Hurrah!
When we arrived at the venue Just after 5pm, Twang was chatting to the Box Office people so we stepped inside to say "hi" and ask about queuing. In that conversation, he said to me; "Little cameras are allowed but big cameras won't be unless you have a photo pass". I said; "You have got to be joking, after what you said on Facebook quite a few will be bringing SLRs". At this point he turned to the venue staff and explained that the promoters and performers were all happy for SLRs to be used because they like the fans to share photos. One of the staff then undertook to phone somebody (I don't recall their name) and square it with them.
Full marks to Twang for sorting it in the end but it was heading the wrong way there for a while. Which is a shame because so many of the things that annoyed (or could have annoyed) the paying customers could and should have been predicted and resolved in advance.
Everyone knew that a lot of people were heading that way and yet they allowed 30 minutes from doors to kick-off.
There is
no way on this planet that the 800th (or even the 500th) person could have got in, been frisked, been stripped of all biscuits, looked at the Merch desk, got a drink, maybe nipped to the toilet (after all that standing in the cold) and got into the hall before Frost* hit the stage. No way.
Celebr8 suffered a similar delayed entry problem, which makes this re-occurrence harder to fathom, but hopefully the lessons have really been learned this time.
Just my novice view, of course.
