AC/DC Concert

R

Romulan

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Happened to be around the Monread Road/M7 end of Naas yesterday evening and naturally enough serious traffic congestion. A serious amount of near empty Dublin Buses heading to the concert.

No sign of the Gardai either.

Saw no shortage of people drinking and some in a bad way.
Not a temporary public toilet in sight so you can imagine the result.

Only in Oirland?
 
Travelled down from Donegal to the concert yesterday, and have to add first that I had a great time. Seen them in April in the O2 and it was great to see them again on top form in front of such a huge crowd. They were in their element and put on a great show.

Now for some of the negatives.

It was my first time in Punchestown for a major concert, and it will probably be my last. As the OP said, only in Ireland. I cannot believe anyone would think about taking 70,000 people to a venue that can only be accessed via tiny country lanes. It was madness.

As for the traffic congestion, well I was one of those stuck on the motorway coming off into Naas for over 2hrs. Didn't time it but it may have been even closer to 3 by the time we got to Naas centre. There isn't the infrastructure around Naas to have so many people converging on it. I also didn't see a Garda for most of these 2+ hrs, and overall on the day only saw about a dozen overall.

Now on to the drunkards!! I have seen many many occasions over the years in this country with a lot of drunk people about, but this took the gold medal by a mile. I have never seen so many people out of their heads at 2pm - 5pm. I would say that many do not even remember the concert. At the concert itself I saw many hundreds who could hardly walk straight and whose eyes were dead in their head. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good drink as much as the next man, but most of these people I seen obviously don't get out too often and just went mad. I would agree with a ban on anybody being allowed entry if they are completely hammered.

Also during the concert, it baffles me why so many people seem to spend the entire show walking around. I had got a fairly decent position to watch with a fairly decent view (very hard to get) but unfortunately it seemed to be a right of way for many people heading to loos, burger stands, the beer stands etc. I would estimate that during the show I had to move out of the way for people at least 100 times. Why not go to the concert, stand there like most people and listen to the show.

But overall, we were chatting and wondering why a show like this could not have been taken to Croke Park? It would have been ideal for it.
 
RMCF said:
But overall, we were chatting and wondering why a show like this could not have been taken to Croke Park? It would have been ideal for it.
Click to expand...

May have had somethin' to do with the fact that Dublin were playing Westmeath there yesterday
 
was also at the show yesterday and have to say it will be my first and last time to punchestown. sat stuck in traffic for about an hour on the way there from naas (would take 10 minutes with no traffic) walked for over half an hour to get there and passed out dozens of empty bus's which were only making the problem worse. coming home was a joke altogether. 50 minutes queing for the bus - countless d**ks skipping the que... spent almost 2hours to get to naas.
i would say in total i saw about 10 gaurds the whole evening/night.
 
In fairness from a traffic perspective, yesterday was never going to be a good day for Kildare traffic, AC/DC, Derby in the Curragh and a tractor run on the other side of Punchastown in Blessington. Surely a case for Wicklow/Kildare Co COuncil and the Gardai to do some collective planning?

Likewise the Monread road is a long way from Puchastown(5 miles?) and again in fairness, when Oxygen is on, there are never any toilets out that way and in general, Oxygen has passed off reasonably peacefully in Naas.(I know there have been issues on site)

As for drunks at the concert, sad to say, there are a large number of people in ireland who believe the only way to enjoy themselves is to get smashed out of their brain and we seem to be a nation who believe that alcohol is neccessary at everything. I remember going to Cirque de Soleil in the Point recently, and whilst I know the price of drink in the Point is crazy, I was there to see the show and thoroughly enjoyed it, unlike the 2 couples behind me who spent the entire evening moaning about the price of a G&T
 
Loads of the same comments over on boards all morning - i got hassled all week last week to go - couple of spare tickets floating about - if it had been in Marley, or Phoenix or Croker or anywhere accessible (from Dublin) I'd have gone. I just couldnt face the hassle of getting in and out of Punchestown.
Sounds like a fantastic gig though.
 
Bottom line, after all the hassle of getting there, was that the concert was FANTASTIC.

The guys just get better and better.

I saw them in the O2 in April and although that was a fantastic show (complete with great views for all) I think the band seemed more intense last night. Perhaps they prefer playing to massive crowds rather than smaller indoor arena's.

Great show and when when you think about it, 8hrs driving, 3hrs in traffic, getting soaked through and hugely overpriced food and drink can't take away from the show.

Glad I went.
 
I had a savage time.

Drove out with a few buddies via Blessington to get there, avoided all the Naas sh*te. Arrived at around 4:30 / 5:00 to no traffic and no hassle.

Blizzards: sh*te
The Answer: poor sound, couldn't really hear them to be honest, but they looked not half bad.
AC/DC: "drools" - awesome.

Gig finished 11:05, I was at the front so had longer walk than most back to car. Was back in Dundrum area before 1 am and that was taking it easy (returned via blessington too). Saw very little traffic, hardest part was getting out of the car park and avoiding drunk people on the road!
 
Heard it was a great show and sorry now I did not go.

Talked to someone from Dundrum who said they got out of the car park pretty easily and there was plenty of Guards around.

They agreed on the amount of drunk people.
Whats the point indeed........
 
Regarding the public transport/empty buses/congested roads, I wonder if many who had decided to take public transport changed their minds after the Slane debacle the previous week and took their own transport instead?
 
I forgot to add, despite complaining about congestion in the way in, coming out was much easier.

I was in the Red Car Park.

I stayed until the very end - saw the fireworks before leaving my standing point. I then returned to my car, took about 20min to find it !!, then got in and drove off (no sign of the 60min delay in cars being allowed to move off). I don't know the area too well, but we seemed to be let out and be heading South - we did a lot of twisting and winding roads (avoiding drunks) for several miles, until I seen a sign for the N81 Dublin. But no delays in getting out.

If only it had been half as easy getting in.
 
Kine said:
Blizzards: sh*te
The Answer: poor sound, couldn't really hear them to be honest...
Click to expand...

The conventional wisdom on this is that it is deliberate. Support acts are poorly mixed in order to emphasise how good the headline act sound.
 

This really annoys me, I bought four tickets so was entitled to a car park pass but instead following the official advice (you have quoted above) I went for Park n' Ride. I left the concert after the last song and went for the buses to Goffs, I got on the bus at 1.55am, got to Goffs at 2.30 and was home at 3.

Next time I will just bring the car!
 
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