What makes a good concert? Taylor Swift 1989 World Tour

Last night I attended Taylor Swift’s concert in Hyde Park London with 65,000 others, needless to say it was one of the best gigs I have ever been to.. T Swift sure knows how to put on a good show!

Instead of writing a review of the concert itself (basically everything = amazing!) I want to talk about what makes a good concert for a customer, and by that I don’t mean the actual performance but the overall experience you have at the event.

Let’s start with pre-event information:

You want to know exactly what to expect when attending the gig/concert, be that an email before-hand with timings, directions and general information. A section of the website stating what you can take and what you can’t.. this means you can prepare and plan ahead to make your day even better. There’s nothing worse than loading your bag with some tasty snacks only to be told you can’t take them inside! It's also good to receive the tickets in plenty of time, to save you worrying about them not arriving.

The venue:

When I talk about the venue I’m not talking about how good the acoustics were or how good the seats were. I’m talking about the venue from an operational point of view. Was it easily accessible by public transport? Were you able to find your seats quickly? Was there enough signage eg directing you to the foods/toilets etc? Speaking of toilets, were there enough of them? My pet hate at any event is having to wait in an hour long queue to get into dirty toilets! Was there a big crush to get out or was there a free flowing exit? These aren’t things you often think about when planning a good concert but they are very important to the overall experience for the spectators.

The staff:

Were the staff at the venue helpful and knowledgeable, could they answer your questions and if not were they able to find someone who could? Venue staff play a critical role in shaping the event experience for a customer, one rude staff member can put someone off a venue/event for life. Most of the time event day staff are contractors as opposed to full time venue staff so it is important they are briefed thoroughly and have access to enough information to allow them to do their job properly which sadly, is something that doesn't always happen.

Space:

An issue that a lot of people have at concerts, especially at standing concerts, is space. For claustrophobic people, or people with anxiety being crushed in a crowd is their worst nightmare. Are there appropriate spaces at the back where people can get some space? Are there people on hand to get someone out if the crush becomes too much for them? This is a big issue at concerts and

Huge screens at Taylor Swift

one which I feel can ruin the experience for people if they spend the whole time worrying about being squashed, or being elbowed and stood on the whole time. Now of course you can’t expect to be in the front row of a standing concert without being crushed, however there should be enough space for people who are happy to stand further back perhaps closer to an exit without fear of being injured or scared, preferably with a big screen to watch.

Safety:

Boring I know, but is has to be clear as soon as you get to the event where the fire exits are and where you should go if you need help. Whether it’s a huge stadium or outdoor event such as this one, or an intimate gig in front of 50 or so people it’s vital that everyone is made aware of this information even though it’s unlikely that they will have to use it.

Well that’s enough from me for now – is there anything else that you can think of that makes a concert that extra bit special? (bear in mind this has nothing to do with the quality of the act… for us event managers singing and dancing is something which we cannot control!)

Special guests included Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid