By Will Charley, Comment Editor
Motion, a night club popular amongst University of Bristol students, was forced to issue an apology after an event held last Saturday (23 February) became ‘dangerously overcrowded’, leading to many ticket holders being blocked from entering the main room.
At the event ‘The Blast: Andy C x Dark Nightz’, the promoters intentionally cued their drum and bass headliner, Andy C to play in the main room at the same time as Darkzy, their alternative headline act, performed in the Marble Factory, an adjoining room.
However, ‘hundreds’ of club goers who had already been let into Motion were then blocked by bouncers from entering the area where Andy C was performing in order to prevent overcrowding, despite many of those blocked having paid upwards of £25 for entry.
One attendee, Georgia Smith, stated that outside the main room, people were ‘pushing and shouting at the bouncers’, with the outside area being ‘dangerously overcrowded’ giving the club a ‘horrible vibe’. Another goer, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that they felt sympathy for the staff present, seeing at least one member of staff knocked off their feet by the large crowds.
Since the event, many of those who were denied entry to the main room despite owning tickets have left negative reviews on Motion’s facebook page.
One review written by Kate Balloch stated that she ‘decided to give Motion another go for Andy C’, but ‘clearly the event was oversold’, making this her last visit to the club. Another review, written the day after the event, stated that Motion was ‘massively overselling events recently’, evident since you ‘miss the event that you paid to see’.
A statement put out on behalf of Motion denied that the event was oversold or that overcrowding was an issue.
Other reviews called the event ‘an absolute joke’, talked of a ‘poorly managed’ and ‘dangerous’ one-way queuing system, whilst one goer stated that the event was so oversold ‘health and safety regulations were definitely being breached’. Numerous people have since stated their desire to never return to the club as a result.
A statement put out on behalf of Motion denied that the event was oversold or that overcrowding was an issue.
Motion stated that the site ‘has a licensed capacity of 4000 people across all rooms and several events have ran to this capacity without issues. For this show, The Blast who were the promoter’s of the event, sold just under 3500 advanced tickers and the total number of attendees on the night was 3262 staying well within the legal capacity’.
Motion also insisted that ‘club entry does not guarantee entry to each room during peak hours’, advising all clubbers to enter their desired room well in advance.
Nonetheless, the club recognised that more people desired to see Andy C than anticipated and stated that ‘Motion and The Blast would like to apologise to those affected’, saying it would take on the negative feedback.
Yet, disappointed club-goers who are hoping for a refund should not hold their breath. Motion said that it could not offer refunds as this was up to the discretion of the promoters, The Blast.
Featured image: Epigram / James Cleaver
Have you been similarly affected at Motion? Let us know below!
