AC/DC Wembley July 4. Dreadful sound quality. Refund possibilities

Fatfingers

I bought Powerage when I was 16 (I've just turned 50). I've seen them twice before. I know most of their songs intimately – hell, I can play most of them. So I bought four tickets to see them at Wembley back at the start of the year and went on the fourth. I was particularly excited as I was taking my 13-year-old son to his first ever gig. I'd Googled the setlist a couple of weeks before and made a playlist of it. The tickets cost me £280.

We were seated quite high up towards the side of the stage (I opted for seats because of my son). When the band came on it took me several seconds to work out what they were playing. At several points in the gig I had to consult the playlist on my phone to see what song they might have moved on to. Even Brian Johnson's chit chat in-between songs was just an echoey, indecipherable noise.

If I'd been on my own I'd have left. And I love AC/DC. But the sound was so bad it was painful.

Back in the day, you paid your 15 quid to go and see a band, the sound was shit, and you went home again. But these tickets were 70 quid each, never mind the cost of getting to London (£100 train tickets) food etc. And I don't think that's acceptable. If it's the case, as it seems likely, that the sound on the ground in front of the stage was okay, but rubbish in the seats we were in, I don't think those seats should be sold.

I want my money back. I paid a lot of money to hear AC/DC live, and I couldn't. Does anyone (and I'm hoping there are some legal types on here) have any experience of getting a refund following a concert with crap sound? I know you can now get refunds in New Zealand and Finland, but I can't find any incidents of it in the UK. However, the Citizens' Advice website says:

'An event is a service which should by law be carried out with reasonable care and skill. If there are problems with the quality of sound or visual aspects of the event, you can argue that reasonable care and skill has not been used, and may be able to claim money back for the cost of the ticket.'

I've emailed the promotors of the show and they basically say everything was fine.

not_the_dj

Big gigs in stadiums rarely sound great, big bowls like that are just rubbish acoustically (it's a sports stadium after all)....but it can differ a lot depending on there you are.

I saw Springsteen there two summers ago and it sounded great, but I was on the field in the golden circle close to centre, but I read people on forums saying how awful the sound was further back.

Big gigs are great for the atmosphere and the "event" but pretty rubbish if you just want to sit there and listen.

bloodandtears

It pisses me off that this is the only option these days for the big acts... festivals are the only way to get value for money in my eyes

Danny1969

It depends on how much money the artist want to spend on PA coverage .... Roger waters at Wembly stadium was the best live sound I've ever heard but cost a fortune in equipment and rigging

Sometimes it's not the artist to blame as they sell the tour to a third party for a lump sum and then all that is not their responsibility

I feel sorry for you though it's a lot of money and might leave the kids thinking all live gigs are gonna sound bad

digitalscream

Went to see Soundgarden in Islington last year - basically the same thing, only we spent an hour walking round the whole O2 and still couldn't find a single spot where it sounded good. We even stood right next to the mixing desk, where the problem became apparent - the sound guy was wearing in-ears! I'm sure he was mixing it perfectly for his headphones, but outside of his head it was so awful that it was basically impossible to make anything out at all.

Fatfingers

Did you try to get a refund?

digitalscream

Fatfingers said:

Did you try to get a refund?

I was going to, but honestly...it was quite a cheap ticket, so I figured that the hassle wouldn't be worth it. We left and went to the awesome chicken place round the corner, and waited for our very drunk mates to stop having a good time.

We heard of somebody else trying to get a refund (happens quite often there, I think), and they failed utterly.

Fatfingers

It seems crazy. If you paid £70 for anything else and didn't get it - or it was broken, didn't work, whatever, you'd be fully entitled to a refund. I can't see why this is any different.

Hopefully a legal brain will chip in at some point and suggest a way forward.

Danny1969

There were many many complaints about inaudible \ intelligible sound when Eminem gig-ed Wembley Stadium, so much that Wembley released this statement :

 “We are aware of some sound issues from earlier tonight & have monitored & adjusted it where necessary.

"We thank you for your patience.”  

No one got a refund as far as I know though!

Horatio_Caine

I remember going to see them at Wembley when they did the Black Ice tour.  The sound wasn't the best then either in my view, however I did proper enjoy myself and being 18 at the time didn't really care if the sound wasn't the best, I just remember it as being one of the best nights of my life if not the best, I was in standing near the front and it was just mental.

Probably the worst sound I heard was from Motley Crue when they were with Def Leppard who were the main act.  Def Leppard sounded amazing and clear, everything came through great.  Same couldn't be said for whoever was engineering Motley Crues sound, you'd get a better sound if you amplified a wasp, even Steel Panthers sound was better.

not_the_dj

Where was that @Horatio_Caine ? I saw the DL/Crüe tour at the NEC and it was the same as you describe.

thomasross20

Not quite the same but we queued for about 1hr 30 mins after "doors opening time" in the freezing Scottish cold to see Billy Idol not long back. 

Maynehead

I went to see Metallica in 2007, 8th of July coincidentally, and I was also seated, towards the back left corner of the stadium. From the sounds of it, I had the exact same experience as you. The sound quality was terrible, mushy and boomy. I could hardly tell which song was playing.

Maybe Wembley just has really bad acoustics. I went to see them in the O2 and it was much better, although I was standing right up against the railings that time.

Horatio_Caine

@not_the_dj It was at both Sheffield Motorpoint and Manchester Evening News Arena (I think it is sponsored by someone different now) which were the two venues I went to see them at on that tour.  I'm sure I remember quite a lot of people saying the same thing about how noticeably bad Crues sound was, it really did stick out compared to the other two bands sound.

Fatfingers

Having had this experience I agree - Wembley almost certainly does have poor acoustics. But if that's the case, they shouldn't have gigs there. You wouldn't hold an F1 race on a dirt track or a football match on a hill.

Still hoping a lawyer on here might advise as to how to go about claiming a refund.

Gassage

You have no hope.

If they refunded it would signal the possibility of a Class Action lawsuit against Bob Dylan for 40 years of inaudible concerts.

Fatfingers

I don't accept I have no hope. Very little, maybe. But if people in Finland and New Zealand can now claim refunds for bad sound quality then there's a chance it could happen here.

not_the_dj

Did people cheer, did they get an encore? I very much doubt just a few complaints will have much hope of being heard.

Fatfingers

Yes on both counts. As I said; the sound in front of the stage was reportedly okay. But there's a stream of people on Trip Advisor and Ticketmaster complaining about it.

Reverend

I suspect it was where you were sat.

Most of the comments I read were about how goodbye sound was.

Skipped

I am not a lawyer, but here is how it looks to me:

If Rhianna can get get away with appearing on stage 90 minutes late, with the the result that Children have to leave the show early, and are making a miserable train journey home at the exact moment that she is performing Umbrella and her "good stuff",  and she can get away with this,  with no refunds.........I don't think you have much chance.