AC/DC Punchestown 28/06/09

therecklessone · 29-06-2009 9:50am

Anyone driving to Punchestown is mad to go the N7.

We drove to Blessington, not a car on the roads. Stopped for a few hours for beers, then back in the car for 6:45 and we were in queue for a beer when the Answer came on stage

Had a pass for the blue car park, but when we arrived we were directed into the red one so lashed the pass in the window and fúcked off. We weren't waiting for an hour to be let out after as well.

the corpo · 29-06-2009 9:54am

aye, the organisation was shocking. we were in the red car park til 1am, and when we got out they were directing the cars towards ballymore eustace and blessington, which is fine, and we then got home pretty quickly.

but
they were also letting a lot of drunken punters walk down that route too, which seemed insanely dangerous to me. dead surprised no-one got knocked down

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4 · 29-06-2009 9:58am

Probably the best gig I was ever at! Im also a big answer fan, which made the day even better.

Arrived in the blue car park at around midnight. couldnt move the car until around 2:30. Im never driving there again

That_Guy · 29-06-2009 10:12am

Gig itself was absolute class. Didn't even realise the Blizzards were on stage at one time. The Answer weren't too bad I guess. Good style of music to get everyone warmed up before the main event.

AC/DC were just inspiring. Angus on the podium in the raiin will live on in my mind. Just sensational.

As for the Dublin Bus queue.......... Well to sum it up it was understaffed and poorly organised. Nearly got trampled myself and I was helping up a guy who collapsed on the barrier due to hordes of people pushing and a steward comes along and starts shouting in my face to move behind the barrier. Dopey sh*thead.

So much for MCD wanting everybody to be on buses at 12am etc. Near 2am when I was on a bus.

They should have had two areas for Dublin Bus instead of herding thousands of people in the one area.

It was a huge dampener on the gig for me but hey at least I got to see AC/DC

partyguinness · 29-06-2009 10:20am

Got back to my bed at 5.05 am this morning having left the gig at midnight...and am in work today since 9.00...my head is fried..

what a gig...!!..saw them in April but this was a whole new level...

K_2008 · 29-06-2009 10:39am

Great gig utterly ruined by the shockingly bad organisation once again - I'm only happy that no one died in that Dublin Bus Fiasco at the end. They simply could not cope whatsoever and in the end I felt completely ripped off. I will never EVER go to an outdoor MCD organised concert again..

Ronan|Raven · 29-06-2009 10:41am

The sight of Angus as previously mentioned playing onthe raised stage with the rain lashing him was great. I spent most of the gig standing back in appreciation of them enjoying every last minute of their set. Be good to see some photos from it.

As for the travel situation what can one say what hasnt beensaid already. A pure shambles to put it mildly. I was never in Punchestown before but I aint ever going back, one thing I thought to myself as we plodded another Kilometer closer to the venue is "how the hell can this get a license for so many tickets with tiny back roads like these?!"

Got a text from a mate he left dublin at 3 and got their at 8pm between bus and having to walk most of it..

Only for them getting the empty Double Decker buses down at around 1:45am I think I would still be there.

Also I was surprised there wasnt more fights at the queues for the beer and food , people were just wading in from every angle.. and as for the 5 girls infront of me who didnt seem to look at the stage once and spent the gig taking photos of each other.. why!

Blue850 · 29-06-2009 10:41am

Awesome performance from AC/DC, Angus in the rain on the podium was electrifying, we drove up, feck buses, back in Galway at 3.30am

G-Money · 29-06-2009 10:42am

It's a bit of a shame when the organisation sort of ruins these events. I was talking to a couple of guys who were at Slane last week. There were telling me when they came out there was a huge line of buses, but instead of directing people to the first bus, loading it up and sending it off, they let people onto the bus at the end of the line. It then had to wait for all the buses in front of it to fill up and leave. I mean when you think about simple things like that being messed up, it's not a surprise.

I wasn't at the AC/DC concert but I was at the Witness Festival once or twice and I think possibly once after it was renamed to Oxegen. I travelled down and back to Dublin both days and the traffic wasn't that bad. Although I have a feeling it was held at Fairyhouse Race course which is maybe easier to get to. I suppose it being spread over the weekend too and everything meant there was less of a queue when leaving.

I have to agree with another poster though. I think you're almost better sticking to concerts that are held in a big city. That way there's plenty of access routes and people going different directions so you avoid the type of problems that occurred last night.

MickClince12118 · 29-06-2009 10:47am

What can i say MCD U are a f***ing disgrace, you did your v best to completely clear away the high of the mamoth gig with bus fiasco!!

For those of you who walked out early tho shame on you all!!!! How anyone could walk out on the kings of hard rock is beyond me especially with the set they put on!

Gig review:

The Blizzards come on, play a woefully dull radio sounding set and go off with their only crowd reaction being to some-one elses work(When they played Michael Jacksons Beat it riff for a few seconds! Very poor showing and another monsterous f**ck up by MCD!!!

The Answer though for those of us lucky to be close enough to the stage (The sound was turned way down as its a Dc show) i thought gave us something v special and anyone not within good enough ear shot rly missed something great! No wussy dancey pop from these boys!! A welcome relief for a frustrated crowd just all the way hard rock!!
This gig really only started when they came out as you could have just listened to the radio instead of the other morons tbh!

The Main event however even after the answers storming set, was something which no band on earth has managed to replicate, that is the magnificence of a live ac/dc show they throw the best party in the world up on stage and with timeless classics like rosie, all night long, for those about to rock and many more, Everyone huge dc fan or just accompanying sumone could have a great time at this gig!!! highlight of the day was definitely that perfect rock moment of angus up on the sound stage in the spotlight and rain pouring down as those marvelous fingures touched just about every note on the guitar in a matter of seconds!!

The bus fiasco however really dampened everyones spirits, myself i had to wait 2 and a half hours for the bus back to goffs and only reached gorey at 4 o'clock. I Will never go to an outdoor event again sponsored by that shower!!!

SilverFox261 · 29-06-2009 10:47am

That gig was class. The Blizzard's sounded very poor. I had never heard anything from The Answer before but I thought they really got the crowd pumped up for the main event.

Start to finish AC/DC were epic. The sound was excellent considering it was an outdoor gig. The stand out moment had to be Angus on the raised podium in the rain. I'll never forget that image.

As for the organisation, there's not much I can say that hasen't been said already. It was appauling. We were stuck in the car park for at least 2 hours after the gig. Managed to get back into Cork at 4.30am. It definately put me off future gig's at the venue.

phil1nj · 29-06-2009 10:48am

Have to agree with the majority of posters about the bus situation. Parked in Goffs at 3.10pm, arrived in Punchestown for 6 o'clock (??). At one stage the bus was stopped in Naas for 25 minutes for no obvious reason. Got to the concert and enjoyed the show , however I decided to leave the gig early to try and get a bus back to Goffs before the masses made a run for it. Started queing for a bus at 11pm and made it back to Goffs for 1.35am - what a joke! No order to the queues, shortage of buses, drunken numpties skipping the lines and one lonely steward trying to deal with literally hundreds of tired, pi**ed off people.

Was at Bon Jovi last year and swore I would never take a car to Punchestown again (was stuck in the car park for 3 hours after that gig as well). Looks like the Park and Ride option is just as useless as well which has led me to the conclusion that any and all future concerts scheduled for this venue will be given a wide berth by yours truly.

Seems like MCD's attitude is "right , you've had your fun now f*ck off!!". One clown in our queue kept reminding us of the fact that the Park and Ride is a "free" service so there was no point in complaining. Funny that, considering I'd just handed over the guts of 160Euro for two tickets to a concert that I had to leave early to try and get back home so I could go to work.

Quint · 29-06-2009 10:51am

On the way to the concert I was on the N7 exit for Naas for about an hour (got there at 4:30). Tail backs for miles and everyone was leaving the buses and walking. Loads of dickheads skipping the queue and going to the top of the exit, including buses. A few tried to get in beside us but we wouldn't let them in.
Anyway, after another 50 meters in 40 minutes we decided to take a turn off down Fishery Lane. Dumped the car about 10 minutes walk from the concert, probably saved about an hour and a half cos the traffic just wasn't moving in Naas. Made getting home easy too, left during the fireworks and got home in dublin at 12:20! AC/DC were great, but never going to another concert outside the city.

allanb49 · 29-06-2009 10:53am

Myself and my fiancee where one of the first out to the "Dublin Bus Queue" People started to knock the fences down and merge into a big mess, There was no breathing room, Saw many people having panic attacks and people were in fear of a crush happening. We moved from the front of the Q to the back. Asked Steward 5446 what they where doing to stop people being crushed and was told not my problem and he walked off to talk with his mates. So we were standing at the very back, at least 50 feet away from the queue. I couldn't believe how bad the organisation was. Barriers were turned over and people being pushed in all directions. A friend of ours was at the top of the queue and when the crowd pushed forward, they were getting crushed and the gardai at the front told them to push back!
They were herding people onto buses like pigs. Saw one bus that was so full of people that the interior lights couldnt be seen. People were being pushed up against the windows on the upper deck. Said this to a guard who was passing, and surely that was illegal and against safety rules and he said "yeah it is. Terrible. Cant do anything about it."

Utter bollocks.
There was no buses at the arena for ages and those that passed were full of people, so made our way towards the private coach area and found they were letting people on Dublin buses over there. Got on a bus at 12.40. was 2 before we even left the arena.
Back at home by 3.30.

Never again will I go to any gig outside Dublin like this. Fiasco of the highest order. (ACDC were absolutly amazing)

Saw one guy recording the whole thing with a proper camera, should be interesting to see what he got

jarain · 29-06-2009 10:54am

Awe inspiring gig from AC/DC definately one of the best live performances I have ever seen just a pity about everything before and after it.

Left Dublin at 3.45 arrived in Punchestown just as The Answer were starting bout 8.30 I think. We had to walk from the N7/Naas slip road (We had stuck it out longer on the bus than most).

Inside the Venue wasn't too bad for us, longish queues for beer and food but it was relatively orderly and we got a nice couple of pints and we were happy even in the rain.

Angus and the boys were fantastic, great show, great lights, stage, props everything just added to the enjoyment. Like a lot of people said above I'll always remember the iconic image of Angus on the platform in the rain. Also Whole lotta Rosie.......... Brilliant!!

The buses home could only be described as a zoo. We left during Highway to Hell and got there in a decent queue only fro some muppets to crash the barriers and storm the barriers like some scene from Braveheart!! Very dangerous but thank god nobody got hurt.

Home bout 1, tired and a bit sour about the whole thing. The boys were brilliant, organisation was a bunch of crap....

run_Forrest_run · 29-06-2009 10:54am

more traffic chaos after a gig but can we really place the blame firmly at the feet of MCD for this one??
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not supporting MCD (nor do I work for them or have any affiliation to them) but lads, Punchestown is served by lots of small narrow roads (from my own experience when I went to Oxegen one year).

The problem lies in sheer volume does it not?
Of all those who complained about the traffic chaos and delays can ye offer a realistic alternative solution? I don't mean to be a smart ass here, I'd honestly be interested in hearing about such alternatives.

littlejp · 29-06-2009 10:59am

The buses were an absolute joke. I live near Naas and was only interested in AC/DC so didn't head out to Naas until 5. Waiting about an hour and a half for a bus and when it went down the Main St. to the point where it turns and passes Tesco, our boss was stopped while a line of at least 20 empty Dublin Buses went down the road ahead of us.
Why would empty buses be given preference over a buses with 80 plus people on them?
Getting home was just as bad, people were knocking over railings in the queue and skipping all over the place and then crushing to get on the bus. Very little security around to do anything about it. Crowd was policing itself, people shouting at others who were skipping. Could have got ugly very quickly.
They can't argue it's a free service when they try to encourage everyone to leave the car at home and we all paid €80 for the priveledge.
Never again.

p.s. AC/DC were awesome

Aspro · 29-06-2009 11:01am

MickClince12118 wrote: »

For those of you who walked out early tho shame on you all!!!! How anyone could walk out on the kings of hard rock is beyond me especially with the set they put on!

Yeah yeah I know Mick. We were fuming that we had to do this but after my wife getting a few (accidental) digs in the stomach from drunken gobshítes during the course of the night and the return bus horror stories from Slane I didn't want to leave our safety to chance. If it had been me on my own I would have been one of the pissheads up the front and got home at 5am, but well, I've more than myself to think about now....;)

littlejp · 29-06-2009 11:03am

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

more traffic chaos after a gig but can we really place the blame firmly at the feet of MCD for this one??
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not supporting MCD (nor do I work for them or have any affiliation to them) but lads, Punchestown is served by lots of small narrow roads (from my own experience when I went to Oxegen one year).

The problem lies in sheer volume does it not?
Of all those who complained about the traffic chaos and delays can ye offer a realistic alternative solution? I don't mean to be a smart ass here, I'd honestly be interested in hearing about such alternatives.

See my post above about the empty buses getting preference on the way down. I don't think any cars should be aloud drive down to the venue. Should be all buses.
Drunk people should definitely not be allowed stumble along on the roads holding up all the buses.
I can understand some delays but the pushing and skipping in the queues was a disgrace and no security around to control it. Each queue had 1 steward when they realistically needed at least 3.

Quint · 29-06-2009 11:03am

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

more traffic chaos after a gig but can we really place the blame firmly at the feet of MCD for this one??
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not supporting MCD (nor do I work for them or have any affiliation to them) but lads, Punchestown is served by lots of small narrow roads (from my own experience when I went to Oxegen one year).

The problem lies in sheer volume does it not?
Of all those who complained about the traffic chaos and delays can ye offer a realistic alternative solution? I don't mean to be a smart ass here, I'd honestly be interested in hearing about such alternatives.

Having traffic control guards at every junction would be good. Would also be nice to have one or 2 patrolling the queue off the N7 to stop people jumping the queue. Every car or bus that jumped the queue meant that's another 5 meters everyone else won't be moving.
Anyway, i think most people that went to Slane or Punchestown over the last week won't be going to another gig in a big rural venue for a while. Especially if it's MCD.

Vim Fuego · 29-06-2009 11:04am

I drove there, thank feck. AC/DC were awesome but I left before the end to avoid the hordes. Wouldn't have been too bothered if it was a Saturday night but work sucks enough without being a complete zombie.

Predicition: After all the AC/DC and Slane MCD bashing, the boards. ie team team receive some more legal nonsense and the MCD event ban is reinstalled. MCD uberlord's heads to be impaled on spikes and paraded at the gates of Punchestown.

daveh32 · 29-06-2009 11:05am

Yeah, tell MCD to stop being cheapskates and book a decent venue in the capital or other big towns and cities around the country that are well serviced and easily accessible. All week long the word on the street was to use public transport as private cars would be held back for 2 hours. Got on a bus in Goffs at 4:05pm. Got off bus at 6:20pm and walked the remaining 2km to Punchestown. Left after the show ended (11:15pm-ish), got on a bus eventually (no thanks to Steward 5852 - I'm sorry, you're a f***ing idiot of epic proportions) at 12:40am, arriving in Goffs at 1:50am and eventually home at 2:30am. Now please, mcd, tell me how this is classed as user-friendly. Never again.

bionic.laura · 29-06-2009 11:09am

Awesome gig! I go to a lot of gigs but can't remember one rocking this much in a long time. AC/DC are mental! I was in the pit at the front and it was just fantastic. Hell's Bells when the giant bell came down, pure rock. The crowd in our pit were great. I've been to a few gigs recently where everyone was on the phone or talking and ignoring the gig. Most notably at Radiohead and we were up the front for that. So it was great to see everyone dancing and rocking.

Getting in was ok. We got there early and ended up in a giant queue that didn't move anywhere for an hour. I don't know why they didn't leave people in instead of having us all queue for ages for no reason. It was ok though cos we got the pit pass there.
Since we were in early we got food no problem and himself got pints no problem. I was the sober driver.

Getting home was kinda insane. We waited around after the gig and had some food cos we knew there'd be a giant queue. When we eventually joined the queue nobody seemed to know which queue was for what and there was no marshalls to ask. Every time the queue moved you got squashed. It all seemed to be going nowhere. Everyone was pissed off and we were all far too close together. At one point I was scared of a stampede and was making up escape plans.

Eventually the guards showed up and they seemed to take over from the crap stewards. After that things got a bit better. People were a bit less aggro. The coaches to the park and ride seemed to be few and far between. Eventually Dublin bus buses started picking us up. We got on a bus between 3 and 3.30. Got back to Goffs eventually. Home at 4.

I know at a big gig there will be a queue and I was well prepared to queue after the gig cos I wouldn't leave early. But it was very disorganized and a bit dangerous tbh. There should have been more stewards and more directions and a better barrier system.

gofaster_s13 · 29-06-2009 11:12am

Great gig, pure old school Rock and Roll, can't comment on the traffic or bus situation as only live 20 mins walk from Punchestown:cool:

run_Forrest_run · 29-06-2009 11:17am

to Quint and littlejp I understand what ye are saying about queue jumping etc but MCD are hardly to blame for people jumping queues on the roads leading to the venue are they?
I hear ya though, there are so many chancers out there who don't care about others in that respect and it annoys the other people who are abiding by the rules and it makes it all worse when there are no stewards or cops enforcing the rules.

Bluefoam · 29-06-2009 11:18am

On the way there, we left the Naas road at Kill & didn't see another car till we got to the blue car park - no traffic at all...

The gig was amazing - one of the best shows I've been to!

On the way back, we got to the car at 11.30, drove into the queue & had moved 100 yards by 2.30am - if we had realised this would be the case we would have stayed parked and slept for a couple of hours.

One guy got really pissed off waiting and drove accross the field to get into another queue & hit one of the stewards - sending him over the bonnet... last I saw of him the Gaurds were interviewing him...

When we got out of the car park we weren't allowed to turn towards Naas - so we headed towards Blessington instead...

Will have to think twice about ever going to an MCD gig again...

Sparky29 · 29-06-2009 11:20am

Epic Epic day!
Got a mini bus at 11 from Bray and then arrived around 12.30 we we're atleast in the first 100 in the queue, they confiscated our beers while we were in the queue the gits but we managed to hold on to a few and get pit passes! Waiting around in the queue was a pain in the ass but was so worth it to get that close for the main event!

Such an amazing show and it was almost impossible to believe you were actually there after waiting for so long to see them in Ireland (i couldnt get tickets to the o2 gig) stayed till the end and then met our mini bus handy enough and got home by 01.30 exhausted now in work but such a great day!

littlejp · 29-06-2009 11:28am

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

MCD are hardly to blame for people jumping queues on the roads leading to the venue are they?

Absolutely they are. It is there responsibility to get everyone in and out of the venue in an orderly fashion with a decent amount of security.

jusmeig · 29-06-2009 11:36am

William72 wrote: »

there's something else at play here folks. have been to gigs in punchestown b4 and seen many many gig crowds pass through over the last few years with no hassle at all. Up until yesterday was thinking that it was one of the better venues. Yesterday was by far the worst I've seen there. With Oxegen I know people arrive over a few days so that makes it easier but even previous once off gigs there was never this kind of traffic chaos. The police presence yesterday seemed well down on previous years - don't the promotors pay for this? Are there not minimum numbers that have to police these events. No point in blaming dublin bus - traffic was just not moving and thats down to promotors/guards. So the question is - are we seeing less policing of these events now? Slane and now this? Is it down to penny pinching? Having to leave a gig before the end to make sure you get home is a disgrace and seems to be coming the accepted norm - we should not be accepting that!!!

Amen brother. People ran for the door just before the encore...there is something fundamentally wrong when this happens.

harold1 · 29-06-2009 11:37am

What a gig, Angus Rocked.
The intro clip and the fire works at end fantactic.
We had not many problems with traffic, i drove to my friends house in Salins, got a jo to the grounds, after we walked to Naas, then got a jo home.

Has anyone any phot's

AC/DC Punchestown 28/06/09

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