How can shows be improved?
Published Wednesday August 6th, 2008
Ground conditions, transportation among things to work on for next year: Fowler
Three days after the Eagles wowed the crowd, there is an ongoing encore by a flock of seagulls looking for scraps as cleanup crews work in the rain at the Magnetic Hill Concert Site.
The white birds were everywhere yesterday as deconstruction crews slopped through the muddy mess to tear down the huge bleachers and pack up the portable stage onto flatbed trucks. The area between the gravel stage pad and the disability viewing stand looked like an ATV trail in springtime. Huge off-road forklifts and cranes used to dismantle and carry away the sound and light towers had chewed up the sod, leaving tire tracks and ruts through the soaking wet topsoil.
Around the site, trash cleanup crews were collecting piles of empty bottles for redemption. They also dealt with piles of discarded clothing, shoes, tarps, pillows, hats and other items left behind by the crowd Saturday night. Several wallets, cellphones and other valuables were turned in and reclaimed by their owners over the last couple of days.About 55,000 fans converged on the concert site Saturday for an all-day show by the Sam Roberts Band, KT Tunstall, John Fogerty and the Eagles.
Although the rains held off on the day of the concert, heavy precipitation Sunday and Monday delayed the teardown and cleanup operations. Yesterday's weather saw scattered showers, clouds and short periods of sunshine.
"We're not to concerned about the damage right now," city spokesman Ian Fowler said yesterday. "We're still feeling really good about the event, but we're going to look at everything with a constructive, critical eye to see what can be improved upon for next year."
Promoter Donald Tarlton of Donald K. Donald Events praised the city and province for investing more than $2 million this year into permanent infrastructure for the site, saying it helps convince bands to come here in the future. In an interview at the concert Saturday, Premier Shawn Graham said it was a good investment of public money and hinted the province would continue to support the venue in the future.
While on stage introducing the acts, Tarlton promised the Moncton festival would become an annual event and an international event.
Fowler said the lessons learned by this show -- along with the Rolling Stones show in 2005 and country concerts in 2006 and 2007 -- have helped the city better deal with all the details involved in such a production. With a crowd of more than 50,000, putting the show together becomes a massive job that creates hundreds of jobs and pours millions of dollars into the local economy. As the owner/manager of the site, the onus falls on the City of Moncton to upgrade facilities and make it more attractive for clients and convenient for customers.
Fowler praised city staff Jillian Somers, Shane Porter and Raymond (Boom) Melanson for the long hours and headaches they endured planning the event and taking care of the hundreds of problems that popped up before, during and after the show.
While drainage and mud on the site is a problem, Fowler said his main concerns at the moment are transportation and flow of pedestrian traffic to and from the site, communication between the city and promoters, standardized ticket packages, parking and access to the site.
"Codiac Transit did a remarkable job but we still had people waiting three hours to board the last bus."
The city bus service put on extra vehicles and drivers for the night, and sold special passes for $7.50 that guaranteed people round trips from their car to the site and return after the show. The passes were sold out by noon Saturday. The city had encouraged people to take a bus, since there was no on-site parking.
Fowler believes the process should be revisited, and perhaps a better loading zone and flow of vehicles would help speed up the process.
Another transportation issue is the bottleneck into the site itself. Traffic passing through the Magnetic Hill Zoo area had to go through a narrow covered bridge, which choked the flow of pedestrians and vehicles. The long-range plan for the Magnetic Hill Park has been to build another road from Ensley Boulevard (across from the McDonald's on Mountain Road) over to the zoo and concert site. This would give better access to the site and also open up city-owned lands for parking. There might also be a possibility of more public access from the Gorge Road side of the site.
Fowler said there were also delays and runarounds for disabled concert fans that shouldn't have happened. There wasn't enough room on the special viewing stand constructed for people in wheelchairs because there were other people (suffering from arthritis or multiple sclerosis) who have trouble walking but don't have wheelchairs. He said the city wants to accommodate everyone but must come up with some firm rules and policies that are fair for everyone.
He feels food and beverage service has evolved to a good level.
"You're never going to satisfy everyone, but I think we had the best year ever. After three shows, I think we've got concession, food and beverages as close as you can get it to where we want it."
Fowler would also like to see a new standard for ticket marketing so consumers know what they are getting. Currently there are different levels of tickets for the shows -- general admission, VIP and corporate tables -- but people aren't sure what they get for the extra money. At this weekend's show there was a definite distinction between classes as people in the corporate tent walked on a wooden floor to sit on comfortable upholstered chairs at round tables to dine on steak and sip beer from glasses -- and just a few feet away, people with general admission tickets sat on garbage bags in the mud as they tried to stay dry.Still, there were complaints that access to washrooms and long waits were "disappointing" for people in the VIP area. Muddy conditions on the site, long waits and high prices for food and beverages seemed to be the main complaints among the general admission ticket holders.
Fowler said different promoters offer different levels of tickets, but the city wants to standardize different levels so people know what they are getting.
"We're in a position now that we're going to keep getting shows in the future, so we can go ahead and plan for the future."
This year's concert has convinced people in the music touring industry that Moncton is committed to improving its site and the infrastructure needed to host crowds of 50,000 or more people. As well, local companies that were hired to provide security, construction and other services for the promoter have proved that they will do what it takes to get the job done.
Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock festival that continues to be a benchmark in the outdoor concert world. Already, people around Metro Moncton are speculating on who might come to the Magnetic Hill Music Festival in 2009.
Random questioning of Metro Moncton fans seems to put Australian heavy rock band AC/DC among the most popular choice. Other names that have been thrown around include Irish group U2, the Dave Matthews Band, Madonna, KISS, Def Leppard and Led Zeppelin. Officials with Donald K. Donald Events had their ear to the ground and were listening to these opinions during the weekend, but the final decision on who comes here will lie with the bands themselves.
Although the Led Zeppelin rumour is rife, the chance that the heavy metal pioneers will even go on the road is extremely remote. And if they did, the chance of them doing outdoor shows in Canada is even more remote.
Promoter André Hudon, president of Donald K. Donald, said they will see who is on tour and make a pitch for them to come to Moncton, but the decision will be largely based on the potential for ticket sales and financial return. He said Moncton's investments in the site and proven capability to handle big shows becomes a powerful tool in negotiation in what is a very competitive market to lure concerts.
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Comments (4)
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I have noticed a few things that work well that Moncton hasn't quite gotten right.
Why not spread porta potties around the perimeter of the site like a fence, so all people can just step to whatever side they are on instead of trecking across the same path which creates more muck than need be? You could still have a cluster of potties but this would alleviate traffic.This is another thing I noticed at both the Stones and Eagles,the beer tent beer bins are being drained right there...flows of water coming from bins,why not direct that water flow with a hose BEHIND them instead of draining it directly into the path of customers,that is where the muck came from,not from the actual rain. Supply more video screens strategically around site. For those of us way in the back for the Eagles,impossible to see the ONE they supplied . No biggy..but noticeably absent this time around.
Congratulations on such a fine job and am looking forward to attending many many shows here at home in the future instead of having to take my money outside the country to get decent acts. PS...get Dave Matthews Band for next year ;)