Real Concerts Shifts the Blame :: Official Statement

Its quite clear Real Concerts are running and hiding from the shitstorm that is erupting over their handling of the Johannesburg leg of this weekends Faithless tour, for a bit more of the back story check out our previous post here. Real Concerts have been under attack from thousands of unhappy fans who are inundating their social media pages with demands for refunds after what sounds like a disastrous event on Saturday night.

Some of the concerns raised by attendees on Facebook and on our own site have been quite serious such as Cathleen who had this to say on Dont Party;

“The very real issue, despite our thirst and lack of fresh air, is; The extremely dangerous bottle neck entrance and exit into the main concert hall. It verged on stampede and panic, and I cannot believe that any local authority or Fire department would have approved that as a concert venue strategy. To make partons wait until 19h00 to open the main gate was a commercial conundrum, surely you want feet in your lounges and bars for as long as possible, buying drinks, food, T-shirts, and drip feeding the crowds into the venue to reduce congestion?”

We’ve all seen what can happen when events go wrong and promotors dont plan for events effectively, the Love Parade in Germany was a far larger event but it still shows how poor planning on the part of the promotor can lead to severe injuries and even death. Real Concerts seems at odds with these concerns and merely apologised for any discomfort attendees may have had to endure, which in my opinion is pathetic!

Real Concerts had little more to say than

REAL CONCERTS STATEMENT RE FAITHLESS CONCERT AT GALLAGHER ESTATE 5 FEBRUARY 2011

Real Concerts apologises for any discomfort that some of you may have endured at Gallagher Convention Centre on Saturday night. We have promoted concerts for over 20 years and have never had a situation of this nature. We have always ensured that the public are well protected and comfortable, and we rely on those companies that we have contracted to provide these services.

Real Concerts met with the Gallagher Convention Centre who were responsible for venue, bars and catering, and Eyethu Events who were responsible for security and access control, to investigate the event on Saturday night. Real Concerts are not in a position to comment on their behalf, kindly visit their respective websites for their comments, which will be available from 10am on 8th February 2011.

Eyethu Events Statement

Eyethu Events wishes to extend a sincere apology to Faithless concert attendees for the substantial delay at the ticketing checks and turnstiles on Saturday evening at Gallagher Convention Centre. Notwithstanding satisfactory processing of initial attendees through the gates and into the bar and food complex, the technical and safety concerns which were being dealt with, necessitated the halting of all access and ticketing control at the main gate for approximately 30 minutes, which resulted in a build-up bottleneck at the main gate. Once the venue was cleared for access, the turnstiles were re-opened, but unfortunately the number of turnstiles we opened was ineffective and security staff inability to deal with the pressure resulted in spectator frustration and not being able to open additional access control points will be regretted for some time to come. We once again humbly apologise.

Gallagher Convention Centre still has not put up a statement

It’s quite clear Real Concert have no intention of offering refunds or even trying to make amends for what appears to be one hell of a disaster. It appears they’re more concerned with shifting the blame over to the two companies they contracted for this event. Its going to be an interesting story to follow, because there are a lot of unhappy fans refusing to let this go, and rightly so…

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