mickey_d

Well, went to our first Mission Concert yesterday, wow, what an eye opener that was. Loads of folks in their 70's & 80's having a lovely time sipping wine & picnicking from 3 o'clock onwards. Had a great time chatting with all the older folk around us & we were joined by a group of expats from Auckland similar age to us, which was fun!!
Rod Stewart was the main event, starting at around 8.30. Until then all were sitting down on their deckchairs & rugs, sheltering from a couple of rain showers along the way listening to the support entertainment.
As soon as Rod came on it became apparent how much wine & beer had been consumed in the previous 5 1/2 hours!!! It was like watching your toddler taking his/her first steps, staggering around, falling flat on their backsides , tripping over their deckchairs & coolie bins!!! One old fella, must have been in his 80's, came strolling right though the middle of us not having a clue where the hell he was, he continued on, completely destroying a group of peoples food & drink they had standing on a rug just behind them!!
The lovely old ladies we were talking to in the afternoon had now transformed into word slurring, legless wino's, falling into each other & talking crap.
When it got to the end, it was unbelievable watching them trying to pick their stuff up & walk away, made worse by there not being much light!! At least we managed to make a quick getaway armed with a torch. The Mission has quite a big slope at the back, god knows how the 1000's on there got on, especially with the grass getting wet. I'm sure my wife will find out some casualty figures this afternoon when she gets to work!!!
I must admit, it was quite funny at times, but also a little embarrassing seeing so many old people so drunk.

BTW, Rod Stewart was amazing, one of the great entertainers

shirl

Glad you had a good time and that Rod Stewart was good but re the old folks ....like the saying goes "when I die I want to get to the purly gates on a sideways slide saying Wow what a ride!" I expect they are just living life not knowing when their time is up and you can't really blame them for not sitting indoors with their pipes and slippers watching TV but having the gumption to get out and enjoy themselves albeit too much drink was involved when you would think at their age they would be wise enough to know when they have had enough lol!!!

mickey_d

I'd be surprised if many of them can actually remember seeing Rod Stewart at all.
One old chap in a flat cap "stood" with us for 10 minutes before he realised we weren't the people he came with, he's probably still there now.
The drunkeness beats any concert/festival I've ever been to.

sparkie down under

you obviously haven't been here that long !

For some reason most people at the mission make it their mission to get as pissed as possible.

You should have seen it when you could bring in our own booze !!! We used to run a tote based on seeing the time the first ambulance came.

Bo-Jangles

Sounds like my idea of hell!

I 'spect a good deal of the them got into cars and drove home.

love30stm

My friend managed to get in and see the last hour of Rod for free by using her womanly charm

mickey_d

OH was working in ED for the previous 3 concerts. Last year was the first year you couldn't take your own booze & was the worst she had seen. Apparently this year was even worse, plaster reserves were seriously eaten into!!

sparkie down under

Hi

I'm surprised. We've been to the last 6 and the worse one's (for pissed people), were most definitely when people could bring their own drink - but then I don't work at the ED so your OH would know better than I.

It always amazes me how the kiwi culture welcomes binge drinking at events like the Mission. We recently went to see Roger Waters the Wall and I was astonished at the amount of people who couldn't sit in their seats for just one hour without having to get up, interrupt the whole row, spoil the 'experience' for many, so that they could get another drink!

I wrote to Vector about and I am still waiting for the reply - I'm guessing it will be 'toughen up'.

cappuccino

The last concert I went to was spoilt by the selfish drunk girls near me who were dancing with drink and spilling it everywhere, including all over me. I asked them politely to be a bit more careful and they were so rude and intimidating. Really spoilt my night