The long-awaited U2 concert: Bigger than big

Spoke to some dude at McLaurin Parking today. He blamed everyone's Garmin. Asked me what route I took to get to Raleigh...said I-40. Asked how I knew to go to I-40. Said isn't that common sense? When you wanna go to Raleigh...you take I-40. Asked how I knew what exit to take. Finally figured out he was trying to find out if I had a Garmin/Tom Tom. Said that he thought most everyone going to the concert had one and it was telling everyone to go the same route. I said so are there alternate ways to get there? He said yes, but being from out of town you wouldn't have known that. He did some more BSing. Told him that we had a handicapped person in the car and no one could/would tell us where handicapped parking was. Everyone kept saying go down there and turn right. We did that like 6 or 7 times and never found the handicapped parking. He said he didn't know what happened there b/c they had several hundred places set aside for handicapped. We couldn't park off the interstate like everyone else and push a wheel chair to the stadium. Told the guy that from what I understood a big part of the prob. was that people didn't know parking was going to be $20....I didn't get an email from anyone and don't get the Raleigh newspaper....He said that actually charging $20 made traffic flow smoother b/c people usually have $20 in their wallet. Not sure what planet he lives on....Long story short he said I'm sorry, I've taken notes, I learned a lot by talking to you and will share w/ others so this won't happen again. Believe me Buddy...It won't!

It seems to me that the problem was 40. People who came in other routes didn't have trouble getting in or out. We came in on Trinity Rd with only a short wait. We left the same way with a slightly longer wait, but we were out of the stadium within 20 minutes of getting back into our car.
I feel bad for everyone, but this still boils down to planning and research. You don't go on vacation with only half your travel information do you? Don't you plan the actual trip to the location, too? Why isn't this the same. And the planning should include alternate routes.

We are completely furious at missing the entire Muse concert and getting to our $100 seats two songs into U2, all due to an inexcusable driving/parking situation and overall lack of organization! We (along with thousands of others) sat on the highway for 2 hours and 45 minutes to drive 6 miles from our hotel to the stadium. The highway was funneled from 4 lanes down to 2 down to 1 lane entering a venue that is supposedly capable of parking the RBC Center and/or Carter-Finley Stadium and not once did we see a sign or police officer to direct the chaotic, confusing, stressful experience.

We had to park outside of the official parking area on the street along with hundreds of others and climb through a forested area and run up to the stadium since the traffic had stopped. If we hadn't done this we would have missed at least the first half hour of U2.

It was a horrible beginning to an event that we had been looking forward to for a long time and what could have been a great experience. We are adults and left what should have been enough time to get to the stadium if Live Nation or the facility would have planned this better. What is confusing is this is a stadium that routinely holds huge college football games but didn't employ the same kind of parking plan.

To explain how ridiculous it was, after the show, it took us 10 minutes to get from our car back to the hotel. We don't think it's fair to pay so much for only half the concert all due to conditions out of our control and demand some kind of refund!

Oh - U2 was great by the way and proved why they are the best band in the world.

I haven't seen anyone else post about this yet. Being familiar with the stadium we parked in the business park area off Edwards Mill & Trinity Road. We got out of the stadium quick and walked to the car, and were well ahead of the wave of traffic leaving as we turned off Trinity onto Nowell Road to take us back to Highway 54. Got in sight of the light at Nowell and 54 aand sat through 4 or 5 cycles of the light, inching forwrd two or three cars every green light.

When we got to the intersection we realized why: the Highway Patrol had set up road blocks on both Highway 54 going towards I-40, and another one across 54 on Nowell before it connects with the Western Bild extension. The officer who looked at my license was polite and quick, but there had been a six or seven minute wait to get to him, and like I said we were in the early group of folks leaving.

What were they thinking? I know; let's see how badly we can screw up traffic leaving a big event. Think there is any chance to see them at the next NC State football game doing a license check of people leaving, or maybe Saturday night at the fair? Absolutely not. Amazing.

NCSU had nothing to do with the parking situation. They simply rented out their land. I called the NCSU transportation and spoke w/ a very nice lady who said she came to work this AM to find numerous nasty calls left on their voicemail. The people you need to call are McLaurin Parking (919 883-7522)....this was the company that was in charge of parking. She also said that a company called First 1 Event was incharge of the venue and of course the State Police were supposed to be directing traffic...but weren't. These are the ones you need to be venting too. Probably won't get any sort of compensation, but at least it will feel good to yell at someone. I've already called McLaurin and they are sending all the complaints to voicemail. I will keep calling until I get to talk to someone.

If you know anything at all about Carter-Finley events, you know that you have to start out early and expect to leave late. And if you know that there will be 60,000 people there rather than the usual 50,000 max that they usually have, you know that you better arive even earlier and stay even later. We didn't do the former, unfortunately, leaving the house (about 5 miles away) at 6 PM and getting in at 7:30. Bad, but not unexpected. We knew it would be worse leaving, so we just chilled and waited for an hour and a half, then were able to get out in about 10 minutes. Truthfully, C-F only has to handle these sort of crowds for football and the state fair, and they are events when folks arrive and/or leave in more-or-less staggered intervals. So I expected huge traffic problems, planned accordingly, for the most part, and knew I had to summon tremendous amounts of patience. Nonetheless, Raleigh will continue to be a second-rate city in terms of entertainment until we can get issues like traffic control (and figuring out that arenas should be build downtown, instead of on the outskirts of town, with public transportation options) figured out.

Wonder how many people missed the concert b/c of the traffic?

Planning is EVERYTHING! You are never going to get 60,000+ people into any facility in a timely manner as long as you are charging car to car for parking. In this case, add the fact that many people were angered at the $20 parking gouge (which was the same price charged for parking in Charlottesville two nights earlier) and you have the potential for some pretty angry patrons. I parked off Hillsborough street for nothing and walked. It was no big deal getting in or out for me. Then again, I knew what to expect and planned for it. People driving in from out of town don't really know what they are getting though and to them I say you need to get there even earlier than you think you do to avoid problems. Believe me, I know. Charlottesville was a nightmare parking for me.

At the end of the day...Its still U2. I am tickled they came and I think the evening was an enormous success, despite what a few malcontents have to say.

I live in town and arrived late, but had a great experience with traffic and parking.  I was invited by friends at 7:00 pm who had an extra ticket, made my way over via Youth Center and parked off of Merrit.  I didn't even have to pay for parking and still had time to tailgate for 30 minutes before U2 went on.  It was much easier than parking for a typical State football game. 

I don't like the chocolate cookies on the outside of an oreo cookie so I only eat the creme in the middle and throw away the rest. I wish I could have done the same for my concert experience last night. We drove from Charlotte and hit stand still traffic on the Durham side of the airport on I-40 at around 5:45pm. We sat in traffic for over an hour. I called my brother and his wife who were already in Raleigh and had made it to the concert with no traffic problems and told him it would be another 2-3 hrs before we would make it to the concert based on how far traffic was backed up and how slow it was moving. We saw a number of cars taking the emergency lane up to the North Harrison Exit and turning right. After watching this for about 30 minutes, we decided to do the same when we got closer to the exit and after we saw a limo head down the same route. We had no idea where we were going but just followed the limo and fortunately made it to the stadium in about 10 minutes arriving around 7:15pm as Muse was starting their opening act. It took us another 45 minutes to finally find a place to park and we sat down in our seats about 15 minutes before U2 went on. The show was outstanding-much better than I expected and the crowd was great!. The ride back was another nightmare. We were parked within a 5 minute walk outside the stadium. We started the car to leave and did not move an inch for over 1 1/2 hrs. Finally, we saw cars backing up and going in the opposite direction from where we were parked so we did the same and made it to the North Raleigh Hilton at around 1:10am-over 2hrs after the concert ended. As I said, the concert was great, but the ride there and back was inexcusable and a very poor reflection on whomever was in charge of the traffic control.

People can post all they want about "you should have arrived earlier", etc,,, but that doesn't address the reality that the traffic situation was a complete nightmare and made Raleigh look like a small time hick city to those coming from outside. I would be pissed too had I not only missed 1 song. We were 10 miles from the arena around 5:30 pm. It took 3 hours to get those 10 miles and park on the highway to get into the show. Preach early arrival all you want but 3 hours to go 10 miles is a severe infrastructure problem and the people complaining have a legitimate beef. I feel sorry for those who didn't make it like we did just in the nick of time....and there were many. I have never seen a traffic boondogle like this in my lifetime of concerts and big time sporting events. Total lack of preperation and many from outside of Raleigh I talked to said they would never come back to a concert there. I will think twice myself. The fact that the show sold out everywhere else and not there is an additional black eye.

The show itself was incredible though. U2 is in a league of their own and have never failed to put on an amazing show.

Are there some that should've left earlier? Sure. But I got to exit 283 at 636pm. I know this because I sent a friend of mine a text who was already inside to let him know that I'd be late getting there. Now, I know the stadium is off Wade Ave and not I-40, but for the purposes of this conversation, the stadium is basically off Exit 291. I got to the parking lot at 905pm. That's 2 1/2 hours to go approx. 8 miles. How is that bad planning on my part? And I left my job as soon as I could. It took me less time to leave the show, walk to my car, and get back to western Greensboro than it did to get from Harrison Avenue to the parking lot. How is that my fault for bad planning? Are there some that sat and waited until the last minute? Sure, probably. But just because some people missed 4-5 songs (as I did) isn't because we don't get out enough. Raleigh just sucks when it comes to big time events. Walnut Creek (or whatever they're calling it now) is the exact same way. A two lane road is the only way in or out? Seriously? But back to last night, Raleigh dropped the ball. Whether it was the Highway Patrol, the venue, I don't know. I don't really care. No one's going to "do anything about it" and it's over now. The show was simply fantastic. And the part where Bono gave the mic to the fan, I thought that was as unpretentious an act as I've ever seen at a concert. Apparently I disagree with the guy who wrote this article. I allowed more than enough time to get to the show, someone else kept me from enjoying it fully. That, and implying that it was my fault for not getting there earlier, is what ticks me off. It would take another U2 level act to get me to come to Raleigh again. And that's not being overly dramatic. You've proven time and time again you can't handle a crowd. Good luck with the fair!

we had a very different experience than most folks on here. Knowing 60,000+ people would be descending upon Cater Finley we made a day of it, got there before 3, tailgated with great friends who all came at different times but none of them had issues getting in and made the quick walk into the stadium. After the show we knew the traffic would be horrific so we all hung out and talked and then drove out after the traffic lessened and were out in like 3 minutes...you just have to know what you're getting into and plan for it i suppose....we did and had a fabulous time all around!
As for the parking price we have been to many shows at Walnut Creek and they add like 7 bucks to each ticket for parking so with a car of 4 people you are actually paying 28 bucks!
Also, the audience member sang "People Get Ready" not "Stand By Me" as someone wrote in an earlier post....and I loved it!
Great show and day overall....
I would do it all again in a minute!!!!!!!

I'm seeing a lot of comments chastising people for not getting to the venue early enough to avoid traffic issues. That only focuses on the issue of pre-show traffic. The situation was just as bad--possibly worse--AFTER the show. We sat in our wooded "parking lot" for well over an hour, watching all the cars not moving. Once we finally got to the road, we got a better view of even more cars not moving. Then we saw people running into the street, beer cans in hand, desperately waving money at a taxi driver, hoping for a ride. All of this happened right in front of an SHP officer, who I know was basically helpless because he was alone in the middle of the traffic, doing the best he could to get us all out of there. It was almost another hour before we made it to the highway. So, is the suggestion there that we should have left the concert early to avoid traffic issues? I've been to U2 shows in Atlanta and Charlotte and have NEVER seen traffic problems like the one I saw last night. The concert was great and I would see U2 again in a heartbeat--but not at Carter-Finley or the RBC.

You guys knew you were going to show where 60,000+ tickets had been sold, right? It kinda makes sense to leave a little earlier and not take the exact same route as everyone else at the last minute. How many lanes would we need to get 60,000 people through a given point at the same moment?

Loved the audience member singing.

We drove in from Asheville, NC and were parked and tailgating by approx 5:30 or so. Took us about 10 minutes to find a place. We even had time to grab a quick bite to eat on Hillsbrough Street before we parked. We also were able to make it back to I40 West in about 10 or so minutes after the show. Zero complaints about our experience but I feel like we were very luck.

As for the show.....I have seen hundreds of shows from Radiohead to Metallica to Neil Young to Tom Petty to Phish to Widespread Panic and last night was probably the best show I have ever seen. Incredible.

The show:
I love U2 and enjoyed their music, but boy were we ripped off, paying $250 for what LiveNation and Ticketmaster consider to be the best seats (lower level, side of stage). Why did U2 even bother putting up that outer stage and bridges if they were only going to use them for one minute. If U2 wants to have $250 seats, then they should give these people some more attention than the people who only paid $55. I could have seen the same show for the $30 ticket. And was it just me or did Bono's voice sound distorted and drowned out by the band? I loved the 360 jumbotron and the band had great energy. Great song mix. I had never heard of Muse before and thought they were awesome.
The traffic:
EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN TRAFFIC AND PARKING WAS GOING TO BE BAD AND SHOULD HAVE PREPARED. Come on, it is there first large venue in what - ever? And come on - it is U2 so get there early and if you want to avoid the exiting and traffic nightmare after the show, then leave early!
The stadium:
I don't understand why they wouldn't sell more food and beer.
Next time:
Please return U2 next time to Charlotte, NC where they have two new stadiums downtown with lots of parking, no traffic, good food and Irish Beer!