My perception of the world often feels like I’m trudging through the swirling mud of my emotions, and sometimes I would much rather it wasn’t so, that I could get over myself. Last night, for example, I spent two full hours fuming at the organisation behind the Barbra Streisand concert in Castletown House, that had me and a crowd of us in our section shouting out in anger and frustration, and telling each other jokes with a gallows-like humour. Having slept on it, I realise I should have simply let go of material things, surrendered my seat, and moved to the raised seats at the back of the enormous stadium sized space, out of the chaos, where there were still a few patches of empty unsold seats. (I would guess that the evening was 95% sold out). But money has a corrosive effect, and I lost perspective on how best I could have enjoyed the evening. In other big events I have often done that, happily observing from a comfortable distance, far from the madding crowd. But what stuck in our collective craw was the price of our tickets – €200 each. For that price, we deserved better. Not VIP treatment – we plebs knew that forking out €2,000 would have guaranteed that – but basic standards of crowd management, good signage, a bit of intelligent planning – that’s what I would expect from the Rolls-Royce of open-air concerts. For example, my ticket was in Block AAA – wandering around, bewildered, I saw signs like these:
Would you go left or right? Forward or backward? What idiot thought up a system like this?
At least the shambles wasn’t due to the much-feared bad weather. With breath-taking timing and symmetry, as the show started, a beautiful rainbow arced over the main stage, with the majestic mansion as the backdrop, heralding the passing of the last shower of the evening. But the show started 45 minutes late, way past the publicized “8pm sharp” programme time, because the traffic on the way to the venue from Dublin was impossible, and at 8pm the seats were only half-full. Tailbacks had stretched for miles through endless roadworks. Everyone who had tickets for the flat central area, the vast majority of us, wandered around in the slippery mud trying to make sense of the unforgivably incomprehensible seat numbering. Stewards who were well-meaning but poorly trained did their best to direct people, but there were those who knew how the numbering went, and those who didn’t, and if you asked the wrong person you’d be directed to join the queue behind the woman who possessed the secret code to unlock the mystery of the numbering. I know this because I was sitting on a seat on the aisle, and my view, and that of those all around me, were continually obscured by damp lost frustrated people holding tickets in their hands.
One wouldn’t have minded this so much if it were just the first five minutes of a show; but because of the disastrous traffic, people were continually arriving in a disgruntled stream right through the first half. Friends of mine who left Dublin at 6 arrived at 9.45, just as the interval had started. Empty seats had been taken by people who were fed up searching, encouraged to do so by stewards, only to be unseated by the rightful owners later when they eventually arrived. Some people were told that their seats had been “done away with”. Tempers were fraying all around us; it was a “fiasco”, a “disgrace”, it was “ridiculous”. People would stand in front of us because they didn’t know where else to go – this picture represents my view for most of the show – but the stewards themselves got fed up, and seemed to give up moving them along, so we ourselves had to take turns to ask them to move aside and let us see.
People seemed bizarrely oblivious that they were standing in front of rows and rows of people sitting in a supposedly classy concert – so much so, that voices behind me started hurling abuse at them, who were so exasperated that they argued back. It was a hellish atmosphere in which to try and enjoy a concert. I don’t remember much of the first half, I was so distracted. The two screens on either side of the vast stage holding the orchestra were, of course, barely visible in daylight, the sound wasn’t enveloping enough to enable me to feel connected, and I might as well have been watching a television a hundred feet away. And so, classics that have meant a lot to me in my life like People and Evergreen passed me by.
After the interval, the crowds again milled about for an unforgivably long time, but it was only as it got dark that I began to relax, at around 10.30pm. This clear viewing window lasted for approximately 15 minutes, at which time people began streaming out in front of us, desperate to beat the traffic home.
Her voice is still amazing. Not quite as piercing as it once was, it’s like a blade that has, perhaps, lost its razor-sharp edge; in her upper registers it was noticeable how she was dampening the top notes down a little, to avoid exposing its limits. She is still pitch-perfect, and utterly in command of the music and the stage, and it was obvious how this show is something she enjoys immensely. She was well supported by her quartet of male broadway singers. But I could have cried when, during “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” a group of angry people milled around in front of us again, thus ruining one of the most important songs in her canon for me. One wonderful uninterrupted number was “Have I Stayed Too Long At The Fair?” from Color Me Barbra, which was mesmeric. “Cock-eyed Optimist” was an eye-opener, fresh and amusing. “There’s a Place for Us” was beautiful.
As an artist, Streisand delivered a wonderful show, and if a DVD was produced of the evening it would probably look and sound spectacular. As producer, she failed dismally. This was the wrong venue, logistically, completely unsuited to hosting a crowd of this magnitude. Her show is not suitable for outdoors in daylight. The Irish production team let her down spectacularly, unforgivably.
Too many people had the opportunity of a lifetime ruined last night. For the sake of a romantic picture-postcard backdrop, thousands of people were treated as cattle, mere extras for the DVD. The trouble is, when you are an extra, you get paid. Do I want my money back? Everyone around me was talking about it. But, life is full of disappointments. I certainly hope MCD never get a contract like that again, they deserve to go out of business. As Barbra was talking in her well-rehearsed scripted contented wise-old-woman way about enjoying life to the full, how she was a glass-is-half-full kinda gal now, enjoying the indescribable smell of a gardenia, appreciating the unconditional love of a pet, a baby’s smile, saying how she valued truth above all, I was, I’m afraid, moved to call out “You can’t handle the truth!” and the crowd around me laughed.
Update #1: I’ve been reminded of MCD’s capacity to silence debate and would ask that people stick to direct, incontrovertible personal experiences here, if you wish to leave a comment. You may contact MCD directly here.
Update #2: Ann FitzGerald of the National Consumer Agency has asked that people register a complaint. You can do so here.
Update #3: She says here: “We would ask all consumers with complaints to contact MCD directly and to copy the NCA on all communications”
Update #4: As we’re getting close to 70 comments, I’m closing the list for discussion, it’s too unwieldy, it prints out at 24 pages! But if there are any other first-hand accounts of the concert, you may still post them. When there are other developments, I will post a new entry in the blog.
Update #5: First response from MCD here.
Update #6: Consumers’ Association of Ireland issue a Press Release.
{ 73 } Comments
After working behind the scenes at the Barbara Streisand concert, a week after working at the MCD organized festival Oxygen, I am just shocked and appalled. The Oxygen festival was so disgracefully organized I prayed that MCD would somehow be reprimanded. However, reading reviews in the papers following Oxygen the event was held as a success. Even the Gardai were miss-represented in print. One Garda said that no complaints about the festival were made to him directly and would thus judge the event as a success. The 20+ Gardai that I was working with throughout the weekend had a different opinion.
Enough about Oxygen, now for Barbara. Alas, I did not enter the concert arena so I cannot pass judgement on this, but I was responsible for the parking area as a sub-contracted parking attendant. The overall impression I got from MCD’s organization skills was that they looked at a map of Castletown House and said ‘we can fit a stage here, and x number of cars here, but failed to take a look at the road networks feeding this event. Backlogs as far as Lucan where ignored by Gardai, whom knew of the event and the likelihood of traffic problems. I myself have been stuck in rush hour traffic for an hour trying to pass through Celbridge, which itself does not amount to the quantity of traffic leaving the concert.
Irate concert goers were jumping out of their cars and screaming at the parking attendants due to a two hour wait in traffic, there only consolation was being told that they were the lucky ones, the average wait was three and a half hours. But the time it came to exit the area MCD officials were not to be seen and left the parking attendants to be the receivers of abuse from the public. The attendants had no notion of what was going on outside the parking lots and where not being told anything to at least calm the angry concert goers. I myself received several threats to my personal safety. Security where not present to handle crowd control.
One funny incident was a family of Romanians trying to get home to Lexlip, their request for directions and information, well outside Celbridge, where ignored by everyone and they where Sheppard into the concert parking area. I don’t think they even knew who Barbara Streisand is, nor did they care. Others where ignored too, the disabled parking lot was under-utilised, as a number of seniors directed away from where their permits gave them a legal entitlement to occupy. No one cared to take the time to service these p[people properly, rather, they were cattle, sheer numbers that had to go anywhere other than where they were at present.
At one point I was speaking to a doctor whom asked me what would happen if someone needed an ambulance, the only answer I could give her (albeit a horrible one) was that we would be forced to stand here and watch them die; there was a five hour window where no ambulance would have had a hope of reaching a person. Although there were emergency services present, the access to the parking area was a one was system; cars could get in but not out before the concert started, and vice-versa when the show had ended. Thank God no one had a heart attack, they would have been doomed.
I urge everyone who reads this to make a complaint. After seeing two consecutive disasters within a week, both organized, then abandoned, by MCD I feel they must be reprimanded. They are effectively robbing the Irish public; they are providing the bare minimum of facilities for these concertgoers in order to avoid charges of gross neglect. A minimum of extra effort could have avoided unnecessary hours of frustration getting in and out of Irelands most expensive concert venue to date. (Is this value for money… If I spent 500+ euro on a ticket I would expect an airlift as opposed to five hours in traffic going to and from Lucan). Other than this bare minimum of provision from MCD is laughing all the way to the bank… with your money. Please do not let this happen again, the Irish consumer is worth more than this cattle-like treatment!
dreadful..my other half and her aunt attended this debacle (euro 350 each) and both agree with all of the above. Difficult to get refreshment, sliding in mud everywhere and not enough loos…the systems could not handle the waste.
who pays for the dry cleaning of the filthy clothes?what about the abandoned cars that could not get out of the quagmire? mcd should be fined and disbanded.
Just saw the news this evening which carried the standard “sorry for any inconvenience that MAY have been caused” excuse for an apology- lots of irate people though…this whole thing sounds like a fiasco from beginning to end – not to mention the astronomical cost of the tickets…wonder if MCD will be issuing more solicitors’ letters trying to stop people sharing their experience of this?
I am so pleased to see this post, and to realise that somebody else experienced the absolute shambles of last nights Barbra Streisand concert at Castletown House in Dublin. My mother and I travelled to Dublin from Cornwall, England; my mother saw Barbra in concert 13 years ago and ever since then has promised me that she would take me to see her so that would could experience this wonderful star together.
We turned up at Castletown last night well aware that we may have to trudge through some muddy grass but nothing prepared us for having to wade through slurry on the way back to the coach park with no signs, lights or stewards to guide us.
And as fior the concert itself we paid £400 each for tickets in row JJ, in all the concerts we have been to we have never been so close to the stage……. Unfortunetly we would have been better spending less money and sitting further away, for the entire first half of the concert we did not get to see the stage because of people stood in front if us, either trying to work out where their seats were, taking photos or merely wanting a better view. And as there were no stewards or security to control the crowd it was left to us to try to ask people to move – this incurred people shouting and swearing at us.
During the interval I along with others found some stewards and asked for thier help during the next half, they refused and said that MCD (concert promoters) had told them that they were not allowed to stand in the crowd during the concert in case they got in the way of peoples views!!!!!! When I queried the logic of this and asked where their supervisor was they told me that the supervisors had been unavailable all day and that thay had never seen such organised and chaotic concert, they actually advised me to contact MCD and take it up with them (which I intend to do!)
My mum and I and many other people who were sat near to us left the concert feeling so bitterly disappointed and upset that this possible momentous occasion has ended up being a joke! I am well aware that it is probable that my mum nor I will ever see Ms Streisand in concert again and I will never get to hear live the songs that I dreamed of hearing. I urge anyone who has had similar experiences to post it here so that we may get some sort of recognition from the concert promoters who want the most money from the least effort!!!
The Barbra Streisand concert at Castletown House was one of the best organised outdoor events I had ever attended – and I have been to many hundreds of concerts over the last decade. We were delayed in heavy traffic going out to the venue from Dublin City Centre, but the journey took no more than an hour (we arrived at 6.30). Surely anyone with an ounce of common sense would know that events like these cause havoc with traffic, so the intelligent thing to do was to arrive early. We were quickly ushered into the venue by incredibly pleasant staff, who were more than happy to direct us to the various facilities. Bathrooms were clean, with soap and hand towels, and no queues. Bars were staffed more than adequately with yet more polite staff, and again, no queues. We found our seats quickly and without any confusion whatsoever, and the concert itself was an extraordinary event, a genuine once in a lifetime experience. We left the auditorium at 11.25, and arrived back in the city centre at midnight, encountering no traffic on the way back. Concert-goers really need to be more aware of the infrastructural restrictions in this country – honestly, even gigs at the Point Theatre generate traffic chaos around the vicinity. Less complaining please, and more praise for the wonderful concert.
I am writing to voice my displeasure at the many service shortfalls myself and my wife experienced at the above concert. It was advertised as the “Experience of a Lifetime” and despite the outlandish ticket prices we were determined to go to the concert and as such paid our money and looked forward with anticipation to the event.
We arrived on time at the concert despite having a twenty minute walk through muddy conditions from the gates at the Celbridge end to the concert area and when the concert itself was delayed for 45 minutes we did not mind in the slightest and found our seats in row MM fairly easily. I have however outlined as follows the issues we did have and which spoilt our enjoyment of the show significantly.
Very few stewards in evidence and those that were there were not easily identified.
There were people moving in front of us throughout the concert either late comers trying to find their seats or opportunists trying to get nearer the stage. This was a constant distraction from the concert and ruined our night.
People who were late should only have been allowed to go to their seats at an appropriate break in the performance as is the case at any professionally organised event of the calibre this was supposed to be.
No segregation of different priced areas which made it easy for people to try and get into more expensive seats than they had paid for. Entrances to different areas should have been properly policed and assertive procedures used to ensure people behaved appropriately.
People used umbrellas whilst the concert was on and they had to be asked by fellow concert goers to put them down. I had to do this to unblock my view. It said on the tickets no umbrellas allowed! This was a job for the stewards to enforce.
At the end the crowd more or less stormed the stage and Ms Streisand even remarked that “it was like a Rock Concert” and was probably concerned herself as to what was going on by then.
We had to walk back to Celbridge in semi darkness on a narrow lane which was also being used by traffic! How accidents didn’t occur is a miracle.
Overall whilst we saw the concert we definitely did not get our moneys worth by a long shot and because of the amateurish way it was organised our memory will be of an unfulfilled experience.We finally saw Streisand but it was tarnished big time. Whilst money cannot compensate for what happened I believe the very least MCD can do is credit people a designated figure based on feedback you get either by cheque or a gift token to use for a future concert. Failing an adequate response I can fully guarantee you that I will never support an outdoor concert in Ireland again and I have been to many over the years including Eagles 96,Bee Gees 99,Joel 94,Simon and Garfunkel 2005, to name but a few.
I was at the concert on Saturday which myself and my cousin thoroughly enjoyed. Yes most people are correct it was a bit of a shambles but easier to bear because we are younger. I felt sorry for the people who turned up with walking sticks and wheelchairs. There just didn’t seem to be enough staff throughout the whole area. When we arrived at Block D, Row Z, we were told our seats were unallocated by the girl. I asked her does this mean I get to sit on stage with Barbra and sing the Queen Bee with her. She was great and finally got our seats. We had the best view in the place. Two big screens and a big rainbow when Barbra finally appeared (as a small dot). Eventhough the Il Divo type singers were good I didn’t really pay to see them. I was lucky enough to see her before in Wembley in 94 and thought she was marvellous. Her voice faltered a few times but she is still absolutely fantastic. We took a long time leaving the place. What annoyed us the most apart from not many stewards was the lack of proper lighting. There was one huge light which was blinding and we were all herded very slowly out. The atmosphere was good but for people who don’t like those situations it would have been awful. I would go and pay to see her again but never at Castletown House. Wrong venue. Nice ambience if the weather was good but you have to put Streisand in a classy place that is covered. It is classy but you cant rely on Irish weather. I really didn’t mind getting muddy and wet once Barbra was singing. I was so happy sitting there listening to her. She was great.
This was a terrific event – organsied to a tee by an attentive and pleasant staff. Ms Streisand delivered a perfection of a set using every skill and trick inthe book to entertain a vast audience. The orchstra, sound, staging anf productionnwere flawless. The diva herslf was on cue and pitch perfect – the damage of age on her voice could not be hidden but the technical ability was superb. I have nver enjoyed a show as much in 25 years or more of attending gigs.
Having been to dozens of such events over the years I knew it would be dirty, and that the traffic would be chaos due to idiots driving themselves to the venue and leaving it too late. Leaving at 5.10 p.m. from teh city centre, we dressed for a short trek and got dropped off at the exit from the motorway and were in Castletown by Six. We walked back to the motorway and rang to be picked up as we walked – as a result we were back in town in twnety minutes. The only thing more unforgivable than people driving themselves into the mud – late – is that Dublin Bus did not lay on a couple of hundred buses to the venue – a profit could have been made here folks. You’d think the OPW as the landlords of the site and the givers of permission for the concert, and the Gardai and MCD between them could have tipped off the bus companies to ferry people out.
However a few hundred people could be seen to not have seats as other predators had scalped them as the concert began. These unscrupulous people whose actions are akin to stealing, are more to blame
than MCD here. There were huge signs up directing people to the different blocks. There was plastic matting and sheets to walk over the arena, there were lots of stalls for food and drinks – with an array on offer from sushi to champagne to beer to coffee to Barbra mugs etc. The toilets were perfect – the best I have ever seen at an outdoor gig, the beer tents well staffed and we had a darling of woman steward guide us straight to our seats and check we were ok any time we left or returned to the seating area.
People arriving in high heels and white dresses had obviously never been to an outdoor gig before and many seemed unable to read the plentiful signs. The event was always going to be a Glatonbury for Gays and Seniors so why was anyone surprised that they had to walk through mud.
I enjoyed myself because I planned with mates to get there early and because Barbra Streisand is a deity in the music world…Thanks Babs…thanks woman steward who minded us…
A ‘once in a lifetime’ dream was ruined the night I stepped into the quagmire that I paid £187.50 for the pleasure of.
I have written to the Gerry Ryan show on RTE as advised by my taxi driver and would advise every other disgruntled fan to do like wise.
Hereon is a copy of what I had to say:
Hi Gerry,
My taxi driver recommended I contact you about the Streisand concert fiasco on Saturday – along with hundreds of others I hope.
Thanks to the ineptitude of the organisers, the local council, thoughtless (and many angry) fans, a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience was ruined. I am absolutely gutted that the concert I have dreamt about seeing, turned out to be such a farce.
Contrary to the response given by the organisers, the fans did not cause the chaos ‘ due “to a small number of opportunistic fans taking seats which were not assigned to them and refusing to move when requested.” ‘
The truth is, fans went in search of their seats, which they had paid way over the odds for in the first place, only to find they did not exist.
In Block B where I was seated, rows B, H and O (these are the ones I know of) were not there. They did not exist. A lone steward repeatedly called for a supervisor to come and sort the matter out. After 1 hour, she told the waiting fans just to take a seat anywhere in the block, in the hope of starting the show. At 8.00 half the seats in the venue were still empty, so where were all the people? Why were they not in their seats ready and waiting for the show to start? Answer: They were stuck in horrendous traffic jams I believe, and on arrival were determined to get something to eat and drink to make up for their hellish journey, and so finally made their way to the fenced off area (the arena?) armed with glasses of beer, wine and food as they strolled around looking for their non existent seats – and spoiling the view, atmosphere and listening pleasure of those already seated. Barbra came on stage at 8.45, and still people were arriving in droves and looking for seats. The council caused the traffic chaos with their road works. The organisers caused the chaos within the event by their lack of presence, lack of seats and the appalling conditions they expected fans to sit in.
Baring in mind the country had suffered 43 days of rain, the organisers did not prepare for rain. Black polythene sheeting was not enough cover under foot. People were slipping and skidding all over the place. Thanks to the bus lanes, my bus arrived at the venue at 5.30 and the gates were finally opened at 6.30. Before we were even allowed into the fenced off area, they were still laying fresh straw for us to walk on!
People were roaming around the venue throughout the whole concert. The first half was a total waste, as we could neither see Streisand on the stage, nor on the mounted screens because people were walking in front of us and blocking the view. I did not pay £187.50 for a ticket to ’ listen’ to Streisand amidst unorganised chaos as people searched for seats, with drunken women blocking my view and smokers polluting the air around me. It was a disgrace exacerbated by total lack of ground control. The stewards presence was only visible after the first half.
This was not an event in an ‘intimate setting’ as advertised. It was an event in a rain and mud sodden field where the lack of stewards escalated the problems which allowed fans to keep trying to find seats that did not exist. People should never have been allowed to wander around and spoil the night for those fortunate enough to find their paid for seats. Instead of spoiling the night for a hundred or so fans, the night was spoiled for many hundreds of fans.
The concert should never have been held where it was. Streisand was badly advised on the choice of venue. (I look forward to hearing her comments about the night. She could not have been best pleased singing to the backs of peoples heads as they wandered around looking for seats and thereby interrupting the pleasure of the seated audience.)
The road works should have been put on hold or some other arrangements made for allowing 17,000 fans to travel safely to the venue – on time. The bus lanes were wonderful for bus travellers but only added to the hold ups of car and taxi travellers by denying them the use of another lane.
The organisers must hold their heads in shame and find some way of recompensing the fans for spoiling the dreams of many. I travelled with my sister from Scotland especially for the concert and the cost of flight, hotel, food and ticket did not come cheap, but the thought that it was a “once in a lifetime” opportunity softened the shocking cost. I spoke with people from Germany, Spain and Italy and who paid more for their tickets than I did, and like me, they were disgusted by the total chaos of the night and the shambles caused by traffic hold-ups, lack of venue seats and lack of ground staff – and of course the weather. However, it must be said, the rain just made a badly organised event worse.
The organisers, instead of blaming fans for the fiasco, should be grateful the fans were so well behaved and that a riot did not ensue with flared tempers and drunken tantrums.
Please, please try and help us get some recompense for this night. Streisand’s voice was superb and the only piece of comfort I can take from the night is the fact I was actually in the same country at the same time as she was, and during the second half of the show I actually got to listen to her singing. It was awesome. But the whole show should have been like that not the last 30 minutes. Fans should have been coming away from the event exhilarated; in seventh heaven at hearing the great Barbra Streisand sing. Instead, they were down trodden and angry and the way the event had been managed.
Thanks to the wonderful humour of the Irish people around me, the long trek out of the quagmire passed quicker with an impromptu sing-a-long and humourous banter which certainly took the sting out of the night’s proceedings.
The dreams of me and many were shattered on Saturday 14th July and the organisers must take some responsibility for that.
I don’t know where all these positive comments are coming from people saying everything was perfect. Obviously they are from the fat heads in the lamborginis coming in through the ‘VIP’ entrance through Celbridge Village. VIP – Very Ignorant People. On the other hand they probably work for MCD.
I’m not going to give the whole spiel, just the lowlights (Highlight being seeing Streisand sing a few songs) We left our hotel, which was only 10mins away from the venue just after 6pm. Ample time right? Yes, if the event was organised by competent people. We were stuck in traffic for 3 hours along with the MAJORITY of the concert goers – i.e the simple peasant folk who only could afford between €200 and €500 per ticket. When we got to the slip road leading to the venue, the Garda “directing traffic” was drunk. I’m sure other people seen this – tall man, no tie on, his ID number covered up. It was about 9:50 when we actually entered the arena area where the ticket people were taking all kinds of abuse. Inside we couldn’t find seats or stewards to help us. Found a lady eventually who was trying her best to accomodate people but she wasn’t wearing any sort of high vis clothing to identify herself. When leaving the arena there was only one exit (reminisent of members of a concentration camp being led to their grizzley demise).An elderly man collapsed in front of us and could only depend on first aid from a random nurse. We resorted to breaking away from the crowd to tear through a woodland area in the pitch dark in desperation to escape. Apparently a temporary bridge leading across a ditch collapsed from the amount of stationary people waiting to move. We just crawled through said ditch a bit further down. I won’t even go into trying to leave the field aka carpark. In total we spent about 7 hours trying to enter/escape the cursed venue.
I recommend everyone and their mothers send in a complaint to MCD and try what you can to be reimbursed and please please please tell everyone you know to tell everyone they know to boycott any events organised by MCD.
A once in a lifetime chance, thoroughly enjoyed the concert. Barbra was amazing and despite opting for lower notes instead of the soaring highs she used to reach, her voice was flawless. I went with my mother in law to be and we were not informed by e-mail (like others) that the concert was outside. Flying from Edinburgh and staying only one night in Dublin we had space for one outfit in our hand luggage, we decided to make an effort and go posh. We found out on the plane from another lady going to the concert that it was infact outside. So, sitting in the hotel at 4 o’clock with the rain bouncing off the pavement outside we were left with the dilemma do we wear the clothes we travelled in or brave it and put on our posh outfits. Well, coming from Scotland and being used to a bit of rain I put on my frock and my mother in law put on her dressy troosers and blouse. When we finally arrived at the venue and waded through the mud in our wee shoes, got our drinks (10 euro each!!!) bought our T-shirts and programme and found our seats the sun began to shine through the wee drops of rain that fell from the sky and a rainbow appeared just as the orchestra started to play and Ms Streisand took to stage. That moment was priceless. The evening was warm and a wee bit rain never harmed anyone. As for the mud treatment my feet got, some folk pay lots of money for that (although I’m sure the hotel aren’t going to thank me for the mess the shower was in when we left). Leaving the concert was just as entertaining as Barbra, the crowd united in singing all there favourites, the atmosphere was amazing. Getting back to Dublin was easy enough with a bit of patience we got on a bus that took us there for free.
Teething problems are typical of a venue putting on there first concert, however, we should have been informed the concert was outside then we would have been better prepared.
Coming all the way from Edinburgh and waiting all my life for the opportunity to see Barbra in concert nothing was going to spoil my night!
Per Lorraine’s comments earlier in this thread, I can guarantee I am absolutely NOT in any way shape or form a VIP, and I certainly don’t own a Lamborghini. We paid €270 per ticket along with other members of the public, but again, simply had the common sense to leave early and arrive early. We had a friend drop us out, and collect us afterwards. A wonderful experience, a tremendous concert. Of course, those who purchased tickets and arrived to find their seats didn’t exist have a genuine cause for complaint…..
I’m delighted to see that a minority of people who attended the Barbra Streisand concert in Castletown on 14/7/2007 had a good time. My experience, like most people, was a total disaster:-
I realise that the weather contributed to some problems with muck but we have now had over 50 days of rain in a row and the weather was well forecast by Met Eireann (had the organisers bothered to look). I do not accept the excuse that MCD/CPI have given regarding the major road works on the M50/N4 – these works started over a year ago and again should have been taken into consideration by the company when giving travel advice and planning entry/exit points.
We took a taxi from Lucan and a journey which normally would take 7 minutes, took us over 2 hours. The taxi dropped us at the designated drop-off point on the Celbridge interchange. We then walked down the narrow road towards the concert – there was a footpath on this road but it was littered with bollards and concrete structures so pedestrians had to compete with cars for roadspace. This was a major health and safety issue and MCD/CPI were lucky that there was no major incident (that I know of) on the night.
Once we got into the concert ground, there were no stewards to direct people to their seats and total panic ensued with people trying to find their allocated seats. Most of the seats had no numbers or identification on them. I find it hard to believe that MCD/CPI could not organise clearly identifiable seat numbers for such a small venue – in many cases, the numbers on the tickets did not match any seats and lots of people (including ourselves) just sat in seats that were empty in pure frustration. I am amazed that MCD/CPI state that “Some fans who arrived late encountered problems with their seating. This was due to a small number of opportunistic fans taking seats not assigned to them and refusing to move when requested by authorities.” I certainly did not see any “authorities” for the entire duration of the concert and had they stewards directing people to their seats in the first place, this would not have occurred.
The age profile of the people at the concert was high (with most people over 50) and this was clearly not taken into account by the organisers in that the lighting was inappropriate and the ground very uneven. I saw people with Wheelchairs needing assistance to get from one of the boards on the ground to another as they had moved due to the muck under them.
After the concert, it took us 90 minutes to walk out to the Castletown gates – a journey which would normally take 10 minutes (at most). There were thousands of people herded from a large area into a single walkway of approximately 8-10 foot wide. This walkway was littered with stones and the ground was so uneven that elderly people were being carried by friends and family to avoid falling. This single exit point was totally inappropriate, given the size of the venue – there should have been many more exits to accommodate the size of the crowd. Had there been a major incident, bomb scare, etc, a lot of people could have been very seriously injured. Again, it was very badly planned by MCD/CPI.
There were four of us in our group and we paid almost €800 for our tickets. The organisation of the entire event was a total mess and in my opinion, MCD/CPI did not honour the contract of service to most people regarding seating and organisation and I have written to them asking for compensation. If my request is unsuccessful, I am quite prepared to take a claim against MCD/CPI to the small claims court. I have also copied my complaint to the National Consumer Agency at http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Working_With_You/Submit_a_Consumer_Complaint/
Regarding my above comment and a response from Lorraine can I say I was not in the VIP section but in Block B having paid the same price as everyone else there. Also I do not work for MCD or know anyone who does.
I am not doubting anyone elses experience on the night but am simply saying that with a bit of experience of outdoor gigs and forward planning we were able to have a ball, in comfort, drinking gorgeous Becks for €5 a pint – cheaper than Dawson Street or Temple Bar any night.
My heart goes out to anyone who had the awful experiences they are relaying here but who could not have known there would be heavy traffic and not planned to leave earlier.
Despite others experiences – everyone around where we were sitting had a ball and clapped and cheered the night away and even if I had, had similar experiences to others – rather than the pleasant and realxed ones I did have – Ms Streisands entrance, performance, band and the on the second appearance of a the Rainbow would have lifted my heart and humour to enjoy the evening…Lessons to be learned here are
1) MCD get the ticketing and marshalling right next time and when you are have having a gig for the middle class types who don’t like any discomfort have it indoors
2) To those who were upset by the muck – daw – it is Ireland, the event is in a field beside a posh house, it has rained for over a month – you think it might be muddy and wear appropriate footwear.
3) to the organisers and OPW get real and get transport organsied from the city centre so as people won’t rely on cars and open more than one small boreen as an entrance into the site – you ruined peoples nights by scrounging on the access routes and car park lights etc
4) to the latecomers – leave early for concerts out of town….. everyone will be driving
5) to the people who took others seats – learn the meaning of the word shame and feel it.
6) to everyone remember mud washes off and memories of a fabulous performance will remain forever……
I feel sorry for the genuine fans. But have no sympathy for the crowd who treat events like this more as a social outing rather than a concert. You know what they say about fools and their money………..!
What an absolute disgrace of a situation. There’s only one thing to do in situations like this – and that’s to send the message that this kind of treatment is not okay. Small Claims Court. http://www.courts.ie
I wonder exactly what auditorium Glenn was in…
Gerry works for MCD – dont belive the hype
I do not work for MCD or any music related body – don’t know anyone who works for them either – my experience is as valid and real as those who had a bad expereince….. indeed I was critical of MCD in my second posting
I feel sorry for anybody who paid to attend this event and were so ripped off by MCD, particularly the lady and her mother who visited from Cornwall.
Glenn – in order for you to have attended “many hundreds of concerts” in the last decade (even if you attend say 30 big concerts a year every year wouldn’t really equate to many hundreds, not to mention that there aren’t that many event each year), you must as I suspect work for the promoters. How else could you give a such a glowing review to this joke.
RINE OR SHINE – well it certainly did not shine for me.
WELL DONE TO MCD FOR USING THE OLD TRAFFIC AND WEATHER.
We took the organisers advice and
Left Dublin city at 3.30 to be early
Wore appropriate clothing for an outdoor concert – including rainmac and wellies.
Did not bring my umbrella
Did not bring my camera or recorder
I like many was very excited at the prospect of seeing Barbara Streisand perform live. However, for such a Superstar its a pity that she did not have a professional concert promoter!
Major Mistakes:
Choosing a venue that had never held a concert before
Choosing to have the concert outdoors – Irish weather being what it is and especially a concert catering for the age group it was.
Not having enough staff
Stewarting – None
Car park attendants – None
RESULT – FIASCO !!!!!!!!
THEIR ANSWER : TRAFFIC AND WEATHER
I sending a letter asking them what answers they have to the following:
(1)When we arrived at the entrance to the car park, we were surprised that no one asked us to show our tickets. (We could see from our seats people outside the concert area in the grounds listening to the concert – they probably had a better time than us as they could listen without being asked to move to let late comers into their seats. We had paid 200 euros for our tickets and couldn’t see the lady herself because she dressed in a black outfit which blended in very well with the orchestra. We couldn’t see the screens because of the sun shining on the screens when the sun came out)
(2) Stewarts – although helpful, were very young and did not have the experience to cope with the problems.
(3) Why was there so many breaks during the concert?
(4) Car park – a joke !!!!!! We got to our car after finding it and did not leave the car park until 1.45a.m.
DON’T INSULT US BY SAYING THIS IS DOWN TO THE WEATHER AND THE TRAFFIC
IT IS PURELY DOWN TO THE FACT THAT THE ORGANISERS WERE WAY OUT OF THEIR DEPTH!!!!!
SMALL CLAIMS COURT HERE IS COME!!!!!
I travelled from Birmingham UK. My nephew phoned me the night before the concert. He was working on the setup of the gig and warned me to dress appropriately. He said the ground was muddy and to wear suitable shoes.
i had purchased a package deal (Hotel & Cat Ticket). The coach dropped us off a quarter of a mile from the venue and i took my seat at 7.30 pm. I didn’t move from my seat as irrate concert goers would have taken it.
During Barbra’s performance people were milling about – going up and down the rows arguing the toss aboutr seats, or just taking up seats belonging to latecommers.
Many visitors from outside ireland were unaware the this would be an outdoor concert (as was I until 3 days before).
We were duped into paying a high price for what we were led to believe would be and ‘intimate setting’.
Finding the coaches at the end of the concert was hair-raising!! POOR LIGHTING and NO DECENT DIRECTIONS. i just followed thecrowd and hop[ed i would not fall in the mud!
And Barbra?
Gracious, brilliant, an entertaining five-star performance
Further to the earlier comments: I absolutely do not work for MCD or have any connection with any of the organisers of the event in any way shape or form. The auditorium I was in was Castletown House, as I clearly stated. Per John’s comments, I absolutely HAVE attend hundreds of concerts over the last decade, I did not specify outdoor concerts – I am a huge live music fan, and attend concerts on an almost weekly basis. I find it quite disturbing that the people who had a terrible experience at the concert for some reason want to diminish the fantastic experience that I and five of my friends had. One post earlier says “I’m delighted to see that a minority of people had a good time”. Charming. Regardless, I will not allow the negative comments to affect my absolute enjoyment of the event!
3 ‘girls’ – 60 next year – came to Dublin for the concert from Copenhagen, DENMARK.
We loved the sun Saturday morning and afternoon, put on nice outfits and left our hotel when it just started pouring down.
One sister went up to change, the other kept her new sandals on, and the twins and their friend waited at the bus stop in the rain for 40 minutes or more.
Wonderful bus trip together with all the other excited Barbra fans.
Grasped a quick beer and chips at one of the lovely old inns in the village.
Off to the grounds of the castle. Walk in the ‘forest’ and mud.
Inside the concert area we were told that our seats did not exist due to the light arrangements, and was told to skate across the grounds twice to 3 different ushers, the last one told us to SIT down, in some OTHER seats than those originally allocated to us.
DID not just take other people’s seats.
How dare guys behind this arrangement suggest that we just took any old seats.
- And just for the record, most signs were very confusing, the chairs were not properly marked, and so on….
What a shame the organizers did not live up to the professionel standard of the fantastic performer.
We LOVED being there, but had hoped for a more elegant arrangement considering the money we spend on flights and hotel, on top of the price we gladly paid for the tickets.
Did I mention that the tickets for which I paid around £32 extra to have delivered by FED EX were delivered to the wrong address in Copenhagen first, a stranger had signed for them, and it took FED EX 3½ days to correct the mistake, and hand them over to me! So all in all, I suppose we were just lucky to actually experience the fantastic concert.
Thanks Ms Streisand for giving us a chance to hear you live after all the years we have admired you on the radio, tv and in movies. Fantastic that you sang some of the songs from those wonderful first tv shows, too. Luv’ Elisabeth, Copenhagen
SPIN DOCTORS ARE A DIME-A-DOZEN!
Any POSITIVE comments on this event must be viewed with suspicion. My wife and I set out for the experience of a Life-time. Barbra was on my wall in 1967 – the only other Jewish girl to get into this Goyem’s heart. MCD served up a shoddy, sub-standard gig, and showed their true motive for the promotion was Greed. The comments of true fans who were also let down confirm to me that Irish people can discern the difference between bullshit and an Unfortunate Series of Events. Much as I
love the voice and personality of Barbra, I was appalled by the lack of stewards to clear the people searching for seats from blocking the view of Barbra from the paying public. My wife had to “ask” people to move, right up to the interval. We did not pay for 4 Tenors, nor do I ever choose to pay for Andrew Lloyd Webber (yet along came the Phantom of the Opera!), so I pose the question of my respected Diva: WHY your programme? I wanted to hear Your body of work, not ALL YOUR work. So, when the interval came, and we saw people pouring thro’ the stiles, with free tickets, I thought to myself ” I paid for these, I am a genuine fan, and therefore I choose to get in front of the other 10,000 cars and drive out of here now, and miss out on the road-rage-car-park of the decade, and go home”. So we left, and got home 2 hours quicker than the outer leg.Now I will play my old albums and think of Memories and Midnight and People, and not of the stage version of Fanny Brice, nor those charlatans in MCD (For Shame!!). All True Fans of Barbra, speak out and do not be silenced.
Brian.
I’ve read the posts here with shock and sadness for all the fans who had a terrible experience. I feel blessed by whatever bit of good luck came my way on the day that none of the unacceptable things that happened to so many concert goers on the day happened to me or my friend and sister who were with me. We got the seats we paid for, which were right at the back and we were surrounded by nice people who added to our experience. To think that other people who were trying to find seats that didn’t exist or people who were seated asking people who were obscuring their view to sit down getting abused verbally is horrific. This must have totally detracted from what should have been the experience of a lifetime. The organisation was shambolic and I remember my friend saying “we could’ve gotten in for free and just stood over there” as no one checked our tickets until we went to sit down! I sympathise with everyone who did not get the concert experience they were entitled to and feel awful for my fellow fans because I got to enjoy it. I hope everyone at least gets financial recompense for not getting the show they should have.
We came to Dublin from Italy with some friends and I have to say that the concert was a total disaster. I saw somebody wrote it was ok and that we should say so. I DO NOT THINK SO! I fully disagree my friend! I have seen Barbra before in the US 2 times ans once at Wembley and those were very well organized events at a level the price charged deserve and Barbra standards are. I think Barbra herself should SUE the Organizers for damaging her image and reputation. She is a great performer and we are not saying a different thing here but you cannot enjoy a concert when everybody is looking for a seat or fighting over it..or passing by taking pictures.. Nobody was giving directions to seats..etc…The organization was DISGUSTING AND WE SHOULD PURSUE SOME KIND OF ACTION AGAINST THEM. BARBRA will you stay by our side??
i spent good money to treat my mother who is disabled to a concert of her life time… instead i saw my mother have a full blown asthma attack and heart palpitations due to her cross country hike through mud feilds with straw and pathetic pastic sheeting to try and grip to keep her balance!!! my seats were ppp i did six laps with my mother who walks with the aid of a crutche due to steal rods in her spine around the arena looking for our seats.I was told by six stewards that they couldnt help or didnt know where my seats were, i lost my temper and told my mam we were leaving!! i was then told by a lady not in uniform to seat anywhere… This was at 9.40 50 mins spent looking, we took a seat and spent the whole time worrying the rightfull owners would shift us, in the interval i went looking for our seats i found them with bums already in them.. i left the concert early as my mother was very anxious that she would not be able to keep her balance in the hearded crowd, i asked the security guard could we take the short cut through the vip entrance which would have taken 5 mins to my car instead of the 1-2miles we had previously walked and i was told i hadnt paid for the vip and therefore would have to go the long way in the dark !!! Please note the guard could see my mother on sticks gasping for breath and crying from the stress, the pig had the cheek to tell me i hadnt paid to be a vip!!! i am disgusted by the lack of organisation and will be lodging a complaint with the small claims court. lets hit them where it hurts
Where do I start………….from an event that I couldn’t wait to attend to a complete shambles. Below are a couple of notes I made while SITTING in my car for THREE hours (10.45pm – 1.30pm) while trying to leave the venue! Not to mention the three hours I had spent trying to reach the venue…..
(1) No stewards/gardai on the N4 directing traffic accessing the venue. Where were all the gardai????
(2) Single lane entrance to venue/ car park delaying access.
(3) Completely inappropriate grounding to be walking from the car park to the venue. “Sliding” through ankle high of muck and slurry.
(4) Lack of signage on pathways to arena with no stewards directing.
(5) Complete “cock up” of seating arrangements. I was a lucky one I suppose in that I had a seat. It was completely unacceptable for those people whos rows did not exist. The inconvenience of people moving around, shouting at each other and standing in our view took away from the whole experience.
(7) Walkways
The walkway from the arena back to the car parks was through a forest. The path only fitting about five people abreast with no lighting and at some stages no safety barriers at the side to protect people from falling down a drop at either side! How there weren’t numerous injuries I do not know – maybe there were but we have not heard about them yet!
What is the story with Health & Safety with events such as these??? Surely the basics must be there. What do they think we are ????????
(8) Parking Facilities
What facilities? No markings, signage and lighting. We sat in our car from 10.45pm having left early to avoid traffic and didn’t reach the exit of the grounds until 1.30am!!!
Bearing in mind there were no stewards or gardiai in the area that we were to explain what the delay was. God forbid if there was an accident there would have been no access for an ambulance. We were basically trying to assist some people in locating their car by estimating their time of arrival/parking and relating it to where we were parked. People were sliding around in mud activating their car zappers to try and see their car flashing!!! It literally was like something out of a movie.
You have to understand as well at this point a large number of these people looking for their cars two hours after the event had finished were elderly people being brought by family members etc. It was sickening to see these people at such a loss. Who do MCD/CPI think they are for putting people through this!!!
I am in my mid thirties and have been to numerous outdoor concerts but have never in my life experienced anything like it. Should anything of a serious nature in respect of crowd control etc. have occured I dread to think what the consequences might have been.
There should be a ban placed on MCD obtaining any future licences for any future events for a fixed period of time. I urge people to voice their views on this fiasco in order to get something done.
The concert itself was fantastic but I agree with no stewards, no lighting on the exits – the avenue was lit by cars driving with hundreds of people. The venue was totally unacceptable. One exit was totally unacceptable. My seats were not taken by “opportunistic fans” my seats were not there to start with and we were moved to join a que that was still there when she started. I was then moved to tiered seating by the most unpleasant steward I have ever met who had nothing to indicate she was a steward! There was so much movement by people either standing or trying to find there seat it was a joke. The stewards seemed to disappear after the concert had began. The weather can not be helped but surely someone had thought of the affects if it did rain! The screens could not be seen until it got dark. Answers need to be given by the promoters.
Regarding my earlier comment, I have since written to the National Consumers Association after they gave advice on RTE today. I also wrote to Denis Desmond of MCD (the eejits that organised the event) and Gerry Ryan of RTE radio. I strongly suggest others do likewise- especially those of us who found they had tickets but no seat. From the many postings I have read on this subject, it appears the people sitting on the slopes and the sides enjoyed the concert the most as they were not distubed by the wandering souls creating mayhem after their epic journeys and searches for seats. NO one doubts Babs was a star on the night – if you got peace to see or hear her which many did not. But what is in question is the ineptitude of the organisers and their inability to handle a situation THEY created by wrongly numbering seats, and even removing some when they knew that 17,000 tickets had been sold. Where did they expect the people to sit when they finally arrived?
PLEASE GET WRITING to whoever you think will listen. Like hundreds of others, I scrimped and saved to buy my tickets and pay for my flights and accomodation and food….. and like many other Scots, I hate being ripped off. I paid good money for a seat that did not exist. I paid good money to hear and see Barbra Streisand perform. I enjoyed the last 30 minutes only -because it took until then for the avenging crowds to disperse and settle. For many, the night really was a fiasco and for those who escaped unscathed, perhaps they should be offering sympathy and advice to those less fortunate, rather than smarting with an “I’m alright Jack” attitude.
There were too many disappointed people at Castletown on Saturday night and too many long held dreams were shattered. Someone was responsible for that and that someone should stand up and be counted. Make sure they do and GET WRITING. PHONING. EMAILING or whatever it takes.
Theres alot of MCD heads in here (I prefer to call them sharks) telling us we should have gave ample time to get there. What a crock – sounds exactly like the statement MCD issued.I left finnstown(which was less than 10mins away) at 6:15 and arrived at 9:50. Doesn’t matter if we all left early that wouldn’t change the fact that the organisers ran out of car spaces and had to open up neighbouring fields as car parks (fresh cow pats galore) – thus delaying traffic.
By the way, We know MCD are trying to censor other blogs. Look up boards.ie and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Im definatley taking the same road as Irene on this.We shouldn’t go the typical Irish route of “ah sure she was good, we’ll just forget that we have put ourselves in debt to pay for tickets and get walked all over”
Was linked here from Jim Carroll’s excellent blog on THe Irish Times – http://www.ireland.com/blogs/ontherecord/2007/07/16/more-complaints-denis/
He points out that such a concert would have an event management plan to cater for all these issues. The question then is why did the Gardai and local authorities not make MCD adhere to this plan? I really think it calls for the local county council to refuse MCD any future licenses for big shows like this.
Such a shame it had to happen with this “experience of a lifetime”
Lorraine I don’t think there are any “MCD heads” commenting here. There have been different experiences of the evening, and as has already been pointed out, those in the raised seats at the back (simply and clearly marked “Block B”) seem to have had a grand old time. I wish I had had the sense to join them. It’s the rest of us in the grossly misnamed “Block A” in the middle of the mess who had the experience ruined. And, yes, I can imagine that some people were able to get in without any problems – it stands to reason. Please don’t infer any ulterior motive if those lucky few offer their comments here. It wasn’t ruined for everyone. Just far, far too many, and Gerry is right – there must have been an overarching plan to cater for the huge crowds that, for whatever reason, failed to work. That is surely MCD’s responsibility.
Copy of Email I sent to MCD-
First and foremost I do not envy you your job, having to deal with responsible ( More Mature ) concert goers of which I am one ,
I will not go on and on about the chaos that ” Was ” Castletown house on the 14th July .. As I am sure you are fully aware of it by now
But what I do want to say is , I have been an avid Fan of Barbra Streisand for many years , and really could not believe what I was hearing when a concert date was announced for Dublin – or should I say Kildare – I like many others rushed to secure tickets on the release date
And charged up mine and a friends Credit Card with € 279.92 each , for two tickets , not a lot I thought considering I have waited so long for this to happen —
But it was ruined !- a total sham , Our expensive seats did not exist, When we finally did get seated we were then accused of stealing the seats by other concert goers .. ( Judging the caliber of the audience I doubt there was a thief among us ) , but people just saw red and lashed out – ..( And with true cause ) .. But to top it all off , I then got speaking to a small crowd of people , who boasted about the fact that they got into the venue for nothing , Just sailed through the gates – no one in attendance to stop them , We paid a lot of money to be there , and to hear that some people just walked in on the Off chance – Something seriously wrong !!!!!!!!
The muck and rain did not bother me , I was totally prepared for it , most people were , – But the Venue was dangerous , not so much on the way in , but in the dark on the way out it was a mud slide and I felt so sorry for some of the more elderly concert goers .It was just all wrong ,
You must have guessed that this would be a more mature audience – ( I was probably one of the Younger ones , I am 38– yrs )
I was going to take my Mother along , but so glad I did not – There were elderly people slipping and falling and it was a frightening experience for them .. Can the OPW not afford Lights ?? Did we not pay enough to cover the cost of Lighting to the exits , Car Park Attendance and Stewards ..?? – I now know what Oxygen and Glastonbury must be like , and believe me I never wanted to go to either .
I think I got to hear Barbra Sing about 6 songs and that was over the shouting and confusion , so basically that cost me personally approx €46.64 per song – Think of all the CDs I could have bought for that – and sat in the comfort of my on home – …
What were MCD thinking , Sticking Barbra out in A field in Elbridge , giving our climate , this was just the most crazy thing to do ,
The concert should never have been in a position where the weather could hold it to ransom, I really cannot wait to hear Streisand comments on the event – If I remember correctly at one point she asked people to stop fighting – What kind of Image have we created of Ourselves, And I can only Imagine that she herself will not be happy at the damage MCD etc have caused to her Image – Her first and LAST time here I bet – Thanks a lot!!
We paid and MCD Etc did not deliver—
I WANT MY HARD EARNED MONEY BACK PLEASE …!!! –
I look forward to a prompt response
could go on forever at how badly organised this was. no stewards, mucked up to the eyeballs. 2hrs to get out of the carpark etc etc. ridiculous.
I was there. I was traumatised. I set up an e-mail account where we can discuss a course of action as a collective privately: 2007mcd@gmail.com (NOT mcd2007 @ gmail.com). Please write. Thank you.
Went to the concert with my best friend her partner and my Mother. We were celebrating the fact I was still alive after having a heart attic and being fans of Ms Strisand since We were kids thought it was the perfect. How wrong was I?
Traffic jams from Lucan. Left Dublin at 5.30 arrived at the car-park at ten past eight rushing to get to our seats and nearly had a nose bleed we were up in the back of row E. Ms Strisand was a doll shape from where we were sitting, she still sings like an angel but for the money we paid I thought we would have been able to see her clearly.
We were the lucky ones we had numbers on our seats some people came in looking for seat 20 and you’ve guessed it. That was the stairs, there was a number 19 and a number 21 but no number 20. The steward that was on our block told them to sit in an empty seat. When the people came who had paid for the seats the other people would not move.
Then we came to going home there were thousands of cars and only one lane for all the cars to get out, if there had have been an accident there would have been maham trying to get any sort of emergency transport into that venue.
I ended up getting home at three o clock in the morning tired and disappointed. Would I go to an event like that again? I don’t think so. Wrong venue Organizers have a lot to answer for
All the comments about disaorganized choas regarding seats are true. All I wanted was to sit in the seat that I had paid for. No seating plan, no marked rows, no stewards. Hopeless. Loved Barbra, but she would be ashamed to know that it was choas.
I have just found MCD website and registered a complaint with them because i read an article in the newpaper that said they had only received 127 complaints!!!!!!!!
It was my Mums birthday on Saturday. I thought “What a perfect present I’ll bring her to see Barbra Streisand!”. Was I sorry. I spent €554.20 on two tickets. We left Lucan at 5.30pm, trailed along in the traffic, and eventually reached Castletown house at 7.30pm.
Squelched along in the mud looking for our seats. My Mother was extremely nervous as was I as she has a bad back & I was afraid she would slip. We could not make head nor tail of the seating “directions” and I was in total despair when I finally spotted a steward & took my place in the queue to talt to them. We were in Block A, Row WW so we were directed to the left hand side of the stage. The seat numbers were all over the place with no sequence in rows, so we went to another steward who directed us to the right of the stage. I was so fed up at theis stage I just wanted to go home. Finally we found our seats at 8.20pm.
Barbara was great apart from the cat calls from drunk people behind us, the throngs of people walking about looking for their seats & the constant “Is there anyone sitting there?” for people looking for somewhere to sit to the two seats to our right which were vacant. I was uneasy the whole of the concert thinking about the drive in the crowds home so we left 15 minutes before the end to beat the crowds. We couldn’t find the car – none of the rows were numbered, there was no lighting so my Mother stumbled a few times. I was one of those who found my car by clicking my alarm & looking for the lights.
Cars were stuck in the mud and I saw wheels damaged on cars trying to get onto the wood laid as a makeshift roadway. Luckily I made it home in half an hour & I feel sorry for those that were there til 1am. I felt it was a total waste of money & I think the promoters MCD have alot to answer for. Barbra Streisand would have been better suited to an indoor venue. I could say maybe next time but we’ll never get that chance again.
Well it will be interesting to see if any refunds are given as it is such a small number complaining ! Saw this on mcd.ie today
———————————————————-
MCD today announced the setting up of a specialist committee to conduct a thorough examination of the issues affecting concert goers arising from Saturday night’s Barbra Streisand concert.
A statement apologising to affected fans that were at the show, acknowledging a number of issues relating to traffic, car parking and seating arrangements, was issued publicly within hours of the concert taking place ( Sunday morning ). MCD invited any fans affected by the above issues to write to Denis Desmond, 7 Park Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Concerned concert goers are encouraged to continue to contact MCD. To date 127 complaints from the 17,000 attendance have been received. 95% of all complaints received have been acknowledged by MCD and all further complaints will be dealt with promptly.
The committee will be chaired by Pat Byrne, former Garda Commissioner. It will also include Health and Safety Officer, Michael Slattery of Slattery & Associates along with Julian Davis, Communications Consultant on Special Olympics World Games. It will also include senior MCD personnel including Denis Desmond and Justin Green.
This committee will hold its first meeting this week and it is anticipated to have completed its work by early September.
MCD again wishes to apologise to all fans affected by Saturday night’s events and ensures the issues will be dealt with effectively and efficiently by the specialist committee.
What can I say that has not already been said, perhaps a few words will describe it:
STRESSFUL…CHAOTIC…DANGEROUS…UNORGANISED…DISGRACEFUL…..NIGHTMARE…RIP-OFF…
I was ashamed to be Irish on Saturday night.
Sorry Barbra we are not all incompetent like MCD in Ireland.
Hi everyone. I recently sent a comment. Just to clarify something. The Independent newspaper said that Barbra was playing at the RDS the other day. Todays Independent says that Il Divo were singing with her. I have both of Il Divos cd’s and those guys on stage didn’t look or sound like them. Can somebody clarify it for me. Have I completely lost the plot. My cousin and I went on Saturday, loved Barbra. We were extremely dissapointed about the whole thing. Our seats were not there when we arrived. They eventually found them in Block D and said the stickers had fallen off the chairs because of the rain. I am getting married next week and was so excited about seeing Barbra having been a fan since I was 11. My cousin gave me the ticket for a wedding pressie for me. She was gutted too. MCD should really be embarrassed. I cant believe they would actually put somebody like Barbra Streisand in a venue like that that turned out to be a shambles. Its like putting Elvis in Butlins for a concert !! If there was 4 entrances then why was there only one entrance for everyone else. I give up !! Where is the logic. Health and safety !!!!!
It wasn’t Il Divo, it was a group of four Broadway singers. More info about one of them here.
Where is everyone – How can there only be 127 complaints out of 17,000 -
Come on speak up !!!
Please…
Mine’s on it’s way – don’t worry. See quote from today’s Indepenent regarding the Consumer Association – “The association had received 40 letters and close to 200 emails and phone calls from people who had attended the open-air concert for which tickets cost up to €500 each”
Loved David Mc Williams piece on the Streisand Generation Todays Indo Pge 12- These peopel have a Big Poblem on there hands
Open Letter To Barbra Streisand
Ireland
Mon. July 16 ‘07
Dear Barbra
At your concert in Cellbridge Ireland on Saturday night July 14, 2007, there was no rain, either for an hour and a half before, (I was in the traffic jam) all during, or for *2½ hours afterwards (*I was trapped in the parking lot for this time) except for a couple of light showers. So the reason given in their statement to the Irish media (weather conditions) by the promoters MCD for the traffic congestion makes no sense.
In my opinion the reason for the traffic congestion before the concert was its entrance. There was only one entrance into the concert site for approx 17,500 concert goers. This entrance (the first part of which was a narrow roadway about half a mile long) had to accommodate both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. And although there was a sidewalk running alongside it; pedestrians had to step on & off the road in several places among hurried drivers because their path was blocked by numerous bundles of unused crowd control barriers stacked here and there on the footpath. This was the first of what were in my opinion many blatant health and safety contraventions which I observed on the night.
At the end of this roadway, on the continuing journey to the parking lot proper; there were various badly signed twists and turns, the last part of the journey into the parking lot was a single bottleneck lane of approx. 400 meters.
On eventually entering the huge parking lot (a field of several hundred acres) the first things one noticed was the complete lack of 1. any numbering / grid system & 2. any defined driving lanes. These two facts (together with the eventual and easily predictable darkness Sic.) were to cause immense confusion / anxiety and hardship for concertgoers after the concert. I counted 5 or 6 generators with telescopic halogen lights at points around the parking lot but these were not sufficient to supply light to such a huge area. I personally spoke to at least three people who on returning to the parking lot in the dark, spent periods of between 30 and 50 minutes trying to find their vehicles. As it turned out there was no real advantage to finding your vehicle quickly as the wait to exit the car park was up to three hours. The most appalling aspect of this car park was the existence in one of its darkest parts of what looked like a swamp! This was circular, about 50 to 60 square Meters. in area, surrounded but not protected by a ring of 7 or 8 inch diameter wooden stakes sticking up about 3 to 4 feet out of the ground. Some of these stake poles had apparently fallen & were lying horizontally in and camouflaged by the long wet grass. People who walked close to this swamp-like area were slipping on these concealed stakes. I personally witnessed three such falls. I also saw several people slip in the wet grass in other areas of the parking lot.
There was no supervision / security around the parking lot and I could see no way of quickly making ones position known in such a large area in the event of needing to summon emergency medical help. Because people were effectively trapped in this dark field for up to 3 hours; this constitutes further obvious safety risks.
In my opinion an organisation with the experience of MCD should have known that the large majority of concertgoers would never have been at this venue before as this was the first time such an event was held there and they should have made an extra effort to ensure their customers safety & comfort.
They should also have deducted that a concert with the fan profile of Barbra Streisand should never have been held outdoors. Indeed, a large amount of concert goers to whom I spoke; admitted to not knowing it was an outdoor event until well after they had bought their tickets. The event was advertised as an event in Castletown House in an ‘intimate venue’ they simply did not think that anyone would stage such a thing and charge such ticket prices. But as often happens in situations like this, they were too embarrassed by what they perceived as their own stupidity to do anything about it.
Inside the concert arena itself, the numbering of the seats was non-sensical, ie. not understandable. This was worsened by the fact that some of the paper seat numbers had apparently been washed off by the (much earlier) rain, leaving areas of seating with no numbers. Some callers to radio stations today related how they were told by stewards that their seat simply didn’t exist.
As I know you witnessed yourself, there were numerous bad humoured exchanges between the stewards and concertgoers, some of which developed into pushing and scuffling. These exchanges became more numerous and serious as the concert went on. I saw one woman crying in disbelief! A huge number of people were simply unable to enjoy the concert because of the arguments confusion and scuffling around them.
As you remarked yourself; it was like a rock concert!
A very worrying aspect of this events lack of organisation was that I noticed the gradual disappearance of the stewards / security people. As the event went on there were fewer and fewer of them to be seen. I had no explanation for this until I heard a lady steward on the RTE radio Liveline show today describe how her superior advised her to simply walk away and go home.
Having dwelled mostly on the shortcomings of organisation and Health & safety, It may seem to you inappropriate, to comment on your performance as an artist. However, as a consumer I take extreme exception to anyone who thinks it moral to charge between 2 and 8 hundred Euros for a ticket. Then come out on stage to sing three or four songs – take a break of about 12 minutes, return to sing maybe 3 more – take a break of 25 minutes, return to perform maybe 6 or 7 more songs and then leave. Also, although a teleprompter may be necessary for production purposes; the placing of such a screen in view of a large portion (possibly 40%) of the audience is a serious hindrance to their enjoyment of a show. The interaction between you and the audience was extremely ‘cringe inducing’. Somebody should have told you that most Irish people do not & probably never have eaten Colcannon. I found your whole demeanour extremely patronising. I would also suggest that if you are going to have a full orchestra it would be nice to let the audience see them.
I was never a big fan of yours (I was accompanying my girlfriend) but I have always enjoyed the fact that you have a superb voice & some very beautiful songs. I am less of a fan after Saturday last.
Please take the time to understand the very bad impression which your concert left on so many people in Ireland. It was unfortunate to see my girlfriend so disappointed with the whole event.
There has been much bad press on radio and television here. A lot of the daytime radio talk shows today reported unprecedented levels of phone calls to complain about your show and its serious apparent lack of organisation. There was also a large level of complaints about the time you spent on stage and the amount of breaks in the show.
The Consumer Association of Ireland have a special link on their website to deal with the level of complaints.
From what I have been reading on web forums and blogs today, MCD have a history of vigorously refuting any allegations of shortcomings in their event services or organisation thereof & make a point of threatening costly legal action on any detractors. See following link:
http://www.blather.net/globaleyes/archives/2006/08/mcd_are_suing_boardsie.html
However, any claims made in this correspondence are easily verifiable by the many disappointed concertgoers and of course by the numerous police CCTV cameras present.
The existence of only one entrance was confirmed to me by the Police at Cellbridge.
I have spoken to representatives of The Office of Public Works who have the responsibility for the preservation of Castletown House. They share the concern and dismay of a large majority of concertgoers at the serious glaring shortcomings in the organisation of this event and will be paying much closer attention to whom they allow to use the house in the future.
This letter is intended only to expose truth. As I do believe you value this virtue.
The last thing I saw as we left the concert venue at the end of that bottleneck lane was a solitary old lady of about 60 yrs. wrapped in a blanket & sitting on a chair. Flanked on one side by a Policeman and on the other by what looked like a concerned relative. Her face all at once displayed an indescribable cameo of fear sadness disbelief and relief.
Sincerely,
Shocked!
You may be interested in visiting the following link to get a flavour of the reaction to your concert.
http://bonhom.ie/2007/07/review-barbra-streisand-at-castletown-house-celbridge-ireland.html
If there is any doubt about the serious damage to your reputation which was done in Cellbridge on Sat July 14th, Please let me direct you also to the Mon. July 16th archives of RTE radio which can be accessed ( click: ‘Liveline’ )at:
http://www.rte.ie/radio/miss.html
There was also a TV3 television show ‘Xpose’ which also did a long piece about it tonight.
NOTE : The above is not a comprehensive list of the negative media exposure you received
What is there left to say – a waste of time and money. I flew back to England with a plane full of extremely unhappy people…so my complaint is most definitely on its way!!!
MCD have been treating our children like cattle for years. They made the mistake of trying the same thing with mature adults on Saturday night. It is up to us to stop them! We must learn from the Stardust disaster that the most disasterous things will happen at the most unimaginable times if peoples safety is compromised. MCD are blaming non existent bad weather. Are they crazy, are we crazy to accept this? Then they seem to think we are crazy enough to let them investigate themselves!! Are we?
Jesus! Call your TD’s People will eventually die if this B.S. is allowed to continue.
I was an usher at the recent Barbara Streisand Concert in Castletown House. We arrived at the concert to commence work at 2.30 to find that the relevant personel incharge of numbering seats had not done so due to the heavy rain. It was not untill 5pm that I observed these people numbering the seats & rows, which were on the flat. The normal proceedure for a concert is for the ushers to be given a briefing upon arrival to the venue, where they are provided with an illuminous jacket to identify themselves and also given their designated area to take charge of. There was no meeting & only enough jackets for half of the staff. During the heavy rain, we had to stand around with no shelter, we were not offered even tea of coffee, we stood from 2.30 – 11pm and we were soaked through to the skin by the time the concert started. I have worked at many concerts & we regularly have problems with seating, but never anything that we have not bee able to resolve. The problem was that Rows of seats and seat numbers were missing and they were also out of sync. I feel mortified for all the people whos night was ruined. Personally i worked my heart out at the concert & i did the best i could for people in such a bad situation. I was so cold, wet & miserable when i got home, i cried.
It was utter chaos. One point no one appears to have mentioned is this, and those that were some of the first to enter block A will be able to verify.
MCD blames many of the problems on the wet weather, and it rained heavily during late afternoon (it was torrential at City West Hotel, Dublin between 4.30 and 5.00 pm as we waited for our coach to arrive, but did not rain again until after we were finally seated in the arena). At Castletown House, gates were meant to open at 6.00pm, but we stood stationary in a queue from before 6.00pm to about 6.35pm, waiting to get in and not knowing what the problem was. When we entered the flat seating area of the arena and tried unsuccessfully to find our seats in the chaos (no reliable row numbering and no ushers apart from one poor lady weraing a dark blazer who was as bewildered as we were and could not help us) we noticed THE SEATS WERE BONE DRY! Clearly they must have been laid out after the late afternoon rainfall, probably in a rush and panic, and perhaps that partly explains the poor and unrelaible seat / row numbering.
By the way, I was in a group of 4 – this is one message of complaint on behalf of four of the 17,000.
what can I say awful
McCann & Desmond (MCD) do the right thing and admit your mistakes. You think this is going to go away but you are SO wrong.
This message for Gary. The seats were laid out that morning, but they had us going around with towels drying off all the seats just before the sound check. Thats really when i realised we would have a problem trying to usher people into seat with ‘no numbers’, apart from seats not being numbered, the rows had not been numbered either.
I have read all the comments above and there is’nt much more really that can be added here regarding this fiasco. We were one of the few people who were prepared for the weather et al..and we did as the organiser suggested ( same as Lisa above)
We took the organisers advice (being one of the few who seemingly received an email) and actually left Dublin city at 3.00! to be early.
We wore appropriate clothing for “an approach over grass”??!! …- including rainmac and wellies.
Did not bring our umbrella and did not bring cameras.. which in hindsight now is a pity, because, I think only photos can adequately bear witness to the abhorrent circumstances.
We found our seats ok, after having been allowed into the arena at 6:30. We waited right next to the arena whilst Barbra was doing her sound check. We could hear everything!! So much for paying extra to be part of the privilege.
Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the absolute disrespect with which the organisers treated the “Streisand Generation” as a whole.
I agree with Irene above, that contrary to the response given by the organisers, the fans did not cause the chaos ‘ due “to a small number of opportunistic fans taking seats which were not assigned to them and refusing to move when requested.” ‘
As she says, the truth is the seats they paid for did not exist.
I, however would like to mention that apart from the whole “opportunistic fans” statement and the disappearance of seat numbers due to rain, I cannot help thinking that the steward which I saw with a pack of tickets, could not have helped matters either. She was swapping non-existent seat tickets with tickets from her pack with irritated audience members.
Which seats were these? and where were they cunningly located in order to appease those people she swapped them with.? I did not see anyone complaining that it was a worse seat she gave back to them??
Anyway, we were obviously some of the lucky ones, and were able to enjoy some of the concert. Apart from the occasional crowd that gather in front of us, loudly trying to talk their way into a seat, or out of one, we tried making the most of it.
It wasn’t comfortable, and no, it wasn’t an “intimate setting” and there was nothing classy about seeing people being bewildered, distressed, angry, wet, covered in mud and ill prepared for what was supposed to be the event of the year.
We finally made it back to our car (after having followed the forest path from a scene from “Indiana Jones and the Concert of Doom” !!) . We then waited another two hours whilst watching tractors pulling cars out of the mud…the Garda looked as bewildered as we did..!
When we finally drove past the arena again, which was well after one o clock in the morning, we witnessed groups of disabled people and their family members, still on the side of the road, waiting to be picked up … Class Act!?? I think not! What a shame that an opportunity to shine as a true ambassador for this country was wasted by MCD.
hi,
I’m a journalist writing a detailed piece (1800 words) for one of the sundays this weekend – an overview of the Streisand concert. Looking to talk to people who were there- deadline tomorrow evening so need to talk to people later today or tomorrow morning. You can contact me at (deleted to prevent spam, post-deadline). hope to hear from a few people, thanks.
Irish People seem to forget that their first lines of defence against situations like this should be their TD’s. and the Gardai. Phone your TD, make known your feelings about how you were treated by the organisers of the Streisand event. Ask them what they are going to do about it. Ask them to report back to you. You have a right to ask for this. You are paying their wages.
I lived in the USA for many years. This is what people do in such a mature democracy.
Public representatives and Police should be made work hard for us. They get paid plenty!!!
Also, the promoters / organisers of the Streisand gig may be criminally prosecuted under the ‘Non fatal offences against the person act / endangerment’ If you were trapped in the Parking lot for hours, if you slipped and fell, if you were subject to brawling or fighting in your seating area, if you were on the bridge which allegedly collapsed, if you felt threatened while you couldn’t find your car in the dark, if you had to walk along the unlit roadway among traffic to exit Castletown house, if you were late home to take medication, or any other means of endangerment. Go in to your local Garda station, tell them what happened. If they try to fob you off as we know they sometimes will. Quote the ‘non fatal offences against the person act / endangerment’ to them. I have checked it out, it does cover situations like people have described on this page. If you make a statement the Gardai have a duty to investigate. If enough of us make statements, maybe we can avert such a situation or worse again
I attended the event. I was sitting next to 2 guys who fly from New York. I was ashamed to be Irish. I have written to Kildare County Council Planning Department, MCD, National Consumer Agency and 3 of my recently elected TD’s with the information below.
I would like to make a complaint regarding the organisation and planning of the recent Barbara Streisand event in Castletown House in Celbridge. I have attended many outdoor events in the past number of years and have never seen any event of this scale so badly planned and organised. In my opinion it posed serious threat to the safety and wellbeing of those who were in attendance at the event.
Below is an extract from what I believe is required by law to be submitted to the planning authority in order to receive a licence for such an event.
a) Draft plan for the Management of the event prepared in accordance with the appropriate code or codes of practice and including:
Ø The names & responsibilities of the event controller, the event safety officer and their deputies
Ø A draft site emergency plan
Ø A draft traffic management plan
Ø A draft safety strategy statement
Ø A draft environment monitoring programme for before, during and after the proposed event
Ø Details of the proposed plan for the licenced area in relation to the provision for:
¨ the removal of structures
¨ the carrying out of any works for the reinstatement of the venue subsequent to the event.
¨ the full clean up of the surrounding area
¨ any remedial works arising from any damage caused to public property, facilities or amenities associated with the event.
In relation to Traffic Management…
On the evening of the concert I left my residence in Lucan to attend the event with two friends at 6:30pm. The traffic management was appauling. Firstly there was a huge traffic jam on the M4 heading towards Maynooth. While I understand that such events increase traffic in an area I was shocked to see that there was no garda presence on the motorway to direct traffic. As a consequence of the traffic people were driving in the hard shoulder because they were afraid that they would be late. The lane that should exit the motorway to take the Hewlett Packard slip road at the celbridge interchange was blocked with people in the slip road. The other 2 lanes from the M4 motorway were also trying to merge to exit at the same location. The traffic coming to the event on the M4 from Maynooth was exiting at the Celbridge interchange and was trying to merge with the traffic coming from Dublin. There was traffic leaving Intel trying to get onto the M4 also. Basically it appeared that everyone heading to the event on the motorway in any direction had to merge into a single lane of traffic to enter a single entrance. The first time I saw a garda was at the top of the motorway exit. There was nobody trying to control the traffic on the motorway and there were a lot of angry people trying to get to the inside lane to exit the motorway. Once we got to the venue entrance we were shocked to realise that there was only one lane that everyone was trying to enter from. We arrived to the event a half an hour late as a result of the delays. I have heard MCD’s response that the traffic issues were caused by bad weather and roadworks on the M50. Firstly we have all been living in Dublin for the past year and know that roadworks were happening. The real issue was on the M4 exit at the Celbridge interchange. This was because there was only one entrance to the car park on the Castletown site. As for bad weather this had nothing to do with the fact that there were traffic problems. I felt that it was very condescending of MCD towards it’s customers to use this as an excuse for their poor management of the event. The weather wasn’t actually that bad.
General Parking and Event Management.
Once inside the grounds we were directed to a car park. When we left the car one of my friends stopped and had the foresite to try to see how we would find the car after the event. There were no markers to indicate zones in the field. We took rough bearings of where the car was and went into the grounds to find our seats. Our ticket was checked at the main entrance but were were left to find our own seats. We were in Block B in tiered seating. There was nobody there to check our seating allocation. Anybody could have sat in our seats. Later I was horrified to hear that people who had paid over 500 euros for seats arrived to find other people occupying their seats. MCD had said that this was down to opportunistic people taking the seats. This should never have happened as MCD should have had stewards present to check the tickets against the seat allocations. This happens in most seated venues with ushers. MCD failed to provide this and left people open to getting into altercations with other people as a result.
Crowd Management After the Event
Once the concert was over we were told that we should follow the directions of the garda and stewards back to our cars. It was obviously dark now. We headed out in the direction that we had entered the venue with the rest of the crowd. The crowd was moving very slowly. We didn’t see any stewards or gardai and continued to follow the crowd. We made our way back through a very crowded narrow lane with thousands of people in front and behind. We then realised we had to cross a makeshift narrow bridge that everyone was squeezing through. We made our way through this but the lane was still very crowed and very slow moving. I then noticed that there was another crowd about the same size coming from the left of us and they were merging with us. We continued walking and eventually came to a point where there was a steward. This was now 40 minutes since we had left the venue and this was the first steward we met. I asked the way back to the carparks and he directed me. We walked across 2 very slippy field to get back to the car. We found it difficult to locate the car but we were lucky enough to find it . There were elderly people rambling around the area for an hour trying to find their vehicles. We started our car to leave the area. It took us an hour to exit the field. There was no management of the cars in the field. It was a free for all. There were lanes of traffic everywhere. People were cutting across other lanes thinking they could get out quicker on the other side. When we got close to the exit of the field we saw gardai directing the traffic. They were trying to let one lane go at a time in sequential order. However there were lines of traffic coming in every direction. There were a lot of elderly people present who were very distressed having never been to such an event before. The car park management was chaotic again with no staff present to help people.
General Management
In relation to the requirement for a site emergency plan I would hate to think what would have happened if there had been an emergency. There were not enough staff at hand to assist people. People were arguing about seat allocations to the point where I was sure there was going to be a punch up. If anything had happened whilst we left the event many people would have been seriously injured as crowd management was non-existant. There were people wandering around the event for over an hour during the concert not knowing where their seats were. As a result many people stood for the entire show. People were arriving to the event all through the first half of the show as they were stuck in traffic. The lady next to me missed the whole first half. I witnessed a woman slip and fall face first on the surface inside the venue. She was obviously hurt and her outfit was destroyed due to the mud. A concert goer assisted her as there were no ground staff around to help. I don’t know how an ambulance would have managed to enter or leave the event in an emergency.
In relation to the Barbra Streisand event, I cannot understand how this event ever happened. Either an outdoor event licence should never have been issued to MCD promotions for this event or the event promoters contravened the terms and conditions of the licence issued. From what I could see the event contravened many of the requirements of an outdoor event plan.
I would like to see the event investigated in full. There is a serious risk to public safety if these events are not planned and managed properly. If these issues are not addressed there will be a serious incident at some point in the future. This is the second event this year (the other event being Oxygen) where there has been a public outcry at the management of an event. As Irish taxpaying citizens we deserve better. I will also be sending a copy of this message to MCD promotions and notifying my local TD to have the matter raised further. This will also be forwarded to the National Consumer Agency.
Yours sincerely,
After reading all these reviews I decided to speak out as well and place a compliant with MCD.
To start though, I would like share that here in Zurich too, we have had grand problems with the concert management and particularly with the ticket sections. The concert management kept changing price categories due to slow sale numbers and as a consequence I ended up paying USD 600.00 for a ticket that was suddenly in a USD 400.00 section! Only with the help of a contact from the local promoter was I able to get a ticket in a new section.
But back to Dublin.
For me, living in Switzerland, the hassle started with getting the tickets in time. I have emailed and called Event Travel several times in order to find out when they are going to send off the tickets. By email I never got an answer and on the third time I phoned I learned that they only got the tickets on Monday themselves (in the same week as the concert!).
I told them not to bother and sending them to Switzerland but instead to send them to our hotel in Dublin (we had booked the hotel/concert package). That worked out fine in the end but had me all stressed out before we arrived in Dublin.
As the coach transfer to Kildare was included in the package, we arrived well ahead of time at the venue (left Dublin at 16:30).
And well prepared for rain. I thankfully found out myself a couple of weeks beforehand that it was an outdoor event. If I had known this before I booked, I would not have gone though.
At Castletown House, they made us wait in the mud well past the official opening time. It was cold, it was wet and there already people started to complain a lot.
Our ticket was checked at the main entrance but we were left to find our own seats. We were in Block A, Row HH. There was nobody there to help or check our seating allocation. We found several rows labelled HH and I’m still not sure if we sat in the right one.
As it started to rain several times before the concert we had “umbrella fights” all around us. I don’t understand why the “no umbrella” directive wasn’t forced, as lots of people couldn’t see the stage anymore. I’m afraid to think what could have happened had it rained during the concert….
Our seats had an aisle one row ahead and two seats to the right of us. And this is the thing that totally ruined our evening.
Through all the concert and I mean every single minute, people were walking up and down, some looking real desperate, some just very annoyed, some slipped, one woman even fell and to top all this, my seat neighbour totally lost his nerves and shouted and cursed and what have you!
As unpleasant as this was, I understand his frustration as this was his lifelong dream come true and he couldn’t enjoy one minute of it. But neither could we. And neither could the majority of the crowd I’m guessing.
If have never experienced anything like this. Usually when the concert starts, people are held back at the sides or are being accompanied by an usher.
The only way I could concentrate on the music was by closing my eyes! But still, the music never reached my heart as it usually does as I couldn’t find the necessary peace in this mess.
Once the concert was over we were told that we should exit at the rear end of the venue. It was obviously dark now. The crowd was moving very slowly. We didn’t see any stewards or gardai and continued to follow the crowd. There was a highlight though as some started to sing “Memories” and made us forget our disappointment for a minute.
We made our way back through fields of ankle deep mud, puddles and construction equipment which was lying all over.
We located our coach easily but had problems getting through the traffic by foot. Once in the coach we had to wait at least another hour because the coach simply couldn’t get out. Again, nobody around to organise or help.
So you see, we have made the same experience as many and our evening was ruined big time.
Still. Barbra was wonderful and proved to be a real professional. How she was able to deliver such a great show in this disquiet is a mystery to me.
She deserved better. And so did the audience of 17′000.
I made an input a few days ago.See above. However,the only thing that will satisfy all of us that went to Castletown would be to see Barbra again at an indoor venue in Ireland over two nights or maybe the RDS outdoor as a last resort with MCD/Barbra footing the bill for all ticket holders at Castletown.The aim of all the analysis of what went wrong etc and it was an absolute mess as we all know must be to get her back again.Maybe its not possible but may someone who reads all this stuff may have a road to the great woman herself and surely she has to be embarrassed by what happened!
Meassage for Gillian. Thanks for clearing that up. I must say our group had temendous sympathy on the evening for all the ushers and for what it is worth, the anger and frustration people around me felt was directed at the organisers, not the ushers.
Can you explain, we were told by one of the security staff in the central section to the rear of block A that the ushers were not due out until 7.00 pm – is this correct? It seems crazy to me that the ushers were not on duty in the arena as the first ticketholders entered the arena, scheduled gates opening 6.00 pm.
What on earth possessed MCD to try out a new venue when Barbra Streisand was playing. It beggars belief. Streisand should have been playing at either the Point or the Mahony Hall in the Helix. But of course, that’s the Northside. I’m now dreading the Rolling Stones at Slane on August 18th – MCD better not cock it up. As an aside, the Who at Marlay Park (Aiken Promotions) was an incredible night and really well organised. Altogether now – “We won’t get fooled again!!!”
We had a nightmare, our seat numbers did not exist when we arrived – after being relocated to other concertgoers seats we were left by the steward like lambs to the slaughter having to explain to the genuine occupiers of the seats who eventually arrived from their hell of delays.We moved a few times to the next set of empty seats and tried in vain to find stewards to help rectify the situation. I echo everyones complaint and so if you do want any back up going to the small claims court “Mary C” who wrote on the 16th July, count me in. I have written my complaint to MCD but I am prepared to go further, Dream shattered.
My daughter Sarah and I attended the Barbra Streisand Concert last Saturday 14/07/07 and from start to finish the whole experience was harrowing. It’s interesting that ‘harrowing’ can mean ‘to stir up the soil’ as well as ‘extremely distressing’.
The event was supposed to have been a special treat for me – a gift for my 60th birthday. And it all went to go horribly wrong.
We travelled from Belfast by car. Managed to board a bus heading for the concert at Castletown but of course, as so many thousands of people were all heading the same way, naturally there was gridlock. We walked along the M50 between standstill cars and got to the venue at 8.45pm – the concert had been delayed. We found our own seats. Attendants were thin on the ground, so thin we didn’t see any. The concert began 3/4 of an hour late and the first half was shakey – not good. Apart from the very likely probability that Barbra Streisand was stressed too due to the delay, people milled around constantly in an emormous area separating blocks of seats and this was extremely distracting.
The second half of the concert was good and could have been tremendously enjoyable if it hadn’t been for the concern I felt about how on earth will this audience get home, with the added burden of thick treackley mud everywhere, only one narrow way out and in the dark!!
We did indeed get out, finding our bus, by accident rather than help from attendants, and eventually arrived back at our hotel in Saggart. Our overnight stay there is another story about which I will be informing the Tourist Board.
As we’re getting close to 70 comments, I’m closing the list for discussion, it’s too unwieldy, it prints out at 24 pages! But if there are any other first-hand accounts of the concert, you may still post them. When there are other developments, I will post a new entry in the blog.
Like most others who attended this event, myself and my sister (who had travelled from Scotland) felt badly let down and frustrated by the total lack of organisation and management of this event. I have various horror stories ranging from the “city” hotel bumping us to an airport hotel at the last minute, only to be left arguing with them when they initially wouldn’t honour the deposit we had originally paid…enough said.
I have 2 points specifically:
1. we were located in section A, row 4 CC…which as you’ve guessed didn’t exist according to the 3 “vacant” stewards that I spoke to….eventually a lady took our existing tickets and handed me new ones….I looked at these and began to ask where they were located….in barely contained frustration, she said you’re getting an upgrade so move it please….. We then went to our newly allocated seats, only to find people already sitting on them (this was approx at 8:20pm) and believe me the lady was not for moving! Therefore we then decided to sit on 2 vacant seats further up on this row (FF). I appreciate these tickets were of a higher value, but I do not feel they enhanced our enjoyment as we were still caught in the general bustle and melee going on around us. The other concert goers on either side of us were all originally from section 4GG..4HH etc also…..Please note that at no point were we asked to move….the ticket itself states “Reseat Ticket”. Ours is just another variation of the mayhem that was seat allocation!
2. The substandard conditions on leaving this concert have been well documented on this blog, therefore I will only add that it was my sister who stopped as the “random nurse” to try and assist the elderly gentleman who was being nearly trampled…….as it was she feared for her own safety bending over him in the dark….mayhem does not come close to describing the conditions. Thankfully the gentleman concerned was able to get to his feet aided by others. Further down the “road to hell” we encountered some ambulancemen and advised one of them of the older gentleman’s predicament…..to quote “somebody will get him”. He then inferred they hadn’t a hope of getting to him in the ensuing crowds and that someone had already had an “arrest” (heart attack I believe) elsewhere in the grounds….if true, I would not like to comment on whether they managed to treat this person within an adequate timeframe.
In closing, I am due back in Dublin on the 27th July for a celebration with friends and quite frankly I would rather have a dose of the clap!
Sincerely Scunnered!
Hiya Gary
No we were there at 2.30pm and we were left standing around till 5.00, when we were asked to towel down the seats. The only shelter available to us was the tent where the mens urinals were situated. We didnt even get offered a cup of tea for working from 2.30 till 11. It actually cost me money to work at that concert, as i had to throw out a good pair of leather shoes & burnt my clutch out trying to get out of the field (car park). When the gates opened we still had not been given our positions. Upon asking where and what i was supposed to be doing, i was told to just take a section and start ushering people into seats. It would of been on easy job only for the mix up with numbering.. i felt like an idiot.. never again would i do it.
has everyone already made complaints to MCD? If so, did you get a response?
No response from MCD, I won’t be holding my breath.
Has anyone seen any comments from Barbra regarding the concert?
Hi there,
I received an acknowledgement from MCD today. They are saying they hope to respond to everyone personally within the next ten days.
The NCA acknowledged my complaint 4 days ago, along with a phonecall.
Please can I ask again for people not to prolong the discussion on this page. There is simply too much here. If anyone gets a personal response and they wish me to discuss it on this blog, please email me. You can find my email link at the bottom of the sidebar on the left of this page.
MCD sent me a response. If you wish to carry on discussing this concert, please do so there.
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Response from MCD re Streisand concert in Celbridge…
Hello,
In response to the issues raised by yourself and other fans who attended
the Barbra Streisand concert, MCD set up a specialist committee on 17th
July 2007 to conduct a thorough examination of concerns expressed. The
establishment of the committe…
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