Pink plays to sell-out crowd in the heat at Alton Towers
ALTON Towers says it has not ruled out holding more music concerts after successfully playing host to pop superstar Pink.
The 30-year-old American singer-songwriter performed in front of a sell-out crowd at the theme park as part of her first stadium tour of the UK and Ireland last night.
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An audience of 28,000 people attended the event, which was staged on a lawn close to the park's entrance.
The gig, part of Pink's The Funhouse Carnival tour, has now got the theme park thinking about holding other events.
A park spokesman said: "The combination of world-beating rides and spectacular backdrop makes the Alton Towers Resort a unique location for this kind of event.
"We are always looking into events that provide our guests with unforgettable experiences."
Pink, real name Alecia Beth Moore, was supported by VV Brown, Hockey and Butch Walker. And her concert proved a hit with pop fans visiting the park.
Joanne Hales, a 29-year-old mother-of-one from Barmouth Grove, Brindley Ford, said: "Pink was absolutely amazing.
"She has a great voice and is a very good performer.
"At the start of the concert she emerged out of a box hanging off a crane.
"It was a great evening and I hope Alton Towers puts on more concerts like this.
"I'd love to see Take That performing here."
Karl Wallbanks, aged 25, of Bentilee, said: "It was a great night and the whole crowd had a good time.
"I think it's a good idea to have big concerts at Alton Towers, because it's much better than travelling to arenas in Manchester or Birmingham."
The concert came a month after the park's 30th birthday was marked with an 80s concert featuring Rick Astley and Kim Wilde.
Alton Towers has held a number of concerts over the years, hosting stars such as Tina Turner, Wet Wet Wet and M People, but Pink's was the first major one since the late 90s.
Villagers said the event had seemed to pass without much disruption.
Stella Heritage's house in Castle Hill Road lies close to the park.
The 71-year-old said: "I was expecting a lot of noise. It was pretty loud, but nothing too bad.
"I know people like their pop concerts and I wouldn't mind two or three a season, but I wouldn't like it if they were held there every month."
Councillor Edwin Brindley, of Uttoxeter Road, Alton, a member of Alton Parish Council, said: "I could hear the music when I was in the garden but it didn't bother me. The traffic wasn't too bad either.
"It was a big improvement on previous concerts."
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by Dedicated, Liverpool
Wednesday, June 30 2010, 1:14AM
“Everyone is commenting that there were no AT staff on the walk to the car park or in helping the car parks to exit...that's because there were large numbers of staff standing at the theme park exit taking wads of £5 cash by hand for car park tickets! Unreal that they were still charging for car parking then - at a time when the crazy queues had already clearly started.
Of course there will be queues - I'm no novice at this and I'm not naive...but there should have been staff on the car park exits. There should have been staff along the walk to the car parks too. They shouldn't have charged for concert parking in the field. Whilst the were watching the crush to leave the park - could they not have opened staff/trade exits?
I saw several fights break out and can only imagine how many people bumped cars on that field. Yes that's sad - but it was a long day and most people seem to have enjoyed several hour long trips home after managing to escape.
It could have been better AT and I think it would help to admit that. I think the police could have helped you more. I saw even less of them which scares me a little to be honest.
The AT staff throughout the day were v polite and friendly to us.
Good job P!nk is so amazing
Hope there's a better evacuation procedure
PS the 2 AT staff girls who were standing in the middle of the road taking parking tickets and contributing to the queue whilst laughing and openly moaning about angry customers in previous cars at 1am - not too bright.
Better luck / woman in charge next time”
by Lee-anne Flewers, Lincoln
Tuesday, June 29 2010, 12:55PM
“Successful? they think they were successful?!! I have been to a lot of gigs, and a lot of p!nk gigs and this was the worse organised one I have ever attended!
Yes, P!nk was amazing.
However , Alton Towers were appalling! They were so disorganised and had not prepared or anticipated this concert at all.
No-one appeared to know what was happening, and we had several different version of events from several members of staff.
They had no concept of queuing (which is a shock when that is their core business!)
I have heard several accounts of people being man handled.
We were told that those with park tickets would not get priority treatment in the queues, and they did.
I am very surprised they didn't have more trouble because people were so annoyed it was ready to kick off!
The organisation for the car parks was chaos - many people taking several hours to get out the car park before a long drive home!
I will never go to Alton Towers as a concert venue again and they shall be getting a strongly worded complaint from me!”
by beverley cairns, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Tuesday, June 29 2010, 12:38AM
“i would like to add my comment earlier does not affect pink or her team what so ever they are and always have been amazing! it was not pinks security or any of pinks team causing these problems, it was alton towers and event staff booked through alton towers, they need to think long and hard before booking another event i will not be returning to this theme park again people were physically hurt by security including myself a lady was hit in the face and i had my arm pinned against a barrier which i had had surgery on on monday and was assured by security i would be safe this was definately not the case and i had to return to hospital this morning to have my arm re stitched. if there was some order there would of been no violence and less problems, lets face it if this was someone hitting someone else in a supermarket or pinning someone against a wall in a supermarket the police would of been called and charges pressed, this was no way a success for the theme park and I think these comments need to be sent to the senior management. AAs a result of the injuries i sustained i had to leave the park and missed the full show. this is not about money for me but the fact there was physical violence from a person who is supposedly trained in crowd supervision. there is a facebook group created where we will be updating with the correct people to send official complaints to. please join and add your comments. we are awaiting a reply from alton towers staff with contact names and numbers of the highest management.”
by Beverley Cairns, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Monday, June 28 2010, 11:54PM
“i would like to add my comment earlier does not affect pink or her team what so ever they are and always have been amazing! it was not pinks security or any of pinks team causing these problems, it was alton towers and event staff booked through alton towers, they need to think long and hard before booking another event i will not be returning to this theme park again people were physically hurt by security including myself a lady was hit in the face and i had my arm pinned against a barrier which i had had surgery on on monday and was assured by security i would be safe this was definately not the case and i had to return to hospital this morning to have my arm re stitched. if there was some order there would of been no violence and less problems, lets face it if this was someone hitting someone else in a supermarket or pinning someone against a wall in a supermarket the police would of been called and charges pressed, this was no way a success for the theme park and I think these comments need to be sent to the senior management. AAs a result of the injuries i sustained i had to leave the park and missed the full show. this is not about money for me but the fact there was physical violence from a person who is supposedly trained in crowd supervision. there is a facebook group created where we will be updating with the correct people to send official complaints to. please join and add your comments. we are awaiting a reply from alton towers staff with contact names and numbers of the highest management. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=139002732783706”
by Laura Gelder, Goole, East Yorkshire
Monday, June 28 2010, 11:48PM
“Pink was truly amazing, as she always is. Alton Towers did indeed provide a wonderful backdrop for such a visually spectacular show.
However, I'm sure Pink would be rather annoyed to hear that so many of her fans were let down by the abyssmal organisation when it came to getting out after the show. Travelling from Yorkshire, we had decided to stay overnight in a nearby hotel and it's a good job we did. The concert finished at 10.20pm and we finally left the car park at 2.10am. Alton Towers should be ashamed of themselves for making thousands of people pay a fortune for food, drink and particularly parking, then employing their parking attendants to simply stand there and wave their arms around (trying to look important). We didn't see ANY staff until we were travelling through the gates as we left. It was very poor and, although we managed to keep our cool, was very annoying for everyone concerned.
A venue such as this should be used to dealing with high volumes of people but they really let themselves down. "It's to be expected" is not a consolation.
I think Pink would definitely be disappointed to hear that her loyal fans had their nights marred by something as trivial as traffic! Everyone should have left on a high but it was clear that no-one felt particularly elated by the time they reached the gates.”