Safety at shows

Heineken Helen

Heineken Helen wrote:

I could just put my elbows against it and give myself lotsa room. All venues should do that I think

When ya think of it, it's quite a simple safety idea... why DON'T they all have it? I mean, surely it couldn't possibly cost all that much?

Housing Jim

Heineken Helen wrote:

Dublin was just brilliant... the two pits worked excellently and the padded barrier made it much more comfortable too.

Yes, for those of you who were in the front pit.

Dublin was f**king awful for anyone directly behind the 2nd barrier thanks to all the drunken assholes who seemed to comprise the majority of the crowd there. All of us who had waited by the barrier patiently for 2 hours had our night ruined as we all had to get dragged out after a couple of songs.

I'm not going to do my Dublin Safety speech again, it'll just get my blood boiling again.

Brisk.

i fucking hate those people who are like, can you just let me through i want to get to my friend.

many people asked me at astoria, but i saw straight through them and was like no

Dercheef

Arnhem was very peaceful at the front except for one little dick on drugs who was running basically through the people standing on mikes side. It would have been ok if everyone acted like him but since noone was moshing it was pretty annoying. But apart from him it was great.

Bern was intense! The pushing on Mikes side was crazy. Especially annoying was this kid right behind me who shoved his fucking elbow the whole time in my face so that he can hold his camera up high. I thought about shouting at him to stop it but he looked so happy that I decided not to do it. After the first set I went a few meters back where the moshing took place and there I had much more fun.

Berlin was perfect. A bit moshing, a bit pushing but nothing too bad.

meme

I BrisK I wrote:

i fucking hate those people who are like, can you just let me through i want to get to my friend.

many people asked me at astoria, but i saw straight through them and was like no

I do too... in Milan I just told him: "I'll call your friend so he can come back with you". I felt like a bitch though... and the two fellas I met at the airport the following day... I apologized

Scratchin a Letter

The shows I've attended have been mixed, only one was on the unsafe side. It also depends on what the setlist is like. If they walk out to a noisy and energetic crowd and open with Go or Severed Hand there won't exactly be swaying and lighters in the air.

Astoria was perfect, there was pushing and pogoing but nothing painful. Reading was tight but fairly calm. Marseille.... I can't remember. Bern was probably the worst for me, on the barrier on Mike's side... I came out with more bruises than a month old apple. I got a few elbows and a crowdsurfer kicked me in the back of the head... Pistoia was energetic but not too bad in terms of rowdiness. I had a good view and it wasn't physically challenged.

Pegasus

redrock wrote:

The padded barrier was luxury!

sure was, Gitta and I looked at each other in disbelief

Housing Jim wrote:

Yes, for those of you who were in the front pit.

Dublin was f**king awful for anyone directly behind the 2nd barrier thanks to all the drunken assholes who seemed to comprise the majority of the crowd there. All of us who had waited by the barrier patiently for 2 hours had our night ruined as we all had to get dragged out after a couple of songs.

I'm not going to do my Dublin Safety speech again, it'll just get my blood boiling again.

I heard about it afterwards.
I think it was because people were not aware (because you could not take drinks inside so they went in a t the last minute) there was another barrier so they were pushing to get closer thinking there was a lot of room.

Could easily be solved by putting up signs warning people there's 2 barriers (or simply letting people take drinks inside..what a stupid thing not to do)

Scratchin a Letter wrote:

The shows I've attended have been mixed, only one was on the unsafe side. It also depends on what the setlist is like. If they walk out to a noisy and energetic crowd and open with Go or Severed Hand there won't exactly be swaying and lighters in the air.

ALL concerts in Europe last year were heavy on hard songs at the beginning, if not the very first one then the next 3-4 anyway (which was great).
So it really depends more on the crowd (and also barrier arrangement, and security clamping down on the assholes)

Housing Jim

Pegasus wrote:

I heard about it afterwards.
I think it was because people were not aware (because you could not take drinks inside so they went in a t the last minute) there was another barrier so they were pushing to get closer thinking there was a lot of room.

Could easily be solved by putting up signs warning people there's 2 barriers (or simply letting people take drinks inside..what a stupid thing not to do)

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. Some better signage warning folk that they couldn't get any further forward may have made the situation a lot better, and yes, the no drink in the auditorium rule didn't really help matters.

It did take a lot of people by surprise just how rough it was.....I've stood at the front of many concerts over the last 15 years from Oasis to Rage Against The Machine and I've never felt pressure like I did at Dublin.

Still, lesson learned, I'll be going nowhere near the front at Wembley

ediger

neartodeath wrote:

moshing went out with acid wash jeans

when did acid wash go out?

msuthy

Agree with everyone mentioning better signs to show that their is a barrier is they way to stop idiots thinking they can push right to the front only to be actually crushing fans against a barrier.

The barrier worked so well in Dublin but can appreciate the commentss from those in the back part of the crowd. Was just the same at T In The Park last year - had a front pit area but those further back didn't know and were crushing fans into the barrier.

However, only seen this once before at an Eminem gig. 3 half circle front barriers!! They spilt the crowd into 4 parts. I was up in the stands at Hampden and got a great view of the arrangements. The front part was some sort of fan club thing, ok, then the 2nd and 3rd and 4th parts were for the rest, but those who'd waiting outside for ages could get in and get into the 2nd and 3rd split areas easily, then the rest in the 4th part. Not sure if i've explained that well but worked really well and gave some of the fans that'd been there for a good while before the show some breathing space without the thought of last minute idiots coming through the crowd. Had big marker cards at the end of each barrier to warn people that they were there.