Promoter apologises over queues at Jimmy Barnes-headlined Wollongong show

Wollongong promoter Yours and Owls has made a public apology to disgruntled patrons who attended the Jimmy Barnes-headlined show at McCabe Park last Sunday.

The show also featured Ian Moss, Daryl Braithwaite, Diesel and Mental As Anything and was co-presented by Yours and Owls and Zaccaria Concerts.

Furious fans posted negative comments on the promoters’ social media page, and that of the Illawarra Mercury newspaper.

They claimed it took an hour to get in, and queues for the bar were between 45 minutes to an hour.

They also complained that some food stalls reportedly closed at 6:30pm and also of alleged sound and stage view issues.

Ben Tillman, co-founder of Yours and Owls explained that ticket sales exceeded 6000 – 1500 more than expected – and most of them had arrived at the same time.

He said in a statement: “I have spent my entire day personally responding to all those comments in the event and getting in touch with the people directly.

“We have addressed the issues & communicated it with them and 95% of the people were happy we reached out & the solution we gave them moving fwd.  

“We are incredibly disappointed to see the feedback and also disappointed in ourselves as organisers.

“We had 90% of the entire capacity of the event (around 6000 people) turn up bang on 2pm, which is unheard of. Usually crowds will fliter [sic] in over the first 3 hours of the event... not all at once, right on doors, so yes, we were unfortunately unprepared for that .... Which really sucks, and essentially is what lead to most of the other issues, i.e. the long queues & bar waiting times ... everyone came in at once, went to the bar at once & it was chaos.

“We didn’t run out of bar stock ... and food didn’t run out either, perhaps some vendors did, but there were multiple food stalls so no, didn’t entirely run out of food.

“We are disappointed that everybody didn’t have as good a time as they could have, the vibe in the park did feel good,  with majority of people having fun, dancing & having a good time, but the negativity of the social media did gain a bit of momentum throughout the day which is a shame.

“We have taken into account the feedback, been in touch with the people who made comments, and any emails that came through, and if anybody elsee [sic] does want to write in then best to email info@yoursandowls.com.au.”

On the day after, he had contacted the disgruntled patrons.

A spokesperson for Barnes told the Mercury that they were “surprised and disappointed to hear of these issues” as they had previously had “positive dealings with other outdoor events organized around Australia by this very experienced promoter.”