We went, we saw, we made it back almost partially unscathed.
Personal photos, courtesy of Mrs 6k’s K850i are on the way, but in the meantime, here are some others to keep you going.
The Venue
Val de Vie is very nice. Posh. And the concert crowd (and the concert, actually) seemed a bit out of place. The stage was the usual Big Concerts stage, the big screens with the one rogue pixel, the rectangular stage and the pretty impressive array of lighting. The field was well kept, nice short grass, flat – limited chances of twisted ankles etc. I thought the free* bar was well run (went several times, queued a bit), the loos were plentiful (went twice – no queuing!!).
I was rather impressed.
The Parking/Traffic Issue
This morning, I note that there’s a huge storm about the traffic and the parking at the concert. If I see the words “epic fail” one more time, it will just be… well… an “epic fail”. On the way in, we met traffic just before the N1 junction and then we queued all the way into the estate. We had (as everyone had) received two emails from Big Concerts last week, both stating (amongst other things):
Fans are advised to arrive at the venue as early as possible in order to prevent pressure on the roads approaching the estate. Gates are scheduled to open at 16:00.
We would have been there at 16:00 on the dot. Who thinks that if they aim to turn up at the venue at 17:00 or later then they’re going to sail straight in? Seriaas? As it was, we got in and parked up just after half past four. Fine by me.
On the way out, it was hugely congested – much like other gigs and sporting events I have been to in the UK and SA. Back to that email again:
The show will be over by 22:30 and we expect traffic volumes to have eased by midnight.
Which was pretty much exactly right as well. Actually, the show finished at 22:15 and I left the venue by quarter past midnight. But I’m not going to quibble over a couple of quarter hours.
I refuse to blame Big Concerts (the promoter) for the “epic fail” parking and traffic. I never saw it. It was busy – hugely busy, sure. Were people not expecting that, despite the emails and the information? Even if Big Concerts had opened the gates an hour earlier, people would still have left it until the last minute to try and get in and then ignored the well-publicised warnings about the traffic after the concert.
You got home a bit late – big deal. Was Mummy angry because today is a school day or are you just jumping on the bandwagon because you need something to whine about?
The Support
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Zebra and Giraffe are the most promising band to come out of South Africa since, well, certainly since I’ve been here. I always feel sorry for support acts as they are so regularly overlooked, but this was a huge opportunity for Z&G and they gave it everything. In My Eyes stood out for me as did The Knife. There was energy, there was passion. Greg Carlin’s voice was perfectly on form and the audience interaction was perfect in tone and quantity and was well reciprocated.
Zebra and Giraffe and The Dirty Skirts are playing in Cape Town this Saturday in a (not ever so) well-publicised event at WBHS and I’ll certainly be there, because I just can’t get enough of these guys at the moment.
The Killers
Ah. The main event. And – I know this is going to prompt howls of derision – but can I say that I was a little bit disappointed?
The hype, the build-up, the anticipation had been huge. And yes, the set was good – it was really, really good – but for me, it didn’t live up to the expectation. Maybe that was because my expectations were too high, but why shouldn’t they have been? After all, this is one of the biggest bands in the world right now and they had n thousand fans eating out of their hands.
In truth, it was a one man show. Brandon Flowers has remarkable energy and a remarkable presence: as he approached the microphone before they kicked off with Human as if working out how best to attack it. But as he strutted around and posed like he was the only one on stage, it began to feel a bit faux; a bit contrived.
This was a show that they have done all over the world and in many ways, it was as if they were just doing another show. Like there was nothing special about it for them. You knew that the ad libs had been ad libbed for the last six months: “Is it too early to say that you’re a bit louder than Johannesburg yet?”. If anything, it was just too well done.
That said, they know their stuff. None of the B-side rubbish – this was a catalogue of their hits and there’s nothing that a crowd loves more than hit after hit after hit. Smile Like You Mean It and Mr Brightside (written about a bloke from the industrial East end of Sheffield) were particularly well received. Confetti and pyrotechnics assisted with wowing the audience and there were numerous sing along moments to boot. Ronnie Vannucci on the drums was one of the forgotten heroes as Flowers pandered to the audience and stole the show, but what a passionate performance at the back.
The encore was undeniably spectacular. Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine and When You Were Young were a superb end to a memorable show, but one which never quite reached its full potential for me.
Overall
An excellent afternoon and evening out. Great company (including (briefly, at least) the legendary Ian MacDonald from SA – The Good News), a great vibe and a great concert. And the perfect end to a spectacular party weekend. And while The Killers didn’t quite do it for me, I think I was perhaps in the minority. Mrs 6k loved every single minute and that’s a rare, yet very welcome, vote of approval.
Next up for Val de Vie is Elton John and they’re going to have buy a teleporter if they’re going to keep Cape Town’s old tannies happy.
UPDATE: Kfm/Big Concerts comment on the traffic:
Heavy volumes were always expected and as a consequence fans were repeatedly advised through various channels to assist the authorities in reducing the traffic load. These requests included allowing enough time to enter and exit the venue; the sharing of rides (carpooling), and a general call for patience and respect for other fans on the road.
Regrettably it appears from the reports provided through the Venue Operational Centre that the warnings were not heeded and many motorists left their approach to the venue much too late. As a consequence of the congestion they experienced, tempers flared and many people simply parked their cars illegally blocking the venue entry and exit.
That’s what I just said.
* free: allegedly because the liquor licence was refused/not applied for.
Completely agree on traffic: It really fine when we arrived just after 4. I guess the problem on the way in was people arriving too late. Likewise, the problem on the way out was people expecting to be able to drive straight out and then behaving like idiots.
Disagree on the concert though. Best one I’ve ever been to. Ever. Everever.
Brandon is lovely.
totally agree with you re: the traffic. what do people expect? exactly the same thing happened at coke fest. we arrived at around 5.30pm and came in from stellenbosch via the jan van riebeeck franschhoek – paarl road (so in other words, “the back way” – totally avoiding the N1) and we were smart enough to park right at the entrance where the taxis were (knowing that venturing further into the parking area would have been asking for it).
when we left, we sat on the gravel road going out of the estate for about an hour – and that was because, as was said, people were so impatient they started cutting in front of eachother thereby causing an even bigger jam (i exchanged some “words” with a douche who was trying to skip the queue). anyway once we were off the gravel we shot home very quickly, and arrived home before 1am.
as for the concert itself, i loved it! it exceeded my expectations mostly because i didn’t actually expect too much from them (i love Hot Fuss, but not their newer stuff). i think it also helped being in the golden circle and pretty close to the stage right in the thick of things. I had heard that Flowers wasn’t so great live, so he definitely surprised me too.
.-= Dee´s last blog ..hello fox =-.
“Which was pretty much exactly right as well. Actually, the show finished at 22:15 and I left the venue by quarter past midnight. But I’m not going to quibble over a couple of quarter hours.”
I left the venue after 2am, 4 hours after the end of the concert.
“I refuse to blame Big Concerts (the promoter) for the “epic fail” parking and traffic. I never saw it.”
Then you where certainly not amongst the most of us where the traffic out of the parking lot did not move for 3 hours.
The only people I heard who got out fine where the ones who illegally parked along the road.
SiMP > Thanks for the comment. I did think they were excellent. Just not as excellent as I had been hoping. Some reviews from Jo’burg (which I hadn’t read before writing mine) seem to say the same thing.
Dee > Glad you enjoyed it. Yes – like all big events, lots of traffic. My friend saw Robbie Williams in Milton Keynes and it took her 7 hours to get home (just under 100 miles).
Dave > Sure – it was busy – I’m not denying that. But I wasn’t parked illegally and I got out fine (as I stated and as you read). As Dee (and the Big Concerts statement) suggests – it was people being stupid that caused the majority of the issues. What are BC supposed to do – not sell tickets to idiots?
Getting to the event was a mission, but the thing everyone’s upset about is being stuck at the venue for hours and not being able to LEAVE.
So PLEASE, Big Concerts et al, do us all a favour and stop going on about how the fans left it late to get to the event. The problem we’re all going on about is the fact that we COULDN’T LEAVE afterwards. You aren’t deflecting attention from the issue, you’re just making yourselves look like idiots.
Sitting in a gridlocked parking lot until 2am is not normal overseas. Come on! Not all South Africans are idiots, and many of them have attended international events. So pull the other leg.
.-= Liz´s last blog ..FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup South Africa – Supporter Information =-.
true, i went to an Interpol concert in London and with the combination of public transport + crowds it took me longer to get in and out than Killers did.
i was in bed by 12.30 actually. more people should have taken the R301 past boschendal instead of the N1 – that would have helped as well.
.-= Dee´s last blog ..bygone =-.
Even though I opted for a back-road route, I had a similar experience to many other posters. We parked on the R301 to avoid being gridlocked on the way out (or alternatively having to leave the concert early), and as a consequence we had to endure a +/- 5km walk to the venue, part of which was on a very dusty dirt road.
The whole experience left me with the impression that this was an exercise in naked profiteering on the part of the organizers. I would imagine that Val de Vie is considerably cheaper to hire than a genuine music venue designed to cater for this crowd volume. Furthermore tickets were initially limited and sold-out quickly, creating a bit of a frenzy where people were paying up to 2-3x list price. Then – all of a sudden – a whole new batch was dumped onto the market (on about 19/11). This turned out to be both more than the venue’s infrastructure could handle, and it made a mockery of those who had been paying a premium to attend. I can only guess that this development was motivated either by a cynical sales strategy (i.e. to create a big hype) or a greedy attempt to make a greater profit than was initially planned upon…grossly unethical in either case.
As for warning us to arrive early…apart from not helping with the exit situation, who wants to be compelled to arrive at a concert 4 hours+ in advance? I’m not paying R800 to have this sort on inconvenience imposed upon me. It’s a case of making their problem ours.
Obviously some traffic is expected at any concert…but this was ridiculous. Thanks Big Concerts.
As for this review, I guess [this section of the comment deleted by 6000, see the Ts&Cs of posting a comment here] you’ll get some free tickets to the Elton John concert…good luck with that.
Your email (big concerts) advising concert go-ers to carpool and allow sufficient time to get into the venue was well noted.
We never expected to be stuck in such bad traffic that took us 4 hours to get to the venue from the City Bowl. Spur ran out of food andthe drinks stand ran our of coke.
When my group of 4 people left we sat in our car, engines switched off as we could not move anywhere. We sat here from 10:40pm until 2am when we started the car and the queue started moving. It took us 5 and a half hours to get home – 4am in the morning. We overslept for work. People are comparing this to the chaos that Celine Dion concert caused and all my friends say that they will never go to a concert at Val de Vie wine farm again – the Killers performance was great = the rest was a disaster!
Liz > Actually, not. Look at the post from Indy – he/she/it was upset about getting stuck before the concert. And there were numerous others who weren’t happy about the traffic on the way there.
Dee > I was back in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town (66kms) less than 3 hours after the final drumstick was hurled at my head by the Cadbury’s Gorilla lookalike at the back.
Indy > If you don’t want to take the advice given to you buy the promoter and turn up early to these large (and very occasional) concerts, then I can only suggest that you don’t buy tickets in future. If you hadn’t spent money on tickets (incidentally, yours seem to be more expensive than most other people’s) then you could have stayed at home and not got stuck in any traffic at all. You could have listened to a CD of The Killers instead.
I do agree that the extra tickets that were made available was a questionable decision, but then I wouldn’t single out Big Concerts as a company that… er… tries to make money. Don’t all companies do that?
Like Musica – where you bought that CD – for example. Do you know that they made a profit last year?? The horror.
Stop fighting the system. You only look heroic for about 30 seconds and then it all goes wrong.
Kelly > I’m speaking from my experience. I followed the advice that Big Concerts gave me as far as I could and my experience was excellent. Not sure about who was in charge of Coke, but surely it’s Spur’s fault if Spur run out of burgers?
Still, since we’re blaming Big Concerts for everything else, why not? And how about that dodgy result in the Ermelo by-election?
The bands were great and I found the whole show to be terrific. The parking, however, was an absolute MESS! Taking Big Concerts ‘advice’ we arrived and parked at 3pm directed by attendants to the far side of the field in a sandy area. There was no organization in terms of the parking once their and people just parked where they could. Luckily for us, no-one would be leaving in a hurry so no accidents were likely to be caused.
Like I said: great bands, great music and we all enjoyed ourselves. After leaving the concert at 10:20pm we got to the N1 at 2:50am. Yes: 4.5hrs later. The organizers decided to let those who arrived LATER park on the grass fields closer to the entrance and therefore, they could leave first. Us poor early-arrivers sat in their cars for 3.5hours before moving 1 metre. I did not see one parking attendant trying to organize the exit or explain the situation to the very irate people there and it was (once again) absolute chaos.
Great event and a nice venue but shocking organization and I will never return to a concert here again. Had their been a reason to evacuate the venue it would have had to have been on foot. The venue is simply not suited for a large-scale event. Mr 6k: you were obviously fortunate enough to arrive later than us and got to park on the grass.
Grant > Owch! I was already at work by 2:50am!
So it seems that there were issues, but not for everyone. Lest we forget, people are far more likely to leave a comment here if they had a problem, simply because they had a problem and want to tell the world about it.
I buck the trend. I didn’t have a problem and I still write about it. FML.
on another note, anyone know the song they were playing right after killers ended and people were leaving golden circle? though it was MGMT but not… really bugging me!
.-= Dee´s last blog ..bygone =-.
Dee > You mean We are the People by Empire of the Sun?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqMe2upRA2c
Hey, I did say the bands rocked. I really enjoyed The Killers and I’m not a huge fan. Such a pity because it really is an awesome venue and in a stunning part of Cape Town. If you really want to see what people think about the traffic issue go look at the articles on News24.com. I was actually quite chilled thoughout the whole ‘exit saga’, realizing that there was nothing I could do but wait it out.
Anyway, I’ll write it off to the experience of evening and open another Red Bull to survive the rest of the day……..
Dee: it’s the song from Guitar Hero which is why the crowd went wild! 🙂
thanks, i literally JUST remembered what it was 🙂 great tune.
.-= Dee´s last blog ..bygone =-.
2000> there is profit-making and profiteering. I know it’s subtle, but there is distinction and if you persist for long enough you’ll get it (I hope). In the event that you don’t and if you’re keen on a brand of rampant capitalism with no ethical retrictions or controls, as you seem to be, then can I suggest an alternative career as child-labour broker, or something of that ilk. The profits are better than those in blogging I’m told. The horror…? Naah.
Anyhow, jokes aside, traffic as I’ve (and you’ve) mentioned was to be expected. But not to this extent. I’ve been to enough large concerts to know what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s unacceptable. This was the latter, and they knew it in advance…as signalled by their warnings. Those warnings aren’t anywhere near enough to absolve them of their responsibilities…as you’re appearing to suggest.
R800 = +/- 2 normal tickets. I paid list price – many didn’t…before the surprising (to all but Big Concerts I’m sure) appearance of more tickets.
PS: Since when are [censored] and [rudeness] considered bad language. Crude yes, but bad?
@ Grant, i didn’t mean the Killer’s last song :^)
Oh and another thing, I was really bummed they didn’t play Change Your Mind! one of my fave songs from Hot Fuss.
.-= Dee´s last blog ..bygone =-.
Grant > You did. Fair point.
There does seem to be this growing movement toward the Winelands for gigs. This one was staged at VdV because of the scarcity of facilities in Cape Town because of the World Cup Draw, allegedly. But more and more places are doing weekend gigs (D’Aria, Backsberg etc) and hosting the larger concerts (Coke Zero Fest moved from Kenilworth to Lourensford, Elton John from Newlands to VdV etc).
Dee > Yeah – you just remembered when I told you! 🙂
Indy > “2000”? I feel so devalued.
There were evidently a lot of problems leaving the venue, and no – that’s not acceptable. I don’t find 2 hours delay to get out unacceptable as long as I know about it.
Longer than that is an issue though, yes, but I think that only a minority of people were affected that badly.
And I still maintain that if you got there early enough, there were very few issues with actually getting to the venue.
Regarding your language – maybe your Mum has different standards to my Mum.
Regarding your idea for child labour – been there done that: http://www.flickr.com/photos/6000/3938103246/in/set-72157622417531744/
Dee > They played virtually everything else though. Did we get Losing Touch? I think we did, right?
LOL seriously, I was flicking through my iTunes trying to figure it out! But you’re good, you’re very good.
I wonder if traffic would be better from the new stadium? The only event I ever attended there was the U2 concert in 1998 – and that was huge crowd wise. I don’t remember any traffic problems but as I said, it was a long time ago.
.-= Dee´s last blog ..bygone =-.
@ Dee
Think it was a band called Cut Copy
@Dee
Just realized which song you were referring to. I dig it too so 6000, thanks for letting me know who sings it.
Dee > The difference is that people can disappear off it all directions from stadiums. And yes, it gets busy/congested, but it eases more quickly. In comparison, places with one exit are always going to struggle with big crowds.
Andy > Oh man. Now I’ve got to go and find that song, cos if it’s like Empire of the Sun, it’s probably worth a listen.
Grant > My pleasure. *frantically googling Cut Copy*
Cut Copy isn’t very similar to Empire of the Sun (who are far more like MGMT in my opinion) – but the song you might be thinking of is “Feel The Love”. Also listen to “Saturdays” and some of the other tunes off their Bright Like Neon Love album.
.-= Dee´s last blog ..bygone =-.
Actually, you’ll probably really like In Ghost Colours which is their latest album (Cut Copy)
.-= Dee´s last blog ..bygone =-.
Dee > Thanks. Just listened to a couple of Cut Copy’s tracks. It’s a blatant rip off of New Order.
(Which, in itself, is no bad thing).
More Cut Copy experimentation this evening. Also going to download The Knife’s version of Jose Gonzales’ Heartbeats which they were playing last night (and which is actually the original version).
Although I feel that I may need an early night for some reason.
6000>sorry, the lack of sleep is catching up to me.
Indy > 😉
PS> If you get to any venue early enough there wouldn’t be a problem. By that logic any large enough venue would be suitable for a concert. Once again though this doesn’t solve the issues on exiting.
Indy > Sure. But it does go against the complaints of the people who claim that they turned up on time – because they didn’t.
Interestingly, reading the damning comments on this story on news24 (http://tinyurl.com/yhgr6fg), several of the people there seem to have left town exactly the same time as us, yet got into the venue over 2 hours later. A little exaggeration or some sort of timegate at Joostenbergvlakte? (Yes, Marguerite Winton 12/7/2009 1:52:17 PM, I’m talking to you.)
And Kurt at 12/7/2009 12:37:06 PM who claims “the N1 was backed up by 15:00”. No it wasn’t.
What are you smoking? Talking about the grass being well cut, you are clearly desperately searching for positives. Since when is waiting for 5 hours acceptable? I’m afraid your standards are too low. In fact I dont think you have any standards what so ever! I have been to plenty of concerts. In fact, I attended the majority of international rock acts in the last 8 years. I have never had even remotely the same problem. I guess you were last in and last out. We went early as requested and paid the price of being at the back of the line with the exit. Agreed, the event itself was smooth sailing. The liqueur license was an issue, but well compensated by freebies, so no harm done. So from a general planning issue, ‘flawless’. The fact of the matter remains the venue was not suitable for the event of that scale. Nothing could have been done improve the bad choice of location. Is it Val de Vie’s fault? No. Is it the traffic departments fault? They could have opened the double lane earlier, but other than that, no. Is it BIG Concerts fault? Yes, they are specialist in their field and should have known that selected venue can not handle the traffic flow. No amount of warnings would have improved the traffic. I suggest the in future they should get a venue which was build to handle the huge traffic flow. I have been to Newlands a couple of times, which has a capacity of over 50 000 and have never been in the traffic for longer than an hour. Case and point. What is next? Hosting U2 in the doll house of the CEO’s back garden? Come on Big Concerts, take responsibility of a error in judgement.
There may well be some exaggerated and unfair comments out there, no question. But regardless of whether their intentions were as nefarious as I’ve made them out to be, Big Concerts got this wrong. They couldn’t have expected all concertgoers to a receive the SMS/email, and either want to or be able to go early (and/or carpool). It would have been more credible if they’d posted a more explicit warning at ticket vendors, so that we all had possession of the facts BEFORE buying the tickets…as is required by law with many products.
Anyhow, I’m done on this subject. School fees paid, lesson learnt.
Apologies to your mum for pushing the envelope.
Oh good I’m not alone. Now I’m not emboeressed to admit that I’m an Empire of the Sun fan.
Just had a drink with a couple who were there – arrived without trouble, but spotted clear trouble on the way out. So instead of sitting in their cars for a few hours (the traffic department says that the roads cleared by 02h30), they set their alarms, and had a nap until 02h00 or so, when the drive home was quite bearable.
Generally, a silly venue. Some got lucky with traffic, others not. But anyone who went there not expecting traffic chaos has simply not been paying attention.
Gosh! Had a good time, then?!? 😀 This post appears to have garnered quite a few comments for you too – so a win-win situation all around!
.-= Helga Hansen´s last blog ..No news is good news… =-.
hence Cape Town Stadium. full stop.
Schalk > Smoking is bad, ok? And as for looking for the positives, well, maybe that’s how I roll. Rather that than looking for the negatives wherever possible. Try it. You might like it.
I even tried to do my best with The Killers, despite the fact I actually wasn’t hugely impressed.
The grass comment was hugely important though. I have a friend who was at a major event in the UK and tripped on an errant sod and fractured her ankle so badly that they had to cut her foot off. She was 13 years old at the time.
Anyway – I was documenting my experience, which was very enjoyable and not too bad traffic wise. As per the post (did you read it?), I was neither last in, first in, first out or last out.
Your Newlands comment is hugely daft, but I’ll let you off for that, because I don’t want to be negative.
Indy > Actually, my Mum is over here at the moment. I’ll pass on your apology. Thanks.
I think that when one goes to a major event, one needs to accept that there will be some element of disruption. What next – “DANGER OF VUVZELA NOISE!!” at all FIFA outlets?
No – people need to show a bit of common sense.
Andrew > You’re never alone, Andrew.
Jacques > Good plan. As I mentioned, we just sat there, listened to some music and had a little late night picnic. It was quite romantic and things could have progressed, but we were surrounded by 30,000 people and it didn’t seem right.
HH > I did actually have a good time. Some didn’t – and those are the voices that you hear. Which makes a change. Not.
ctguy > There actually is an interesting parallel there. This was Val de Vie’s first “big event” and there were issues. The Stadium is gearing up bit by bit with a 20,000 event, a 40,000 event and then a full size 68,000 event. That way, teething troubles can be ironed out before they bite a big crowd.
6000>When I bought my tickets I didn’t really pay much attention to the venue. Even if I had I wasn’t particularly familiar with Val de Vie. I sort of just expected that the organisers would have used some common sense (or even – maybe I’m asking for too much – concert organizing expertise) and have selected an appropriate venue for the numbers involved. If this was not the case then in an ideal world it would have nice to have been advised upfront that we should expect greater than usual (in fact downright ludicrous) logistical inconvenience. They knew it of course, but being the greedy bastards (or righteous business folk, depending on whether you’re Indy or 6000) that they are they felt it more fitting to give the warning only after we’d bought the tickets.
Indy > So – just to confirm, you weren’t expecting a lot of people to turn up and there to be any sort of congestion? I agree that waiting 4 hours (or whatever) to get out is unacceptable. What I experienced – and what all of those infront of me also experienced – was pretty much exactly as I would have expected and as I was warned.
Would be interesting to hear what those people who bought tickets in that second phase thought about it. After all – they did get to see Brandon when they thought they weren’t going to be able to – thanks to the savvy business acumen of Big Concerts.
PS> I read somewhere – whether true or not I don’t know – that the Drakenstein municipality traffic authority advised Big Concerts that Val de Vie was not an appropriate venue for a concert of this scale. They ploughed on regardless.
No, I expected to breeze in and out. I carry one of those Star Trek beaming devices with me for such occasions. Strange, we have rugby matches, football matches, and all sorts of other mass events in this city, and no-one makes a fuss. Could it be (a) Capetonians are all on a synchronized menstrual cycle – apart from 6000 – and that this concert happened at the wrong time of the month? (b) it was really no worse than any of the other aforementioned events and that just a few unbalanced individuals with an axe to grind are stirring up touble for BC, or (c) this was actually a colossal cluster-[Indy, my Mum’s reading remember?]. Let’s take a poll of concertgoers. Care to wager on the result?
Didn’t I say 3 posts ago that this would be my last word on the subject? Damn…I could well be one of those unbalanced individuals.
I don’t know who these killer people are… I did however enjoy the Royal Variety Performance.
Some unfortunate looking lady by the name of Gaga was rather amusing.
Father couldn’t keep his eyes off her red leather dress, heaven knows what he whispered in her ear!
You’re all ungrateful tossers quite frankly 😛
SOME of us couldn’t get our hands on tickets and would have loved to have been there. But yes, by all means, continue to complain about the traffic that you should expect by now considering the history of concerts all over the world.
And oh dear god you couldn’t have a beer/wine while watching the concert? You poor trodden down individuals.
6k when am I going to be allowed more choice words on your blog? 😛
.-= Tara´s last blog ..The cutest thing I have ever seen =-.
Indy > If you can find me some evidence of the Drakenstein Traffic Department story, then I’ll happily follow it up.
Regarding your second comment (and many thanks for the self-censorship 😉 ), as has been said time and time again, there is a HUGE difference between having an event at a stadium and having an event on a wine/golf/polo/flyfishing estate. Stadiums are built specifically for this purpose, wine/golf/polo/flyfishing estates are not. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t hold these events. Things didn’t go right at this one for a number of (rather vocal) individuals. Apologies have been forthcoming from those involved with the organisation of the event.
I think that the result of a true poll of concertgoers would actually shock you. The majority of the crowd didn’t have an “unacceptable delay” leaving the venue, but you’re not hearing from them – thus the general perception is skewed.
HRH > I love your dad. He’s such a role model for the young people of today.
Tara > Like I said, the gig was good (Z&G particularly for me) and I had no issues whatsoever with the organisation, the parking, the toilets, the (free) bar or anything else, aside from Brandon Flowers’ irritating accent and the general lack of on-stage spontaneity.
As for your language, you managed to get “tossers” through – consider that an achievement. 🙂
people love focusing on the negative rather than the positive, eh? two days later i’m still thinking about how rad it all was rather than dwelling on the fact that someone knocked over my beers, or some tall dude stood in front of me for a period of time, or my shoe broke, or i sat in my car at a standstill on a dusty road for quite a while. instead i bought 3 more beers, told the guy to move, took my shoe off and listened to music while reliving the entire thing with my friends in the car – then comparing notes on who we want to see next.
i guess my point is i would do it again, even with said traffic!
.-= Dee´s last blog ..drop caps =-.
Hmm…we’ll have to agree to walk divergent paths with regards to the poll. Hopefully mine won’t be long, dusty and disappointing…
The Drakenstein traffic “story” came from a post on IOL: “I complained to the Drakenstein traffic dept and they told me that they had said it was not a suitable venue for a concert of that size, but the permission was given from higher up in the province and they just had to follow orders”. Give them a call and check if it’s true.
BTW – BC issued a media statement apologising and expressing regret, but they stop well short of taking responsibility and admitting bad judgement. They claim to have done “rigorous planning and risk assessment”. Laughable. As you’ve said, this type of is not designed for an event of this size…I think this would have been clear to anyone doing the most casual recce. Whatever planning they did to overcome this fact was clearly well short of good enough.
PS> People buying in the second phase would have been just as happy if their batch of tickets had been released from the start. People as a whole would have been significantly happier if the market hadn’t been misled, deceived, and jerked around.
Dee> I think I would go again too. Those who are claiming that they will boycott all future Big Concert events are forgetting that no-one else actually brings big-name acts over here. It’s all just a bit of Knee-jerk Malema style posturing.
Man, it sounds like you had a disaster of a concert. Me – not so much. Someone almost knocked my beer over, but didn’t and my sensible choice in footwear meant the I was untroubled by any sort of shoe damage.
I’m a tall dude, so I don’t have a problem is seeing. I just hope that the people behind me appreciate that I have to stand somewhere for a period of time. I try to move every two or three songs so that everyone gets a chance to see.
Indy > See, I too read the iol comments (mentioned here) and I generally don’t believe a word of what they say. i know for a fact that some of those comments are lies (or hugely exaggerated). If there was a direct quote from the Drakenstein Municipality, it would mean more. But there isn’t. Even then – if powers higher up than the Traffic Dept gave the go-ahead, then why is it Big Concerts’ fault?
Jo’burg got a second date – either there wasn’t enough demand or it was impossible to have the band stay on an extra day for Cape Town (I don’t know?). Either way, the experience I had (and those I have had a previous Big Concert-organised events) was rather good. I’d give it an 8/10 ish. Would have been ten, but I’m knocking one off for Flowers’ selfish showmanship and 1 off cos I was tired because I partied hard this weekend on Long Street and someone spilled Dee’s beers.
I see the commentary has moved on quite a bit since I posted way back up there ^. I was just trying to say that your experience was not the norm and that there where many people who arrived on time (also around around 4:30) and where stuck for 4hours in the parking lot. And in the end I think BIG Concerts need to admit they stuffed up instead of trying to blame their paying customers** or the municipality who tried their best to deal with a crappy situation ( http://bit.ly/840P2B ).
** Just went to re-read their press release put out by Kfm yesterday ( http://bit.ly/6hYrrc ) and noticed that it has been changed. They removed the bits where they blame the customers and now admit “the road network around the venue was unable to handle the sheer volume of traffic congestion”. Also BIG Concerts have given their own email address for complaints instead of Kfm. Their own press release ( http://bit.ly/8FASaI ).
I wonder if what they are going to do for Sir Elton John concert there?
Dave > It has. I don’t think my experience was the norm and I don’t think that anyone else’s was either. Some people got in before me, some people got out before me.
Glad Big Concerts have added their email address to the Kfm statement (although you could always have just gone to the Big Concerts website and emailed them from there), but I fail to see what more they can do. People are already lying about what actually happened that day in the iol comments so either they refund everyone or they refund no-one. If it’s the former, then I will donate my refund to Reach for a Dream, but I think it will be the latter and I agree with that stance.
Here’s the Big Concerts statement: http://bigconcerts.co.za/media_centre/press_releases/2009/december/KillersPressRelease_CTLogistics.pdf
As for Elton John – I’ve already suggested a teleporter. They’d be foolish not to heed my advice. Kfm has nothing on Cape Talk when it comes to moaning.
BC has agreed to compensate me by way of some Killers’ merchandise. Fair’s fair and in the magnanimous 6000 style of acknowledging the good as well as the bad, I commend them for this gesture.
I’ve taken the hush money so now I’m shutting up. Let’s hope the next concert is better.
6000 > I think what they could have done was own up to there messup instead of blaming their customers. But now… there is not much they can do. It’s all damage control now and they going to be working hard to try make sure that when this blows over that people are not still muttering about BIG concerts and traffic. Personally I don’t know how they could do a refund since I have no ticket and therefore no proof I was at the concert.
I do think there is some exaggeration on the times, but that could be caused also people quoting the time they got home instead of the time they left the venue and got on the road.