Posted by: Bev Tuesday, 10 January 2012 7:37 AM[UAE] - South Africa

I was visiting from South Africa and was shocked at lack of organisation. The lines to get in and then out again were frustrating because of lack of organisation. Because I thought Coldplay would start at 10pm I did not even get a drink because lines for food and drink were as bad as the traffic. I waited at Hilton for hours for a taxi and eventually concierge advised me to get a bus and walk to my hotel at other end of Corniche. I arrived there at 3.45am not having had even water to drink from 8pm. Talking to many people they felt it ruined their New years Eve. Coldplay and the fireworks were awesome though.

Posted by: Mick Wednesday, 4 January 2012 1:26 PM[UAE] - UAE

Outside of Coldplay's always meticulous and perfect execution of their concerts.....there wasn't much else in the plus column for Flash. I realise that they are Abu Dhabi based but AUH is an absolute nightmare for events. The roads are jammed with obvious leisure drivers (a ton of young local guys from what I saw) that just clogged up traffic to just get in the situation and ogle at the crowds. Many, while waiting 4 hours for a taxi at the Hilton, were just driving constantly into the entrance and out just to gawk at the queue worsening the traffic. Our taxi driver, when we finally got one, told us that RTA gave most the night off realising the chaotic situation that would arise from 30K people leaving a venue at once with no taxis. Last event in AUH for sure. The exits at the venue were small arches that everyone had to squeeze into. I don't care if Cobain or Mercury come back to life and play....never again in Abu Dhabi. Oh and the boring, copy and paste DJ at the start...ugh

Posted by: Mark & Anne Insole Tuesday, 3 January 2012 4:03 PM[UAE] - UAE

Like Sydney, we attended the concert-which was FANTASTIC-but were disappointed by aspects of the organisation.

Although we had to queue for 2 hours to get in, even though we already had our tickets, the real frustration was the queue-jumping that went on as we reached the gate. All credit to all those who waited so patiently and generally in such good spirits. We expected a long delay on the way out: the logistics of the location and numbers involved made this inevitable. Hopefully the event organisers will learn from this.

However, what was TOTALLY INEXCUSABLE was the utterly offensive choice of music played immediately before the band took to the stage: The track was completely inappropriate, containing foul and offensive language, and ideas, and was a disgraceful choice for a mixed-age audience in a muslim country. Flash should publish a full apology in the national press to Coldplay, the concert audience and the public in general. Not the image Abu Dhabi should portray.

Posted by: Sydney Tuesday, 3 January 2012 12:13 PM[UAE] - UAE

I attended the concert and it was a nightmare.... reaching the destination took us 3+ hours in the corniche area {From Dubai it took abt 1-1/2 hours to reach Abu Dhabi}. Enjoyed the concert, but getting out of the Corniche was a nightmare for us it took us another 2 hours. Only ONE lane was open for thousands of people to get out..... WHICH IS MEANINGLESS and COMPLETE INEFFICIENCY of the organisers and the Traffic Police Dept. Will NEVER EVER attend programmes organised by this event company. We completely forgot the beautiful music due to the pain of reaching out and getting out. ZERO marks for the organisers.

Posted by: Tony Tuesday, 3 January 2012 4:02 PM[UAE] - UAE

Fully agree with Sydney about the carparks - the inability to move traffic was farcical. We had lorries blocking trying to get into the carpark that thousands were trying to get out of. There was no evidence of a traffic system by the organisers or the police. It took 80 minutes to get out of the carpark and another hour to get off the complex onto the Corniche. 3 hours after leaving the concert we arrived back at Khalifa City. It was a complete joke.
Coldplay were awesome, however they did only play for 80 minutes and missed some great songs like Speed of Sound. However Chris Martin was very appreciative of the crowd and his status as a rock star, and did not behave like so many of them do. He was most gracious and the band and music were fantastic.
Flash messed up the orgainsiation at the exit where there were too few exits - not that it mattered as the incomptenece of the Traffic Police meant that we were all going to be log-jammed anyway!