Hyde Park 2012

[marketh]

Really enjoyable gig, the sound wasn't that much of an issue where I was, just to right of the stage near that bt tent thing, but there needed to be more bars, there were hour long queues from pretty much the start of the Specials, almost Heaton Park-esque. Definitely the busiest I've ever seen Hyde Park for one of these gigs.

[edfirth]

This was my second Hyde Park gig (Soundgarden also) and I have to say I will do my best to avoid it where I can in the future.

The sound at both gigs wasn't up to scratch (better at Blur) it was seriously overcrowded and took forever to get an overpriced drink at the bar or navigate the crowd. It was full of day trippers with blankets on the floor who got pissed off every time someone stood in their "area" including one woman who had the nerve to put her blanket on the floor in front of the crowd barrier. Then just before Blur came on the bar which we were nearest to ran out of beer!.

I just felt like the organizers were trying to cram in as many people, at the highest price they could charge while doing the absolute minimum possible to get the event to go ahead.

Blur were fantastic, Hyde Park was shocking.

Edited August 13, 2012 by edfirth

[addsend]

So, do we know what happened to the Puritan? They got about half a bar through it, then stopped and played Song 2 instead.

[DJL]

So, do we know what happened to the Puritan? They got about half a bar through it, then stopped and played Song 2 instead.

[JC-Mo'Fucka]

the specials were class, blur were pretty solid, new order nearly sent me to sleep most certainly will be missing them at bestival.

too many picnic people trying to have a civilised one 20 foot from the stage.. muppets. Sound was fine for me but the fact I could have a clear conversation with the person next to me at near touching distance from damon was a bit naff.

weather was spot on had a cracking time in all.

[edfirth]

too many picnic people trying to have a civilised one 20 foot from the stage.. muppets. Sound was fine for me but the fact I could have a clear conversation with the person next to me at near touching distance from damon was a bit naff.

[LondonTom]

Sound was shit, queues were shit (Why not have the massive troth urinal type things/or outdoor blocks than the shity porta cabins they had?!)...Blur sounded great but i was very very bladdered from a stupid decision to buy far to much alcohol in one go and consume most of it during Beetlebum and Coffee & TV so only remember bits of it after that opps.

Overall decent, acts were good but spoiled by the organisers not putting on decent facilities and the fecking picnic brigade (Even while Blur was on wtf?!) Doubt i will return to hyde park unless its something really really special after that!

[Justiceforcedave]

If you don't have enough bars or toilets to cater for people then don't sell as many tickets!

It royally pisses me off, it's just promoters being greedy and taking advantage of peoples love of music!

[Homer]

I thought the gig was great. Didn't even notice issues with sound until I went online today, maybe I was stood in a good spot? I was right at the back though, just in front of the picnic blankets, which made staggering to the bar mid-Blur a minefield with lots of people shouting at me for standing on their blankets (?!). These people add literally nothing to events of this kind.

I thought New Order were decent, they were just in a rubbish slot. I managed to get to the big barrier but still everyone around me was ignoring them and chatting. I think they’ll be a lot better in the dark at Bestival. Specials were v good and Blur were awesome.

[Kowalski]

Blur were epic, right up there with Glastonbury for me. They were on phenomenally good form.

Looked like it depended where you were for the sound levels. I was to the left of the mixing desk for New Order and the sound was nowhere near lound enough but it seemed fine for Blur, I was quite a bit further forward, in front of the left hand screen.

Ridiculous queues to get in. I was at the Olympic stadium the night before, and they process a much bigger crowd with no waiting times at all.

[loosechange]

Suspect stage right's always going to be a bit rubbish, as that's the side all the complaints come from.

For me, the fact that the sound was better from the delays was the strangest aspect - the sound was better the further back you were, which can't be right.

[edfirth]

I was on the left all gig and it was rubbish

Olympic queues were infinitely better. It's hilarious how easy it is to get right...

Edited August 14, 2012 by edfirth

[manda]

Sound was fine for us- initially right of stage then moved to back as simply too busy. We're used to busy but this was too much for me on a hot day.

Incidentally we took a blanket as wood chips are forking uncomfortable to sit on all day but we were well off to the side and we packed up before the specials.

I didn't like the queues - ridiculous at times and I hate not having a drink all day because I can't face wasting 45 minutes trying to get to the toilet which has been the case at Hyde park before. Strangely the opening ceremony concert was about spot on for me in terms of capacity and queues -I wonder how many tickets were actually sold?

Blur were great, bit disappointed by new order- just felt they lacked spark. Not a massive specials fan but they appeared to go down well with the masses. Never seen blur before and it's another band (2 including new order) to tick off the bucket list.

I have to say I'd be reluctant to go back to Hyde park unless they sort out the queues and toilet situation.

Also was it just me or were a heck of a lot of people leaving early? I understood people leaving early at the opening gig as no one was billed as headlining but droves seemed to leave when blur started? I also felt they could have covered more of the ceremony as with the opening concert, after all it was meant to be in association with it.

[edfirth]

Because they couldn't hear, as far as I could tell. That's what they were muttering about as they walked past me

[Filthy]

Sound was awful, queues were ridiculous. Blur and the Specials were great despite the sound but not enough to make up for a disappointing day out. A mate of mine was chatting to a security guard who reckoned 125,000 tickets were sold!!

[manda]

Wouldn't be surprised- felt busier than normal. Interestingly it's being released on a 3 cd package so we all get to " hear" it properly!!

[Phil_87]

Sound was awful, queues were ridiculous. Blur and the Specials were great despite the sound but not enough to make up for a disappointing day out. A mate of mine was chatting to a security guard who reckoned 125,000 tickets were sold!!

[edfirth]

It was 80,000. Telegraph and Guardian said so in their reviews I believe

[Filthy]

Blur in 2009 was 80000 and there were a lot more there this year

[dacbo]

Blur in 2009 was 80000 and there were a lot more there this year

[LondonTom]

nope, just a lot more picnic blankets!

[Justiceforcedave]

It's not often I write letters of complaint but I was so pissed after Blur that I've written an epic email to Live Nation (not that it'll do any good).... which is very long to if you're going to read it brace yourself. I know lots of the complaints are about things you'd find at some other events like queues and bad food etc but it was these things topped off with the crap sound that made poo icing on a big shitty cake. So here it is....

Dear Live Nation,

I am writing to you today to complain about my experience of your closing ceremony concert at Hyde Park last weekend. There were a number of factors that lead to a very disappointing experience for me, which sadly overshadowed the whole day.

So first of all, my major gripe was the sound. Despite moving to several different places within the arena (which varied from down the front, to the sides and further back) the sound was just simply not loud enough.

Of course I understand that there are sound restrictions at Hyde Park (which, correct me if I'm wrong, have become more strict over the years?) I also understand that the accoustics at an outdoor concert are not the same as an indoor arena as the sound is not able to reverberate around you. However, having been to many other (satisfactory) outdoor shows and having no hearing impediments, I can safely say that at no point was it loud enough for most people to consider sufficient.

I also understand that what is considered "loud enough" is different from person to person, but judging my the chants of "Turn it up" throughout the crowd, the talking that could be heard over most of the songs, the reaction that has been well documented in the press and through social networking, I think it is safe to say that the majority considered the volume of the show to be of an unsufficient level. If I pay close to £65 for a concert, at the very least I expect to be able to hear the bands and I did not feel that you delivered on this very basic level. It's like going to a restaurant who serve poor quality food or a hotel with dirty rooms and uncomfortable beds. Regardless of whether or not you as a company consider the sound levels adequate, you must have been aware that many people would not agree with you and on this basis I feel that I should have been notified of just how much the noise restrictions would effect the volume of the concert. This way I could make an informed choice before purchasing my ticket and quite frankly, If I'd known what it was going to be like, I wouldn't have wasted my money.

My next issue was with the facilities available. Once again I must reiterate that I have been to many outdoor gigs of varying sizes so I have a good point of reference to how these events CAN be organised. Your policy to ban food and drink being brough into the arena (despite being a very transparent way of farming more money out of people) is something which I have come to expect from festivals and these types of gigs, however most of the time there is at least a variety of food options available. Please correct me If I'm wrong but I was not able to see any healthy food options, choices were limited to noodles, burgers, pizzas and other overpriced greasy snacks. £3 for a small portion of rather unpleasant chips is NOT good value for money and the only reason why people paid it was because you gave them no other options. What is the critera when selecting your food vendors? Might I suggest a more balanced approach offering a certain amount of healthier foods and higher quality options in the future? Do you think it is acceptable to serve sub standard quality food? I understand that you do not run the food stands directly but as the company running the event, it is your responsability to source them.

I'm talking to you now directly (the person reading this email) if you were to go into a restaurant or a cafe or any food establishment and were served some of the food which my friends were presented with on that day, then you would be outraged. It's not fair to expect your customers (who paid more then the average price of admission) to accept it! It IS possible to serve healthy/tasty or quality foods at these events as many other festivals have shown in the past.

Drinks were also a huge problem. There were not enough bars to cater for the amount of people in the arena. This was evident from the queues which at times exceeded over an hour in length and the fact that one of the bars ran out of beer around 6:30. Again, I understand that there are costs involved in running them but seeing as how your drinks prices are over the odds and the fact that actual pubs and venues manage to exist and cover their overheads with regular priced drinks, I can only assume it was another attempt to cut costs and save money? Livenation has been running events from some time now and to think that the company is not able to calculate attendence vs demand for drinks is laughable.

Finally the event as a whole seemed overcrowded (dangerously so at times) there were crushes in the crowd at many points and the inclusion of a "VIP Pen" in between the sound desks resulted in a bottle neck when passing around the front crowd barrier. This was just plain dangerous and many people seemed to get hurt (hence why I chose to move). Add to this the laughable queues for the toilet and all in all the event was not a positive experience despite some of my favourite bands being on the bill. Again I am not alone in these thoughts as is evident from much of the feedback online. It seems that if the sound and facilities are not good enough then maybe you should reduce the capacity of your events at Hyde Park or find a new venue entirely?

Sunday the 12th was supposed to a fun day out to celebrate my birthday with my friends, all in all it was very disappointing, ruined by bad sound, bad facilities and an over all transparent desire to make huge amounts of money at the expense of music fans. I am genuinely upset and feel let down by Live Nation as a company. I would also like to reiterate once again that my main problem was the sound levels (I say this as this is the part I feel deserves the most explanation in your reponse).

Disappointed Live Music Fan,

David Middleton

p.s Your advertising, closing times and title of the event implied that you would be showing more of the actual closing ceremony! Something which I was also looking forward to, what happened there?

[Justiceforcedave]

Probably could have been worded better in places but I just reeled it off.

[manda]

Good for you- have to say I agree entirely. Food was poor- I thought that might just have been me being a snob though. I'm sure it won't achieve anything but will look forward to your reply! I may well also email - no point moaning amongst ourselves.

[Babyquack]

That sir, is one mighty fine letter! If they don't reply to you on that one, then they never will because you touched upon all the problems that Hyde Park has and didn't leave room for them to be able to push it to one side as you clearly backed it up.

I must applaud you and please keep us informed of any update (if there is one) as it would be very interesting to hear their reply...