I bought a “no view” ticket to The Weeknd concert at the National Stadium. What a sham it was

It started with suspense. On Tuesday, August 8, i.e. the day before the highly anticipated and sold-out The Weeknd concert at the National Stadium, I received an unexpected e-mail from the organizer: “Unfortunately, due to production changes, your seats have been changed. New seats and QR codes to enter the event are visible in the application “. In the case of seats behind the stage, and therefore without a view of the front of the stage and the stadium, it is difficult to talk about “unfortunately”. This ticket cost PLN 221.

A “no view” ticket to The Weeknd concert at the National Stadium

After looking at the map, the change turned out to be rather cosmetic, because from the K11 sector and the first row in the lower grandstand, I was moved lower, to the neighboring grandstand in the D9 sector, but in one of the highest rows. Expecting to spend two hours staring at the technical scaffolding and security guards circling to the beat of the overwhelming echoes of the music reflected from the concrete and glass structure of the National Stadium, I felt surprised at the view from my new spot. Yes, I saw the back of the stage as much as possible, but not the front at all. So I could admire the oblong screen from the side, or how the dancers and the band enter the platform and that’s it. It also turned out that the sectors directly behind the stage were empty – greedy capitalism, however, did not go that far.

I must also honestly admit that the team responsible for the set design and production of the event made sure that all participants of the event had something to look at, regardless of how poor seats they found at the sold-out concert. For the entire length of the slab, from the main stage, there was an elongated platform with a gigantic silver sculpture of a naked woman in the middle and a huge glowing balloon moon at the end. Dancers in white, airy costumes and, of course, the artist himself danced happily around this construction. For a moment I even thought that it’s not so bad, because I see much more than I expected. The tactically arranged lighting effects from the floodlights on both sides of the platforms did the so-called work, bursting flames were also planned (but let’s face it, after Rammstein concerts such fireworks do not impress me in particular) and by the way we got glowing bands, so the whole stadium blinked very effectively with various colors. It was very nice.

The Weeknd at the National Stadium photo: J. Bryczkowska / Gazeta.pl

And then I decided to walk along the grandstand to see where the music could be heard best, i.e. least badly. Then I discovered what I couldn’t see from my seat, and I felt stuffed. The decorations on the main stage – silver dummies of city skyscrapers – were really fancy and for nothing they could not be seen on this tiny big screen directed towards my stand. Seriously, the most extreme sectors near the stage should not go on sale, or be EVEN cheaper, because PLN 220 is not enough money. And here you get a visually deficient experience. This is a huge minus, because we all know that the sound quality at the National Stadium can be disappointing, deafening or possibly cause depression for people who know what they don’t hear. And there was still a lot of space on the slab under the stage, maybe more tickets had to be sold there – for less crazy prices.

The Weeknd at the National photo: J.Bryczkowska / Gazeta.pl

Nevertheless, watching people in my sector having a great time, and remembering how many sad people walked along the National Stadium with a note informing them that they would like to buy a ticket, I come to the conclusion that people would buy tickets for this concert even to the garage under the stage. And the really gathered crowd looked picturesque. When I entered the Stadium, the queue to the gadget shop (they sold, for example, sweatshirts for PLN 550) stretched several meters. The booth stood near the main gate, and the tail ended near the nearby playground. In fact, the large audience effectively shouted over the sound system when Mr. The Weeknd said that he loves us all, how great we are or, for example, because he took off his mask. Their love for the performer was great – I am even more indignant that he finished playing exactly at 11 pm and there were no encores.

The listeners even turned a blind eye to the fact that before the main performance, the trailer of the series “Idol” flew on the big screens, in which the musical star of the evening plays the main role. The problem is that the production has extremely poor reviews – the rating from reviewers on Rotten Tomateos is 18 percent. (even “Meg 2: Deep” with giant sharks and Jason Statham on a small jet ski has more) and 41 percent. from viewers. The audience at the National Stadium forgot about this clumsy product placement even before the first bars sounded, because you could already see the musicians heading to their positions. Here, in fact, the “no view” sectors served as signalers, because we had an insight into the backstage.

The sound is such that even the most sophisticated fireworks will not catch up

Already during the support, I knew that the acoustics in my sector are not crazy. The bass buzzed and trembled through the soil, the vocals creaked, and the rest of the sounds spilled out in a deafening echo. As a professional acoustician once told me, the National Stadium is the most suitable place for concerts of sacred music, so the most pleasant sound for the ears was the cheers of the crowds that spread elegantly in the space. But when enthusiastic fans fell into ecstasy, it was already necessary to cover the ears.

The Weeknd was better, but I’m not sure what exactly the artist was saying to us on the mic most of the time. Statistically speaking, I’m convinced that, apart from lyrics, the most frequently mentioned word by him was undoubtedly “Warsaw”, sometimes “Poland”. The response from the audience was fantastic and the joy was really contagious. Everyone did a great job singing the next few songs, but I’m sad to say that I didn’t have the slightest chance to appreciate the artistry of the band. If I hadn’t seen the saxophonist on the big screen, I wouldn’t have known he was playing. A really cool guitar solo literally itched my ears – a million times better sound experience is provided by the speakers in my mom’s car. And The Weeknd is just a performer whose music is best listened to loud, because it rocks well to have fun. I would like to emphasize, however, that in terms of the atmosphere, the concert was really explosive, I didn’t notice that anyone was really sitting in the stands. But my ears didn’t squeak like that even after the performances of Metalica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Behemoth or Rammstein.

However, I decided to check if I really got the worst sound sector and circled the middle stands. In the course of this experiment, I determined that the sound hurts the ears least in the middle sector. There was also the coolest view. And if I spent a few hundred on a bleacher vis a vis the stage, I’d be seriously pissed off. The stage there was almost entirely obscured by that glorious balloon moon. I think that from my place “without a view” I saw more.

The Weeknd at the National Stadium photo: Gazeta.pl

However, the music sounded best in my opinion in the corridor leading to the women’s toilet at the height of the first row of speakers – but the door had to be ajar to filter out the noise. His editorial colleague, editor Marcinkowski, who listened to the concert from the luxurious tribune opposite the stage, maintains that the sound there was terrible and in his opinion the music sounded best in front of the stadium with the toi-toiach. It’s not worth overpaying.

Even the moon gets wet

The National Stadium should definitely serve as an arena for some maritime disciplines, of course not because it is located right next to the bank of the Vistula River. The construction is extremely susceptible to water absorption. And since it was raining heavily in Warsaw on August 9, I expected the stadium’s surface to be covered with a network of picturesque puddles. Let us remind you that when the Red Hot Chilli Peppers played at the National Stadium in June, the roof was open and it was raining inside, so the participants waded more or less happily in the rainwater.

There were explanations that with an event with so many participants, the roof could not be closed due to fire regulations. Interesting that there was no such problem now. Ironically, however, it turned out that closing the roof did not necessarily help. On my way back from the concert, I overheard other attendees telling each other that the roof was leaking and water was dripping onto the inflatable moon. In fact, after the concert, I noticed that it was suspiciously saggy. I took a picture for proof.

The Weeknd at the National Stadium – a soaked balloon photo: J.Bryczkowska / Gazeta.pl

I already mentioned that glowing wristbands provided eye-pleasing visuals, but these little devices are a hassle. They are theoretically disposable, because they are programmed for a specific concert and will not be useful at other events, and they are made of materials that are difficult to recycle. Therefore, the organization of the event should be praised, because the staff collected wristbands from the participants after the concert. Not that I’m just complaining, let me say that the casserole from the stadium window was quite edible, and walking over the closed bridge to the city center is a very nice experience when there are no people with flares around.

I honestly admit that when I bought the cheapest ticket for this concert, I did not expect to have a good time. But since I expected to see nothing and hear nothing but buzzing noises like nothing, it’s not such a surprise that I had a good time. However, low expectations are the key to success when you go to a concert at the National Stadium.