Nine people were stabbed and one person died at the Swedish House Mafia headlined Bloc Weekend 2012 festival this past Friday, July 6. Two people have been left seriously injured with one man age 23 being arrested in relation to the stabbings. In addition, one man who remains unidentified at this time, has died from a suspected drug overdose. The BBC reports that the man, 20, attempted to seek medical attention at 19:00 BST and later died at the hospital.
Bloc closed early Friday with concerns over overcrowding and safety causing a cancellation on Saturday. The official response from the promotion team is that rain caused the cancellation and not issues stemming from alleged over-ticketing.
“One of the bars ran out of Budweiser by 10.30pm and the sound quality in the main arena was also very poor. The atmosphere was so strange because everyone was so pumped for the event and were trying their best to make it a great event but it was increasingly becoming more difficult.” – Gigwise
“I was at the concert & I left by 8pm. It was a horrible experience- from the moment we arrived in Heuston station I didn’t feel safe. Entering the concert was unnerving as it was like being in a mosh pit before we even got in. It seemed like everyone around us was completely hammered already. When I made it to the ticket checkpoint I witnessed a man flash a fake ticket then make a run for it. There was nobody there to chase him. The woman checking tickets was visibly anxious & upset. Once inside I witnessed several people dragged out by security, & one brawl that involved about eight people- with ONE security guard trying to control them.” – Comment section in Independent.ie
“By now everyone will have heard that Bloc 2012 was closed due to crowd safety concerns. We are all absolutely devastated that this happened, but the safety of everyone on site was paramount. Given the situation on the ground, we feel that it was the right decision to end the show early. Bloc will not open on Saturday 7th July so please don’t come to the site. Stand by for full information on refunds.” – Bloc
Bloc also included performances from Tinie Temphah, Snoop Dogg and Calvin Harris. Some of the media labeled America as dance music killers, but the happenings Friday at Bloc 2012 in Dublin are disturbing. We will continue to keep you updated.
Gardaí is encouraging anyone with additional information to contact them at Blanchardstown on 6667000. Thanks go to PlanetIvy.
Edit: Maybe doubling the size of the festival had something to do with the issues. Excerpt from Skrufff.
Skrufff: your capacity of 15,000 is over double previous events: why such a huge leap in size; how do you avoid diluting the overall experience?
Bloc (Alex): “Well we used to cater for 6,000 experiences at once and now we’re providing 15,000 – this to me looks like a manifest improvement, thought I suppose it does depend on your experience of experiences.”
Share On
