No Alton Towers Live in 2014

[djtruefitt]

Taken from TowersStreet news:

Alton Towers Resort have confirmed via Twitter than the popular Alton Towers Live concert will not be returning in 2014.

Although the return in 2014 of the concert was apparently confirmed by the presenter at last years event, it has now been confirmed by @altontowers that there are no plans for a concert in 2014.

"There are currently no plans for a concert at Alton Towers Resort in 2014, if this changes we’ll be sure to let you know!"

The 2013 event was headlined by Olly Murs and also included popular artists such as Little Mix, Connor Maynard and Rizzle Kicks. 2013 saw the return of concerts to Alton Towers Resort after a break following a previous Alton Towers Live, the Black Eyed Peas and also P!nk.

The 2013 concert proved popular with almost capacity crowds flocking to the theme park, it is not known why there will be no concerts at Alton Towers this year. However, it is still set to be a busy year at Alton Towers Resort due to the addition of CBeebies Land.

 

[James]

It's strange they've decided not to do a concert this year. Maybe not enough £££s in the pot? While these things do bring a return in investment, if budgets are really bad then Towers may not be able to stretch money for a concert.

 

[smudge]

I can't imagine it being anything to do with £ personally. Assumably it generated some serious revenue last year and the publicity it received was priceless. I think it's to do with the planners and restrictions, especially with the current road works.

 

[Rob]

I'm very disappointed by this, especially as they said at the end of the concert last year that it would indeed be returning in 2014. I know many people on here seem to despise the type of acts ATL attracted but I've been to both ATL's and they've both been brilliant and very fun days out. The park was rammed last year as well.

 

[BarryZola]

....and to think that I won't have the pleasure of hearing people moaning for weeks because Olly Murs didn't have to queue to get on The Smiler

 

[_nemesis_]

Could this be because of the high costs of repairs to The Smiler?

 

[Scott]

Could this be because of the high costs of repairs to The Smiler?

I somewhat doubt it - this is an event that will run at a profit for Towers. Regardless of what money has been spent on The Smiler - budget for an event like this would be unaffected.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[djtruefitt]

....and to think that I won't have the pleasure of hearing people moaning for weeks because Olly Murs didn't have to queue to get on The Smiler

"Sorry ladies and gentlemen, Olly Murs won't be on stage for another hour, he is currently in the queue for the Smiler, just near the queue line shop"

Anyway I find it a rather strange decision, at the end of last years concert they said it would be returning, so something must have changed since then.

I would say it was very much a success last year, the park was rammed, and as far as i'm aware it was a complete sell out.

 

[Sam]

Err, presumably they only want to announce a concert when they have headliners booked. So I would have thought the stock answer will always be 'no plans' until they have some big names confirmed. I think the chance of another concert is still probably very high.

 

[josht]

Does this really surprise anybody, merlin needs new management

 

[Dave]

I'm very disappointed by this, especially as they said at the end of the concert last year that it would indeed be returning in 2014.

I would guess the announcement about the coming back in 2014 was an off the cuff one by the host guy as the crowd was buzzing.

Doubt it was something from Towers management as they never make decisions that quickly

 

[Sam]

If this is a summer concert, Towers probably wouldn't have booked the headliners yet anyway. Isn't it standard industry practice to say 'no plans' until you do have plans? It'd look dreadful if they said there would be a concert, only for them to not be able to secure any big names, and then have to backtrack. There may or there may not be a concert, but I think this is a non-story.

 

[James]

They confirmed it in February last year (with near enough all the acts announced). I think it would have been announced by now.

 

[Dave]

Yeah if they had a concert planned they probably would have announced the acts by now. You need a good few months lead up for ticket sales.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

I smell a lacklustre season ahead...

 

[Josh]

Tbh I was surprised last year when they said that it was coming back in 2014, I think it's better to have a two year gap between concerts as it makes people want it more as it's been a while since the last one. It also gives the grass on the lawns a chance to grow back

 

[delta79]

"Sorry ladies and gentlemen, Olly Murs won't be on stage for another hour, he is currently in the queue for the Smiler, just near the queue line shop"

and a few lonely voices of parents dragged along are quietly hear shouting "the smiler can blooming keep him"

 

[chris556]

Lets see premium packs not arriving in time, cuts to the capsules, cuts to ride opening times, increase in ticket price, cuts to events, hmm yes, this reeks of investors demanding "savings". Merlin is loosing money, why else would you seek cash by selling shares. I am a gambling man. I would say redoing the bathrooms has stung the budget hard this year and merlin does not like re-investing profits into the business.

 

[jon81uk]

Lets see premium packs not arriving in time, cuts to the capsules, cuts to ride opening times, increase in ticket price, cuts to events, hmm yes, this reeks of investors demanding "savings". Merlin is loosing money, why else would you seek cash by selling shares. I am a gambling man. I would say redoing the bathrooms has stung the budget hard this year and merlin does not like re-investing profits into the business.

Holding a concert isn't really re-investing into the business as there is no capital expenditure on it. A concert should cover its own costs as they ticket prices pay for staging, technicians and artists fees. There could be many reasons why it isn't happening this year, from not being able to hire a suitible stage or artisits not being available or just that they feel every other year is a good interval to hold this sort of event.

Ticket prices increase every year, they always open selected rides later in the morning during the quieter weeks in the season and the annual pass capsule was probably due to too many people sharing it amongst themselves and therefore causing the old system not to work properly.

I don't see a lot of this as cost cutting, I don't think they found a decent way to implement a change with the annual pass capsule and the premium pass packages being late was handled badly but this is odd issues where they have screwed up rather than just money grabbing I think.

 

[Martin]

Festivals and performers always deny bookings until making an official announcement.

Especially in Alton's case, it would be foolish to say they'e definitely doing it before having acts booked, it'd be highly embarrassing for them if they did a Sonisphere and announced it was happening, only to have to cancel because they couldn't get anyone to play.