Knebworth

Apparently there was carnage after Liam Gallagher played at the weekend . The A1 and other roads bought to a standstill . Was it ever thus ? What did people think it would be like?
FTR I wasn't there cos I'm a take it or leave person regarding him however Knebworth, if you know
you know .....

 

His popularity as a solo artist is beyond baffling. I’d rather have lit matchsticks shoved up my fingernails than attend a gig of his.

 

I think a lot of the problems happened on Friday when the trains were royally screwed.

https://www.hertfordshiremercury.co...s/police-flood-potters-bar-trespasser-7166465

 

It’s being reported that people were getting dropped off on the A1M.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-61691097

 

I went yesterday, it was a bit of a nightmare getting out, massive bottlenecks everywhere with basically 80k people trying to leave at once. Loads of heras fencing just got pushed over because there was a ridiculous winding narrow walkway to get in and out that snaked round empty fields and car parks, so people must’ve just decided to push them over so they could take a more direct and safer route out We had a pre-booked cab waiting in Stevenage, took over an hour to just get out on to the road. The car parks looked absolutely ****ed so god knows how long it took for everyone to get out. The best bet was actually probably camping, but that that was a bit of a rip off at £50 per person to pitch your own tent. The other stupid thing was they strongly advised against taking the train and encouraged people to drive or camp, but camping sold out and the car parks and roads were carnage.

 

Although obviously very dangerous you can see exactly why people were doing this as the exit was shut, so dropping off there meant a walk up the slip round and you were basically there. The rest of the roads around were all shut or gridlocked.

 

That was yesterday, either that or it happened again on Saturday. We got sent from Kings cross over the road to St Pancras because all the trains had been cancelled due to a trespass incident at potters bar. We then got on a train only to be sat stationary half way through the journey for about 45 minutes because the driver needed relieving (oh err) but because the trains were ****ed they couldn’t get anyone there any quicker. We then crawled along for the the rest of the journey due to the line being backed up with all the other delayed trains. I just happened to be sat opposite a lovely Luton fan (oxymoron I know) all the way there who I had a good chat with.

That just made it harder getting there but the main issues were when leaving.

 

I went to the oasis gig there in the 90s and it was a farce. The venue was so big to meet the Gallagher's egos that it was logistic hell. Took about 4 hours to get back into London on the train and the gig itself was just watching a TV in a field as the stage was so far away.

 

Awful venue IMO.

Went in 1986 to see Quo and Queen in a crowd of 120,000.

The previous week I had been working my schoolboy PT job at the Little Chef in Bricket Wood (some say the highlight of my working career, either that or the Ponderosa in Lower High Street) and had seen the queues and queues of coaches going to Knebworth for Deep Purple. Its something like 15 miles away and the traffic was already a shocker at Bricket Wood.

I thought: fcuk that. I decided to drive back lanes from Garston and drop my car off in a local village. Which we duly did. Passing under the A1 at Welwyn it was stationary above us with some people standing in the carriageway and others running down the embankment.

Chaotic inside - no chance of moving or buying a can of coke even. Worse though was a lad not 20 metres from us was stabbed in a fight (I didn't see it happen but knew something was wrong) and no paramedics could get to him due to the crush. Poor lad died. Awful to hear that news the next day.

After the gig it took us an hour to walk back to the car and still an hour to drive back. But other friends were still stuck in the car park at 7am.

Mind you, this sadly was the last live gig for Queen with Freddie so highly memorable for all the right reasons too.

 

I have to say inside was fine, no queues for toilets and plenty dotted around (anyone who has been to BST would know what a shambles that is with just one toilet right at the very back of the place) there were three huge main bars, with the one at the back labeled the biggest concert bar in the world (no idea if that’s true). Like most big gigs now they all had the snaking walk way system to get to them, so rather than queue ahead for drink you spend the time walking instead, which makes it more palatable. The queues did get slightly longer just before Liam Gallagher as everyone was trying to get a drink before he started. There was seemingly quite a complex barrier system that I’m still yet to work out as well, most places just have one surge barrier at the front with a pit, there were seemingly three or four sections and we ended up just behind the barrier for the second section, it was no effort to get to so we weren’t really close, but we’re level with the sound desk which is perfectly fine as far as being close enough. We managed to get out to get drinks and back to the same spot fairly easily a few times. It was also ‘only’ £6.50 for a pint, which is actually surprisingly good for a captive market in the current day and age, places like Cheltenham this year we’re nearly £8.

As has been said, it’s still an awful venue to get in to and out of though. As I stated above the best option would’ve actually been camping, the campsites were close to the arena and the bars in the arena supposedly shut at 1am, so you could’ve avoided all the hassle getting out, had a drink or two, let the crowd die down and take a leisurely 5 minute walk back to your tent and be straight out in the morning.

My mate actually booked a hotel in Stevenage before the gig was officially announced that was later cancelled (it was on watchdog apparently) but even that would’ve been a nightmare and taken 2 hours to get back to.

 

Liked for mention of the Ponderosa.

 

Me too. Was an Xmas treat with the folks to have dinner there then catch the panto at the Palace Theatre.

 

Oh no it wasn’t.

 

Going to an open air pop music festival is my idea of hell

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...eavy-on-swagger-but-definitely-lazy-h9mq2tkvh

 

Why? I still like it.

 

For all of the reasons listed in this thread, for one.

 

Is it better with a roof then?

 

Yeah, it means @Lloyd's girlish screams when he sees Harry Styles carry further.

 

Camping... 'street food'... crowds of people that haven't washed for days... mud... disgusting toilets... shall I go on?

 

Not to mention the music.

 

Showing your age mate.

 

Clickbait worked. You guys are so easy to get to hit 'like'

 

Well I worked at the Palace a couple of years later too.

If only I had mastered the art of linked purchases earlier in my career I could have made a fortune from the Meister family.

 

I am going to (a couple of days of) this festival at Blenheim Palace next week - hoping it will be a bit more civilised than what has been described above!
https://www.nocturnelive.com/
We're staying in an Airbnb nearby but it will still be a drive away, so I'm expecting some delays given the limited road network around the area, but I would think crowd numbers will be a lot more manageable than the Knebworth fiasco.

 

Please do.

 

Went to the canal festival a couple of weeks back in Rickmansworth. Couldn't get a cab home afterwards so just walked. Nightmare stuff.

 

I'm going to see Kings of Leon in Brum on Monday. I like them, but wish I wasn't. Even with the indoor mod cons I can't recall ever going to a 'gig' that I really enjoyed.

 

That's the opposite to me. Some of the best night's I've had have been gigs I've been to.

 

Surely you can afford for them to come and play for you in person at home?

 

Given their wavering support since their "sex on fire" peak, they may be up for that. But given I don't enjoy concerts, I'd probably go out for the evening.
You seem to think I'm very rich ?

 

Yep. It's all those foreign holidays you take, plus your vast garden in the shires.

 

They are reasons for me to now be poor
ps the garden is only in one shire. It's not big enough to span 2 or 3

 

The best gigs I’ve been to have undoubtedly been at small venues: the 100 Club, Half Moon and many more.

 

Best gig I ever went to was Chas 'n' Dave at the Great British Beer Festival.
I may well have over indulged.

2nd best was the Orb at the Albert Hall closely followed by Orbital at Somerset House.
I may well have over indulged at those two as well.