Spice Girls (8 Viewers)

[Mcbean]

Rolling Stones gig for me was a great night out - yes we had to q to get out but expected that - so late people prolly caused it - wooden getting pissed up before and taking too much time to put their make up on !

 

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[torchomatic]

The problems are caused mainly by stupid, rude and dangerous people. Stupid in the way they arrive, drive, park...,rude in the way they drive, push in and behave and dangerous in the way we need such security to combat the threat from a certain section of our society !

LOL. True to form.

 

[OffenhamSkyBlue]

On the subject of lavs, women have long used the "traps" in the gents, particularly at rugby grounds, but i remember them doing it in the gents under the Main Stand at the WT end of HR.

Wembley have managed this by making the vast majority of the bogs what has become known as "gender-neutral" (i.e traps not urinals), and they switch the signage when there is an event that would be dominated by women (mmmmmm!). The problem with the Ricoh is that they didn't plan for this, so installed too many urinals/troughs, so they can't switch them round (unless they sell "She-Wees" at massively inflated prices so all the girls can pee standing up too!!)

 

[Esoterica]

to be honest there are some horrendous stories emerging on social media including over aggressive security and poor treatment of disable people attending the event.

The key word in that sentence as ever is social media so it's not gospel but if even some of the stories are true then it's out of order so I'm trying not to revel in the schadenfreude too much.

Well yes of course I'm certainly sympathetic to any individual who had an unpleasant experience on the back of splashing a load of cash to go to a concert like that.

I have 3 main feelings about it:
Disappointed for anyone who has had a shit night out when it was supposed to be a fun evening
Gutted that my city has gone down in outsider's estimations because of the cuckoos.
Pleased that this might be a further nail in their stripy coffin

 

[SkyBlueScottie]

It shouldn't be difficult to organise people getting in and out of the stadium. You can easily put up barriers making people queue, zig zag the barriers which has a controlling effect of the amount of people who are stood at the turnstile, set up bag search areas before people enter the queue... To be honest, it just sounds like there are a couple of people permanently employed to run such events, while everything else is covered by agency staff. Who have not had any real instructions.

 

[covcity4life]

Wait....wife? I thought you were about 12?

Yeah and shes 8. So what?

 

[MusicDating]

It shouldn't be difficult to organise people getting in and out of the stadium. You can easily put up barriers making people queue, zig zag the barriers which has a controlling effect of the amount of people who are stood at the turnstile, set up bag search areas before people enter the queue... To be honest, it just sounds like there are a couple of people permanently employed to run such events, while everything else is covered by agency staff. Who have not had any real instructions.

Yup, saw the Strokes at Victoria Park last week and it was brilliantly organised. Toilets outside before the queues to get in. It did take 30 mins to get in, but airport style security; even emptying pockets, so felt safe as inside. Loads of bars and toilets so no queues. It's not difficult if the organisers put the effort in...

 

[ajsccfc]

Is this the first time this has happened? They've had the massive gigs there before with Take That, Bon Jovi, Chaka Demus & Pliers and the like but I don't remember this kind of thing.

 

[Esoterica]

Travelling up to Prague to see the Smashing Pumpkins on Thursday, will report back on the differences!

 

[OffenhamSkyBlue]

Is this the first time this has happened? They've had the massive gigs there before with Take That, Bon Jovi, Chaka Demus & Pliers and the like but I don't remember this kind of thing.

Probably don't get bigger than the Rolling Stones! No problems on this scale there, IIRC!

 

[chiefdave]

Is this the first time this has happened? They've had the massive gigs there before with Take That, Bon Jovi, Chaka Demus & Pliers and the like but I don't remember this kind of thing.

Catfish and the Bottlemens tour manager had to get involved and basically take charge of the stewarding to ensure everyone got in before the band played.

The MTV event was apparently a bit of a disaster, people absolutely hammered, fights etc with nothing being done. That was a 2 year contract but the second year never happened.

Every time there's a big event there you see a lot of complaints on social media but they seem to have outdone themselves last night.

And of course there's now several events that have been cancelled. Add in that in the next few years there will be the new Commonwealth stadium in Brum and I think Wasps have a lot of reason to be concerned about their ability to continue attracting this sort of event.

 

[chiefdave]

It shouldn't be difficult to organise people getting in and out of the stadium. You can easily put up barriers making people queue, zig zag the barriers which has a controlling effect of the amount of people who are stood at the turnstile, set up bag search areas before people enter the queue... To be honest, it just sounds like there are a couple of people permanently employed to run such events, while everything else is covered by agency staff. Who have not had any real instructions.

This. Its easy to say 'a lot of people turned up what do you expect' but other venues have similar crowds without these issues.

The issues last night were predicable as they are largely what we experience week in week out but we put up with it and have got used to it. A crowd who normally attend places like the nec aren't going to be impressed.

Lets face it whenever a couple of thousand extra turn up on a matchday its chaos yet other grounds happily cope with far bigger crowds. Back when we first move to the Ricoh and were getting much bigger crowds we didn't have these issues. Clear indicator of where the problem lies for me.

 

[Nick]

The telegraph have put up an article saying how extra train staff were drafted in last night for security but the Daily Mail can get a full article out?

Must be waiting for a copy and paste from Wasps.

 

[fernandopartridge]

Another thing that crossed my mind about last night is the Ricoh pitch. No wonder it's a mess, most teams have dug theirs up and prepared the ground for next season by now

 

[Nick]

Another thing that crossed my mind about last night is the Ricoh pitch. No wonder it's a mess, most teams have dug theirs up and prepared the ground for next season by now

Monster Trucks on it next week?

 

[fernandopartridge]

How many pages in the Coventry City chat can we get to on a shit show of a Spice girls concert. Are we getting some sort of smugness out of it? Is that the point?

Yes

 

[ajsccfc]

Monster Trucks on it next week?

Serious? Don't toy with me here

 

[Nick]

Serious? Don't toy with me here

Deadly! There are Monster Trucks at the Ricoh next week. Pitch Prep.

 

[oucho]

I bet if Richard Wright of Pink Floyd was still alive and they reformed for a few concerts, they'd pack every venue out! There are some that have had the following and always will, and others that are shite!

That's a big IF. The remaining trio could still tour without him but they won't because Gilmour and Waters won't tour together.

 

[chiefdave]

Serious? Don't toy with me here

Will do the pitch the world of good
Monster Jam

 

[chiefdave]

The telegraph have put up an article saying how extra train staff were drafted in last night for security but the Daily Mail can get a full article out?

Even if they're going to ignore the chaos and inconvenience to those attending surely opening gates and making it a free for all (lots of tweets saying people with tickets for the seating areas got pitch access as checks weren't in place) and not doing even the most basic of searches is newsworthy.

 

[ajsccfc]

It'll be the biggest car crash since Darius Henderson was through on goal

 

[fernandopartridge]

The entertainment committee at Wasps is like something out of Phoenix Nights

 

[fernandopartridge]

Even if they're going to ignore the chaos and inconvenience to those attending surely opening gates and making it a free for all (lots of tweets saying people with tickets for the seating areas got pitch access as checks weren't in place) and not doing even the most basic of searches is newsworthy.

They stopped searching bags at one point, which I imagine is a breach of the stadium safety licence for the event

 

[We'll_live_and_die]

Deadly! There are Monster Trucks at the Ricoh next week. Pitch Prep.

This week Nick.

Can't wait for that, me and the little man are going. As long as it's not a farce like the Manchester shows I'll be happy.

 

[SkyBlueDom26]

More Bad PR for wasps, how unfortunate ha

 

[Bertola]

It shouldn't be difficult to organise people getting in and out of the stadium. You can easily put up barriers making people queue, zig zag the barriers which has a controlling effect of the amount of people who are stood at the turnstile, set up bag search areas before people enter the queue... To be honest, it just sounds like there are a couple of people permanently employed to run such events, while everything else is covered by agency staff. Who have not had any real instructions.

This is exactly what we said last night, whilst queuing up for an hour to get in. Even the Memorial park does something like this for Godiva and it's runs so much smoother

 

[Nick]

A spokesperson for the Ricoh Arena said: “The first night of the Spice Girls was a fantastic occasion and everyone is really looking forward to tonight and a repeat performance. It was a fantastic start to what should be a very memorable summer for Ricoh Arena and Coventry.

“We would urge people to arrive as early possible as Jess Glynne will be on stage at 7pm. Around 25,000 were inside the main bowl in time to see Jess last night which is the highest number of people we have ever had to watch a support act.

“We opened up additional entrances to get people through as quickly as possible but with security checks and it being a mid-week date, we would urge people to get to the venue as early as possible.

“We have turned the majority of gents toilets into female loos, have hired additional portable toilets and also put on added additional facilities in the Green Room at the Ericsson Indoor Arena, so would urge people to use those as well.

“As with every large concert, onsite car parks are held for pedestrians to leave site safely before we move any cars. That is standard practice, people are notified in advance of the lockdown and we appreciate their patience.

“There was an initial delay in moving traffic due to a broken down lorry at Rowleys Green roundabout at the end of the show, something which is beyond our control, but did cause problems.

“We will be debriefing ahead of tonight’s concert to see if changes are needed. Doors open at 5pm, and our Green Room is open from 3pm, so again we would urge people heading to Ricoh Arena tonight to get to the venue as early as possible.”

Pretty much ignored everything and blamed people for getting there late.

 

[chiefdave]

They've released a statement now which is basically nothing is our fault, all standard procedure, nothing to see here.

Anyone who has ever attended an event elsewhere will see straight through that but once again it shows they have no interest in constructive criticism and making the required improvements.

 

[chiefdave]

Pretty much ignored everything and blamed people for getting there late.

I'm going to predict that when they play Wembley and there's more than three times as many people there the same issues won't occur.

 

[Nick]

Surprised they haven't said the ball is in the Spice Girl's court.

 

[fernandopartridge]

Pretty much ignored everything and blamed people for getting there late.

It worked for David Duckenfield

 

[OffenhamSkyBlue]

It worked for David Duckenfield

Time will tell on that one, FP, but the judge regarded it as a significant factor in causing the sudden crush outside the turnstiles (when giving his judgement on the Club Secretary)

In Ricoh's press release, they say "but with security checks and it being a mid-week date" - WTF does it being midweek have anything to do with it? Do they mean rush hour traffic, perhaps?

 

[Nick]

Chris loves to stick the boot in.

 

[OffenhamSkyBlue]

Chris loves to stick the boot in.

"Awe full" LMAO!