have much sympathy for people to be quite honest!

I think your missing the point. how are they to know how long they will be in the queue?

leahyl

Bowlardo wrote: »

I think your missing the point. how are they to know how long they will be in the queue?

Surely looking at the length of the queue and seeing how long it takes others to get drinks should be enough?? It'd put me off straight away anyway - having to queue to get vouchers and then queuing again to get the drinks...

bleary

I can only agree with what the interviewed fans in the examiner article said.
This turned out to be one of the poorest concerts in terms of organisation in over 20 years of concert going. In fact it reminded me so much of some of my earliest concerts in the 1980s.
In terms of food and drinks options we had the choice of 3 vans of burger and chips,and i think one coffee van. a lot of concerts now pride themselves on the food you can get but in the foodie capital cork we got one variant of burger after the next, drinks situation as above, seemed like plenty of staff but it took us over 40 mins to get a drink. Concert itself was the main thing and couldnt fault stage setup and the man himself.
Going home was a disaster unfortunately almost literally, between stewards directing us back from safe exits towards a poorly lit , over crowded area strewn with debris. A trailer filled with security fences dumped in the middle of the exit lane. No directions, a few nervous looking young stewards and , one garda standing about 10 feet back radioing for assistance . God help anyone in a wheelchair as i witnessed one surrounded by a crowd tring to push their way over rough ground. This was an amateur operation and they should be thanking their lucky stars that besides some cuts and bruises no one was badly hurt.

Bacchus

leahyl wrote: »

Surely looking at the length of the queue and seeing how long it takes others to get drinks should be enough?? It'd put me off straight away anyway - having to queue to get vouchers and then queuing again to get the drinks...

I think the problem was because there was two queues. Everyone got their vouchers assuming quick times at the bar as a result... roll on an hour or so and everyone has vouchers but the drinks queue is becoming a nightmare. Anyone who got their vouchers face either loosing their money or joining that long queue. Also, TBH, I've seen huge queues at gigs/festivals move very quickly before. It's quite likely many people got their vouchers and joined the bar queue before realising how long it would take and then find themselves halfway up it 20 minutes later? Do you stick it out or abandon the queue after getting the vouchers and standing for 20 minutes in it?

This isn't about "oh Irish people, they love the ould binge session don't they", as some have suggested. Granted, there will always be a small proportion of people looking to just get wasted but by in large this was totally down to poor planning. For a start the voucher system is only good for festivals over multiple days so people don't feel rushed into getting drink in case their vouchers don't become useless. This is why so many people were buying 4-8 pints at a time. If they didn't, they'd never have an opportunity to use their vouchers again! It should have been cash at the bar. Second, there should have been more staff at the bar to get through the crowds quicker. That way people could have drank at their own pace as they liked without fear of missing half the gig or loosing money.

It's a real shame because it was a perfect day for a gig and a pint. The sun was shining, Bruce was rocking and the crowd was in good form. I would have enjoyed a pint or two but fortunately was told the queue was 40 minutes long at that point so stayed away. I could easily have been sucked in to getting the vouchers (there was no queue for them) before getting caught in the trap.

angeline

Wanted to go but was working. Did he sing Jack of all Trades?! Love that song.

P.lane78

yep ...class:)

bogman

If this wasnt the best Springsteen concert (and I was well happy) im looking forward to my 2nd one if he comes back, if its going to be better its going to be deadly


Kilkenny this weekend.........now there's a thought :-)

run_Forrest_run

bogman wrote: »

If this wasnt the best Springsteen concert (and I was well happy) im looking forward to my 2nd one if he comes back, if its going to be better its going to be deadly


Kilkenny this weekend.........now there's a thought :-)

the rain better hold off:mad:

Ludo

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

the rain better hold off:mad:

Waiting on a sunny day?

I'll get my coat.

grainuaile

Ludo wrote: »

Waiting on a sunny day?

I'll get my coat.

Last time I saw him in the RDS it absolutely pissed down, we were soaked through, and he started off with Waiting on a Sunny Day great atmosphere

JP Liz V1

Just curious but do you get a refund on any unused vouchers :P

S Barrett

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Just curious but do you get a refund on any unused vouchers :P

Save them for the next concert.:)

yew_tree

Three great shows - Limerick > Cork > Belfast - 3 and a half hours or pure magic each night. Now for Kilkenny x2 this weekend - bring it on.

P.S - Was my first time in Cork City - Lovely city and people

JP Liz V1

yew_tree wrote: »

Three great shows - Limerick > Cork > Belfast - 3 and a half hours or pure magic each night. Now for Kilkenny x2 this weekend - bring it on.

P.S - Was my first time in Cork City - Lovely city and people

:eek: Are u going to all five of his gigs?

yew_tree

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

:eek: Are u going to all five of his gigs?

Sure am.....met people at the shows this week with anything from their 85 show right up to a woman who had been to over 275 shows in her Lifetime.

JP Liz V1

yew_tree wrote: »

Sure am.....met people at the shows this week with anything from their 85 show right up to a woman who had been to over 275 shows in her Lifetime.

Fair play to you, enjoy

I'd love to go one of his Kilkenny gigs

Tin Foil Hat

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Just curious but do you get a refund on any unused vouchers :P

Yea. They were giving refunds after a while.