Pandemonium Festival Gold Coast: Complaints over toilets, blanket rule

Music fans have hit out at a ‘ridiculous’ rule enforced at a concert on the Gold Coast played by Alice Cooper and Blondie.

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Music fans have hit out over a “ridiculous” rule enforced by security guards at the Pandemonium Rocks event on the Gold Coast.

Conncert-goers who had paid out at least $190 to see Alice Cooper and Blondie at the Broadwater Parklands on Saturday said they were stunned to be confronted by security for sitting on towels and blankets.

“He came to our group and said if we wanted to sit on something we needed to go where everyone who had chairs was. I questioned him and said ‘if we’re not sitting on a towel we can stay here?’ And he said yes,” one disgruntled concert-goer said on social media.

“It was and is the most ridiculous thing that I’ve ever seen happen.”

A security guard allegedly telling concert-goers they would have to move if they wished to sit on blankets at the Pandemonium event at the Broadwater Parklands on Saturday April 27. Picture: Dale DAFF / Facebook

Another person said she was told she would have to move if she wished to sit on a towel she had brought.

“I was sitting on a towel. So I stood up, wrapped it around me like I had got out of the shower and sat back down,” she said.

The same issue was reported by a woman who had brought a rain poncho.

“Yeah a few of us were sitting on my rain poncho and were told to fold it up,” she said.

The view from the area where seating and blankets were allowed at the Pandemonium concert at the Broadwater Parklands. Picture: Lisa Mayer / Facebook.

According to the attendees, they were told to move to an area designated for people who had brought seats to the concert which was a considerable distance from the main stage.

While the performance of the bands was widely praised, with Alice Cooper’s set described as “incredible”, the issue was not the only one to frustrate festival-goers, with reports of insufficient female toilets provided.

“Not enough toilets, what a fiasco. Disgraceful event,” one person commented on social media.

“And they ran out of toilet paper,” another person said. “Some were waiting almost an hour to use the loo. Food trucks ran out of food halfway through. What a joke.”

The problems came after a series of dramas in the lead up, including the loss of seven of 13 acts including Deep Purple, Placebo, Dead Kennedys and Gang of Four from the line-up. Organisers offered partial refunds or free tickets to ticket-holders angered by the changes.

On April 20 the organisers were forced to issue an apology after a data breach saw personal details including names, email addresses and bank details of people who applied for the partial refunds accidentally leaked.

Photos of an accessible viewing area that many said looked more like a “cage” for patrons at Pandemonium’s Sydney show also provoked anger on social media. Controversially, the show took place on Anzac Day, and was forced to move from a CBD venue to Sydney Olympic Park after objections from RSL NSW.

Following events in Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast, Pandemonium Rocks concludes on Sunday with a show headlined by Alice Cooper at Eatons Hill Hotel in Brisbane.

Organisers Apex Entertainment have been contacted by the Bulletin for comment.

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