Concerts at the Gate

[Frenchay Red]

@RedM  You mentioned lack of 4g on the pitch area, was the usual stadium wifi not on? It was for the Rod Stewart gig.

[RedM]

Got a bit close at times!

[RedM]

Some of the stadium looking great and LJ in attendance, leaning against the doorframe under ‘THE’ 

[downendcity]

21 minutes ago, slartibartfast said:

I heard the re were Rick Astley fan  was in the Take That end !

 

[RedM]

And not so great, ouch the clean up

[downendcity]

4 minutes ago, RedM said:

Some of the stadium looking great and LJ in attendance, leaning against the doorframe under ‘THE’ 

See the boys are modelling next seasons home and away strips but no purple and lime!

[RedM]

Last ones, I promise. These letters looked great I thought.

[RedM]

9 minutes ago, Frenchay Red said:

@RedM  You mentioned lack of 4g on the pitch area, was the usual stadium wifi not on? It was for the Rod Stewart gig.

Just couldn’t get on it at all,  I find it very dependant on where you are in the stadium on a matchday and don’t normally bother with it. The people I was with tried with no success and we are with two different providers. Just sheer volume I think or perhaps there is no signal in the middle of the pitch

[phantom]

4 minutes ago, RedM said:

Just couldn’t get on it at all,  I find it very dependant on where you are in the stadium on a matchday and don’t normally bother with it. The people I was with tried with no success and we are with two different providers. Just sheer volume I think or perhaps there is no signal in the middle of the pitch

I had a message from my sister during the evening asking what the wifi was she could use as I had mentioned about it

I wonder if it was not available to stop people live streaming the concert?

[myol'man]

Just wondering if anyone used either the Long Ashton park & ride or Metrobus for the concert?

[RedM]

I think it was just very patchy. The two people I was with were getting notifications from Facebook but couldn’t view them, if that makes any sense as I’m not really a Facebook user. They tried 4G and WiFi I think. Anyway it’s just a small observation compared to the rest of the evening.

[RedM]

2 minutes ago, myol'man said:

Just wondering if anyone used either the Long Ashton park & ride or Metrobus for the concert?

I used the metrobus from the centre to the concert for the first time, all goodcas I was early. I thought all the Park & Rides had to be pre booked and were sold out, please don’t quote moe on this as I might be wrong. I didn’t try for the metro bus or any bus near the stadium afterwards as I thought the queues would have been horrendous so chose to walk as I said.

[redsapper]

46 minutes ago, RedM said:

First of all what a great night, Ashton Gate done Bristol proud and certainly hosted a great show with very little critism from me. I have been to many gigs at many venues and I have tried to think about my experience without any bias. 

I got to AG around 4.30pm so plenty early. There were already lots of people arriving. The stadium was busy serving drinks of all kinds and lots of food, they certainly seemed to have put the effort in to cater for most. I didn’t buy anything as we had gone to Wetherspoons in Clifton and had food and drink, love a Steak Day me!

On arrival for pitch standing Winterstoke Road end you were directed to either a bag search area or a no bag lane. You had to hold your arms out whilst someone did a quick metal scan with a handheld scanner of your body. I had a bag with the permitted bottle of water in, infact  I had gone to Iceland and got 6 for 89p ( cheapskate me!) There were 3 of us so I totally expected the steward to take 3 bottles away from me. I had 4 in my drawstring bag and the two people with me carried one each. They were all still sealed as is the usual instruction. The steward asked us all to open our bottles and take a sip, we had to stand there in front of him and drink the contents, I have NEVER been asked to do this before, very odd. He totally ignored my extra bottles (result!).

I didn’t mind drinking the contents but I was interested to ask him why. He said he didn’t know and when I asked him what he was hoping to find as it was a sealed bottle he couldn’t answer that either. I’m not sure if it will be the same for other concerts but it seemed as long as you were prepared to take a sip it could have been anything. As I said I have never experienced this anywhere, ever. One of the persons I was with had no bag so went with their bottle through the no bag lane, he was asked to open and sip too, and his steward even took a sniff of his water. Very weird. If that had been me I probably would have complained, I don’t want any random persons nose near something I am drinking.

Once past the bag searches it really was chill. You showed your ticket and it was scanned with a handheld scanner by a girl that usually works in the shop, recognised her. Just after that you got given a wristband ( pitch standing only people). Inside this area were the food and drink outlets, you could wander in and out off the concourse and down Marina Dolman way. There were several merchandise places. Programmes £20 ( ouch). Daughter purchased a TShirt but it was made especially for Bristol which was a nice touch.

After we joined the queues that were forming inside the concourse to gain access to the pitch. Doors opened just after 5.30 and it was calm and well organised with lots of entery points. There were loads of Stewards and helpers everywhere inside and out. All toilets were open in the concourse and loads more portaloos were outside. As I said the concessions in the concourse catered for everyone, cocktails, Jamaican food etc. They were ‘themed up’ and had a totally different feel to a football or rugby match and a lot of effort had been made with the decor. Everything was done properly and screamed quality, eg there were no handwritten signs stuck up with tape.

We sat on the pitch from just after half five to around 7.10 when Rick Astley came on. A long wait but not unusual at a gig. We chatted to the people around us and had some laughs, they were City fans too which was good. The time soon passed. 

Rick Astley wasn’t actually too bad. He could laugh at himself and did get the crowd going. Take That were everything I expected. This show compared to the one I saw in Swansea was quite different, less theatre more light based but non the less stunning. I will do a separate post for some photos in a while.

Afterwards the crowd did disperse quite well I thought. There were messages on the screens saying exit for town centre on pitch toward the park. We had to go into town but decided to go into concourse to find the loo. We found that the ladies had taken over the men’s toilets, such were the queues much to the confusion of the men, we had turned them unisex. But there were still big queues. We decided to go to the Sports Bar figuring not many non footie/rugby fans would know about them, we walked in and found no queue, perfect. So there’s a little heads up for you.

We then walked out into the car park, plenty of food and drink places still open. Queues to buy so I don’t know what time they finished but by this time it was 10.50pm and we decided to walk to the centre for our bus. Raynes Road Gate was open after the concert but NOT before, another heads up. 

In the end we walked to Bristol Bridge for our bus, plenty of people walking along Coronation Road and cutting over to the harbour side. Traffic was moving along the road but was stop start and walking fast we were keeping pace with the cars. It took us 40 mins to walk, 5 mins wait for bus, quick bus ride and I was back at home drinking coffee exactly an hour after leaving AG, 11.50pm

The biggest ‘failure’ of the evening, and nothing to do with the football club, was the lack of 4G to be able to look on internet or upload any photos. Many people found similar, sheer volume of people. 

Otherwise as I said an excellent, positive experience and real proof that we can hold such events and Bristol wants them. Well done Ashton Gate and well done Take That for trusting us. Thank you

The reason you were asked to take a sip was due to the rules about fluids on planes. You you are happy to drink it, it safe!

Good to hear  that the procedures were followed correctly. 

[RedM]

2 minutes ago, redsapper said:

The reason you were asked to take a sip was due to the rules about fluids on planes. You you are happy to drink it, it safe!

Good to hear  that the procedures were followed correctly. 

I can fully understand this, just surprised that I’ve never been asked to do this before. The people I were with attended a big concert only last week and didn’t experience this, so if it’s new legislation it is very new. 

[A Horse With No Name]

35 minutes ago, RedM said:

Some of the stadium looking great and LJ in attendance, leaning against the doorframe 

 

 

Till a certain little Lady walks by.

[chowie]

35 minutes ago, RedM said:

Last ones, I promise. These letters looked great I thought.

One Rod Stewart and Take That concert and Ashton Gate now thinks it's Glastonbury

[RedM]

3 minutes ago, The Horse With No Name said:

Till a certain little Lady walks by.

Oh me, oh my*

*I’m not sure how I know this, I’m certainly not old enough 

[Henry]

The only annoying thing was, certain stewards wouldn’t let you exit the pitch through the Lansdown to use the toilets. They were making people walk back through the south stand. Annoying when you’re stood on the pitch in front of w13!

Everything else was spot on and well ran. Queues for the burger vans were nuts, but plenty of places to eat. The stadium desperately needs more places to sit for drinks and food.

Thought it was nice that they used staff who usually work in the shop etc for other jobs last night.

[RedM]

1 minute ago, chowie said:

One Rod Stewart and Take That concert and Ashton Gate now thinks it's Glastonbury

That’s a good thing, the world would be a much better place if everyone had a bit of Glasto in their lives 

[sh1t_ref_again]

5 minutes ago, chowie said:

One Rod Stewart and Take That concert and Ashton Gate now thinks it's Glastonbury

No sorry, wrong letters 

[redsapper]

6 minutes ago, RedM said:

I can fully understand this, just surprised that I’ve never been asked to do this before. The people I were with attended a big concert only last week and didn’t experience this, so if it’s new legislation it is very new. 

It’s not legislation just a company doing a good job. 

18 months ago I walked in to Wembley for a big game and next to no searches were done!

[myol'man]

6 minutes ago, Henry said:

The only annoying thing was, certain stewards wouldn’t let you exit the pitch through the Lansdown to use the toilets. They were making people walk back through the south stand. Annoying when you’re stood on the pitch in front of w13!

Everything else was spot on and well ran. Queues for the burger vans were nuts, but plenty of places to eat. The stadium desperately needs more places to sit for drinks and food.

Thought it was nice that they used staff who usually work in the shop etc for other jobs last night.

Under instructions from 'he who must be obeyed' upstairs I'm afraid. They wanted to avoid gangways getting gridlocked during the show.

Rule was relaxed half way through as there was no great rush for the loo whilst the show was on.

[Henry]

2 minutes ago, myol'man said:

Under instructions from 'he who must be obeyed' upstairs I'm afraid. They wanted to avoid gangways getting gridlocked during the show.

Rule was relaxed half way through as there was no great rush for the loo whilst the show was on.

I understood it when people were arriving but not during the show. I think it was w13/14 which had 3/4 stewards guarding it. However that’s a small gripe considering how well ran it was.

[RedM]

I’m pretty sure that security etc will be reviewing last nights concert and think how they can improve things. My message to them is that they have done a great job and they aren’t too far away from excellence. Well done all. 

[beaverface]

I must say, when the evening got darker and the only lights were from the stage, the concert got better!

The club really should look to turn off the fluorescent lighting in the stands when we have night games, it was so much better.

[RedM]

11 minutes ago, beaverface said:

I must say, when the evening got darker and the only lights were from the stage, the concert got better!

The club really should look to turn off the fluorescent lighting in the stands when we have night games, it was so much better.

I agree. I find it staggering that we can have people drinking alcohol, standing, dancing and moving to and from their seats in a dark football ground and that is less of a risk than a football match where we have to be illuminated at a level that it affects my enjoyment. Crazy.

[Robbored]

46 minutes ago, RedM said:

That’s a good thing, the world would be a much better place if everyone had a bit of Glasto in their lives 

Back in 80s I lived in the Wells/Glastonbury area and worked as a trained nurse at two of the festivals. Great experience and the best bit was getting paid and free entry!

[richwwtk]

10 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Back in 80s I lived in the Wells/Glastonbury area and worked as a trained nurse at two of the festivals. Great experience and the best bit was getting paid and free entry!

Hardly anyone with any sense paid in the 80s!

[bakes]

8 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Back in 80s I lived in the Wells/Glastonbury area and worked as a trained nurse at two of the festivals. Great experience and the best bit was getting paid and free entry!

I am working at Glastonbury this year for WaterAid the company I work for have given me 4 days paid leave. Free entry and 4 six hour shifts over the 5 days, really looking forward to it.

[JulieH]

37 minutes ago, RedM said:

I’m pretty sure that security etc will be reviewing last nights concert and think how they can improve things. My message to them is that they have done a great job and they aren’t too far away from excellence. Well done all. 

I will make sure this is fed back to the relevant people 

from our point of view really good night, no policing issues aside from some minor parking advice needed to be given at the end but overall a very pleasant shift !