CityLife

It was rubbish and it sounded awful.<br />

After seeing P!NK in the M.E.N. Arena last year, to say I was looking forward to her show in Bolton would be the understatement of the century! Last year P!NK astounding fans by putting on a spectacular show which was unrivaled by any other major contemporary artist. However, what we got this time around, for more of our money, was a lack-lustre performance, very little of her acrobatics which she treated us to before, or those who seen her a few days earlier at a gig which was not even her own, a venue which is clearly inexperienced at hosting major concerts/festivals and a sound system which must have been borrowed form the local bingo hall.<br /> <br /> The set list chosen was interesting to say the least. She sang most of her best songs first so there was not much to look forward to other than the expected acrobatics. These of course did not form part of the show other than her travelling over the crowd on what seemed to be the apparatus from the Mary Poppin Musical and rolling over the crowd in a ball. The ball was then dumped by the right hand side of the stage blocking the view of everyone on that side of the stage. This did not cause us too much annoyance as we were used to not being able to see her, apart from on the large screens, as most of her show was performed at the back of her stage so those either side could not see her for most of the time. The stage was huge she could have used more of it and performed to more of the crowd. When she did try to crack the odd joke or two these were nearly inaudible due to the poor sound quality of the sound system. I enjoy a drink as much as the next person but the drunken state of a large proportion of the people within the stadium was at the detriment to us who did try to remain sober enough to enjoy ourselves. There was a scuffle in the area in which we were stood and numerous drunks who were in a sorry state trying to "befriend" us...NO JUST GO AWAY!!!<br /> <br /> I imagine that P!NK must have made quite a lot of money from her show in Bolton as she must have got the venue for little or nothing given the obvious inexperience the Reebok Stadium seem to have holding major events. There was no stewardship on arrival at the stadium directing fans where to go. The toilet situation was a farce, female fans used the male toilets and urinals and on one of my visits to the toilets a crowd of drunken women jeered guys on to expose themselves which they did do in front of children queuing to use the same facilities. The "Beer Hall" closed halfway through her performance therefore if you wanted an over-priced drink you had to queue at one of the smaller tuck-shops within the stadium and miss most of P!NK's performance as one of our party did due to the queues being so long. I imigine the Beer Hall closed early in order for the staff there to pile into the stadium to watch the remainder of the show as there seemed to be lots of the food and drink servers in the standing area near the stage towards the middle of her performance. I suggest in future that if they want to watch the concert the do like the rest of us did and purchase a ticket!!! They were being paid to serve us that did pay for our tickets and they should have been doing so!!<br /> <br /> The biggest show of the night was the pantomime which followed the concert. The ongoing lack of stewardship and direction/signage, policing and transport was beyond a joke. Yes we maybe should of planned things better but no amount of planning would have brought the time to get out of the car park down from two and a half hours or alleviated the problem of hundreds of people waiting at the train station for the only four trains remaining of the evening. You would expect that if a place is allowed to hold major events they would have looked at these problems before hand. Droves of people not familiar with the area walking, where we imagine, was towards Bolton to find a way to Manchester or surrounding areas. There were lots of young girls of less than 16 or 17 years old walking the streets trying to find their lifts home or walking to Bolton for a bus, coach, train...anything being jeered at and whistled at by passing boy-racers, they must have been very intimidated. I imagine that even the slightest bit of planning would have avoided these problems and maybe I would not have had to pay £65 for a taxi back to Manchester. Venues were available in Manchester that evening but obviously these must have been too expensive…or large.<br /> <br /> After this experience I doubt I will pay for another P!NK download, concert ticket album…anything ever again there are artists out there who are continuing to treat fans to amazing shows. I am extremely disappointed and let down by the Funhouse Carnival and feel stupid for recommending her and convincing my friends to come with me to the tour as she did not deliver this time round and did not live up to our expectations.<br />

I thought the Pink concert on Saturday night was one of the best gigs I have ever seen! Thank you Pink!<br /> <br /> The only thing I was disappointed about was that I had read that her opening number was going to be Get This Party Started and she was supposed to be coming out of a box above the crowd with wings on. I saw the box on the side and it seemed to be attached to the crane ready... but it just never happened and the number was missed out completely.<br /> <br /> Does anyone know why?<br />

she was dire simple as that i wont go again......ripped off crap venue no toilets facilities over priced food/ale,doors didnt open untill 5pm ppl stood roasting in long staggedered lines several hundred feet out side,why did they not open the doors and i mean all the doors like on match days,poor show and sound....most people i spoke to said they wont pay again,and manchester had venues avaliable on that date but pink wouldnt be able to afford either mufc or mcfc stadium yet fill a quater of it.......rubbish total rubbish.<br />

I just cannot agree with the previous review... having done over 30 outdoor concerts in Europe, this was my first in my hometown of Bolton and I’ve previously seen P!nk at the MEN twice last year on tour and this outdoor show didn’t disappoint in the slightest! The concert was good value for money, the previous reviewer seems to have forgotten to mention the two hours of support acts that warmed up the crowd before hand, okay so that might not be your cup of tea when you’re paying to see Pink but you where still entertained for your £45 ticket, it’s your own choice if you choose to enjoy yourself or stand around like a wet dishcloth!<br /> <br /> Pinks 90 minutes on stage were as enjoyable as her previous shows, she never seems to disappoint her long time fans, the ones that queue all day to get to the front (not me, I’m not that much of a Pink addict, but I know how they feel...!) and I can relate to the massive buzz they get when there artist comes on the stage and give it her all like Pink did on Saturday night. She didn’t disappoint and I am certain people enjoyed themselves.<br /> <br /> As for lack of transport, the concert has been planned for months, and people who had tickets should have made plans on how to get home before hand, yes Horwich (where the stadium is) has a train station; yes perhaps extra trains should have been laid on, on buses... but you cannot blame the concert venue or Pink for transport issues, that I’m afraid is down to the individual ticket holder for not planning ahead and making appropriate arrangements. I’m managed perfectly well before to get home from concerts on many occasions in foreign countries using these things God gave me called legs... your legs could have walked you to Bolton town centre where you could have got the number 8 night bus back into Manchester... :)<br />

I went to see PInk at MEN at the end of last year, and it was one of the best concerts I've been to. So, when she came back and did an outdoor arena tour, I was expecting bigger and better from her. Instead, for