“It was a complete let down for the people in the balcony.We could neither hear or see properly coz the stage was set too far with 2 small screens which were as bad. I could see people running in excitement to the show and being let down by the distance of the stage and unclear screens.lots of them went home in the middle of the show. COMPLETE DISASTER from where I was seated.” says Shiraz (Concert Attendee)
As the first act ended, minor fights broke out around us as security was seen hauling off a few enthusiastic fans, while men and women were standing up on chairs, yelling at those in the front to stop blocking their views of the stage. As the show concluded at 1.40am and the weary audience gathered the rest of their reserved energy to make the trek to their cars, never in the history of covering live events has this reporter found so many takers seek her out to jot down their views on the show.
With a capacity of 20,000 people in the stadium, several opined that less than 7,000 had probably attended the Bollywood event; while others complained the positioning of the stage setup in angle to seating was so skewed that those seated in the extreme left and right of the stage couldn’t even see most of the performances.
Middle-aged VIP ticket holder Ayesha Khan said: “Zero to the organisers; this is a fish market. I am sitting in the second row of the concert and I was still forced to see most of it on the giant screen because of the angle of my seat and the ridiculous stage setting. And when the screens stopped working in between, even that little I could see stopped.”
The distressed woman asked the question that was on many minds last evening: where was the security?
At one point even the stars were in shock, as a crazed fan managed to thwart security as he leaped up on stage in the grand finale to hug Shah Rukh.
A minor tussle later, the fan was escorted off the premises.
Tareq Ashfaque, who attended his first Bollywood show, said: “I am in shock. Does this happen all the time? People crowd around the front rows and those who have spent thousands of the dirhams to sit up front are unable to even see what is happening on stage?
“All I managed to see clearly was the posterior of the man standing on the chair in front of me. And after three arguments, even I didn’t see the point of it all.”
Those sitting in the Dh99 seats were just as frustrated.
Rakesh Prasad, who came there with his wife and two children, said: “The screens were too small for us to see clearly. And when it went off air at intervals, we couldn’t even see parts of the show.
“The acoustics were just as bad. It was complete waste of money.”
But the night wasn’t a damp squib for all of the audience members.
The beaming smiles and the stories that Kirti and Hazel took home with them has certainly ensured that Shah Rukh has made fans for life.
Emirates 24/7