WHINGERS OUT OF TUNE
YOU just can’t please some people. The Gold Coast finally gets to host a world-class concert in its own backyard, accompanied by clear skies and free public transportation, yet still there are complaints on social media.
While the consensus is that Queen, fronted by born showman Adam Lambert, truly did rock us, negative comments from a vocal minority of concertgoers range from the music being too loud, the screens too small, seats too far away, seats not high enough … and it took too long to get home. Seriously?
First of all, the music is too loud? It’s a rock concert, guys. If you don’t like loud music, either don’t come or pack some earplugs. (Apologies to my daughter for forgetting to pack earplugs. Although she didn’t complain, she just stuck her fingers in her ears and partied on.)
As for the rest of these “issues”, well, most are actually completely under the individual’s own control. After all, you chose your seats.
When I purchased four tickets in the upper stands at the very back in row Y, I can’t say I was surprised to discover that my seats were in fact in the upper stands at the very back in row Y.
Incredibly, they were exactly where the Ticketek preview map had indicated they would be.
In fact, the only surprise was what a great view we actually had, despite being so far away.
But it’s the complaints about the free buses that truly baffle me.
There were 40,000 people there, a crowd unlike any the Coast has ever handled. And as the seething mass of bodies exited the stadium, I thought the level of organisation was terrific.
It’s not like we left any earlier or later than anyone else, our family of four just linked hands and wormed our way out of there – stopping to tie the odd shoelace and fill a drink bottle – until we made it to the buses bound for Broadbeach.
The first few bays were busy but we just kept walking until we were waved into a relatively vacant line, where we quickly boarded and then disembarked at Pacific Fair less than 30 minutes after the encore.
We crossed the road and called an Uber, and while we waited for all of three minutes until it arrived we even managed to buy an ice cream for the kids to soothe their throats after all that cheering.
I was snoring well before midnight.
Sure, this is only my experience, but I’m hard pressed to understand how people were waiting hours.
Was it really that bad or do people just like to whinge?
Even if there was a wait, the fact is that there were about 40,000 people leaving at the same time. It’s not quite the same process as departing from your own home.
Sure, there is always room for improvement – and here’s hoping we get a chance to do just that, with promoters now eyeing the Coast for more gigs.
For our family, the night was an unqualified success.
We loved chilling on the lawn with friends and choosing from plenty of food and drink options. (Again, if you just walked a little farther than the first few bars there was literally no line. And no, the drinks weren’t cheap – but it’s a stadium event, what do you expect?)
I’ll admit that I do have one complaint. The guy sitting next to us in the stands had the worst breath I have ever smelled in my life. Forget about being rocked, I was nearly dropped – it was that potently pungent. If I had those earplugs I would have jammed them up my nostrils.
But that’s not what I choose to focus on (because it would actually make me vomit if I did). Instead, I treasure those awesome memories with my husband and kids – and the unity with our city, as we all sang from the same page.
If I could do it all again this weekend I absolutely would. No complaints.