Tag Archives: Justin Bieber

Big Concerts Sweet Service and MyCiti Bus Sour Service Awards!

The Sweet Service Award goes to Big Concerts for its smooth handling of the Bon Jovi and Justin Bieber concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, which saw about 55000 excited Bon Jovi and ‘Bieber Fever’ fans (with their poor parents) filling the Cape Town Stadium on each of the two evenings.  For the Bieber concert, special care was taken for the young ticket holders, information desks having been set up, as were cellphone charging points, to enable them to remain in contact with their friends, and with their parents waiting for them outside. Kfm also provided tips to their young listeners, advising them to not bring umbrellas (regarded as weapons of mass destruction), to be warmly dressed, and to have contact details of their parents on them. Bieber’s 39 million Twitter followers were exposed to brand name ‘Cape Town’ four times during his stay in our city, a massive free marketing bonus! If only the traffic in the city centre and the V&A Waterfront could have been managed by them too! The traffic police were visible close to the Stadium and in Green Point, ticketing to avoid illegal parking, leaving the city and the V&A jammed up with traffic!

The Sour Service Award goes to the MyCiti Bus service, for not operating its bus service during the national Golden Arrow bus strike running over more than two weeks. Whilst the City of Cape Town announced the temporary termination of the bus service due to the threatened damage to the buses by strikers, it would appear that the City’s drivers are not driving as they too are striking, being ex-minibus and Golden Arrow bus drivers!  How frustrating it must be for visitors to Cape Town, having planned to use the bus service from the airport and enticed to do so with advertisements inside and outside the airport building, to not be able to do so!  Furthermore, the non-operation of the MyCiTi buses caused further traffic mayhem in the city on the two concert nights this week, as all concertgoers had to drive to the Stadium by car.

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com.   Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.

Cape Town set to rock, juggle, and laugh this year!

An exciting line up of shows is planned for Cape Town in the next few days and months, according to the Weekend Argus, and could be good for the City’s tourism coffers, as we experienced with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers last week, visitors having flown in from Johannesburg and other parts of the country to attend the concert.

On the programme for this year to date are the following shows:

*   Rodriguez performs at another two concerts this week, at Grand West (‘Search fro Sugar Man’ awarded a BAFTA for Best Documentary last night)

*   Cirque du Soleil‘s new show ‘Dralion’ will run over five days at Grand West from 5 March.

*   Internationally acclaimed Chinese pianist Tian Jiang is doing a charity performance at the Franschhoek Dutch Reformed Church on 29 March for La Residence Hotel and Villas, in aid of Lelieblom House for Children and the Stuart Andrew McFarlane Foundation for Motor Neuron Disease. Tickets cost R325, and include canapés and bubbly. Tel (021) 876-4100 (Chantell)

*   Metallica performs at the Cape Town Stadium on 24 April

*   Bon Jovi plays at Cape Town Stadium on 7 May

*   The Justin Bieber show at Cape Town Stadium on 8 May is already sold out.

*   John Cleese will do stand-up comedy in June, at a venue to be advised.

Big Concerts has not confirmed speculation that Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, and Mumford & Sons will be performing in Cape Town later this year.  Big Concerts pushes Cape Town as a concert destination, said its CEO John Langford: ‘Cape Town is a great destination for live entertainment of all forms, and we are certain that it will continue to play a major role in all future international tours‘.

Given the huge tourist attraction concerts generate for Cape Town, Big Concerts in conjunction with Cape Town Tourism should consider ticket/accommodation/restaurant packages for big acts performing in our city.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage

Future of Cape Town Stadium and Green Point Urban Park in hands of Cape Town residents!

The City of Cape Town has not managed to sort out its problems in making the Cape Town Stadium financially viable, and an extensive public participation process is to be launched to give ratepayers and residents in the Green Point, Mouille Point and Sea Point areas in particular an opportunity to make themselves heard about the Stadium and the ‘Green Point Park’ (sic), the City not knowing its correct name! The public has until 31 March to express its concerns and respond to the choice of options proposed.

The City blames the prolonged recession, its failure to find a premium anchor tenant, and ‘restrictive zoning laws’ for the Stadium not being financially viable, and for placing a financial burden on the citizens of Cape Town.  One wonders why the City fathers did not research the future viability of the R4 billion stadium, built only for eight World Cup 2010 matches!

According to the Atlantic Sun, City of Cape Town Councillor Bev Schafer said the participation process is one of the largest ever, and will influence how the Green Point Urban Park and the Stadium will be run.   She has urged locals living in the affected areas to study what is being proposed.  The City has printed 3000 copies of the 48-page plan, and distributed them to ratepayers’ associations, libraries, and other community bodies, with five options proposed for the area:

*   The City of Cape Town operates the Cape Town Stadium, with an anchor tenant (very likely with naming rights, which may be at the cost of brand ‘Cape Town‘)

*   An independent operator operates the Stadium, with an anchor tenant (same risk of losing the ‘Cape Town‘ brand)

*   The anchor tenant is the operator too

*   The City of Cape Town operates the Stadium, without an anchor tenant, or an independent operator runs the Stadium, without an anchor tenant

*    A public/private partnership between the City and the private sector.

Mayor Patricia de Lille is quoted as saying that the public participation process is designed to find a long term sustainable solution for the Cape Town Stadium.  The Cape Town Stadium and the Green Point Urban Park generated R13 million in the 12 month period since August last year, compared to a reported cost of more than R50 million per annum.  Mayor de Lille shared the plans to increase the revenue, which include the refurbishment of the Stadium Visitor Centre; the introduction of an on-line Fan Retail Store by the end of 2013; the creation of a conference facility; more mobile food and beverage vending machines will be allowed on the 6th floor and in the external podium area; Ajax soccer club has signed a three year deal to use the Stadium for its practice sessions; the City is still negotiating with Western Province Rugby to move to the Stadium; Big Concerts is bringing big acts such as Justin Bieber and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers; and a hotel option has been expressed, as has a hospital, a sports clinic, and a sports-related education facility.  For the Green Point Urban Park it is proposed to build an eco-centre, and to open both a tearoom and a ‘green café’.  In the Business Plan Mayor de Lille writes that making the Cape Town Stadium viable will help make Cape Town the Events Capital of Africa!

City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing Grant Pascoe said that they have received four proposals for motor racing events, including Formula One,  but expressed concern and sensitivity for the residents in the area, saying that events must be spread across all of Cape Town and not just be concentrated in the Green/Mouille/Sea Point areas, and that residents in these areas have tolerated much disturbance already! ‘I don’t want to burden this area and irritate them to a point that we start (fighting) all over again’, he is quoted as saying.  The Green Point Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association has been critical of the traffic problems which were caused by the Linkin Park and Lady Gaga concerts held at the Stadium recently.

The five options sound similar but have vastly different implications from a branding perspective, and the ratepayer burden in funding the loss in operating the Stadium, but probably make little impact on the residents on the area. What is of concern is the attempt to turn the Stadium area into a late-night party area with restaurants and bars, as well as shops, creating more noise!  The building of two four-storey buildings, one to house a hotel, sport science centre or offices, and one for parking, will cause further congestion when events are hosted at the Cape Town Stadium!

‘Business Plan for Cape Town Stadium and Green Point Park’

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage