Silver – that’s lovely too...
iAarhus hosted a rather chaotic Metallica concert on Friday 13 July 2007.
Others have reviewed the music itself, so I’ll focus instead on the event.
The organisers actually got off to a good start with an excellent website containing all the necessary information.
We chose to take a shuttle bus from Banegården, and despite a queue all the way down Banegårdsgade, we were able to board a bus quickly.
This worked brilliantly, and if we’re ever to have a new coach station in that area, the shuttle bus service should definitely be factored in.
Anyway, once we’d arrived at Vestereng, there was quite a long walk to the entrance gates, which were located on the opposite side of the concert site to the bus stop. The walk was over in no time, though, and the helpful security staff got everyone checked in quickly.
The venue was rather uninspiring, with generic signs (Kebab, Hot Dogs, Drinks, etc.) on containers placed all the way round the concert site.
The only thing that broke the monotony was a couple of branded bars from Corona and Cult respectively.
Early on, the evening’s first annoyance arose. Apparently, they were insisting on a cash-only system across the whole site, and Dankort users were directed to withdraw cash at a few select locations. Fair enough, but the capacity here was hopelessly inadequate. Not only were there too few locations, but there was also only one machine per location. We had to stand and wait for about an hour. Fortunately, we had a bit of cash, so we were at least able to get a beer whilst we waited
It’s simply not good enough.. When other events (such as the George Michael concert) can have debit card machines at every bar, surely it’s possible here too..
The concert started, only to stop again shortly afterwards. Someone had tripped over a cable, or perhaps someone had forgotten to pay a bill. The power did come back on after about a quarter of an hour, though, and people got to hear what they’d come for.
The shuttle bus system was, of course, hopelessly inadequate for transporting 50,000 people away all at once, so it turned into a walk into town.
Vestereng is quite suitable as a concert venue, but the local council has decided to stop using it out of consideration for the forthcoming major hospital right next door.
The local council is therefore looking for an alternative location. In this context, it should be borne in mind that, realistically, such a venue can only be cleared by a mass exodus. The venue should therefore not be situated any further away than Vestereng, and ideally it should be within, say, 3 km of Banegårdspladsen.
This effectively leaves only 4–5 alternatives:
The stadium area, where Århus Elite is currently planning a large event venue at Travbanearelet.
The Godsbane area, which is being considered for a future multi-purpose hall but could also accommodate an event venue.
The Botanical Gardens, which are probably not suitable for this purpose.
The area around Eskelund.
The waterfront, which, however, will cover a maximum of 2 ha, compared to Vestereng’s 10 ha
In addition, there is, of course, Tangkrogen, which is already used as an event venue.
The council is working on alternatives over the summer.
All in all, a reasonably successful event, though it did have a few minor flaws.
Hopefully, we’ll see more events of the same calibre in future, and hopefully the organisers will improve over time.
A permanent event venue with semi-permanent installations and a fixed ‘concept’ would clearly help to address the challenge.
In that light, Århus Elite’s idea for an event venue linked to the stadium is particularly interesting.